HUGE. FXCKING. CHEST.

[Old Witch]

So! First let me blaspheme a little by saying that not many guys, even on the Olympia stage, have had a huge ****ing chest. Ronnie Coleman for sure, Arnold obviously. And I’ll be the first to point out that genetics aren’t 100% the cause.

As we know, bodybuilding involves (hopefully) the adaptation and manipulation of our genetics through physical work in form. Chest expansion, both of the musculoskeletal structure of the rib cage and also of the pectoral plates is entirely possible.

Yes, you too can (for your body) have a HUGE FXCKING CHEST. How? Well, ignoring things like overuse of drugs and site enhancements, we are left with our favorite topic (or what should be): TRAINING.

Pullovers are the single least utilized chest expansion exercise. Generally regarded as targeting lats and triceps, they are left out of many routines or at best used as a warm up. If we look to the example of someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger who had quite a square and broad pectoral set, we can see that wide, deep dumbbell flyes and deep pullovers had a great effect on his physique. Dianabol helped a lot as well, of course.

But the fact remains, the deep stretch exerted on the pectoral muscle in both the flye movement and the pullover movement forces the muscle to expand over time during recovery. Moreover the extreme stretch of the rib cage during properly executed pullovers is hard to replicate with other movements.

I hope this helps anyone struggling to expand their chest. If anyone has anything to add, you know the drill.

 

[muscleupcrohn]

Gotta love Pullovers. You can play with the ROM to put more emphasis on chest or lats; I’ve gone pretty heavy on it, and NEVER viewed it as a triceps exercise at all. A little stabilization sure, but your arms should be at a fixed position of not quite locked out, so shouldn’t actively be working the Triceps.

Also, a lot of guys don’t put enough emphasis on upper chest, instead they do a ton of flat bench and decline bench because they can use more weight bro. But you have to focus on that upper chest if you want to be able to hit that side chest pose like Arnold did; not how most pros hit it today.

 

[Old Witch]

The guys doing pullovers for triceps are doing pullover extensions sort of like skull crushers, which I don’t agree with. Skull crushers yes, pullover extensions... not as much,

 

[muscleupcrohn]

The guys doing pullovers for triceps are doing pullover extensions sort of like skull crushers, which I don’t agree with. Skull crushers yes, pullover extensions... not as much,

Yeah, it just seems like a sort of half-ass combination of the two that doesn’t do either thing as well.

 

[Jeremyk1]

I believe the triceps does cross the shoulder joint, so it may aid the movement. From experience, it’s not a heavily taxed muscle from pullovers though. Mostly just static contractions. Good for stretching the triceps though!

 

[Toff]

read arnies encyclopedia for bodybuilding, its all about the muscles near the chest that push the muscles up more than nathing - for him though it was when he did supersets of back and chest at the same time

 

[BarryScott]

I actually think the bastardised tricep pullover you guys are describing is way more effective for triceps than strict bodybuilder style skullcrushers where your shoulder joint doesn't move. Shoulder extension stretches the long head of your tricep which is conducive to growth in itself and it let's you use more weight due to the stretch reflex.

 

[EMPIREMIND]

Training using dc and extreme stretching, and also mountain dog programs that incorporate training the muscles from a stretched position, I have seen a lot of improvement in my chest over the years. Also I would say that increasing the volume on chest had a drastic change for me. When I moved to mountain dog the chest days in particular were a big shock to my pecs