Showing posts with label CHEST. Show all posts

Take a good, hard look at your pecs, then use these Arnold-approved tips to improve them.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

People always seem to mention my chest when discussing my bodybuilding physique. You might say it was my best body part. You could also say that I’m something of an authority on the subject, considering how well-developed mypecs were.

As such, I’d like to discuss improving weak points in your chest. Problem is, many people think overall lack of size is their only weakness, when they should consider other aspects as well. Let’s address some typical pec shortcomings.

Outer Pecs

If your outer pecs aren’t fully developed, your chest will lack that crucial fullness for which I was famous. My favorite way to hit the outer chest was with dumbbell flyes performed to specifically target this area. First, lower the dumbbells as far as possible without risking injury - go for maximum stretch at the bottom. Then, when returning to the top, stop about three-quarters of the way up to focus all your effort on your outer pecs; coming up to where the dumbbells touch slightly disengages this area. Dips are great for hitting the outer pecs as well. Go as deep as possible and stop three-quarters of the way up.

Also, take as wide a grip as you can (outside of shoulder width) when doing barbell incline and flat-bench presses to target your outer chest. Again, lower the bar all the way to your chest, then stop three-quarters of the way up to the top

Inner Pecs

Cable crossovers are especially effective for targeting your inner pecs, since you maintain tension on your muscles when your hands touch. At this point, it’s very important to squeeze your pecs, whether you cross the handles or not; this helps create that distinct line in the middle of your chest.

You can use dumbbell flyes and barbell presses to work the inner pecs as well. With flyes, bring the weights together at the top and squeeze your pecs hard for 2-3 seconds. On presses, simply move your hands to shoulder width or slightly closer, and keep your elbows out and away from your body.

Upper Pecs

You might think I’m going to suggest doing incline presses and flyes, but there’s much more to it. On inclines, I used to change the angle of the bench every set. I started at 15 degrees, then went up to 25, then 35, then 50 degrees. I often did two, sometimes three, sets at each angle. That way, no part of my upper chest escaped training.

I also firmly believe in incorporating heavy days to develop maximum size in the upper pecs. Once a week, I did extra-heavy inclines, no more than five or six reps per set. To complement that, I worked as many muscle-shocking principles into my routine as I could: forced reps, rest/pauses, drop sets, etc..

Q: What's the optimal grip width to use to target the triceps on the close-grip bench press?

A: The traditional bench press usually refers to a flat-bench press performed with a grip that's shoulder-width or wider. The primary muscular emphasis is on the chest. The close-grip bench press, on the other hand, typically refers to any grip that's narrower than shoulder width, which greatly increases the emphasis on the triceps. But where between shoulder-width and hands-touching is optimal? That's a debate that many disagree on.

Too Close for Comfort

Some bodybuilders take the name of the exercise too literally and bring their hands so close that they almost touch. They often reason that the closer the grip, the greater the triceps involvement must be. While a grip this close does target the triceps, it also negatively impacts the wrists and elbows. The excessive joint stress could lead to injury, especially if you press heavy weight (and the heavy weight is more difficult to balance).

Close Enough

Many bodybuilders use what's affectionately known as the "thumb grip": They place their hands at the point where their extended thumbs meet at the tips (about 6 inches apart for most guys). This is as close as you'll ever want to go. It hits the triceps well, but you may still find it stressful on the wrists and elbows.

Just Right

Few bodybuilders realize that a grip just less than shoulder-width apart is close enough for the close-grip bench press. It effectively targets the triceps just as well as any closer grip yet dramatically reduces the stress placed on the wrists and elbows. Plus, you'll find that you can press more weight than a closer grip would allow, which means better overload on the triceps. Just be sure to keep your elbows in close to your sides to minimize chest involvement.

Close to You

Because bodybuilding is an individual thing, experiment with different grip widths until you find the one that's comfortable for your wrists and elbows but feels the best on your triceps. If you can't find a grip width that "feels" best, stick with a shoulder-width grip for optimal mechanics, wrist comfort and maximal triceps development.

Chains in chest workouts aren’t just for bench-press lockouts. Branch Warren popularized another purpose: weighting down his dips. The Texan had long been known for barbarically hardcore workouts, but once photos of him dipping with three giant chains swallowing his head hit the bodybuilding world, his take-no-prisoners training style reached legendary status. Since then, people have been dipping with iron around their necks instead of dangling from their waists.

A “necklace” has advantages over a belt. First, it’s easier to get on and off. This is a boon during dropsets—you can merely shed a chain and keep dipping without a pause. Second, a weight draped over your traps makes it easier to lean into reps and target your pecs. In contrast, a weight dangling between your legs pulls you straight down, so it’s harder to lean forward—a plus when doing triceps dips, but a minus on chest day.

Oh, and knocking out dips the Warren way looks really badass.

Chain Dip Tip Sheet

■ Most chains weigh 30–60 pounds. Use one you can get at least eight full reps with.

■ If you can get more than 15 reps, use a heavier chain or add a second one.

■ Make your final set a dropset. Get as many reps as you can, shed the chain, then keep going weight-free.

■ If you’re strong enough, you can do multiple drops, shedding a chain each time you reach failure, before ending with only your body weight

Warren's Chest Routine

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Incline Barbell Press	3	8-10
Bench Press	3	8-10
Dumbell Bench Press	3	8-10
Cable Crossover	3	12-15
Chain Dip	3	20-25

Warren's Career Highs

2011-12: Two-time Arnold Classic champ

2009: Mr. Olympia, 2nd place

7: Pro shows won

QUESTION: Is heavy weight with low reps the best way to train chest? Or lighter weights with moderate to high reps?

The simple yet somewhat convoluted answer: All of the above. The workout below is designed to help you build sizeand strength simultaneously.

The heavy weight and weekly progression in the amount of weight used in the 5x5 portion of the training will add pounds to your bench, while the relatively high volume, rest-pause technique on dips, and stretching of the pecs on flyes will all work synergistically to add slabs of muscle to your chest.

Chest Routine

Exercise Sets Reps

Bench Press 5*, ** 5

Barbell Incline Press 4** 10

Dips 100†

Incline Dumbbell Flye 4 15ƒ

* Not including warm-up sets.

** Start with heaviest set first, then decrease weight by 10 pounds on each subsequent set.

† Do 100 reps in as little time and as few sets as possible.

ƒ Use a tempo of three seconds on the negative phase and one second on the positive.

Show Progress

The key to gaining size and strength for any muscle group (not just chest) is to lift heavier weights as you go. But there’s no need to increase poundage substantially overnight; a gradual progression is your best bet to avoid overtraining and plateaus. In this routine, start your first working set of bench and incline presses with five pounds more than you did the previous week. This will keep your strength levels and muscles growing steadily.

Bench Press

Tuck your elbows in toward your sides as you lower the bar. This will decrease shoulder rotation and take stress off the shoulder joints, decreasing the chance of a pec tear and also allowing you to lift more weight by improving your leverage.

Barbell Incline press

Use an adjustable bench with a 15-30-degree incline (unless a 45-degree bench is all you have access to) – this will hit the upper chest best. Steeper angles focus too much on the anterior delts.

Dips

Put your head down and lean forward to emphasize the chest. Keeping your head up and staying upright will focus more on your triceps. Be sure to get a good stretch at the bottom and lockout out fully at the top.

Incline Dumbbell Flye

Strive for a deep stretch at the bottom of the movement to make room for new growth by keeping your elbows out and descending slowly. This is the one exercise in this routine where it isn't necessary (or desirable) to go heavy.

Joe B. from Little Rock, Ark., sent us his chest workout to review. After one look at it, we knew he needed professional help, so we called in Mike Wunsch, program design specialist for Results Fitness in Newhall, Calif. Wunsch analyzed and revised Joe’s program to get him back on track for big gains. See the original workout below and the new one on the next page.

Joe's Old Workout

Joe’s old workout had him doing way too much work. At 156 total reps, this routine would be increasingly hard to recover from, and it was probably setting him up for a shoulder injury to boot. Wunsch cut back on the volume and upped the intensity.

“He doesn’t need to hit his chest muscles from all the angles,” Wunsch says. “He needs to hit them with all the body’s movement patterns.” That means pressing horizontally, vertically, and with a rotational component for maximal muscle recruitment and balance. Every area of the chest will still get worked.

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Bench Press	5	12, 10, 8, 6, 6
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press	5	12, 10, 8, 6, 6
Decline Bench Press	5	12, 10, 8, 6, 6
Cable Crossover	5	8-10

The Evaluation

Joe can keep the bench press as his main lift, followed by a neutral-grip overhead press as an assistance lift—this variation works the muscles that support the bench press in a more joint-friendly position. Then he’ll attack the chest with a rotational component in the T-pushup. This not only trains the pecs and shoulders in a way Joe won’t be used to, but he’ll also get some pulling in to counteract all the pressing (although he’ll still need to do plenty of pulling movements on his back day).

He can finish with dips, which are more effi cient than the decline press and crossover combined. These lifts work more overall muscle, creating a greater hormonal response for muscle gain and safer, more balanced training.

The M&F-Approved Program

Exercises	Sets	Reps
Bench Press	4	6 (3 Minutes Rest)
Dumbbell Neutral-Grip Overhead Press*	3	12 (90 Seconds Rest)
Feet Elevated T-Pushup (Each Side)**	3	6 (60 Seconds Rest)
Cable Dip	2	AMAP (90 Seconds)

*Hold the weights with your palms facing each other.

**Wear a weight vest or hold a dumbbell in each hand and rest your feet on a bench or step. Perform a pushup and then rotate your body 90 degrees to one side, raising one hand overhead so your body forms a T shape.

Get big or get strong. So many guys think training style has to be a black-or-white choice: high volume bodybuilding workouts for muscular shape and size, or heavy, lower-volume workouts for strength. Power bodybuilding eliminates this hard-line choice and allows you to satisfy the requirements for both of these coveted training adaptations.

Since I was young, I trained with really strong dudes, but I never wanted to look like them. The training system I developed fueled my four Mr. Natural Universe wins and enabled me to hit raw PRs in the squat (775), bench (600), and deadlift (785). Raw, in powerlifting parlance, usually means that you don’t wear a squat suit or bench shirt. Raw, to me, means no belt, knee wraps, or elbow sleeves. If I can’t wear it if I were to get into a fight, then I don’t wear it in the gym. And contrary to what many people believe about the price you have to pay for years of heavy lifting, in nearly 30 years of training this way, I’ve never suffered a lifting-related injury, and my joints feel great.

This month I want to show you my chest workout, which serves as a perfect introduction to the concepts of power bodybuilding. Like a powerlifting workout, reps are kept low to allow you to use the heaviest possible weight. You’ll also rest 3–5 minutes between sets, letting you make a full recovery and continue lifting heavy throughout the session. The volume necessary to satisfy the bodybuilding portion of this equation comes from the number of total sets used; though you’ll do only four exercises in total, you’ll do 28 sets, including warmups. These workouts tend to run long (90-plus minutes) but allow you to chase everything you want at the same time. Get after it, Beast.

Power Bodybuilding Chest Workout

Directions: Rest 2–4 minutes between warmup sets and 3–5 minutes between working sets.

Exercise	Sets	Reps	O'Hearn's Weight
Incline Press
Warmup Sets	4	10, 8, 8, 5	135, 225, 315, 365
Working Sets	7	4	425
DB Flat Bench
Warmup Sets	3	5	100, 130, 160
Working Sets	4	10	180
Incline DB Flyes
Warmup Sets	3	5	80, 100, 125
Working Sets	3	10	150
Pullovers	4	15	125

Build a Strong Chest With the Strength Band Pec Flye

Strength bands can give you a hell of a workout, even when they’re not attached to a heavy barbell or dumbbell. One of the best features of M&F strength bands by Bodylastics is the ability to augment traditional lifts, but once you attach a set of handles, you're entering another world.

In this workout, the traditional pec flye gets a simple twist with a set of strength bands. Rather than lifting pin-selected weight stacks in a cable crossover station or pec deck, the strength band pec flye puts your pecs under constant tension, stressing the muscle fibers of your chest in a whole new way. And as research has shown time and again, regularly changing things up is essential for sustained growth.

The Workout

READY

Attach the handles to each side of the band and loop it through one corner of a power rack or other stationary object.

SET

Face away from the rack and stand upright in a staggered stance. Spread your arms. You should be far enough away from the rack that there is slight tension in the bands.

Contract your pecs hard and bring your hands together, keeping your elbows extended throughout the movement. Slowly return to the starting position and repeat for reps.

If you are looking for somebody who will inspire you to go to the gym – Goldenmuscles.com can say Jay Cutler is the perfect candidate. Jay Cutler is IFBB Professional that is well recognized all around the world with its perfect body shape.

In 1991, at eighteen years old Jay Cutler began training. His first workouts were designed just to look better. But as much he trained as much he loved it and in short time his interest quickly led to competition. Jay Cutler debuted in 1992 at Gold Gym Worcester bodybuilding championships. His efforts bring him 2nd place in Men’s Division. One year later at NPC Iron Bodies Invitational he took his 1st place. This was the start of his bodybuilding career. From that time he has won the title Mr. Olympia four times and participates in many no less well known competitions.

His workout program becomes famous all around the world and many athletes convinced that the body shaping methods by Jay Cutler gave them the best results – Goldenmuscles.com convinced itself.

Jay Cutler is well known by his chest, back and shoulder workouts. Although his training programs are directed for professionals, it can be also helpful for the ordinary people to get a great body shape. Try Cutlers chest workout and achieve your goals: