Some advice please on how to get a great chest
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Zero2hero2013
Posts: 458
Hey everyone, i have been working out now for around 18 months now and for the first 12 months i was not maximising my chances of gaining pecs, i am after some tips on how to get the chest women drool over and men admire.
i have one tip that i have learned and loads of ideas, but only time will tell if they work, i know what doesnt work for me and i am starting to make some good gains now i am avoiding them.
my first hard learned lesson was stop worrying about the weight and focus on the form, as soon as i learned this which was a whole year after starting my chest started grewing much faster, id almost say that the last 3 month bulk i gained as much chest muscle as i did the first year worth of training.
All i did was lighten the weights condierable, increased the reps to keep hitting fatigue and form slipping. as soon as i couldnt perfom the exercise to perfect form i knew they were done, a few sets of this and could feal a pump/burn/fatigue i could never achieve while i was doing bad form. my bad form flaw was the fact i arched my back considerbaly during the bench press always trying ot maximise the load i was lifting, and i would have my hand in line with my shoulders and pressing about 3 inches above the top of my chest
as soon as i started lifting the weights from 3'' lower across the middle of my pecs the weight fealt soo much heavier. so i bit the bullet lowered the weights and began again. it taken me six months but my progress has been ok. wheni switched i could bench around 40kg for 10 with good form, and 60 for 5 for good form, currently i can bench 40 for 30 reps with good form, 60 for 15 reps good form and 70-75kg for 5, still not the heaviest weights out there considering i weigh 87kg but it is working.
i have been reading up alot recently on the high volume low weight exercising for mass building and was thinking of actually removing all chest exercises from my gym routine and do all chest workouts for 4 months using body weight. i figurei have alot of body weight anyway so why waste gym time on something i can do effectively i think at home.
so here is my idea for the next time i bulk.
three times a week probably mon-wed-fri doing some press ups, maybe in the morning do 3 sets of normal press ups with hands close the chest almost like a diamond pres sup but hand a little straighter. do this to a pre determined figure, then every session adding just 1 rep to each set, so at the end of the month going from something like 15 reps, to 27, month 2 39 and so on untill i reach a 100.
then each evening doing something similar as the monring with incline press ups target the upper chest a lititle more and then shoulders, also i hope it will help strengthen my grip and forearns, i have some press ups pads well little bars that raise you around 2'' off the floor,
if i did this i could do a set mon-wed-fri gym routine, maybe following a a-b routine focusing on back legs and a little shoulders.
i would like two things from people replying if possible. 1 do you think the pres sup idea would work and if so how well?
what would you advise to anyone in terms of exercises that need to be included to get a great chest?
How often should they train and what styles how you found that best benefitted you?
any general tips to maximsing progress?
sorry for the essay and cheers for reading.
i have one tip that i have learned and loads of ideas, but only time will tell if they work, i know what doesnt work for me and i am starting to make some good gains now i am avoiding them.
my first hard learned lesson was stop worrying about the weight and focus on the form, as soon as i learned this which was a whole year after starting my chest started grewing much faster, id almost say that the last 3 month bulk i gained as much chest muscle as i did the first year worth of training.
All i did was lighten the weights condierable, increased the reps to keep hitting fatigue and form slipping. as soon as i couldnt perfom the exercise to perfect form i knew they were done, a few sets of this and could feal a pump/burn/fatigue i could never achieve while i was doing bad form. my bad form flaw was the fact i arched my back considerbaly during the bench press always trying ot maximise the load i was lifting, and i would have my hand in line with my shoulders and pressing about 3 inches above the top of my chest
as soon as i started lifting the weights from 3'' lower across the middle of my pecs the weight fealt soo much heavier. so i bit the bullet lowered the weights and began again. it taken me six months but my progress has been ok. wheni switched i could bench around 40kg for 10 with good form, and 60 for 5 for good form, currently i can bench 40 for 30 reps with good form, 60 for 15 reps good form and 70-75kg for 5, still not the heaviest weights out there considering i weigh 87kg but it is working.
i have been reading up alot recently on the high volume low weight exercising for mass building and was thinking of actually removing all chest exercises from my gym routine and do all chest workouts for 4 months using body weight. i figurei have alot of body weight anyway so why waste gym time on something i can do effectively i think at home.
so here is my idea for the next time i bulk.
three times a week probably mon-wed-fri doing some press ups, maybe in the morning do 3 sets of normal press ups with hands close the chest almost like a diamond pres sup but hand a little straighter. do this to a pre determined figure, then every session adding just 1 rep to each set, so at the end of the month going from something like 15 reps, to 27, month 2 39 and so on untill i reach a 100.
then each evening doing something similar as the monring with incline press ups target the upper chest a lititle more and then shoulders, also i hope it will help strengthen my grip and forearns, i have some press ups pads well little bars that raise you around 2'' off the floor,
if i did this i could do a set mon-wed-fri gym routine, maybe following a a-b routine focusing on back legs and a little shoulders.
i would like two things from people replying if possible. 1 do you think the pres sup idea would work and if so how well?
what would you advise to anyone in terms of exercises that need to be included to get a great chest?
How often should they train and what styles how you found that best benefitted you?
any general tips to maximsing progress?
sorry for the essay and cheers for reading.
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Replies
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1. Press ups are a great chest building excercise, so are dips, both can be done at home, and you can add weight at home for minimal expense, i do both (but in the gym) Also, Press ups in the morning are a great thing to do (as with dips and chins) but i wouldnt make them all of my routine, I like to do bw stuff just as and when (i do a lot of press ups and chins at home when i remember!) and then do my chest day every week
2. theres a number of excercises, my personal preferences are dips, press ups, db press, bench and close grip bench. A lot of people i know like to do Pec Flyes, but as im not chest centric i dont bother with these
3. you should Arch your back when you bench, thats actually correct form!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUcjOIZc80c
If you want size, then higher rep work is generally the way to go0
