Help! I need a bigger chest!

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I have a weak chest and I need to build it up. I'm cutting at the moment, so I'm doing full body sessions three times a week. A/B/A, B/A/B

My lifting routine/stats are:

Workout A: Flat barbell bench. 4x6reps @ 60kg/132 lbs

Workout B: Incline barbell bench. 4x6reps @ 55kg/121lbs

Any info on this would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Replies

  • 15in8
    15in8 Posts: 141 Member
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    People get all caught up in tricky exercises and volume vs non volume arguement.

    THE GOLDEN RULE - The overload principle.

    Everyone is different, hence why you see passionate debates about this kind of thing. What I would reccomend is be strict with recording the weight you are lifting, and make sure you are increasing it regularly. One way of doing this is by using microweights (.25kg/.5kg/.75kg), doing it this way you can increase the load on your muscle by .5kg a week or two. Not much, but in the long term it helps.

    It is possible to build the chest while cutting (dependent on a lot of factors), but it is a harder ask then when you are giving your body enough calories.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    People get all caught up in tricky exercises and volume vs non volume arguement.

    THE GOLDEN RULE - The overload principle.

    Everyone is different, hence why you see passionate debates about this kind of thing. What I would reccomend is be strict with recording the weight you are lifting, and make sure you are increasing it regularly. One way of doing this is by using microweights (.25kg/.5kg/.75kg), doing it this way you can increase the load on your muscle by .5kg a week or two. Not much, but in the long term it helps.

    It is possible to build the chest while cutting (dependent on a lot of factors), but it is a harder ask then when you are giving your body enough calories.

    Thanks. The lowest plates that my gym has are 1.25kg.
    What sets/reps should I be doing? How many sets? All at the same weight? etc.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    This is my chest currently:

    IMG_20140831_185912.jpg
  • 15in8
    15in8 Posts: 141 Member
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    The lowest mine has are 1.25kg as well. I purchased some microweights so I actually take them with me to the gym.


    What I would do, don't worry about searching for the magic number of sets and reps, just think of yourself being here for the long haul.

    If you have started with this particular program recently, measure your chest now, continue doing what you are doing, and think of the overload principle. If you only do the same amount of reps and weight each week, the muscle has no reason to change.

    Try adding one rep each week, then when you hit 10 reps, increase the weight and start from your 6 reps again. - Remember, the golden rule is the overload principle.

    Know how much you were lifting last week, have it in your head. Know that the set you are about to do needs to have one more rep, or is a little heavier to actually count. Lifting the same week in week out will change nothing.

    Once you have been on the program for at least 10 weeks, review it. Have you made strength gains? Has your rep count gone up? Do your before/after photos look the same? are your measurments the same?

    Do not jump from program to prgoram, milk each one as fully as you can.


    Everyone is different, so I cant tell you how to train. Personally I do a warm up set and then go my max weight for 3 work sets. Some people prefer several warmup sets to minimise injury, which is a good idea. Some people increase the weight each set, some actually warm up, lift max then decrease for a couple of sets.

    Considering you a doing a whole body work out, I would recomend a book called Beyond Brawn, by a guy called Stuart McRobert. Some people love him, some hate him. But he does offer a different perspective which I think is worth taking a look at.

    I personally do a 3 day split, with a compound focus and not much isolation work. Here is my current program. Aiming for 10 clean reps before I progress weight. All 3 work sets


    Tues -

    Back/Bis
    1 Deadlifts
    2 Rows
    3 Assisted chins
    4 Bicep curls
    5- External rotation


    Thurs -

    Chest/Tris
    1-Bench barbell
    2- Dumbell incline
    3-Push Press
    4-Dips
    5- Russian twists


    Sat
    Legs

    1- Squats
    2 - Leg press
    3 Leg curls
    4 Calf (current straight leg)
    5 Ab machine

    Still plenty of gaps, but just focusing on the compound exercises and ensuring I use the overload principle. Added 10kg to squats and 20kg to deads since I started this particular program. Bench has gone up 4kg.

    I use jefit app to record sets/reps/weight, but a written book is just as good.
  • bvontur
    bvontur Posts: 9 Member
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    Continue to focus on your bench press to increase your strength, but if you really want chest size, you won't make a lot of progress with the bench according to the resources below:

    Watch this video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvQho3EsxzM

    Another recommendation is check out "scooby bigger chest" on youtube.

    He'll recommend you do flies. It's an aesthetic exercise - not functional strength, but it sounds like what you're after.
  • natecooper75
    natecooper75 Posts: 72 Member
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    Are you trying to build strength in your chest or build up your chest muscles? There are different ways to handle both and also a way to get the best of both worlds. One thing that I see here is that you say you are cutting at the moment. You can build strength on a cut, but most likely you aren't going to gain much, if any muscle mass.

    I would continue to lift during the cut to retain your current levels of lean body mass, but after you come off the cut you need to decide if you are training for strength or aesthetics. A 5x5 program will give you solid results for both and give you a solid program to follow if you are a novice lifter. If you aren't a novice, you can try to find a program that will help you meet the goals you have set for yourself.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    Thanks guys. I guess it's both that I'm after. No point in gaining strength if I still look like a 12 year-old PoW, is there? I want to be strong of course....but I want to look good!

    That youtube link didn't work :(
  • bvontur
    bvontur Posts: 9 Member
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    MyFitnessPal doesn't activate hyperlinks to other sites. You'll have to copy and paste it into the address bar in your browser.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    MyFitnessPal doesn't activate hyperlinks to other sites. You'll have to copy and paste it into the address bar in your browser.

    I tried that and got a validation error when entering youtube. What was the name of the video?
  • bvontur
    bvontur Posts: 9 Member
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    "Bench Press Does NOT Build a Bigger Chest" by StrengthCamp.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    "Bench Press Does NOT Build a Bigger Chest" by StrengthCamp.

    Elliott Hulse? Cool! :) Thanks, man!
  • auddii
    auddii Posts: 15,357 Member
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    I have nothing to add to this conversation, but your current pic (avatar, not the current chest pic) is cracking me up. Good luck on the muscle building!
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    Continue to focus on your bench press to increase your strength, but if you really want chest size, you won't make a lot of progress with the bench according to the resources below:

    Watch this video:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvQho3EsxzM

    Another recommendation is check out "scooby bigger chest" on youtube.

    He'll recommend you do flies. It's an aesthetic exercise - not functional strength, but it sounds like what you're after.

    I came at this from a different persective then the OP. i was a little over weight, he looks... well maybe not underweight but not in the same boat i was.

    personally, i think that flys and assorted pushups did much more to improve the look of my chest then bench press ever did.

    maybe it didn't really add much mass, but whatever happend my chest looked much better when i started doing a lot of pushups.. and in my case cutting fat.
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    I have a weak chest and I need to build it up. I'm cutting at the moment, so I'm doing full body sessions three times a week. A/B/A, B/A/B

    My lifting routine/stats are:

    Workout A: Flat barbell bench. 4x6reps @ 60kg/132 lbs

    Workout B: Incline barbell bench. 4x6reps @ 55kg/121lbs

    Any info on this would be very much appreciated. Thanks for reading!

    Progressive overload... in other words increase the weight you are lifting each workout/week, don't just stick with 60kgs.

    also you are not going to build any noticeable muscle while in a deficit. I would suggest cutting while lifting until you are happy with your BF% then do a bulk cycle to add some muscle.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    Your also more in a strength building rep range then a mass building one, just incase no one pointed that out. personally think that using a weight that you can do 8-12 of will be better at building size then focusing on increasing the weight each week.

    Unless you can do both, then that would be best
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
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    Your also more in a strength building rep range then a mass building one, just incase no one pointed that out. personally think that using a weight that you can do 8-12 of will be better at building size then focusing on increasing the weight each week.

    Unless you can do both, then that would be best

    Though in a deficit he will not gain any or much size, so why not focus on building strength in the 3-5 rep range now, then when bulking change to the higher rep range at a higher weight due to the strength gains made while in a deficit.
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    Though in a deficit he will not gain any or much size, so why not focus on building strength in the 3-5 rep range now, then when bulking change to the higher rep range at a higher weight due to the strength gains made while in a deficit.

    "Much" is a dependent variable and different per person. Based on size of deficit, training type, etc.

    There will be n=1s in both directions, I know personally, at a deficit, I'm increasing my chest size and strength over this summer. Then again, I'm also a novice lifter. Running a program for both muscular endurance (some sets in the 40-50 rep range) and maximal strength (some sessions in the 3-5 range) It depends on a lot valuables, but he should be able to get away from the "just escaped Gitmo" look that he wants.
  • I_need_moar_musclez
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    So 5-6 reps for strength, 8-12 reps for size?
    Does this apply to flyes as well as presses?
  • dbmata
    dbmata Posts: 12,950 Member
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    So 5-6 reps for strength, 8-12 reps for size?
    Does this apply to flyes as well as presses?

    It's all for strength or endurance. There are some claims that certain rep and weight ranges are optimal for hypertrophy, read up on it. You might want to look into working with a BB focused trainer, or looking at BB focused programming, and to optimize effort, up the intake cals until you get the chest girth your inner aesthetic craves.
  • No_Finish_Line
    No_Finish_Line Posts: 3,661 Member
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    Your also more in a strength building rep range then a mass building one, just incase no one pointed that out. personally think that using a weight that you can do 8-12 of will be better at building size then focusing on increasing the weight each week.

    Unless you can do both, then that would be best

    Though in a deficit he will not gain any or much size, so why not focus on building strength in the 3-5 rep range now, then when bulking change to the higher rep range at a higher weight due to the strength gains made while in a deficit.

    hmm... well that is a good point. probably will not make that much difference which one he goes with because he wont put on much size in the defecit.

    the difference between 6 and 8 is basically splitting hairs anyway. between 6 and 12 a different story.

    honestly, what i do the vast majority of the time (write or wrong) is pyramid up in weight and down in reps. So for bench i'll start with like 135 for 12, and work my way up to 185+ for about 4 or less over the course of 3-5 sets.

    i guess its a hold over from all the Arnold books i read. I should probably revisit that. I really need to learn more about setting up my own periodization scheduel.

    The real answer to get to where you want to be, which was mentioned above i thing, is that your going to want to do both, at differnet times. so part of the year your building muscle, part of the year your cutting fat, and then somewhere in there your working on pure strength too. but that might be a bit beyond the scope of your question.