My chest just doesn't grow!

kayemali
kayemali Posts: 59 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Exactly what it says in the title, my chest just doesn't grow or it does very very slow, so I need help, how can I I get my chest to grow?

I currently bench 50kg and will do about 5 sets of 10 reps, I can't seem to do heavier without doing the sets without right technique, I'll then do 20kg dumbness press and do 5 sets and 10, cable flys, dumbbell flys and probably the machine chest press thing.

Can you guys suggest anything?!

Replies

  • ROBOTFOOD
    ROBOTFOOD Posts: 5,527 Member
    Weighted dips
  • DopeItUp
    DopeItUp Posts: 18,771 Member
    If it's just chest only (and you're happy with everything else), do more isolation movements for the chest. Depending on form, bench press isn't a magic pec exercise like a lot of people think it is.

    Having said that, if you're benching 50kg then you're probably just weak still. I'd just keep putting in the months and years. The stronger you are, the more volume you can put in, the more mass you can put on.
  • Erik8484
    Erik8484 Posts: 458 Member
    You need to follow a structured program that matches your goals. Research the right program, then follow it religiously.
  • jessef593
    jessef593 Posts: 2,272 Member
    Work on getting your strength up. Your chest will never grow if you don't force it to through progressive overload. Try less sets a day, but more chest days throughout the week. 2-3. My chest refuses to grow If I do anything less than 2 days a week.
  • richardpkennedy1
    richardpkennedy1 Posts: 1,890 Member
    How much do you weigh? You might need to up the weight
  • StealthHealth
    StealthHealth Posts: 2,417 Member
    You eating enough? The weight going up?
  • JoshuaMcAllister
    JoshuaMcAllister Posts: 500 Member
    Drop reps add weight. As previously mentioned you won't gain without a progressive overload.

    You've stalled because your not actively increasing weights. Follow a structured plan or read into muscle growth, a big lad should push past 50kg within a week not months.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Put more weight on the bar, unless you are tiny 50kg isn't very much for a grown man. How many sessions per week are you doing?

    Worry less about the exact number of reps and push to failure.
    (OK - keep one rep in the tank if you don't have a spotter or safety bars!)
  • kayemali
    kayemali Posts: 59 Member
    Hey guys everyone's advice is awesome, I'm going to take everyone advice on board, got a chest session today and will how it goes!
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    edited June 2016
    Make sure you are eating enough and getting enough protein. As well as following a structured program. You may need to hit chest twice a week. Look up Athlene X on You Tube. He has a lot of good content, and explains the science behind everything.

  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
    Good advice has been given already regarding be certain you are adhering to the progressive overload principle and using more isolation movements, but this may help with perspective. 50kg sounds quite low for a man unless you are very short and light. This is a table from exrx displaying one rep max standards as collected and stated by Lon Kilgore, shown in kilograms for men:

    gzjxc2s8oqln.jpg
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    Focus on increasing weight. Without progression, your pecs have no reason to grow.
  • kayemali
    kayemali Posts: 59 Member
    Update- so I went to gym today and took on everyone's advice, I surprised myself by doing more than I thought I could, 5 Reps of 6 set 70kg and increased dumbbell press to 26kg Dumbbells! Could feel it more so going to keep this up and increasing the Weight.

    People asking how much I weigh and am I eating, I weigh 146.6lbs, im 5'11, and currently eating 3000 calories a day as I'm naturally slim and trying to bulk
  • danhib
    danhib Posts: 290 Member
    Try doing other workouts like 5 sets of incline press ups & 5 sets of decline ones. With weights try & squeeze your pecs also. Flies are good maybe with cables rather than dumbbells, easier on your elbows too.
  • brdnw
    brdnw Posts: 565 Member
    to you saying you were doing 5 sets at 10 reps...that's how i lifted in college and never made any progress. I focused on doing many more sets of a 2-5 rep range of heavier weight and that is when my bench started to really progress.
  • TwinkieDong
    TwinkieDong Posts: 1,564 Member
    You should crush your chest. Do incline, decline, flat bench both barbell and dumbells. Change it up do one day as heavy as you can 3-6 reps, and do 3-5 sets. Next workout do pyramids start out heavy for 5 reps, lighter for 10, lighter for 15, lighter for 20, lighter for 25, then go back down and get heavier and heavier. Until you cant do anymore. Then do what I call seal in the juice where you do flies after a chest day.
  • kayemali
    kayemali Posts: 59 Member
    TwinkieDong wrote: »
    You should crush your chest. Do incline, decline, flat bench both barbell and dumbells. Change it up do one day as heavy as you can 3-6 reps, and do 3-5 sets. Next workout do pyramids start out heavy for 5 reps, lighter for 10, lighter for 15, lighter for 20, lighter for 25, then go back down and get heavier and heavier. Until you cant do anymore. Then do what I call seal in the juice where you do flies after a chest day.


    Defo gone try this pyramid, sounds awsome! I think my problem was I didn't realise you had to do less reps an heavier weights in order to grow chest!

    Thank you everyone
  • Carlos_421
    Carlos_421 Posts: 5,132 Member
    kayemali wrote: »
    TwinkieDong wrote: »
    You should crush your chest. Do incline, decline, flat bench both barbell and dumbells. Change it up do one day as heavy as you can 3-6 reps, and do 3-5 sets. Next workout do pyramids start out heavy for 5 reps, lighter for 10, lighter for 15, lighter for 20, lighter for 25, then go back down and get heavier and heavier. Until you cant do anymore. Then do what I call seal in the juice where you do flies after a chest day.


    Defo gone try this pyramid, sounds awsome! I think my problem was I didn't realise you had to do less reps an heavier weights in order to grow chest!

    Thank you everyone

    You've gotta do this to build strength so that you can lift more volume overall and that is what gets you to grow.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    DopeItUp wrote: »
    If it's just chest only (and you're happy with everything else), do more isolation movements for the chest. Depending on form, bench press isn't a magic pec exercise like a lot of people think it is.

    Having said that, if you're benching 50kg then you're probably just weak still. I'd just keep putting in the months and years. The stronger you are, the more volume you can put in, the more mass you can put on.

    ^ That.

    It's likely a programming issue more than anything.

  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    Time under tension is the key. I would focus on 3-4 sets and 10-15 reps. After a month or so, switch it up. You can do drop sets, pyramids, or even super sets. You have to continually shock your muscles. Hit your chest from all angles. Bench, fly's, and pushups are my go to movements. I normally do my pushups at the end of my routine to really exhaust my chest. There are many variations.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    edited June 2016
    Here's one simple method you can attempt.

    Bench 3 days per week.

    Day 1 4x10
    Day 2 4x8
    Day 3 5x6

    (Day 2 will be slightly heavier than Day 1, and Day 3 will be slightly heavier than Day 2)

    Leave 1 to 2 reps in the tank at the completion of the final set (you'll likely have a few more in the tank on the earlier sets). Adjust the weight on the bar accordingly if this condition is not met. In other words don't worry about training to failure.

    Each week provided you've met the previous condition, make a small weight increase (5lbs or so).

    Of course you CAN try to throw a bunch of accessory exercises at your chest and that's not necessarily a bad approach but I'd bet you'll get more mileage out of taking a period of time where you bench press frequently and with the INTENT to get stronger at the bench.

    As Dope mentioned, getting stronger allows you to accumulate additional volume and this is what provides you with the opportunity to grow.

    There are plenty of other methods but generally speaking I would bench often, I would progressively add load to the bar, I would leave just a little room in the tank most of the time.

    Finally, learn how to bench properly. Dave Tate has a good video series on youtube.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Wanted to add something too:

    The issue isn't going to be fixed by confusing your muscles or adding in a certain exercise.

    The issue will be fixed by finding an appropriate method of training your chest in such a way that

    a) Volume is adequate to stimulate growth
    b) Volume is not too much to recover from
    c) you are able to gradually increase volume over time (basically: get stronger)

    Throwing a bunch of random exercises at your chest might help in the short term in that it will give you an immediate volume increase but it's not going to meet all of the above conditions which is why taking a more structured approach will likely be a whole lot better.

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