So today we are starting a new blog series called muscle development. In This series i am going to be going through each individual muscle and give you my best advice on how you should go about structuring your routines to get the best results possible. I Hope this series allows you to train more efficiently and make the best progress you can. As i publish these over the coming weeks they will all be found in menu bar in muscle development series!
Today we start the series out with the chest! Everyone wants a big chest. If you say you don't then your lying to yourself. The chest is a cornerstone to a good physique, If you got a big chest you will automatically look bigger even if you lack some arm size. To no surprise the chest I would say is probably one of the most overworked muscles in the body when it comes to bodybuilding. I think too many people train the chest with so many unneeded exercises. You would be surprised how easy it is to build an impressive chest.
It All Starts With The Incline
Typically when you see people train chest they train chest almost entirely in the flat methods, flat bench press, flat db press and flat db fly's. While there is nothing wrong with that approach and you can make solid chest gains I typically see most people lack the upper chest development these days. The first advice i want to give is include more incline variations of presses and fly's. Personally for myself i mix it up. One week i might do flat db press, and then the next week i might do an incline barbell press. I also try and make sure for every flat press or fly that I do I also add an incline variation of the opposite exercise just for overall chest development. So for example;
week 1: flat db press & Incline db fly
week 2: incline db press & Flat db fly
Yes the chest is just one muscle the pectorals. Both the upper, lower regions get hit when you train the chest but you should still use variations of flat and incline to develop the full chest as best you can. Decline presses focus most on the lower part of the chest. The lower part of the chest is most easily developed so you may only need one or two decline press variation a month.
Best Exercise For Overall Mass
When it comes to the best exercise for overall mass for chest i would say the winner would go to either the incline barbell press or the regular bench press. Both of these movements allow you to overload the chest and progress in volume - both needed to add mass. You should for sure have one of these or rotate both these in your program for the best results.
How many exercises for chest?
Typically for a well around balanced chest you should train chest about 1-2 times a week depending on if its a week point or not. A good way to structure a chest session of a workout would be;
- Incline Barbell Press 6 sets of 5/5/5/10/10/10
- Flat DB Press 4x8-12
- Incline DB Fly 4x8-12
- Cable Flys 4x15
- DB Pull Over 3x10-12
This accomplishes a heavy compound press, an accessory press, a DB fly variation, a cable fly variation and the the most under hyped exercise the db pull over, Arnold said this was his secret to his massive chest. I tend to agree i have a pretty decent chest and i always end my chest work with pull overs.
Thats really all you need to build a nice chest.
What should chest be paired with?
Chest can be paired with back, biceps or triceps. If you like doing supersets then chest is excellent with back. If on the other hand your arms are a lagging point then pairing chest with arms is also a good way to mix things up. Also chest can be just trained alone if you prefer it that way. I found for myself chest day is a perfect day to add on some db side laterals at the very end and also a good day to pair with blood flow restriction training for the biceps and triceps.
Example Chest Routine
- Incline Barbell Press 6x5/5/5/10/10/10
- DB Flat Press 4x6-12
- DB Incline Flys 4x8-12
Superset
- Machine Chest Press 4x12-15
- Cable Flys 4x12-15
Superset
- DB Pull Overs 3x10-15
- DB Side Laterals 3x10-15
Example Chest & Back Routine
Superset
- Incline Barbell Press 4x5-8
- Close Grip Cable Rows 4x8-12
Superset 4x8-12
- DB Flat Press
- One Arm Rows
Superset 3x8-12
- DB Incline Fly
- Wide Cable Pull Downs
Superset 3x8-12
- Bodyweight Dips For Chest
- Machine Row
Superset 3x8-12
- DB Pull Over
- Reverse Grip Cable Pull Down
Example Chest & Arms Routine
Superset
- Incline Barbell Press 4x5-8
- DB Alt. Curls 4x8-12
Superset 4x8-12
- DB Flat Press
- Close Grip EZ Bar Curls
Superset 3x8-12
- Cable Flys
- Rope Cable Curls
Single Set 4x8-12
- Overhead Tri Ext
Single Set 4x8-12
- DB Incline Skull Crushers
Single Set 4x8-12
- Tricep Rope Push Downs
How many sets and reps a week should i hit for chest total?
I recommend 18-25 sets of chest exercises per week for most people. For reps i found that 3-5 reps for a compound press exercise and 8-15 reps for your accessory lifts is a good way to go about training chest. The workouts on this page line right up with these recommendations and are good places to start. If you want a custom chest program though you will want to check out my monthly custom programming options.
Extended Set Techniques For Chest
Extended set techniques consist of overload principles like drop sets, rest pauses ect. But what works best with chest?
Personally for chest i like these extended set techniques for days when i want to train to failure;
- Rest pauses - on the last set of an exercises rest the weights on your lap after you hit failure then wait 20 seconds and try and get 2-3 more reps.
- Mechanical Drop Set - On the last set of an exercise go to failure then drop the weight go over to a machine that works the same motion you were doing with free weights like a db fly and machine fly and go to failure on the machine.
- Weighted Stretch Technique otherwise known as weighted stretch torture - this one hurts but is very effective. On the last set of an exercise like a fly once you hit failure hold the weight in the stretched position of the fly (the bottom) and hold it there for 10-15 seconds then put the weight on your lap rest 10 seconds and try to get a few more flys - this one is HARD
One note on all of these - don't use these all the time! Failure is effective occasionally but not all the time.
Warm Up For The Chest
Since on chest day you will be stretching the chest under heavy loads you need to make sure you are nice and warm to prevent any pulls or tweaks. Keep a sweatshirt on for your warm up. For the actual warm up we will just take the first exercise of the day and gradually warm up to a one rep max top set for the day. This top set should be a conservative one rep max not an all out one rep max. Occasionally the one rep max might be a new PR but don't count on this to happen all the time. By working up to a one rep max for the day we will have our central nervous system fired up and ready to take on the rest of the workout. Here is an example of how a typical chest day could start on bench press if a lifters max bench is around 260 pounds;
- bar for 15 reps
- 95 for 8
- 135 for 3
- 185 for 1
- 225 for 1
- 250 for 1 (conservative one rep max)
back down to
200-225 for your working sets of 5 reps.
Equipment I Recommend
While a good majority of the year you should train with no gear to strengthen your bone, joints and connective tissue i understand sometimes we feel broken down and still want to train.
When it comes to working chest there are 3 things i recommend to have a more efficient session when you are having pain and or just want more support for the day.
- Wrist Wraps - lift pain free and have more power and stability on presses
- Elbow sleeves - years of pressing will really effect your elbow health, throw some elbow sleeves on to feel just more stable and strong
- Cotton Shirt - do not bench in tank tops, polyester shirts or any other crazy blend of shirt. Cotton will allow you to stick to the bench better so your not sliding all over.
See my full article on everything i keep in my gym bag here.
Lets Recap
Building a chest is honestly not that hard. It does not require as much volume and work as some may think it does. Keep it simple and use compound presses, Accessory presses and fly's and end with some pull overs. Keep reps in the 8-12 rep range for accessory lifts a compound press in the 3-5 rep range. Occasionally throw in extended set techniques on your hypertrophy days and that is the foundation of building a solid chest.
If you guys enjoyed this weeks blog let me know and feel free to share on your social media as i greatly would appreciate it. Till next week guys.
Stay Strong,
Shawn Fausey
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