Chest training tips and advice thread

What does your regular chest routine look like?

Mine is:
4 sets DB press
4 sets cable flyes or ball flyes
4 sets pec deck or dips
4 sets weighted push-ups or chest press machine

Think thats enough?

Incline BB Press - 3 sets - 1 top set to failure
Seated Hammer Press - 3 sets to failure
Cable Station Fly - 3 sets to failure
Seated Pec Deck - 3 sets to failure

-Incline bench I work off percentages. After 3 workouts I come back around and add 5-10kgs to everything and shoot for the same reps. Been working perfectly so far.

-Seated Hammer Press I love because it doesn't hurt my shoulder like other pressing movements do. In fact incline bench, hammer press and reverse press are the only ones I can get away with. I find this movement helps my pressing power. I get the full stretch so wrists are tucked in next to my chest, hold for a second then explode. Sometimes I will alternate with hammer floor press but thats not my sticking point at the moment.

-Cable Flyes are done with arms bent slightly and taken back with a full stretch and slow negative. On the concentric phase I begin rotating my wrists so that they are supinated and then I make sure my hands touch and I force and squeeze them together like isometrics for a second. Repeat

-Seated Pec I lower the chair so when I put my arms out they touch the center of the pad. I stick my arms out completely straight and and bring them together and lightly link hands a the end and hold of that position for 1-2 seconds and then slowly stretch out for the eccentric again and repeat. Absolutely kills me!!!

I have always struggled to bring up my chest but this workout seems to do the trick for me. Love it!

Gorilla, on paper that workout looks fine. What are ball flyes?
Are you asking because you feel you are not getting as much out of it as you would like or are you just curious?
So a fully 6 days rest between that workout of yours hey? I think you could throw the dips in at the end, ditch the pushups and keep the chest press in there somewhere. IMO

Just add an extra incline exercise in there

Thanks iMan and Stan. Stan, ball flyes you do like this:
1. Attach the handles to both the low pulleys on the cable station
2. Get a swiss ball in the cable station
3. Get on the ball and flye till you die!

Think this is better?:
DB Press 3 sets
Incline BB/DB Press 3 sets
Pec deck/cable flyes 3 sets
Ball flyes 3 sets
Dips 5 sets

I feel my upper chest needs work so will def try some inclin movements. My chest is my strongest point and favourit bodypart thats why im trying to work out something for more size before cycle so when i cycle it explodes! lol

I'd say if you wanna build a nice big chest,try starting out with nice solid heavy incline presses.DB or BB,perhaps swop,one week of each.

Ahh ok I must try that out sometime.

Gorilla, I find that I perform better on all pressing movements if I start off with incline. To the point that when I used to do a legs/push/pull split I would start my Push workout with military press, then move the either incline bench or flat bench and it felt a lot more comfortable and I could actually move more weight than I normally would. I second what Johann says about starting with incline and swap between bb and db.

Some other things you can try out before your cycle to see if you like the are:

Squeeze-press:
Grab some DBs and a flat bench and place them on your chest together and squeeze/press into them into each other. The movement is straight up and down but you are constantly pressing the DBs together throughout the whole movement. It seems to work best in the 10-12 rep range for me.

Reverse/Twist press:
I find that a supinated grip puts more emphasis on my pecs and takes some tension off of my delts. This is why I supinate when doing flyes and on the odd occasion that I do DB press.

That workouts looks solid though.

gorilla wrote: What does your regular chest routine look like?

Mine is:
4 sets DB press
4 sets cable flyes or ball flyes
4 sets pec deck or dips
4 sets weighted push-ups or chest press machine

Think thats enough?

yours should be 4 sets of dumbell press incline
4 sets of barbell press FLAT
4 sets of dips weighted
4 sets of incline flys.

not enough heavy presses in your work out the way you have it.

Thanks stan, you have been a great help. Have a +1.

Thanks guru dj, will try that workout you suggested as well, I like the compound exercises, will be good for bulking this winter!

What do you guys think of neutral grip DB bench press,i did it for a while to break routine,felt great and gained alot in strength when i went back to normal flat bench.

its always good to switch it up johann83, strengthens the stabilizers that get weak from doing bar work.

What's currently working for me:

Bench press - 20,15,12,10 reps
Incline DB/ incline BB (change around every week) - 20,15,12,10
Superset with
Flyers - 20,15,12,10
Push ups - 50 reps (with minimal sets)


(Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD)

Thanks beemer have you tried weighted push-ups with less reps?

Did chest today and this was it:
4 sets DB press
3 sets Incline bench press
3 sets cable flyes
3 sets ball flyes
3 sets eccentric bench press with 40kg. FUCK! 1 second up 6 seconds down, 12 reps. Have to try this is so so good! My chest is stiff already.

you guys attack your chests

4 sets incline db
4 sets flat db
4 sets incline flyes
7 sets hammer strenght 30 seconds rest in between

8-10 reps

I give up on chest, will get fake tits or something.. Mine won't grow

Not even on cycle chapel? Have you tried lighter weight more reps?

CHAPEL wrote: I give up on chest, will get fake tits or something.. Mine won't grow

maybe look at doing sum supersets and dropsets. this has helped me abit but im still fine chuning what to superset to get max results. So play around abit and see what works.

@CHAPEL I have the same problem as you I have a deseec that I diagnosed my self with its called BIG-ARM-NO-CHEST syndrome

Fakey_AK wrote:

CHAPEL wrote: I give up on chest, will get fake tits or something.. Mine won't grow

maybe look at doing sum supersets and dropsets. this has helped me abit but im still fine chuning what to superset to get max results. So play around abit and see what works.

Drop sets worked great for my chest.

Also great is negatives, helped me through a plateau

gorilla wrote: Thanks beemer have you tried weighted push-ups with less reps?

You mean weighted dips? If so, love that machine and the pumps I get from it.

beemer wrote:

gorilla wrote: Thanks beemer have you tried weighted push-ups with less reps?

You mean weighted dips? If so, love that machine and the pumps I get from it.

No take the shackles from the cable station and connect the two low pulleys to each other, then strap on that blue thing for the squat bar over the cable, climb in under it and druk hom!

without sounding like a cock, I have tried all of those things. Busy doing something which DJ recommended, chest gets stiff as hell, lekker pump in the gym..... fok all growth.

Chapel is going negative on us...your are bigger than you where a year ago and you will be bigger a year from now.it takes time to get that thick chest we all want.

haha true I guess.. Would be nice to see some progress in the department though, definitely won't compete till I can figure a way to get it up. I have seen bbers who had shit chests and they now have huge ones, so there must be a way, will just keep smashing it.