Chest

Read these articles, to learn how to build and develop your chest.

The Chest
by Sean Quade

The chest, along with the arms is one of the most easily noticed muscle groups and is absolutely necessary to have fully developed. No matter what gym you go to, I can almost guarantee that there is someone at any given time performing bench presses. These people load up the bar with so much weight that they have to arch their back and bounce the bar off their chest every time they perform "reps", which is probably only a couple sets of 3-5. These are usually the type of people that have unrealistic goals, have horrible nutrition, get very little sleep and think that only taking supplements will make them huge. Assuming that you are an eager beginner and new to the sport, I will teach you how to effectively train the chest into growth and avoid becoming one of these bench press gurus. Read on!

Anatomy of the Chest:

The chest is made up of two large and powerful muscles called pectorals, that spread over the front of the upper body like plates of armor. The pectorals can be broken into two separate regions, the sterna (lower) and the clavicle (upper). The pectorals are connected to the collarbone and cartilage of the ribs. The main function of the pectorals is to draw and press the arm across the front of the body.

Basic Exercises:

There are two basic types of exercises for the chest:

Presses: in which the arms are extended away in front of the body in a pushing motion.

Flyes: in which the bent arms (to take stress off the elbows) are drawn across the front of the body in a hugging motion.

Presses require primary effort from the pectorals, but also depend on the anterior deltoid and triceps. Flyes almost completely isolate the pectorals. By positioning the angle of the bench you perform exercises on, you can shift the stress onto different regions of the muscle. An incline bench position tends to put more stress on the upper chest, and a decline position on the lower chest.

Complete Chest Development:

In order to have a well-balanced chest, you must train it at all different angles, from incline-flat-decline. Many people find that their upper chest is generally lagging compared to their lower. To solve this problem, make sure to include incline exercises right from the beginning. I also find it completely necessary to include flyes in addition to presses, because it can be hard to isolate the pec's with a routine composed of only presses.

Here are some of the best mass building exercises for the chest:

I recommend performing 12-15 sets for the chest in the form of 3-5 exercises, 2 of which are in the incline position to avoid lagging. My personal chest routine looks like this:

This routine may not suit you, but I find that it provides complete chest development; upper and lower, as well as inner and outer.

Developing the chest - A course in Hypertrophy
by Jon Huston

The chest is perhaps the most widely sought after aspect of the human physique. It is the part that even the skinny-legged guys on the beach stick out. So why do so few people have a good one? Simple; they don't know how to work it properly. In this article I will outline two training programs and address the problem with the upper chest.

ANATOMY

The chest consists of two muscles: the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. You can also subdivide the pec major into the clavicular and sternal portions. The pectoralis minor originates at the coracoid process of the scapula and inserts into the third through fifth ribs. It's role is to adduct, or bring into the body, the arm. The clavicular portion of the pectoralis major begins at the body part of the clavicle and ends at the front of the upper arm. The sternal portion of the pectoralis major starts and the medial border of the sternum and shares the same insertion with the clavicular portion. Thus, this muscle serves to adduct, horizontally adduct, and internally rotate the arm.

TRAINING PROGRAMS

If you have previously read any of my articles you will know that I encourage rotating programs. The reasoning behind this rests in the fact that your muscles adapt very quickly to any form of resistance exercise. Thus, to keep your body guessing and, in turn, growing you have to change things up. The first program I have outlined will be the first week's chest workout. The second program will be the second week's workout.

Substituting Exercises

Not everyone will respond to the exercises I have written above. In that case try different exercises to properly stimulate your chest's growth. Below are a few examples.

1. Pec Deck
2. Flat Cable Flyes
3. Incline Cable Flyes
4. Smith Machine Flat or Incline Press
5. Parallel bar Dips @ 45° (this puts more emphasis on chest and limits triceps involvement)
6. Push-Ups

*Note: On dumbbell fly movements keep your elbows flexed about 10-15° to keep from tearing your biceps. Also, bring your arms up in the same position like you are hugging a barrel.

If you try these substitute exercises and still are not feeling a good contraction try the following:

• Bring bar down to your chest
• Press up about 12-14 inches
• Hold for 1 count
• Return to chest without bouncing
• Repeat until it hurts

This is a good way to eliminate the use of triceps for chest movements. It will keep all the tension on your chest and will not give your muscles a chance to rest.

Chest Routine
by Brent Vlcek

This is my updated chest routine. Personally, I prefer definition and shape to size and mass. Nonetheless, with the increased emphasis on the bench press in this routine, one should be able to develop a well-crafted chest, worthy of admiration.

For my chest, I divide it into three parts - lower, middle, and upper chest. I only train one part of the chest on my chest day. For example, if Monday is chest day, I will only train the lower chest. The following week, I will train the middle chest and the week after that; I will train the upper chest. This method has its pros and cons. The emphasis on only ONE part of the chest is a bonus however; other parts of the chest are neglected for more than a week. It is a trade off yet; it seems to have worked for me.

LOWER CHEST ROUTINE

DIPS: 10-15 REPS, 8 REPS, 6 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Dips are a wonderful shaping exercise. Although many people feel that dips are solely a tricep exercise, they work the lower chest if you perform the motion while leaning forward.

DECLINE BARBELL PRESS: 15 REPS, 15, REPS, 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Take notice of the first two sets. I like to perform light weight, high rep sets to really get a feel. Not only does this allow for the muscle to become more developed, but it also allows you to feel the individual muscles working, when performed correctly.

DECLINE DUMBBELL PRESS: 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
I have had trouble with dumbbells in the past. Once you discover the form that pleases you, the dumbbell presses will become a great tool in your chest routine. Remember to keep your elbows out and come down to a full extension.

MIDDLE CHEST ROUTINE

BENCH PRESS: 15 REPS, 15 REPS, 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Yes, there are five sets here. This workout is designed to increase size while maintaining shape. Concentrate on form, form and while you're doing that…concentrate on form! Keep those elbows out and slowly lower the bar. Contract the pecs at the top of the movement.

DUMBBELL FLYES/CABLE FLYES: 15 REPS, 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Most people prefer one style to the other. I'm a big control freak so I use the cables. The cables offer the user a nice guided plane. While I herald the use of free weights over machines, cables are one exception.

DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS: 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Again, another pressing movement. Allowing your arms to move freely, without the restrictions of a guided plane (smith machine bench press), dumbbell bench press is a unique exercise. Keep your elbows back so that they are perpendicular to your body. Hold each rep at the top for a second and stretch as deep as possible at the bottom.

UPPER CHEST ROUTINE

INCLINE BENCH PRESS: 15 REPS, 15 REPS, 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
I've read that the upper chest is the most neglected and, not surprisingly, makes up most of the chest. To have a truly great chest, a lot of time and effort should be put into the upper chest. This compound movement is crucial to any upper chest routine.

INCLINE FLYES: 15 REPS, 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Once again, it's your choice - dumbbells or cables. I like to bring my hands down around my waist and then bring them up. The upward motion of this method incorporates the upper chest just like the standing cable flyes.

INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS: 10 REPS, 8 REPS, 8 REPS, 4-6 REPS
Concentrate on form. Like all dumbbell exercises, this one allows you to operate in your own plane.

Pounding the Pecs
by Layne Norton

About this time last year I was taking a good look over my body and was analyzing what I needed to work on. My back was coming around nicely, my arms looked great, my legs were lagging behind, but what struck me the most was my chest, not that it wasn't big, it was, but at the lack of shape in my chest. It seemed somewhat 2-Dimensional instead of the 3-D bulbous chest that everyone dreams of. Up until that point my workout had centered around the bench press, incline press, and several fly movements. These had built me a good base however I realized I needed more, I needed something to take my pecs to the next level, and then it hit me...DUMBBELLS!

A lot of people concentrate on barbells and neglect dumbbells for several reasons.

• They need to satisfy their ego and the bench press is the biggest ego lift in the gym.
• They cannot lift as much weight with dumbbells as they can with barbells.
• They don't feel comfortable with Dumbbells at first because they are harder to stabilize than a barbell.
• They think dumbbells are for girls in pink spandex suits.

Well I'm here to tell you that dumbbells work and work well. They have several advantages over barbells, which include:

• Dumbbells require the muscles to stabilize them that are not brought into play as much with a barbell.
• Dumbbells can go through a greater range of motion than a barbell. A barbell can only be brought to chest level, whereas dumbbells can go below this. They also allow a greater contraction at the top of the movement. The chest is stretched to it's maximum when the elbows are close together on the backside of the body and the chest is most contracted when the arms are fully outstretched and the hands are together (or even crossed). Since a greater stretch and better contraction cause more fiber stimulation it is obvious that dumbbell presses stimulate more muscle fibers than barbell presses.
• Dumbbells do not place as much pressure on the shoulder joint, since the hands are free to move and not locked in place. I can personally attest to this as my shoulder pain that I usually experience when I bench press stopped within 4 weeks of using dumbbells.
• Dumbbells are safer. If worst comes to worst you can just drop them to your sides, the same cannot be said for a barbell. People have actually died bench pressing because of improper form or a sudden muscle tear causing the bar to drop on them.

After I had this revelation I still had to make a workout plan. I decided that my workout should include an exercise to hit the upper, lower, and middle region of the chest and I should also include some sort of fly movement. Using this information I designed the following 12 week plan of attack.

• 1-2 warm-up sets of 12-15 reps are done for EACH exercise.
• rest periods should be 2-3 minutes for presses and 1-2 minutes for flyes.
• all movements should use a FULL range of motion.

Weeks 1-4
Decline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Flat dumbbell Press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Incline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Cable Crossover- 2 failure sets of 12-15 reps

Weeks 5-8
Flat dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Incline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Decline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Pec-Deck Fly- 2 failure sets of 12-15 reps

Weeks 9-12
Incline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Decline dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Flat dumbbell press- 2 failure sets of 6-12 reps
Low pulley cable crossover- 2 failure sets of 12-15 reps

I decided to start off my routine concentrating on decline dumbbell presses since they put less pressure on the shoulder and allow for a greater stretch and contraction than a regular decline press. Notice all my fly movements are constant tension movements using cables or machines. I personally think that cables or machines are far superior to dumbbell flyes since they keep constant tension on the chest. With dumbbell flyes there is very little pressure on the pecs at the top of the movement, and the pressure increases at a geometric rate the further you lower the dumbbells. Since the pressure on the chest is only from gravity in that particular plane of movement (at the top), it would be more desirable to have something that exerts equal pressure throughout the entire movement and since cables operate by a pulley and are independent of gravity (besides the gravity on the weight stacks), they apply equal pressure to the chest during all planes of the movement.

After 12 weeks I re-evaluated my progress...wow! Not only was my chest bigger by an inch and a half, it was also fuller and had better shape. My lower pecs had achieved the undercut look and my upper chest was much larger. My vascularity also increased a bit and my striations stood out a bit more. I kept basically the same diet so I assume this change was from a change in training and not from diet. My lifts improved by the following poundages...

• Decline Dumbbell press- 95 lbs in each hand for 11 reps to 130 lbs in each hand for 7 reps
• Incline dumbbell press- 85 lbs in each hand for 10 reps to 110 lbs in each hand for 8 reps
• Flat bench dumbbell press-100 lbs in each hand for 10 reps to 130 lbs in each hand for 6 reps.

Now I'm not saying that barbells are useless, far from it. They are ESSENTIAL to building a good foundation of strength and power. In fact I would probably say that the best routines incorporate dumbbells and barbells. This is an advanced shock routine for those whose growth from barbells has stagnated and they need a jump-start. After the conclusion of this routine I re-incorporated barbells back into my workouts and once again starting having success with them. Just remember that variety is the spice of life. I hope this routine works as well for you as it has for me!

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