Chest Gains

Diesel · 01-06-2003, 07:46 PM

everytime i try to work my chest it never feals like i get a good workout,like wene you work ur arms it burns really bad and the day after ur sore right there i cant gte the feel in my chest wene i workout

Diesel · 01-06-2003, 07:51 PM

and im trying make my chest more bulkier and bigger,and it feals like im getting no were

Wolfpack22 · 01-06-2003, 09:07 PM

Try negatives, but also do the positive behind it. Bring it down very slow and push it up very slow. You will feel that if you do it right, trust me. Also as far as getting a bigger chest, the incline bench is the best for building a bulkier chest. Be sure to do them, and maybe start doing them before you do standard bench.

**P-funk** · 01-06-2003, 09:43 PM

How many sets are you doing?
How many reps are you doing?
How often do you train chest?

Also just because you don't feel pumped after the workout or just because you are not sore the next day does not always mean that the workout was not effective.

Tank316 · 01-07-2003, 12:08 AM

yes, please post your routine!!

Scotty the Body · 01-07-2003, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tank316
yes, please post your routine!!

DanK · 01-07-2003, 12:48 PM

I've seen it mentioned a few times that a wider grip while doing benches and a few other chest exercises helps focus on your chest muscles instead of your arm muscles. I think the grip used to compare was at shoulder width and a few inches outside of shoulder width grips. Maybe someone can back this up with better information, my chest has always been pretty large since I was a kid so I'm not speaking from experience here.

Twin Peak · 01-07-2003, 01:07 PM

Inclines and dumbbells have worked best for me.

**P-funk** · 01-07-2003, 01:56 PM

yeah, inclines and dumbells are where it's at!

Freeman · 01-07-2003, 02:17 PM

if you want to get stronger, try increasing the weight and dropping the reps...that's what I'm doing right now...just started though..I'll keep you posted..I hear it works!

Diesel · 01-07-2003, 07:13 PM

i do like 5 sets or 25 reps once a week for my chest

**Prince** · 01-07-2003, 11:24 PM

these days I think that inclines are a waste of time (too much shoulder stress), I do mostly decline and sometimes flat for chest, and almost always barbells.

RCfootball87 · 01-07-2003, 11:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by P-funk
yeah, inclines and dumbells are where it's at!

finally some back up. I can't say enough about incline dumbell presess. they've done wonders for my chest in only a few short months, where flat bench never really added the size. but most people are so obsessed with flat barbell bench presses. some guys spend like half their weight room time just doing bench presses, cause some people think that whoever is better at bench is the strongest. yeah, if you wanna add size, do incline dumbells presess. also, does anyone know if you can do like inside incline persses for the middle upper chest? like where you put the dumbells together with the long end facing your face. you konw what im saying. cause i need to add some size acroos my neckline.

Tank316 · 01-07-2003, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diesel
i do like 5 sets or 25 reps once a week for my chest

as in what? flat barbell, flat dumbell, inclines????example would be.flat barbell 3 sets of 6/8 or whatever, then inclines presses for 3 sets of 6/8. see where i'm going??

**Prince** · 01-07-2003, 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RCfootball87
finally some back up. I can't say enough about incline dumbell presess. they've done wonders for my chest in only a few short months, where flat bench never really added the size. but most people are so obsessed with flat barbell bench presses. some guys spend like half their weight room time just doing bench presses, cause some people think that whoever is better at bench is the strongest. yeah, if you wanna add size, do incline dumbells presess.

not sure what you really mean....but inclines put the same amount of stress on your shoulders, if not more, as they do your pecs.

If you want to add mass to your chest flat and declines presses are more effective.

as far as spending all day on bench press, I do 5 sets, that's it.

Rissole · 01-08-2003, 12:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Prince
not sure what you really mean....but inclines put the same amount of stress on your shoulders, if not more, as they do your pecs.

I feel inclines put heaps of load on your shoulders.
But i also think that it is important to work your chest through it's whole range of movement; Place left hand on right pec, extend right arm, move arm up and down, feel the pec move??
i feel that this shows that your pecs move through that range so i should train through that range
Please correct me if im wrong

Hey Tank nice avatar

Rissole · 01-08-2003, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diesel
everytime i try to work my chest it never feals like i get a good workout,like wene you work ur arms it burns really bad and the day after ur sore right there i cant gte the feel in my chest wene i workout

When i first started training i was exactly the same, i think techinique changed that as i learnt how to lift,
Also putting in Maximal effort and going to failure helped too
I have been doing Gopros chest routine and always have a sore chest for at least 2 days, sometimes if it dont feel sore try sticking your fingers into your chest and see if it hurts then

Freeman · 01-08-2003, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by peetrips
When i first started training i was exactly the same, i think techinique changed that as i learnt how to lift,
Also putting in Maximal effort and going to failure helped too
I have been doing Gopros chest routine and always have a sore chest for at least 2 days, sometimes if it dont feel sore try sticking your fingers into your chest and see if it hurts then

and today it does...yippee!

Twin Peak · 01-08-2003, 09:45 AM

People, people.

Lets go over this one more time.

Whether inclines stress your chest or your shoulders IS AN INDIVIDUALISTIC ISSUE. We all have slightly different biomechanics.

To say: flat builds chest better than inclines, or the converse, in a vacuum, is silly. It will depend on ones individual biomechanics.

So lets not debate this point. Emphasize both, at different times, and see which promotes hypertrophy more efficiently in you.

And please, no one point me to my original post (which started this) recommending inclines and ask how can I do so?

The answer is obvious. Context. I was not recommending them in a vacuum but to this individual who seemed to be non-responsive (relatively so) to flats.

Freeman · 01-08-2003, 10:02 AM

Agreed..I've always said, do what works best for you..AND the only way to find out is to experiment. Boy have I found that out big time. Just gotta try different things....oh, and train like a man possessed!

**Prince** · 01-08-2003, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Twin Peak
People, people.

Lets go over this one more time.

Whether inclines stress your chest or your shoulders IS AN INDIVIDUALISTIC ISSUE. We all have slightly different biomechanics.

To say: flat builds chest better than inclines, or the converse, in a vacuum, is silly. It will depend on ones individual biomechanics.

we're not so different that doing flat versus inclines will be dramatically different from one individual to the next.

regardless of your biomechanics inclines will stress your shoulders as much as your chest.

I honestly do not even think that inclines are necessary for chest development and I think anyone will see more benefit from flat and decline movements, whether it be barbells or dumbells (that's personal opinion from experience).

Stick with the basic coumpound movments, lift hard and heavy and you will gain mass. Everyone gets so mixed up with complicated work-outs these days, keep it simple.

btw, just an example watch the Strongman Competitions on ESPN and look at those frick'n mass monsters. Do you think they sit around doing fancy work-outs and worrying about incline presses?

Twin Peak · 01-08-2003, 01:56 PM

Prince, that is a naive opinion. Individual biomechanics can vary to the degree that it impacts specific exercises. To know this you only need to look at the many whose chest grows immensly from flats and compare those who bench forever and never grow.

Case in point, me. I was benching 300+ within six months of my first time lifting. Moreover, it has always been my strongest lift. (Current max 405 as compared say to Squat where I max at roughly 440).

But my chest NEVER grew (while my shoulders and traps balloned) until I started focusing on inclinces and hitting them first.

But I guess you don't believe this, or I was doing something wrong, right?

P.S. Strength does not equal size (at least not in so linear a fashion as you imply).

Bear · 01-08-2003, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Diesel
i do like 5 sets or 25 reps once a week for my chest

Personally, I think your reps are too high.

I would pick 1 to 3 basic movements (incline bench press, flat bench press, parallel bar dip), and do 1-3 sets of each to total failure within the 6-10 rep range once every 5-7 days depending on how long it takes you to recover.

Or you could always try pre-exhaustion supersets.

example:

flat fly/incline press
or
incline fly/parallel bar dip

**Prince** · 01-08-2003, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Twin Peak
Prince, that is a naive opinion. Individual biomechanics can vary to the degree that it impacts specific exercises. To know this you only need to look at the many whose chest grows immensly from flats and compare those who bench forever and never grow.

thanks, I like to think of myself as naive too.

Quote:

Case in point, me. I was benching 300+ within six months of my first time lifting. Moreover, it has always been my strongest lift. (Current max 405 as compared say to Squat where I max at roughly 440).

so what? I do not think that having a high max bench press equals a huge chest, I did not say that.

Quote:

But my chest NEVER grew (while my shoulders and traps balloned) until I started focusing on inclinces and hitting them first.

But I guess you don't believe this, or I was doing something wrong, right?

there could be many reasons that your chest did not grow...I do not know what you were doing, many variable could be in effect.

Quote:

P.S. Strength does not equal size (at least not in so linear a fashion as you imply).

I do not think that strength equals size nor did I mean to imply that (did you see the grin smiley next to that sentence?), however they do often go hand in hand.

I was just making a simple point that focusing on basic compound movements is key to gaining mass, and I see too many people that complicate things.

** btw, it's okay if we have different opinions here, if it were all black and white we would not need too discuss, debate, etc.

..

Twin Peak · 01-08-2003, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Prince
thanks, I like to think of myself as naive too.

I didn't say you were naive, just that that particular opinion was.

Personally, any opinion that contradicts fact, is an uniformed (i.e. naive) opinion. Naive is not a dirty word. The notion of whether people respond differently to different movements is not a matter of opinion. They do.

Quote:

Originally posted by Prince
there could be many reasons that your chest did not grow...I do not know what you were doing, many variable could be in effect.

Yes, but I do know what I was doing. And I know, as a matter of fact, that my chest (in terms of hypertrophy) responds better when I focus on heavy inclines, than when I focus on heavy flats (notice I say focus, I still do both).

Quote:

Originally posted by Prince
I was just making a simple point that focusing on basic compound movements is key to gaining mass, and I see too many people that complicate things.

You made that simple point in response to my post, which only discussed inclines, which by any accound is not intricate or complicated. Indeed, it is a basic, compound movement.

Quote:

Originally posted by Prince ** btw, it's okay if we have different opinions here, if it were all black and white we would not need too discuss, debate, etc.

Agreed. Except see above re opinions versus fact. Now if you said that MOST people respond better to flats than inclines, I'd say that is opinion, and I'd disagree. That is opinion, because I know of know study or scientific evidence suggesting that one generally works better than the other. I am not arguing here which is a better movement, simply that for SOME people inclines will produce better results.

You have taken a hard lined inflexible stance here. In essense, you said flats will work better than inclines on "anyone." And you said that individual biomechanics don't effect which exercises will produce better results. You oversimply the human body.

P.S. I am not upset about this discussion by any means, and if my tone indicates so, I apologize for that.

**Prince** · 01-08-2003, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Twin Peak
Agreed. Except see above re opinions versus fact. Now if you said that MOST people respond better to flats than inclines, I'd say that is opinion, and I'd disagree. That is opinion, because I know of know study or scientific evidence suggesting that one generally works better than the other. I am not arguing here which is a better movement, simply that for SOME people inclines will produce better results.

My original point was that inclines incoporate the shoulders and that it is not the most efficient movement for building mass in the pecs IMO.

Flats and declines, whether you use barbells and/or dumbbells, are far less stressful on the shoulders.

Either way, it's all about experimentation and finding out what works for you as an individual, I am just stressing the importance of keeping your work-outs and exercises simple and stressing compound movements for mass.

If inclines are working for you, then continue to use them. I used them for several years, and did very little flat and decline, until about a year ago when I injured my shoulders. I stopped doing incline presses all together and focus mainly on declines now.

Twin Peak · 01-08-2003, 04:03 PM

We are talking cross-wise. I did not address anything in your last post, I was addressing something that you explicitly and implicitly stated, that perhaps you did not mean to. Oh well.

**Mudge** · 01-08-2003, 07:57 PM

I like inclines with dumbells or on a smith machine.

Diet, routine, and genetics will determine your chest results

01-06-2003, 07:46 PM	#1
Diesel ill show u string pea's Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 241	Chest Gains everytime i try to work my chest it never feals like i get a good workout,like wene you work ur arms it burns really bad and the day after ur sore right there i cant gte the feel in my chest wene i workout

01-06-2003, 07:51 PM	#2
Diesel ill show u string pea's Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 241	and im trying make my chest more bulkier and bigger,and it feals like im getting no were Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

01-06-2003, 09:07 PM	#3
Wolfpack22 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: NC Posts: 107	Try negatives, but also do the positive behind it. Bring it down very slow and push it up very slow. You will feel that if you do it right, trust me. Also as far as getting a bigger chest, the incline bench is the best for building a bulkier chest. Be sure to do them, and maybe start doing them before you do standard bench. Last edited by Wolfpack22 : 01-07-2003 at 12:15 AM.

01-06-2003, 09:43 PM	#4
P-funk Patrick Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 31,701	How many sets are you doing? How many reps are you doing? How often do you train chest? Also just because you don't feel pumped after the workout or just because you are not sore the next day does not always mean that the workout was not effective. E-Book: Take Charge! Everything You Need To Know To Write Your Own Training Programs Online Consulting/Program Design Reality Based Fitness Podcast Check me out on Twitter! Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter! "In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few." -Buddha's Little Instruction Book

01-07-2003, 12:08 AM	#5
Tank316 P/RR/Sh Warrior Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Barron,Wi Posts: 4,543 Photos: 7	yes, please post your routine!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.prrstraining.com Time to GROW Without Plateau!

01-07-2003, 12:48 PM	#7
DanK Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Missouri Posts: 204	I've seen it mentioned a few times that a wider grip while doing benches and a few other chest exercises helps focus on your chest muscles instead of your arm muscles. I think the grip used to compare was at shoulder width and a few inches outside of shoulder width grips. Maybe someone can back this up with better information, my chest has always been pretty large since I was a kid so I'm not speaking from experience here.

01-07-2003, 01:07 PM	#8
Twin Peak Peak Physiques™ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NY Posts: 7,870	Inclines and dumbbells have worked best for me. www.DesignerSupps.com INTELLIGENT DESIGN™...lands on 1/1/2007 www.intelligentdesignmag.com

01-07-2003, 01:56 PM	#9
P-funk Patrick Super Moderator Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: AZ Posts: 31,701	yeah, inclines and dumbells are where it's at! E-Book: Take Charge! Everything You Need To Know To Write Your Own Training Programs Online Consulting/Program Design Reality Based Fitness Podcast Check me out on Twitter! Subscribe to our free monthly newsletter! "In the beginners mind there are many possibilities, in the experts there are few." -Buddha's Little Instruction Book

01-07-2003, 02:17 PM	#10
Freeman Bearded Attacker Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,648 Photos: 8	if you want to get stronger, try increasing the weight and dropping the reps...that's what I'm doing right now...just started though..I'll keep you posted..I hear it works! www.kingsburymusic.net

01-07-2003, 07:13 PM	#11
Diesel ill show u string pea's Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 241	i do like 5 sets or 25 reps once a week for my chest Champions aren't made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.

01-07-2003, 11:24 PM	#12
Prince IronMagLabs Owner Administrator Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Colorado Posts: 37,405 Photos: 356	these days I think that inclines are a waste of time (too much shoulder stress), I do mostly decline and sometimes flat for chest, and almost always barbells. BOARD SPONSORS: MassNutrition.com - Discount Supplement Superstore IronMagLabs.com - Bodybuilding Nutrition AlltheWhey.com - Bulk Protein Powders & Supplements CEMProducts.com - Research Chemicals & Supplements MusclesProd.com - Steroids, Bodybuilding & Training Blog Maximizer.com - Maximum Strength for Maximum Performance MikeGetsRipped.com - The Original 'Get Ripped' Blog ProteinRoutine.com - Experiments in Healthy Living Follow on Twitter Join Facebook Group Befriend on Myspace

01-08-2003, 09:45 AM	#19
Twin Peak Peak Physiques™ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NY Posts: 7,870	People, people. Lets go over this one more time. Whether inclines stress your chest or your shoulders IS AN INDIVIDUALISTIC ISSUE. We all have slightly different biomechanics. To say: flat builds chest better than inclines, or the converse, in a vacuum, is silly. It will depend on ones individual biomechanics. So lets not debate this point. Emphasize both, at different times, and see which promotes hypertrophy more efficiently in you. And please, no one point me to my original post (which started this) recommending inclines and ask how can I do so? The answer is obvious. Context. I was not recommending them in a vacuum but to this individual who seemed to be non-responsive (relatively so) to flats. www.DesignerSupps.com INTELLIGENT DESIGN™...lands on 1/1/2007 www.intelligentdesignmag.com

01-08-2003, 10:02 AM	#20
Freeman Bearded Attacker Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,648 Photos: 8	Agreed..I've always said, do what works best for you..AND the only way to find out is to experiment. Boy have I found that out big time. Just gotta try different things....oh, and train like a man possessed! www.kingsburymusic.net

01-08-2003, 01:56 PM	#22
Twin Peak Peak Physiques™ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NY Posts: 7,870	Prince, that is a naive opinion. Individual biomechanics can vary to the degree that it impacts specific exercises. To know this you only need to look at the many whose chest grows immensly from flats and compare those who bench forever and never grow. Case in point, me. I was benching 300+ within six months of my first time lifting. Moreover, it has always been my strongest lift. (Current max 405 as compared say to Squat where I max at roughly 440). But my chest NEVER grew (while my shoulders and traps balloned) until I started focusing on inclinces and hitting them first. But I guess you don't believe this, or I was doing something wrong, right? P.S. Strength does not equal size (at least not in so linear a fashion as you imply). www.DesignerSupps.com INTELLIGENT DESIGN™...lands on 1/1/2007 www.intelligentdesignmag.com

01-08-2003, 04:03 PM	#27
Twin Peak Peak Physiques™ Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: NY Posts: 7,870	We are talking cross-wise. I did not address anything in your last post, I was addressing something that you explicitly and implicitly stated, that perhaps you did not mean to. Oh well. www.DesignerSupps.com INTELLIGENT DESIGN™...lands on 1/1/2007 www.intelligentdesignmag.com

01-08-2003, 07:57 PM	#28
Mudge Dieting I swear! Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Here Posts: 23,477 Photos: 1	I like inclines with dumbells or on a smith machine. Diet, routine, and genetics will determine your chest results Kinesiology Comp Bench MaxCalc Motivation Bench form Charles Poliquin When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. Lao-Tzu

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