racoon02

On the day you do your chest, whats your workout look like? And do you usually do Bench, Incline, AND decline on chest days to get all 3 parts of the chest?

Lift hard, or go home!
Zed : Bring out the Gimp.
Maynard : But the Gimp's sleeping.
Zed : Well, I guess you're gonna have to go wake him up now, won't you?

BabsieGirl

Racoon,

Bench, incline and decline are working your entire chest.....They're different angles yes, but that's about it. Well, maybe a little tougher at certain angles.

You can do:
Bench (flat, incline, decline)
Standing Cable fly (flat, inclide or decline)
Chest Press (same as bench)
Peck Deck
Push ups (inverted, Legs Elevated)
Dumbbell Pull over
Parrallel Dips

Don't hate the player, hate the game!http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/...the%20wave.GIF
Before you talk about what you want - appreciate what you have.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gwcaton/s...ctures/tmf.jpg
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. -Honore de Balzac
Desire+Consistency='s RESULTS

Tha Don

yes but

how do you decide which 1's to choose?

i've just joined a new gym, it has everything and i'm real spoilt for choice now, is it best to do (per bodypart, eg chest or shoulders)....

4 exercises 4 sets?
5 exercises 3 sets?
6 exercises 2 sets?
2 exercises 6 sets?
4 exercises 5+5 supersets
5 exercises 3 sets + drop sets?

How do i know what to choose, and the type of sets to do

i know to aim for 6-8 reps and i'm looking to keep up my strength and when i start eating more to add mass, but i wonder how the exercises and sets can effect things?

BabsieGirl

here's my break down..

Monday
Chest/Shoulds/Tris

Wednesdas
Back/Bi's

Sat
Legs (everything connected within the leg.)



Some people weight train every day....eg;
Monday -- Chest/abs
Tuesday -- shoulders
Wednesday -- Bi's/abs
Thursday -- Tri's
Friday -- Back/abs
Saturday -- legs -- quad, calve, ham, glutes
Sunday -- Rest





Keep in mind...Heavier weight -- Lower reps -- 3-5 Sets
Lower weights -- Higher Reps -- 3- 5 Sets

The number of sets/reps/weight depends on what you're capable of doing and what your goals are.

Don't hate the player, hate the game!http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/...the%20wave.GIF
Before you talk about what you want - appreciate what you have.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gwcaton/s...ctures/tmf.jpg
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. -Honore de Balzac
Desire+Consistency='s RESULTS

derekisdman

Babsie,

A month or so ago I used that same schedule. I needed to change it though. Chest triceps and shoulders is too much for one day imo.

I do
Monday - Off
Tuesday - Chest and Triceps
Wed. - Off
Thursday - Back and Biceps
Friday - Off
Saturday - Shoulders and Traps
Sunday - Legs

then i'll do abs whenver I feel like it

Homer: Hey! I saved your life! That egg sandwich could have killed you by cholesterol.
Lenny: Pfft, forget it, Homer. While it has been established that eggs contain cholesterol, it has not yet been proven conclusively that they actually raise the level of serum cholesterol in the human
blood stream.

BabsieGirl

I have to squeeze mine in because I have two children, work full time, train full time, and own and run my own company...plus....cooking, cleaning, doing laundry & homework.......I'm pressed for time. So far, it's worked for me and I've had quick gains.

Don't hate the player, hate the game!http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/...the%20wave.GIF
Before you talk about what you want - appreciate what you have.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gwcaton/s...ctures/tmf.jpg
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. -Honore de Balzac
Desire+Consistency='s RESULTS

gr81

Regarding to hitting all parts of teh chest, each of those compound exercises hit all parts of the chest. The incline doesn't just hit hte upper chest, and decline lower and so on. All the muscle fibers of the chest are recruited when benching, no matter what angle, It is just a question of where more stress is being placed. It isn't like you will have undertrained the upper chest by just doing flat, make sense?

Testosterone Site/Elite Fitness-Dave Tate/West Side Barbell/Berardi Nutrition & Sports Performance/Steroid Laws- Rick Collins/John Defendis Intensity or Insanity articles/Save the Supersonics

BabsieGirl

My point exactly gr8t1

Don't hate the player, hate the game!http://pages.prodigy.net/rogerlori1/...the%20wave.GIF
Before you talk about what you want - appreciate what you have.

http://home.earthlink.net/~gwcaton/s...ctures/tmf.jpg
A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband. -Honore de Balzac
Desire+Consistency='s RESULTS

vanity

If you are just starting out do few exercises and few sets for each muscle group using lighter weights (10-12 reps-last rep being difficult) . Learn the key exercises for each muscle group and hone your technique. Slowly add more sets, exercises and weight(6-8 reps-last rep being difficult) .

Once again if you're just starting out, don't worry about multi-angled bench presses. Focus on the flat barbell chest press. Master that 1st and then move on to incline, decline etc...

GR81 is right, you hit the whole chest regardless of the angle . The only difference is whether you are placing more emphasis on the lower, mid or upper chest. As you incline your bench , your shoulders get more involved as well as the upper fibers of the chest. Don't lift more than you can handle because you could injure your lowerback ,shoulders or elbows. Flawless technique is a must.

I don't know why but i personally really like decline chest presses. Lately I've been doing dumbell flys lying on a Swiss Ball instead of a bench. It's an interesting move because your stabilizers get more involved as you try to keep your balance on the ball.

Skib

chest exercises aren't exactly rocket science

any pushing motion will work your chest... it's up to you to factor in different angles/exercises that work best for you...

Tha Don

yo what is best for adding mass on your chest?

dumbell press
barbell press
incline d/b
incline b/b
flys
pec dec......?

thats what I meant by my question b4, its hard to decide what exercises to use

i'm guessin it would be best to switch my routines round every month

peace

oaktownboy

the bench press(flat and incline),obviously is the best for mass..pec dec and flys are finishers,. not mass exercises

Chuck Norris once lost his keys and couldn't remember where he put them. So he tortured himself for half an hour until he gave up their location.

derekisdman

Flat barbell, dumbells or variations of both?

Homer: Hey! I saved your life! That egg sandwich could have killed you by cholesterol.
Lenny: Pfft, forget it, Homer. While it has been established that eggs contain cholesterol, it has not yet been proven conclusively that they actually raise the level of serum cholesterol in the human
blood stream.

BlueCorsair

Personally, I prefer dumbell for the simple reason that I can do them safely without a spot, and I find it requires more attention for proper balance - unlike in a standard single barbell where your stronger arm can compensate for the weaker one

Also, if I overestimate how much is left in the tank on the last few reps, I can drop the weights if I can't quite get them alll the way up. If it was a bench press, I could kill myself.

Simple answer

"Associate yourself with men of good character, if you esteem your own reputation. For 'tis better to be alone, than in bad company."

- George Washington

vanity

I'd avoid using the Pec Dec. Great device for injuries.

prophet

my chest day is:

flat
incline
dips

i alternate between db and bb every 3 months

JerseyDevil

Chest day for me is 3-4 sets flat bench, 3 sets incline, and 3 sets dumbbell incline. I'll throw in some variations occasionally like Hammer Strength bench or incline, or weighted push ups for example to change things up. I highly recommend changing your rep range workout to workout. I alternate 4-6 reps, 10-8-6-4-2 pyramid, 6-8 reps, then every fourth WO do either supersets or 10-12 reps with only 45-60 seconds of rest in between sets.

firestorm

Racoon take a look at GoPros Power, Rep Range, and Shock routine. It's fantastic and many people in here including myself swear by it. As for excercises, you can change them weekly if you wish. muscle confusion is one of the best methods for training. Starting with Incline Barbell bench, followed by Flat DB bench one week and then the following week Flat Straight bar bench followed by Incline DB bench and so on. With all that new equipment your probably feeling like it's Christmas everytime you walk in the gym and that is a great feeling but try not to open all them presents in one day if you understand what i'm saying. don't over do it and do like Barbell bench then over to that cool machine for bench presses then that new incline machine then over to the Dumbell inclines then the pec deck over to that neato pullover machine then over to that totally awesome cable setup for cable flies!! Sure doing all that was lots of FUN but you just overtrained the living shit out of your chest. You'll have to limit yourself and stay within 3 or 4 excercises per bodypart.

BlueCorsair

GOPro's CHEST example...

week 1: power
-dumbell bench press...3 x 4-6
-incline press...3 x 4-6
-weighted dips...2 x 4-6

Only a few workouts per part eh?

That looks like more than a few to me

Looks like alot!

"Associate yourself with men of good character, if you esteem your own reputation. For 'tis better to be alone, than in bad company."

- George Washington

firestorm

Looks like alot? lol Man if you could only see some of my old workouts you would laugh. I used to think nothing of doing 5 flats, 5 inclines 4 declines, 4 incline flies and 3 Flat or Decline flies. 21 sets there and I only put down working sets, I didn't count the one or 2 warmups for the 1st excercise. I didn't do warmups for the other excercises just the 1st. so the sets including w/ups would be 23ish. Now that is alot and too many for most people.
Honestly, 8 sets for a big muscle group like chest isn't alot and as far as i'm concerned, if your not going soo heavy that your not in those rep ranges it isn't enough.

slesquire

I have a similar routine, but don't take the time between days. I pyramid from light (10 reps) to max or 2 reps, then return down the pyramid back to light, no matter how many sets (e.g., bench: 140, 175, 225, 265, 305, 335, 360...then back down .......ending up at 140). I'll pyramid all weight exercises as I feel it gives the best warm up. Reducing weight from max builds endurance (the down side pyramid).

I lift everyday in 4 day cycles:
Mon. Chest/tric., crunches between sets
Tues. Back/bi/stretch between sets (legs)
Wed. Traps/Shoulders (abs. between sets; calf stretch as well)
Thurs. Treadmill, stretch, kick (martial arts) & hit heavy bag
Fri. repeat Mon.
Sat. Repeat Tues.
Sun. Repeat Wed.
Etc.

I find I can get quick gains (if I take off for a while) and do it safely. If it is an off day, you can take the pyramid to a set of 3 or 4 then come back down. I have no problem of fatigue and find the amount of time between same exercises is plenty. If I am in leg building mode, I add leg exercises as follows:

Add extensions to Mon., leg Curls on Tues., squats Wed., Calves to Thurs.
If in cutting mode, I add treadmill everyday, pyramid at lower weight increments staying at higher reps.