Looking to develop my chest...

[MawkieMawk]

Hey guys -

Been wondering if you all can give me some advice with building my chest. I've come a long way since I started bodybuilding. Freshman year of college I came into school under 140 pounds (137 I believe I was), and i'm 6'1". (Ran all the time, used to be a long distance runner)

Since then, I got really into weight lifting halfway through freshman year and have been going strong for about a year now.

I'm now 6'1" and 170 pounds, and very happy how far I've come. I've always, still to this day, been dissapointed in my chest. My arms (especially triceps) have really begun to grow recently, but I'm looking to change stuff up with my chest workout. I want to gain more mass on my chest.

Currently, I'm taking BSN's Cell Mass and Ultimate Nutrition's Muscle Juice Weight Gainer. It's shown its effects. I havent always taken supplements but started halfway through the summer. (Used NO-Explode, Cellmass, and Protein... thats it)


My chest routine usually circulates alot around incline press because I heard thats where you'll get your mass from... but I could be wrong.

My workout usually looks like:

Flat bench - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Flat bench dumbbells - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Incline bench - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Incline bench (wide grip on the Smith machine) - 3 sets, 5 reps or till failure
Incline cable flies - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
and sometimes will add decline into my benching routine... depending on the day

Any tips would be great... I'm going to try and get some pics up soon. Once again, I'm real happy with how far I've come. My arms have grown an inch or more since the beginning of the summer, my back has come a long way, as have my shoulders (weakest part on my body) and my legs, too, have come a long way.

Thanks guys, appreciate it. Looking forward to some great responses.

 

[MyK]

thats like 1/8th of a workout, wheres the rest?????????????????????????

 

[MyK]

jesus thats alot of sets too!!!!!

 

[MyK]

dude, you've come to the right place!!!!!

 

[maxpro2]

My workout usually looks like:

Flat bench - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Flat bench dumbbells - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Incline bench - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
Incline bench (wide grip on the Smith machine) - 3 sets, 5 reps or till failure
Incline cable flies - 3 sets, 6-8 reps
and sometimes will add decline into my benching routine... depending on the day

Holy volume.

 

[MawkieMawk]

Alright alright... thats why I'm looking for some advice. lol
So give it to me, what should I be implementing

 

[MyK]

start reading and searching and reading!! you gotta do your own homework around here!! if you have any questions, ask!!

 

[MyK]

oh, and welcome btw, I'll be pissed if youdon't stick around!

 

[MawkieMawk]

Hahaha yeah... I've always been around I just rarely post as you can see...

So do you suggest I lower the volume of my workouts?
Add more reps, less weights?
or?

 

[MyK]

what are your goals????

 

[MawkieMawk]

I'm trying to develop my chest.... basically, just add mass on to it...
I feel like that is where I am lacking the most...

am I right in assuming that focusing on incline will allow me to do this? or have I been following the wrong guidelines?

 

[BigDyl]

I suggest you add 20 sets flat.. 20 sets incline. Shit wheres that exhillihinative hypertrophy thread...

 

[99hawkins]

Mawky

Do Flat Bench, Incline DB and mix up the cable flyes with another exercise, maybe DB flyes, pec dec or incline BB...something like that. Keep the sets the same, but decrease the amount of exercises you do. What other muscle group do you do on your chest day?

 

[CancerNV]

Do what I do. Tense up your chest muscles at night when you go to bed. It takes alot of conentration but you get a massive chest when you do this.

 

[GFR]

Barbell bench press: 4 sets 6-10 reps
Incline Dumbell press: 4 sets 6-10 reps
Flys/or cable cross 2 sets 8-12 reps
Dips( done for triceps not chest) 4 sets 6-10 reps

thats plenty for you right now......do it every 5-7 days

 

[CancerNV]

Do arms recover or heal faster than other larger muscles? Can you train arms more frequesntly?

 

[99hawkins]

NV

Why do you do that?

 

[CancerNV]

It helps build muscle in the chestle area. It also helps me relax. I also do this when im nervous.

 

[99hawkins]

Fairy nuff...

 

[MawkieMawk]

Thanks alot guys for your imput so far...
I seem to have a lot of endurance with my muscles, so I always like to go heavy with much lower reps, because I feel the most pump and tear in my chest...

I train Chest/Triceps and Back/Biceps together...
I have back and biceps today, so we'll see how that goes...

Thanks alot, any more imput would be awesome!

 

[benverner]

Dude you are killing yourself...

I know I overtrained for 10 years and truly regret it. It's the hardest habit to break in my opinion if you are truly dedicated to lifting, it is a rut you can't get out of.

I blew myself up with frequency and volume, I'd get stronger and bigger for a while and when the progress slowed I just worked harder. I've only now seen the error of my ways.

I do a 3 day split one day is pushing, one day is pulling and one day is legs. I rest 4 days before training the same body part.

I do only 10 total sets of 5 for my chest and have seen more results in 6 weeks then I have ever, I'm gained incredible strength and size while spending so much less time in the gym.

my push day looks like this

BB flat bench 5x5
DB inc bench 5x5
Standing Military 5x5
CG flat bench 5x5
Weighted Dips 5x5

That's it man, it's worked incredibly especially in my chest and tris. My 5x5 when I started FB was 235, I've gained around 5+lbs on my 5x5 each week and I'm up to 285 5x5 now all by just learning how to rest. I'm up to 100lb DB's on incline as well and need to buy larger ones now as I have to do 8 reps to failure, I started with 85's. I know you've read it before and will again and again. You don't grow in the gym, you merely trick yourself into growing while outside of it. Bust your ass, rest and eat and limit your sets. I used to read all this shit and say "my body works different then that". Well guess what? It just might, but think of the progress you could have giving it more time to recover and not blowing it out in the gym (by that I mean too many sets). I've been there and wasted 10 years, don't do it. If you want more info, PM me and I can send you some stuff. LISTEN to what these guys have to say, MOST of them really made a difference for me just by reading the info in here. (some of them don't know their ass from a hole in the ground)

 

[ironrictha2nd]

sounds good to me, sounds like what i do except for all the incline, i just normally do incline on the seat individual press machine (due to BB and DB incline hurting my shoulder)

i also do the same for Decline, do it but not all the time, hate having to lift it off the bar holders, thats the heavies part...lol

but i say.... try doing some of your routines in supersets.
or save the BP for last, after doing everything else, this will really make you chest work, you'll really feel it.

 

[benverner]

(some of them don't know their ass from a hole in the ground)

 

[ironrictha2nd]

yeah and some dont know there city from a hole in the wall..... yo

 

[Stu]

Do what I do. Tense up your chest muscles at night when you go to bed. It takes alot of conentration but you get a massive chest when you do this.

this and smoking crack works very well

 

[SportinStyle]

When you said you only use the machines on incline, there's a (not the) problem. I have the most gimp shoulder you will ever see and my doctor strongly suggested I see a physician about it, but over time I built up on regular incline and military, and now they are one of my strongest areas. Just take the pain and youll reap the rewards.

 

[tenxyearsxgone]

dr. = physician