Chest is lagging... New routine?

Background
5-11
180 lbs
21 years old
Training for aprox. 1 year (off and on), only been dieting correctly since September
Natural for at least a couple more years

Gained a little under 20 pounds since September with 4000+ Calorie lean bulk (following the sticky).
Carbs = 400 g, Protein = 300 g, Fat = 130 g

Whole week looks like:
Monday: Chest, Tris, Abs
Tuesday: Legs, Calves
Wednesday: Abs (at home)
Thursday: Shoulders, Traps, Calves
Friday: Back, Biceps, Abs
Sat - off
Sun - Abs


My chest seems to be lagging. Current chest routine:

Incline dumbell press 15x (warm-up), 10x, 8x, 6x

Dips (elbows out, leaning forward) 12x, 10x, 8x, 8x

Flat bench 10x, 8x, 6x

Flys (machine) 12x, 10x, 8x

1 minute break between sets.


Any suggestions for a new chest routine? Or corrections on my current routine? I know at the very least I need to start switching it up more from week to week.... any mass builders are much appreciated.

Thanks
SB

It looks like you've got a pretty solid routine there. Chest development just takes some time. If I were to change anything in your routine, I might eliminate the flys - personally I love to do them at the end of my chest workout, but they are an isolation excercise and not as good for mass building as presses. The other thing that I might change is to do the flat bench first in your routine. But other than that, you're not going to find any better chest excercises than flat and incline presses along with dips. Just keep up what your doing, and always try to add a little more to each workout - whether it be by adding a few more reps or a few more lbs. Consistent, heavy, progressive training and a solid diet will get you where you want to be faster than anything else. Just keep at it, it's not going to happen overnight.

are you looking for size or strength?

Thanks, John, sounds like very sound advice.

Doc, I'm looking for size primarily...

Perhaps someone has a good alternate routine that I could use to switch back and forth between my current routine (week to week)?

Or is it good enough to simply alternate between dumbells and barbells for variety (again week to week)?
Also, is integrating decline bench a good idea for switching it up, instead of dips?

Thanks again.

A little variety is always a good thing. There's nothing wrong with switching things up every week. Personally, I like to alternate every workout so that 1 week I do barbell flat benches followed by dumbell inclines and the next I do barbell inclines followed by dumbell flat benches. I then follow these with weighted dips. You could certainly alternate declines with the dips, if you wanted to - they just don't happen to have a decline bench where I am training now. I usually do 3 or 4 sets per excercise and keep all sets in the 4-8 rep range, but there's nothing wrong with changing it up and doing higher rep sets on occasion. I think if you keep your body guessing, you can avoid some of the plateaus and make consistant, steady gains.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Superballer

Thanks, John, sounds like very sound advice.

Doc, I'm looking for size primarily...

Perhaps someone has a good alternate routine that I could use to switch back and forth between my current routine (week to week)?

Or is it good enough to simply alternate between dumbells and barbells for variety (again week to week)?
Also, is integrating decline bench a good idea for switching it up, instead of dips?

Thanks again.

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you can try working flat press first with a strainghtbar for 3 setsof 10, make sure you fail on the last set.
then jump to incline reps of 10- then 8 then 6, and i final set droping the weight 40lbs and going to failure..alternate incline with decline every other wk, stay away from the dbells for alittle with the press movements, use dbell flat presses at the end of your routine in place of the flyes, flyes are a waste. reps high btwn 12 to 15, and at the end, go crazy with the dips, keep the reps high12 to 15 weighted.

also take more time btween the sets, this will allow you to use more weight and you won't burn out as quick rest as long as needed, there is NO race take your time, wait at least 2 minutes, get back on the bench when you feel you are full recovered from the last set.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doc.Sust

also take more time btween the sets, this will allow you to use more weight and you won't burn out as quick rest as long as needed, there is NO race take your time, wait at least 2 minutes, get back on the bench when you feel you are full recovered from the last set.

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Thanks doc and john, that's what I was looking for.

Doc, I was under the impression that in order to "keep the intensity up" like I so often hear, that I should have only a short break in between sets.

I guess what I'm wondering is what does it mean to keep the intensity up? Does this apply to all my workouts?

Thanks again.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Doc.Sust

also take more time btween the sets, this will allow you to use more weight and you won't burn out as quick rest as long as needed, there is NO race take your time, wait at least 2 minutes, get back on the bench when you feel you are full recovered from the last set.

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took the words right outta my mouth. The 1 minute rest is the main problem I see with your workout, with that little recovery time it looks like you're following my girlfriend's plan and trying to tone. Give yourself at least 2 and a half-3 minutes (sometimes more) to recover most of your energy so you can still go hard and heavy every set bro.

the main equation to getting a particular muscle bigger is go heavy, really heavy and switch it up. ever try cable crossovers? only do those after you went super heavy with the bench and bells. if you are really concerned about your chest i would give it it's own day. keep the weight heavy, reps low, go to failure and give yourself plenty of rest between sets.

I disagree that going super heavy will get your chest bigger. It WILL however give you an increase in strength, and that strength gain will allow you to use more weight in your regular program. Low reps don't do enough to hypertrophy the muscle, which is key for muscle growth. You still need to stay in the 8 rep range to get solid muscle growth.
Also, try keeping a training journal. Make sure you are increasing your weight every workout. Get a spotter to help you grind out a few forced reps.
My advice....go heavy for a while to build up some good strength, then go back to your current routine and see what happens. You'll be surprised at how much more weight you can now lift.

i too had a problem with chest, so i started hitting chest twice a week, once w/ all barbells and once w/ all dumbells. results were great and chest is now one of my strong points. on bench press i would keep going up all the way to one rep max then back down to working weight for 8-10 reps x2. and take your time like previously stated between sets. i also do upper back routines in between sets working opposing muscle groups, seems to help me get extra weight up.

i would do a pump then stretch pump then stretch movement then isolation last
eg.

incline bench press
incline flyes
bench press
flat flyes
isolation movements are either pecdec or cable flyes strick up to 15-20 reps 3 sets

i dont know the name for this chest workout,but you get on a smith machine flat bench with a medium grip and a good spotter and bring the bar down to your throat and make sure you get a good stretch on the way down i would do 15 10 8 6 4 reps you wont be able to go as heavy but it really helped me and made me sore for days

I allowed myself to rest much longer between sets this last week and without a doubt my chest is much sorer than I can remember recently. Good advice, thanks.

Keep it coming.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Superballer

Good advice, thanks.

Keep it coming.

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If you want to ache more, increase the eccentric lowering of the weight to 3-4 seconds. You will have to reduce the weight slightly, but the increased time under tension as the muscle lengthens will cause a very high level of damage and your chest will ache terribly.