Overtraining chest?

[jc95605]

A couple of ppl have been telling me that i've been overtraining my chest. Personally i like it. My chest is getting bigger and strong so i think i'm doing something right. Nonetheless i wanted to get some opinions/suggestion on making my rountine better for strength training. Here's my last chest workout:

155lbsx12, 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx5, 265lbsx1, 270lbsx1

A couple of times i added two more:

185lbsx10, then lastly 135lbsxfailure (around 20)

Any thoughts?

[smokeyd]

its whatever works for you bro, cause this shit may work great now but 6 months you might have to do something completly dif to get some growth. remember that quote they put up the other day, everything works in bodybuilding its just a matter of how long it will work

[AdamGH]

A couple of ppl have been telling me that i've been overtraining my chest. Personally i like it. My chest is getting bigger and strong so i think i'm doing something right. Nonetheless i wanted to get some opinions/suggestion on making my rountine better for strength training. Here's my last chest workout:

155lbsx12, 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx5, 265lbsx1, 270lbsx1

A couple of times i added two more:

185lbsx10, then lastly 135lbsxfailure (around 20)

Any thoughts?

If it works, then go for it. Seems alright. How many other sets are you doing for chest though?

[Johny-too-small]

Well you might be growing now but you will hit a wall. I dont do more than 3 worksets, ever. You should listen to those people.

[kaberle_15]

A couple of ppl have been telling me that i've been overtraining my chest. Personally i like it. My chest is getting bigger and strong so i think i'm doing something right. Nonetheless i wanted to get some opinions/suggestion on making my rountine better for strength training. Here's my last chest workout:

155lbsx12, 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx5, 265lbsx1, 270lbsx1

A couple of times i added two more:

185lbsx10, then lastly 135lbsxfailure (around 20)

Any thoughts?

Are you just doing flat bb bench for chest?

[jc95605]

well thats my workout for flat bench only. From there i do cable butterflies, 3 or 4 sets at 7reps, then i do 3 sets of chest dips. Unweighted right now.

[ruwet]

You've def got some strength in your chest! do you do incline/decline bench & DB fly's? I use to Bench 3 sets of 12 increasing it each time then up it heaps on the last till failure now I do 10-10-8-6 but usally don't make it till 6 on the last just do it till failure.

I also do that for incline and flys

[Johny-too-small]

well thats my workout for flat bench only. From there i do cable butterflies, 3 or 4 sets at 7reps, then i do 3 sets of chest dips. Unweighted right now.

Deeeaaaam. Okay yeah, if you want your chest to grow, or any other body part you dont do more than 3 sets/group! You should be able to destroy your muscle in 3 sets otherwise youre not working hard enough. You are overtraining big time. Drop the cables and if you do dips, keep it a tri major and pec secondary. To do this you keep your chin up and body straight.

I do bench then hit weighted dips to finish of the tris.

[jc95605]

You think this workout will be ok if i take the bench down to 3 sets? That just doesnt seem like i'm working it out hard enough tho. After this workout i feel awesome and my chest feels all blown up. What you think about the 3 sets?

[FireGuy]

JTooSmall and I are usually on opposite ends of most debates but I agree with him. If you can do more than 3 sets you probably are not using enough intensity. I would also make incline a priority. Over developed lower pecs are all too common while a big upper chest is what really helps with symmetry.
The other, (and my opinion) more important factor in overtraining is how many days rest you are giving the muscle before you are training it again.

[jc95605]

well recently with this workout i usually give 3-5days of rest in between. So far my strength has went up so i don't really think i'm overtraining it but if you all say i am maybe i'm just not noticing it then.

[jc95605]

bump

[Stoneco|d]

I am a fan of 15 12 10 6 10 for reps. So I go 5 sets on each workout. I usually do flat barbell, incline dumbbell, incline flies, cables and dips. For cables, I go 3 sets of 10. For dips, I just use my body weight for now ... I go 3 sets of 20. I have problem with my elbow so i take it easy.

Seems like a lot of sets but I feel really good and pumped up after the workout. I don't do triceps after chest, i leave it for arm day. Also I try to focus more on upper chest, alternate between dumbbell and barbell, and rotate between incline/decline flys.

[jc95605]

see you do 5 sets and you feel pretty good afterwards. Thats my point too. Maybe i'll take it down to 5. Either way i feel pumped up and ready to go after the workout.

[audis4]

what are your goals jc?

IMO, I wouldn't do two sets where your doing 1 rep....seems useless IMO

you could try 5x5 or work down to 3-4 reps by your last set...I'm no pro though

good luck buddy!

[jc95605]

strength increase. I wanna increase my bench. A little more size in my chest wouldn't be that bad either. Any suggestions would be appreciated too.

[AdamGH]

when I was only working out only for strength, I got up to 340 bench with no juice. Im 5'10" and was around 200-05 lbs. It was 10 years ago so my numbers below are just guesses. My bench workouts were like yours but a little different. I would do something like this.

Bb flat:

125X10, 175x10, 235x6, 240x6, 245x6, 255x4
last couple sets were a struggle and had a spotter.

incline dumbbells 3 sets, 10 reps
cable flys 3 sets, 10 reps
weighted dips 3 sets, 10 reps

That was my peak before I stopped training all together. took me a few years to get that high. Well, high for me

[jc95605]

when I was only working out only for strength, I got up to 340 bench with no juice. Im 5'10" and was around 200-05 lbs. It was 10 years ago so my numbers below are just guesses. My bench workouts were like yours but a little different. I would do something like this.

Bb flat:

125X10, 175x10, 235x6, 240x6, 245x6, 255x4
last couple sets were a struggle and had a spotter.

incline dumbbells 3 sets, 10 reps
cable flys 3 sets, 10 reps
weighted dips 3 sets, 10 reps

That was my peak before I stopped training all together. took me a few years to get that high. Well, high for me

Thats close to what i do now. What you do your max or 1 rep at the end or just stop at 4 reps?

[AdamGH]

I would stop at 4, id max it once a month. It would be a weight i know it would be really fkng hard to lift once. like say i knew i could do 340, then i would try 350, so when i did 345 it would be no big deal. least thats how i thought of it lol. i never got that far unfortunately. i barely got 340, i did it with proper form, but man thats was fkn heavy. lol!

[jc95605]

of course it was heavy. Its 340lbs rright on your chest.

[jc95605]

How about this for a workout. I still like doing the pyrmids tho so i kinda wanna go back to those but still tell me what you think?

BB flat bench: 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx3

Pec-Dec Flys (cables): 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10

Chest Dips: 10, 10, 10

When i switch my routine in about 4wks i was gonna do something like this, but i would add some incline and decline.

[Sir Lifts-a-lot]

You think this workout will be ok if i take the bench down to 3 sets? That just doesnt seem like i'm working it out hard enough tho. After this workout i feel awesome and my chest feels all blown up. What you think about the 3 sets?

DON'T THINK. JUST DO! If you think you are not going to be working hard enough for 3 sets then you probably won't be working hard enough. You will undertrain then.

Just get up there and calulate out what 70, 80, & 90% of your working max is and go from there.

[jc95605]

I like your avatar sir lifts, lol.

[Johny-too-small]

How about this for a workout. I still like doing the pyrmids tho so i kinda wanna go back to those but still tell me what you think?

BB flat bench: 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx3

Pec-Dec Flys (cables): 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10

Chest Dips: 10, 10, 10

When i switch my routine in about 4wks i was gonna do something like this, but i would add some incline and decline.

Im telling you man, 9 sets is NUTS. Im a hair under 200lbs and my 1st workset is....well more than AdamGH's max....but hey, this is the internet so who am I....Live and learn and when you get to your strength goals...let me know how you did it. Good luck.

[Stoneco|d]

Only time I go high in sets is with Squats. I always go 10 sets of 10 reps. Obviously I don't go very heavy, probably 225 or 275.

[Gears]

Im telling you man, 9 sets is NUTS. Im a hair under 200lbs and my 1st workset is....well more than AdamGH's max....but hey, this is the internet so who am I....Live and learn and when you get to your strength goals...let me know how you did it. Good luck.

How many days do you go before hitting the same BP again?

[jc95605]

that workout about 4

[Johny-too-small]

How many days do you go before hitting the same BP again?

Hint: I train 3on-1off-repeat

[Johny-too-small]

Only time I go high in sets is with Squats. I always go 10 sets of 10 reps. Obviously I don't go very heavy, probably 225 or 275.

Okay try this....

Do your squats...then do HEAVY stiff leg deads right after.

Then tell me if you still plan on training the same way.

[stallion_1]

Okay try this....

Do your squats...then do HEAVY stiff leg deads right after.

Then tell me if you still plan on training the same way.

i see ehh

[Stoneco|d]

My leg workouts are 10x10 squats, 5x10 hack squats, 5x10 front squats, 5x10 stiff leg deadlift with barbell, 5x10 stiff leg deadlift with dumbells, 3x15 leg curls and hamstring curls.

[Stoneco|d]

and it's not how much i lift ... I go for form. I take no more than 1-1.5 min rest. If I don't get distracted, this would take me an hr or so. I also hit up 30min cardio to burn extra cals.

[jc95605]

I'm sry why are we talking about legs? I made this thread to input on y chest routine. It's kool that you guys are sharing your leg routine but it would be better in the right thread.

My last question in post 21 was: How about this for a workout. I still like doing the pyrmids tho so i kinda wanna go back to those but still tell me what you think? Not to share your leg workouts. But thanks tho.

[Johny-too-small]

I'm sry why are we talking about legs? I made this thread to input on y chest routine. It's kool that you guys are sharing your leg routine but it would be better in the right thread.

My last question in post 21 was: How about this for a workout. I still like doing the pyrmids tho so i kinda wanna go back to those but still tell me what you think? Not to share your leg workouts. But thanks tho.

Hey, you could benifit from a good leg workout too. HAHA. Take the free advice and enjoy.

Pyrmids work best in reverse. In otherwords, heaviest weight first followed by lighter weight.

Besides warm-up, there is NO point in starting your worksets with lighter weight when your body is at its strongest. Why waste energy on the lighter weights when you can go super heavy right off the bat? Its common knowledge that heavy = mass and vice versa.

Think Im full of shit? try it. Do ONE warm-up set...then put your 1-3 rep max on the bar and see what happens. Also, if you do this DO NOT do more than 3 sets as you will then understand what overtraining really means.

[Johny-too-small]

My leg workouts are 10x10 squats, 5x10 hack squats, 5x10 front squats, 5x10 stiff leg deadlift with barbell, 5x10 stiff leg deadlift with dumbells, 3x15 leg curls and hamstring curls.

LOL...You dont lift heavy enough...you might as well do cardio.

[FireGuy]

TOTALLY AGREE, if you can knock out 33 sets on legs you are "exercising" not working out. If your intensity is anywhere near where it needs to be the 10 sets of squats alone should have you crawling out of the gym.

[Manorexic]

How about this for a workout. I still like doing the pyrmids tho so i kinda wanna go back to those but still tell me what you think?

BB flat bench: 185lbsx10, 205lbsx10, 225lbsx6, 245lbsx3

Pec-Dec Flys (cables): 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10, 40lbsx10

Chest Dips: 10, 10, 10

When i switch my routine in about 4wks i was gonna do something like this, but i would add some incline and decline.

That looks good to me, but like you, i like to do more sets, especially when it comes to flat bench...

i usually find my self doin 7-10 sets of flat bench and 4-5 sets of other chest excercises and it has worked well for me for years.....

[TranscriptionFactor]

^^
lol, wtf? Is this a spammer? Yeast infection?

[B.E.N.]

Hey, you could benifit from a good leg workout too. HAHA. Take the free advice and enjoy.

Pyrmids work best in reverse. In otherwords, heaviest weight first followed by lighter weight.

Besides warm-up, there is NO point in starting your worksets with lighter weight when your body is at its strongest. Why waste energy on the lighter weights when you can go super heavy right off the bat? Its common knowledge that heavy = mass and vice versa.

Think Im full of shit? try it. Do ONE warm-up set...then put your 1-3 rep max on the bar and see what happens. Also, if you do this DO NOT do more than 3 sets as you will then understand what overtraining really means.

I agree. But I also know that when you're writing your workout and you only see 3 work sets you want to start adding more sets/movements to that bodypart. Doing only 3 sets works...it just took getting over 'more is better' mentality. With only 3 sets you have to be prepared to lift...you can't just go through the motions.

[JiGGaMaN]

Strength training is a waste of time. Sorry i dont have anything useful to contribute.