Chest lagging, always has. willing to try anything!

[emp]

25 years old, 180cm, 90kg, 12.3 bf%(just took a body scan thingy yesterday).

been working out since i was 15, but inconsistantly. been in afghanistan and such, so not been serious about lifting all the time. also had a summer with only golfing(i know..), where i stopped working out anything else, cause sore muscles made me play worse. went down to 76kg(always been skinny so think my body would rather be at that weight, which is the weight i always end up on, when i get an injury or something...) been serious now for over a year.

my main goal is to increase strenght and lose BF%. i dont want to put on another pound, tbh, as i would actually like to be more around 85kg. but one thing out of time. increase in strenght first.


inflammation in both legs(front side), both ACL(think its called that at least...in the knees the) have almost been broken several times(soccer and floorball injuries) so they are very loose, and i struggle with heavy lifting where the knees are involved. had a shoulder pain before(inflammation in the biceps attachment) but seems to have gone forever. and finally, my right triceps lower something, "clicks" every time i go past 90 degrees with my elbow. ut probably sounds worse than it is...only thing is, i cant really train calves, hurts so much, and only cycling and swimming is the cardio i can do(where i include the lower body) without them hurting like hell(i should get a surgery, but i have to complete these "10 steps" before im allowed to get a specialists opinion, including buying special shoes and alternative elastic training...). everything else is ok, dont worry about it



on cycle now. test+tren and adding var during the last 6 weeks.
0700 #1: 100% protein. Amino. Glutamin. Vitaminer. Omega.
1000 #2: C-vitamin.
1200 #3: Omega.
1500 #4: 100% protein.
1700 #5: before training, Amino. Glutamin.
1900 #6: after training, 100% protein. CarboFuel. Amino. Glutamin.
2000 #7: C-vitamin.
2200 #8: Casein Proteinpowder. ZMA. Omega

monday: chest, tri
tuesday: back(depth), bi, abs
wednesday: legs, core
thursday: shoulders, chest, abs
friday: back(width), arms
saturday: rest and work, cant workout this day...
sunday: legs, core
repeat.

this is what im gonna do while on cycle. pushing it hard for 10 weeks. then after im going on a 5splitt, doing only one workout for each muscle during a week.

damn, a lot of info...finally some questions.

my chest is lagging hard. always has been. ive got really dominant shoulders, they grow way bigger than anything else on my body, and i struggle to isolate them when im working on chest and tri. even a little on bi. anyone have some tips on how to grow my chest? it feels like there isnt any muscle to really build, so its hard to connect to the muscle. i do feel i can connect when i press my arms along my side, and squeeze all i got inwards. but no way i can push with my chest...
only delta exercise i use is militarypress.

if ive missed anything or made my self unclear, let me know. im from norway, so might not be the best translation uve ever read.

cant post pictures, have tattoos on my back and front, that probably more than half of norway has seen in the papers...once my boss found out, he freaked out, dont wanna risk him finding out im on roids, sry :P but take my word for it, they are REALLY lagging, and shoulders way too dominant...

thx guys!

[cj111]

Post up your chest routine, see whats going on with it

[emp]

monday:
benchpress(barbell or dumbell)
incline bench press(barbell or dumbell)
sitting in middle of the cabelcross rack, doing "flyes" from the lower connection. then pull inwards(as if u where holding two bags in ur hands, except ur pressing of course) then pressing upwards trying to use chest and no shoulder rotation. holy shit how can i explain that one..

ive tried everything. dropsetts, supersets, 3x3, 3x12, and everything in between. ive also tried taking it really slow down, and explosive up(dont know the english words for those motions...extending and ? idk..)

thursday:
greg plitts push up routine
flyes (rolling with barbells on the floor, greg plitt "style")
dips

also use a rubber band from arm to arm, behind my back while doing a last set of pushups on the first routine. instead of weights, its really nice. and no secret i like greg plitt, no homo.

don like regular flyes, as i cant isolate my shoulders from not activating. also thats the exercise where i hurt my shoulder really bad some years ago(the guy spotting me, looked away as i failed hard and twisted it hard...thx)
pecdec machine...dont have any chest muscle to use, it feels like, so only using my shoulders...

thx man!

[austinite]

Forget the barbell. Just pick up dumbbells for everything. You only need one heavy set. So do 2 warm up sets for each exercise and on the 3rd one... Fail between 4 to 6 reps. If your very upper chest is lacking then incline even higher, this will work shoulders too but will catch the lower insertions in your upper chest. 70% is not uncommon for me.

High incline - standand incline, flat, flys, dips. Thats all you need.

Dont use the barbell anymore. After this make sure to give your chest at least 5 days off.

[cj111]

Chest is one of those things that its hard to hit sometimes cause like you said your shoulders and triceps take over. I used to have the same problem...
You really need to just focus on using your chest muscles, (obviously) and not lift with your ego. Lift something where you can keep great form for 8 reps , focus on the squeeze at the top, when doing dumbells I usually pause at the top for 1-2 seconds and give em a big squeeze. I duno what that push up routine is all about, but it doesn't sound very useful a whole workout dedicated to push ups. Do push ups at home everyday. I dropped my training on chest to 9-12 sets MAX, usually 9, and my chest is always sore for days. Start with your heaviest set after you warm up, and pyramid backwards. I duno if any of this rambling will help, but like I said, focus on the squeeze, and don't lift with your ego.
Best of luck

[emp]

i was hoping u wouldnt say that....

problem is, at my gym, the max dumbbells at my gym is 40kg :\ 4 gyms close to where i live, all have max 40kg....

as far as the rest. im never sore in the muscle. if i am, its at a very minimum...feel like on cycle now, i wanna push more for 8-10 weeks, and want to give two times a week a try. feel i have the power for it now. and energy. im off the roof, one week in some placebo and only see it getting better from here.

thx for the input

[austinite]

i was hoping u wouldnt say that....

problem is, at my gym, the max dumbbells at my gym is 40kg :\ 4 gyms close to where i live, all have max 40kg....

as far as the rest. im never sore in the muscle. if i am, its at a very minimum...feel like on cycle now, i wanna push more for 8-10 weeks, and want to give two times a week a try. feel i have the power for it now. and energy. im off the roof, one week in some placebo and only see it getting better from here.

thx for the input

youre not lifting heavy enough.

[emp]

Chest is one of those things that its hard to hit sometimes cause like you said your shoulders and triceps take over. I used to have the same problem...
You really need to just focus on using your chest muscles, (obviously) and not lift with your ego. Lift something where you can keep great form for 8 reps , focus on the squeeze at the top, when doing dumbells I usually pause at the top for 1-2 seconds and give em a big squeeze. I duno what that push up routine is all about, but it doesn't sound very useful a whole workout dedicated to push ups. Do push ups at home everyday. I dropped my training on chest to 9-12 sets MAX, usually 9, and my chest is always sore for days. Start with your heaviest set after you warm up, and pyramid backwards. I duno if any of this rambling will help, but like I said, focus on the squeeze, and don't lift with your ego.
Best of luck

hehe i hear ya. i just wanted to try it out, since i havent before. and dont like regular flyes nor cabelcross flyes. and im lifting heavy on monday, so just want some reps and volume on thursday. also its not heavy, so i can try focusing on the chest. it actually burns more than anything else im doing right now.

i have always had problems with my ego, lifting, since im close to 180kg on barbell benchpress. so ive never cared to why i have no chest, ive always just wanted to lift heavier. but im done with it. i need some freakn pecs. it looks silly, and the excuse of having bad genetics, wont cut it anymore...

ill deff try the squeeze, and 8 rep routine with dumbbells. trying really really hard to just focus on using it, even though its really hard cause i feel i cant connect. at least at pushing exercises(which is 80% of chest workout...volume and strengt, sigh)

it costs like 300 dollars to visit the high tech something, where they put these things on ur muscle, and u can see when at how its activated the most etc...om close to trying that, but its pretty expensive for a student.

ill let u know how things work out, thx

[emp]

youre not lifting heavy enough.

i cant lift heavier. and my shoulders ache for days after chest workout. clearly the shoulders are doing the work. i love 3x3 and im often to failure(trying to avoid it too often ofc, since that just stops all progress eventually). so i just feel i cant connect to the chest. im not hitting the muscle i wanna work out. and its not from not trying to focus. at least not lately...its pretty frustrating.

my shoulders and arms "give in", and i have no pump in the chest nor does it feel tired....

[canesfan804]

I have a always had a hard time with chest but recently I watched a training with Kai Greene chest video and he talks of a natural arc when doing bench press. So I dropped the weight and started using this method and I can FINALLY feel the chest muscles working.

Been doing this for a couple months now and I think my chest has grown a little, mostly the top shelf. Although the growth may be just in my head I know I am working my chest and not my shoulders and tris as much as before.

[emp]

as i said, im willing to try it all! is it in the 30min utube vid? link please

[cj111]

Dumbells > bench.. I haven't used a barbell in a long time. I don't agree that it is the king of building chest what so ever

[Rusty11]

Forget the barbell. Just pick up dumbbells for everything. You only need one heavy set. So do 2 warm up sets for each exercise and on the 3rd one... Fail between 4 to 6 reps. If your very upper chest is lacking then incline even higher, this will work shoulders too but will catch the lower insertions in your upper chest. 70% is not uncommon for me.

High incline - standand incline, flat, flys, dips. Thats all you need.

Dont use the barbell anymore. After this make sure to give your chest at least 5 days off.

austinite...so, would the two warm up sets be with a weight I can lift 10-12 reps? I really need to change my standard 3X10/12. Thanks.

[austinite]

austinite...so, would the two warm up sets be with a weight I can lift 10-12 reps? I really need to change my standard 3X10/12. Thanks.

I lift 8. My heavy rep fails at 4 or 5 typically. Hell sometimes 3.

[Rusty11]

Thank you. I'm gonna start that set-up tomorrow. At 51, I realize growth comes slower, but things have been stagnant for a couple of months. This might just do the trick.

[austinite]

Thank you. I'm gonna start that set-up tomorrow. At 51, I realize growth comes slower, but things have been stagnant for a couple of months. This might just do the trick.

51 ? If thats you in the avi.... you look great brother!

[Rusty11]

Lol! Yea, it is. Thanks. Notice the pic doesn't show my abs. There's a reason for that. But, workin' on that hard lately.

[austinite]

Lol! Yea, it is. Thanks. Notice the pic doesn't show my abs. There's a reason for that. But, workin' on that hard lately.

Summer abs... bring it!

[emp]

Dumbells > bench.. I haven't used a barbell in a long time. I don't agree that it is the king of building chest what so ever

i agree. i like dumbbells more, but 40kg for heavy failure lifting wont cut it...
so im switching between the two. if i want heavy, ill go barbell flat, then dumbbells incline. or barbell incline first, then dumbbells flat.

but thx for the tips, imma try em tonight

[marcus300]

You need to find a different gym so you can go heavier,
you need to learn how to go to failure, then you need to learn how to go beyond failure, its not for the weak minded,
your not training hard enough or intense- change your workouts and you will start getting progress until then you wont build any new tissue

[emp]

You need to find a different gym so you can go heavier,
you need to learn how to go to failure, then you need to learn how to go beyond failure, its not for the weak minded,
your not training hard enough or intense- change your workouts and you will start getting progress until then you wont build any new tissue

i hear ya

[DINKS]

i agree with Marcus300 good luck man keep on pushing yourself youll get there im sure

[tigerspawn]

I also agree with Marcus. I have read alot of his post and the guy definitely knows what he is talking about.

Damn man I thought having one screwed up knee was bad. You said playing sports caused knee injury. Do your knees cause you any pain? Is your movement restricted? Do you have any tenderness along medial side of joint?

If you want to strengthen your ACL and make it steadier this will help. Leg curl, leg extension, and Squats are meant to build strength in the joints and ligaments but are only effective when performed regularly. Each exercise should be performed three times each week, with at least 24-hours rest in between. Remember we are not bulking up, we are strengthening the ACL. During the exercises, the muscles and ligaments are broken down. It is during the rest periods that they are rebuilt and strengthened, so incorporating rest periods into your routine is crucial.

Begin each exercise with 2 sets of 5 repetitions each. Once you are comfortable performing those sets, begin to add repetitions until you work up to 3 sets of 10 repetitions each. To make the exercises harder and more effective, add resistance. When performing the exercises, hold them for a few seconds at the top of the stretch, such as when your leg is fully extended during a leg extension, and flex the muscle before lowering slowly.

Based on the clicking sound you described sounds like your suffering from triceps tendonitis. Do you have any pain above the back of the elbow, soreness performing triceps extension exercises or mild swelling? If you have any of those accompanying symptoms you can treat them with rest and ice therapy. If you don’t than it’s just the change of positions in the tendon. Also ligaments may tighten and cause a popping sound when the joint moves.