want faster chest development

[nothingtoitbuttodoit]

chest imo is my only body part this is lagging a bit (and calves but thats more genetic)

current chest routine is:
(just added decline used to do flat, chest get targeted more when doing decline)

decline dumbell press x3 (upto 45kg dumbells 6 reps)
incline dumbell press x3 (upto 32kg dumbells 6 reps)
decline flys x 2
incline flys x 2
pullovers x 2

is there anything i could do to improve chest growth workout wise? (not diet wise thats a different story)

[JasonT]

flat > dips > decline

Try this:

BB Bench: 4 sets, increasing in weight (12, 10, 8, 6)
DB Incline: 3 sets, increasing in weight (10, 8, 6)
Dips: 3 sets (if weighted, increasing in weight)
Flys (pec deck or cable or db): 3 sets, increasing
DB pullovers: 3 sets increasing

After one month of this, swap bb bench for db bench and db incline for bb incline

[nothingtoitbuttodoit]

used to do that routine before, dont like barbell bench that much as my arms are very long so it hits my triceps alot so i cant lift much weight after

[JasonT]

long arms isn't an excuse, it's technique...widen your grip and push your chest out

[nothingtoitbuttodoit]

my grip has to go very wide for my forearms to be perpendicular to the floor and yeh i squeeze my shoulder blades together etc

[NMacFar]

Here is my routine and I swear by it (nothing crazy but it works). My chest is getting rediculously big!

Incline DB's: 4 sets of 9-13 (last set failure)
Flat Bench DB's: 4 sets of 9-13 (last set failure)
Decline DB's: 4 sets of 9-13 (last set failure)
and bang out Cable fly's: 2 sets of 25

I hardly EVER bench press unless someone at the gym wants to have fun and see who can bench what. DB's have been my greatest success to building my chest. Give it a try

[jc95605]

That looks like a good routine NMacFar! I did something like that and it worked for me too. I dunno about you guys but DB excercises seem to give me more size and shape, while BB excercises is usually more strength.

Looking at your oringal workout plan, i would go up to 8 reps and 4 sets and see if that makes a difference. However, its probably time for a change. Good luck.

[nothingtoitbuttodoit]

yeh dumbells have always been better for me, presses usually just give me more strength.

stretching exercises like flys give me the mass, only started doing pullovers recently so hoping they will add some mass

[jc95605]

Ya i'm curious to know how others were effected with the pullovers. Did they help with size/mass or help with shaping?

[pskyle]

Try doing a few sets of just bench pressing just the bar until failure.

[RoadToRecovery]

Is your main goal right now for overall hypertrophy?

[SwollenMooseKnuckle8]

I would personally take one of the fly movements out for a cable crossover or cable fly movement. I've had similar issues with my chest, and the whole long arm thing so I feel your pain on how frustrating this can be. I hate bb bench with a passion, mainly because I feel it doesn't hit my chest as well as db's or cables can.

My cable movements also use a 3 second hold after each rep (sets of 10).

[graeme87]

Flat barbell bench press should be the starting point of all chest workouts imo.

[SwollenMooseKnuckle8]

Flat barbell bench press should be the starting point of all chest workouts imo.

Why?

[yerrr]

you deff need some flat bench in there, db>bb imo

[Ronnie Rowland]

chest imo is my only body part this is lagging a bit (and calves but thats more genetic)

current chest routine is:
(just added decline used to do flat, chest get targeted more when doing decline)

decline dumbell press x3 (upto 45kg dumbells 6 reps)
incline dumbell press x3 (upto 32kg dumbells 6 reps)
decline flys x 2
incline flys x 2
pullovers x 2

is there anything i could do to improve chest growth workout wise? (not diet wise thats a different story)

You need to try a smith machine and do 10 degree declines for 4 sets, 10 degree inclines for 3 sets and 3 sets of hammer strength wide iso chest press plate loaded (use narrowest grip possible) for 3 sets. increase reps to 8-10 for mass. Take each set to good failure using perfect form and chest will grow.

Stay away from flat bench, dips, flyes and pullovers and try what I suggest above and your chest will grow bigger!

[ferocious bubble]

You NEED flat bench. Studies have shown over and over again that doing incline bench only improves the strength upper muscle fibers by 12%, while lowering fiber strength of the middle and lower fibers by over 38%. Same with decline.

[slippz]

Ok I didn't want to create a new thread, and I apologize if I'm hijacking, but I also have a few questions...

My chest workouts consist of a lot of sets on bb flat bench, and then standing cable flies, but I haven't really seen much chest development. I mean, I can feel it get harder, but I don't notice any good shape up. I'll sometimes do inclines, but very rarely declines.

Should I also just be doing db flat and db incline? Or should I stick with bb incline?

Here's my chest set
95x6 (warmup)
105x5 (warmup)
135x4 (warmup)
155x3 (warmup)
185x3
205x3
225x2
235x1
245x1
265x1
205x6
205x7
205x8
135 til failure (usually around 20)
135 close grip x 6
95 close grip til failure (around 15)

and then standing cable flies for about 5 sets at 15lbs each arm for 10 reps (last set i do 20 for 8)

[F4iGuy]

You NEED flat bench. Studies have shown over and over again that doing incline bench only improves the strength upper muscle fibers by 12%, while lowering fiber strength of the middle and lower fibers by over 38%. Same with decline.

I doubt any form of benching will LOWER fiber strength. I think you meant to say different angles target different muscle fibers to a greater/lesser degree.

[graeme87]

Just push out 6 sets to failure on the flat BB bench press. Aim for 6-8 reps.

You can add in a few sets of flies or dips, I don't like cables for my chest but that's just me.

Flat BB bench is like squats for legs, if you want to get big you have the bench!

[SwollenMooseKnuckle8]

Flat bench seems to be a bit over-rated in my opinion.