When most lifters begin to design a new routine, what bodypart usually gets its workout written first? Chest. Which workout is usually performed first? Chest. If I asked any average male lifter in the gym what bodypart they wish they would see better growth in, what bodypart do you think would be uttered the most? Yes, it would probably be the chest. Just about everytime I log on here at worldfitness, I see another post titled along the lines of "How can I make my chest grow", or "I have a little sheepish chest that is as flat as a 9 year old boy's." In this post I will give the flat chested a way to add some inches to those little ant bites!
First off, let me explain who I am. I'm a third year student at a University in Texas, and I'm planning to open up my own gym here in my home town. I trained over the past summer at a local gym, and have been doing resistance training for around 9 years, and even competed in a natural amateur bodybuilding competition.
**The Workout Principles**
The problem today many lifters run into is attempting to isolate each body part with a seperate workout, one day a week. For example,
Mon=chest
Tuesday=Back
Wednesday=arms
Thursday=Shoulders
Friday=Legs
Here lies the first problem. Frequent stimulus is required in order to obtain new muscle mass. The only possible way you can gain muscle mass on this routine is to perform tons of volume in that one workout to prevent a detraining effect by the time the next workout rolls around.
Also, the body is one unit, working as a whole. Many of the chest exersizes use bodyparts you are attempting to isolate throughout the week (E.g the chest, back, shoulders, and tris are all used on the bench press). The assistor muscles that help you with your chest exersizes are getting worked 4 times in a row throughout the week. Isolating little assistor muscles with tons of volume will not help you with your chest exersizes, but will probably inhibit your gains by overtraining the muscles that are used secondarily on your big chest exersizes.
Another major reason a lifter does not see growth is because they take on the mindset of "isolating the muscle from every different angle." This is not practical. An example of this type of workout would be:
Bench press
Incline bench press
Decline DB Press
Flyes
This may be an acceptable workout for Ronnie Coleman and the other drugged up "athletes", but this is in no way acceptable for the non-juicing, natural lifter! So what do I advise you do? Well here are my guidelines:
1) Pick a compound movement. Either flat bench press or Incline bench press. Perform this exersize first in your upperbody or fullbody workout. Stick to this exersize as your only chest movement for around a month. This is going to give you enough time to get the feel of the exersize, and actually perform to your potential on it. Compound movements allow for the use of MUCH more weight which in turn means MORE hypertrophy. Don't screw around with puny little isolation exersizes, save your energy for the big movement. This is probably the hardest advice for anyone to follow these days. Go up to someone with a massive chest and ask what their favorite chest exersizes is. I'm willing to bet a good penny that they will say the bench press. More movements DO NOT DIRECTLY CORRELATE with more growth. After about a month of performing only flat bench presses switch to either dips or incline bench press.
2) Switch rep schemes in some planned, uniform manner. Sticking with the same ole' 8-12 rep range for months at a time will not ensure maximal growth! Exersize change alone will not spark the new gains and initiate enough change to break a plateau. An example of planning rep schemes could look like:
3 weeks of 8-12 reps
3 weeks of 5-7 reps
3 weeks of 6-8 reps
2 weeks of 3-4 reps performed with one drop set of 20 reps
3) Don't over do it on your other assistor muscles which help you in your compound chest exersize. It's okay to work the other muscles, but just do not over due it. Bench press hits the tri's and delt's a great deal, so just a little extra volume on these two areas is acceptable.
4) For a short period of time, if you chest is lagging far behind other areas of your body, then I do agree with prioritizing the chest with a little extra work by robbing volume from a few other exersizes for a while. Example:
Cut down the volume on back and delts, maybe elminate tri isolation work for a couple weeks and concentrate on a few more sets of the bench press. The bench press will work your back, tri's and delts anyhow, just not directly. I only suggest doing this for a short period of time, a month at the most.
5) Do not train to failure, ANY form. Stop about 1-3 reps short of not being able to squeeze out another rep with PERFECT form. Failure to me is when you break good form. How can you count a rep that was not performed correctly, which in turn means you did not work the muscle in the correct manner? Training to failure will wreak havoc on your central nervous system and shoot up your recovery times. You want to be able to hit the muscle more often, up to 3 times weekly. Training to failure will make this impossible.
6) Train to get stronger. Try to add weight every week, and a rep per set each workout. Getting stronger is the easiest way to actually see yourself make progress.
7) Train the chest (and all bodyparts for that matter) at least twice weekly, with at least 48 hours rest in between each workout.
**Diet**
You have all heard it, to grow you need to eat. I'm not going to go into great detail here because it will be like a broken record. Here are a few suggestions to look at though:
1) You are going to have to forget about that defined body for a little while. Concentrate on gaining some weight. Packing on the pounds means your overall strength will probably in turn increase as well. Work on gaining the muscle mass first, then worry about decreasing the bodyfat later.
2) Pre and post workout nutrition are very important. Try to consume a shake of about 30 gram of protein and 40-50 grams of carbs before you workout, and another after you workout. Eat a ****load after you workout. The couple of hours after you workout is the time when your muscles are most vulnerable. Prevent catabolization by giving yourself some fast acting nutrients (ice cream, fruit, whey protein, ect.)
Okay, that's about all I'm going to post right now. I'm tired. Happy lifting. Eat big, lift heavy, and grow like a mother****er.
Scott
First off, let me explain who I am. I'm a third year student at a University in Texas, and I'm planning to open up my own gym here in my home town. I trained over the past summer at a local gym, and have been doing resistance training for around 9 years, and even competed in a natural amateur bodybuilding competition.
**The Workout Principles**
The problem today many lifters run into is attempting to isolate each body part with a seperate workout, one day a week. For example,
Mon=chest
Tuesday=Back
Wednesday=arms
Thursday=Shoulders
Friday=Legs
Here lies the first problem. Frequent stimulus is required in order to obtain new muscle mass. The only possible way you can gain muscle mass on this routine is to perform tons of volume in that one workout to prevent a detraining effect by the time the next workout rolls around.
Also, the body is one unit, working as a whole. Many of the chest exersizes use bodyparts you are attempting to isolate throughout the week (E.g the chest, back, shoulders, and tris are all used on the bench press). The assistor muscles that help you with your chest exersizes are getting worked 4 times in a row throughout the week. Isolating little assistor muscles with tons of volume will not help you with your chest exersizes, but will probably inhibit your gains by overtraining the muscles that are used secondarily on your big chest exersizes.
Another major reason a lifter does not see growth is because they take on the mindset of "isolating the muscle from every different angle." This is not practical. An example of this type of workout would be:
Bench press
Incline bench press
Decline DB Press
Flyes
This may be an acceptable workout for Ronnie Coleman and the other drugged up "athletes", but this is in no way acceptable for the non-juicing, natural lifter! So what do I advise you do? Well here are my guidelines:
1) Pick a compound movement. Either flat bench press or Incline bench press. Perform this exersize first in your upperbody or fullbody workout. Stick to this exersize as your only chest movement for around a month. This is going to give you enough time to get the feel of the exersize, and actually perform to your potential on it. Compound movements allow for the use of MUCH more weight which in turn means MORE hypertrophy. Don't screw around with puny little isolation exersizes, save your energy for the big movement. This is probably the hardest advice for anyone to follow these days. Go up to someone with a massive chest and ask what their favorite chest exersizes is. I'm willing to bet a good penny that they will say the bench press. More movements DO NOT DIRECTLY CORRELATE with more growth. After about a month of performing only flat bench presses switch to either dips or incline bench press.
2) Switch rep schemes in some planned, uniform manner. Sticking with the same ole' 8-12 rep range for months at a time will not ensure maximal growth! Exersize change alone will not spark the new gains and initiate enough change to break a plateau. An example of planning rep schemes could look like:
3 weeks of 8-12 reps
3 weeks of 5-7 reps
3 weeks of 6-8 reps
2 weeks of 3-4 reps performed with one drop set of 20 reps
3) Don't over do it on your other assistor muscles which help you in your compound chest exersize. It's okay to work the other muscles, but just do not over due it. Bench press hits the tri's and delt's a great deal, so just a little extra volume on these two areas is acceptable.
4) For a short period of time, if you chest is lagging far behind other areas of your body, then I do agree with prioritizing the chest with a little extra work by robbing volume from a few other exersizes for a while. Example:
Cut down the volume on back and delts, maybe elminate tri isolation work for a couple weeks and concentrate on a few more sets of the bench press. The bench press will work your back, tri's and delts anyhow, just not directly. I only suggest doing this for a short period of time, a month at the most.
5) Do not train to failure, ANY form. Stop about 1-3 reps short of not being able to squeeze out another rep with PERFECT form. Failure to me is when you break good form. How can you count a rep that was not performed correctly, which in turn means you did not work the muscle in the correct manner? Training to failure will wreak havoc on your central nervous system and shoot up your recovery times. You want to be able to hit the muscle more often, up to 3 times weekly. Training to failure will make this impossible.
6) Train to get stronger. Try to add weight every week, and a rep per set each workout. Getting stronger is the easiest way to actually see yourself make progress.
7) Train the chest (and all bodyparts for that matter) at least twice weekly, with at least 48 hours rest in between each workout.
**Diet**
You have all heard it, to grow you need to eat. I'm not going to go into great detail here because it will be like a broken record. Here are a few suggestions to look at though:
1) You are going to have to forget about that defined body for a little while. Concentrate on gaining some weight. Packing on the pounds means your overall strength will probably in turn increase as well. Work on gaining the muscle mass first, then worry about decreasing the bodyfat later.
2) Pre and post workout nutrition are very important. Try to consume a shake of about 30 gram of protein and 40-50 grams of carbs before you workout, and another after you workout. Eat a ****load after you workout. The couple of hours after you workout is the time when your muscles are most vulnerable. Prevent catabolization by giving yourself some fast acting nutrients (ice cream, fruit, whey protein, ect.)
Okay, that's about all I'm going to post right now. I'm tired. Happy lifting. Eat big, lift heavy, and grow like a mother****er.
Scott