Yep, I went there (sorry if no-one ever wanted this one started). But the other round-tables are just so helpful, and with my new split (and resurrecting the Back and Legs round tables, such good reads), I went looking for the chest one, and couldn't find it.....if its there and I just suck then I'll delete this and we can all move on.

It just seems like proper chest training is actually taken for granted (stupid huh), but there are all kinds of questions I would like the opinion of the guys here on regarding chest training. I want a bigger chest, and this is clearly one of the muscles with alot of nonsense and opinions out there about how to train it, so lets get some good info together.

A few starter questions below, but feel free to just go with it and tell us the story of how to get a big chest, cause lets face it, every guy will check out your chest.


1. What is your preferred chest routine, choice of exercise? Heavy loading, light, insane volume, low volume???




2. How important is the whole arching the back technique? Is this irrelevant nonsense for bodybuilders, just turning a flat into a decline bench so we can push more for a contest we are never going to compete in?




3. Chest Flies. Do you need to bother with them, or aren't they worth the risk once you start getting the dumb-bells up over the 100lb mark? To this end, does anyone care about the pec-dec?




4. Dips. Should they be a primary chest exercise you do when fresh and ready? Are dips really that good for chest??


5. What do you do to look after your poor shoulders and elbows, cause lets face it, smashing the chest invariably leads to issues.

1. I try to alternate pressing with flys. Also try and alternate weekly an Upper chest focus week. An example of a 1 type of chest day would proceed as such- Incline Press, DB fly, HS isolateral incline press, Cable fly (with the motion changing between a upward fly, a parallel fly, or a coming downward fly), and DB serratus Pulls. The weight/rep scheme usually falls inbetween heavy loading and medium volume is my direction. I dont get quite as heavy these days, because A. With Fly motions (something that i think is really underrated these days as a big portion of the chest's Action is to Adduct the Arm), the Glenohumeral joint can very easily become annoying, and B. With Heavy pressing motions, its very easy to allow the Triceps to eagerly jump into a movement. Yes yes, we all know about concentrating movements and isolating with them, but still.

2. I think arching your back during benching is kinda unnecessary for bodybuilders.

3. The problem with maximum heavy chest flies like that is as you get up there, people tend to start changing their form. Their elbows bend more, or bend during the movement and alter the muscles hit, or just lose a lot of range. Plus like i said earlier, its pretty easy to irritate the shoulder when you start doing heavy DB flies. If you can keep your form when doing heavier chest flies, and its doesnt hurt your shoulder, hell yes do em. Pec Dec is a meh machine to me. I dont really care for it personally.

4. I do enjoy Dips. Weighted Dips are great. As with any Big muscle movement, you just have to make sure you arent throwing secondary muscles into the mix (unless of course you're doing say Tris and chest on the same day). Slow down the movement, and concentrate on the pec.

5. Perfect the form, bump down the weight slightly, and concentrate. I found the more ego i allowed to help me lift heavier, the more secondary muscles jumped in/the more irritated joints became.

My .02.

That's a good point, who gets wrist issues and what do you do to look after them.

Anyone use wrist straps/wraps when benching?

Should be interesting to see what people really thinks works for chest, maybe just pushups ;)

After years of abusing my shoulders with shitty methods and too many max attempts, I'm left with a VERY small selection of pec exercises that do not aggravate my shoulders. Sad part is, my chest is now smaller than when I was younger.

I'm stuck with only dumbbell exercises (Incline DB Press, Flat DB Press, Decline DB Press, and push-up variations as a finisher).

Exercises that really kill my shoulders are Dips, any benching with a barbell, and Flyes.

Although I'm doing well building upper and lower pecs, my outer pecs are flat and small, which gives them a narrow appearance.

If anyone has any suggestions (bizzaro exercises) that may help, I'd be very appreciative!

Akuma and Meymz

These are terrific ideas. Limited ROM may be the key for me. But I may have to live with shitty outer pecs because, as Meymz said, it's the stretch position that's the killer.
At least you helped me think outside the box, Akuma. Now I'll approach my training according to that, and hopefully I'll find a groove where the delt stretch isn't an issue.

Thanks guys!

ID - I don't think it's possible to develop more "outer pecs", I think it may just be the shape of your pecs which is genetic. Some people just don't have broad chest muscles, and thus, must learn to accept looking more "narrow" (for lack of a better word).

I tend to agree, Lanky. But my pecs were "wider" when I was younger and did a LOT of flat bench presses and flyes. I've lost a lot since my bad shoulders have prevented me from really training pecs thoroughly the past couple of years since returning to lifting.

I'm going to play around with some of Akuma's suggestions. Looks like partials from many angles could be a possibility.

So here's a question.

Who here does any tricep pre-exhaustion work before (or during) a chest workout?

MAF14 would like to know how some people have gone about developing their upper chest/clavicular pec or whatver its called.....

Personally, I like high incline presses (Smith or DB) with the bar/DBs to the level of the collarbone. Angle of bench above 45degrees.

Chest gets hit twice per week:

Pre-exhaust with cable flies
Very low DB incline press ramping weight. Drop weight around 35% and proceed to do a rest pause set to failure.
Very low Smith incline press bringing the bar to throat and ramping weight. Drop weight around 35% and proceed to do a rest pause set to failure.

Sets and reps vary, but typically I'll stick with 8-12 reps per set for a few weeks with lighter weight and then drop the reps and increase the weight for 3-6 reps per set. When I go back to my higher rep/lighter weight segment, I'll attempt it with heavier weight than my last transition.

Straight bar benches always irritate my shoulders after a few weeks. My chest seems to thicken up nicely with dumbbells but the barbell movements provide a more complete look. So I use straight bar variations for 3-4weeks then switch to strictly dumbbells for 6-8weeks. Friends seem to be able to tell the differences. I think the two have very different effects on pectoral growth. I like to alternate peck-deck with cable crossovers depending on how much I have left at the end of a workout. I think incline flyes are a must.
Dips are interchangeable with decline press' imo. I don't do either when I am flat benching because I use a power-lifting arch. Most bodybuilders have a well developed lower chest compared to the rest so an emphasis on declines and dips is unnecessary. DB pullovers seem to affect my lats and serratus more than anything else. One mistake I made was not concentrating on inclines early enough. still working on catching them up. As for total volume I like three exercises, but I hit each muscle group twice a week. My favorite grouping is : INC DB PRESSS, FLAT DB PRESS CABLE CROSSOVER. Then the next time that week FLAT DB PRESS, INC DB PRESS & PECK-DECK FLY.