The 4 Best Ways to Reignite Chest Growth

1 – Add Some Instability Work… At the Right Time There’s a time and place for everything and that includes using some instability training for the chest. Here’s the only rule about instability training: Make sure you do your stable movements first so that your chest is pre-fatigued before you hit it with something unstable. If you haven’t tried it before, use the “hanging band technique.” If you don’t have a specialized bar, you can double up some loop bands and add kettlebells or plates, as seen below: Alternatively, you can use an unstable base of support by doing push-ups off a stretch band: You’ll find yourself struggling to maintain stability from four different directions (up, down, forward, and backward). 2 – Stop Counting Reps on Accessory Exercises After you’ve already finished your heavy barbell or dumbbell bench workout and are ready to move on to accessory movements (flyes, push-ups, banded exercises, machine work), use a rep range that actually makes you lose count. I’m not saying you need to be doing sets of 85, but high reps are your friend. If you’re strictly counting out sets of 6 or 8 reps on these exercises, you’re not going to build your chest much. Get some blood into the muscle bellies for once so you can get that insane pump you’ve only read about. Use these high-rep accessory exercises as a way to ease up on the shoulder joints, take advantage of superior isolation, and groove the movement patterns for efficiency. 3 – Use Cables for Flyes The classic dumbbell flye is perfectly fine, as long as you realize it forfeits a piece of your force curve. Remember, the chest fibers run in a generally horizontal fashion. When you hold on to a pair of dumbbells, the force angle follows that fibrous path – in theory at least – because of the movement pattern, but in truth, the force angle is directly downward, bearing on the shoulder joint. In other words, you’re attempting to do a horizontal movement using a relatively vertical load. To clarify, let’s exaggerate a bit. Imagine you were going to try flyes with 100-pound dumbbells. There’s a high chance you couldn’t perform a deep flye movement with that kind of weight because it’s just too heavy for the pattern. But, you COULD hold them there at the top of the lift for as long as you want because that position doesn’t stress the actual muscles. However, when you switch that force angle to a horizontal one – in the form of a cable flye where the cables are trying to pull your hands apart rather than the dumbbells simply pressing downward – it can act as a game changer for your activation levels. Not only does this better match the direction of the pec fibers for better quality reps that use more of the force curve, it also makes it much easier to keep good form, even when you’re losing steam. The video gives a demo of conventional incline cable flyes, but also shows an easy way to extend a set by simply converting the flye into a cable press to get some help from the triceps. 4 – Stop Ignoring Push-Ups Whether you want to do them one handed, two handed, using rings, a suspension setup, or with your feet elevated, the classic push-up affords too many benefits that many other movements can’t deliver. There just aren’t many people who are really good at push-ups who don’t have a great chest. That says something. Here are some distinct advantages that push-ups offer: Push-ups are healthier for the shoulder joint. They allow the shoulder blade to move around the ribcage as the movement progresses. This movement matches the upper arm’s change in position – scapulohumeral rhythm. Without it, we’d have gummy shoulders. This is particularly important because conventional bench press patterns force you to pin your shoulder blades back. Consequently, you don’t get a chance to train that healthy scapulohumeral rhythm as much as you need to. Push-ups help engage the serratus anterior, a muscle on the side of the torso that engages when the shoulder blades protract. Developing that muscle can keep your shoulders healthy AND really help finish off an impressive V-taper. Proper push-ups create plenty of time under tension that can’t be duplicated with other exercises. You’ll understand that when you crush repeated sets of 40. You shouldn’t be afraid to make a whole workout out of push-ups. You haven’t “graduated” from them just because you’re strong enough to press 300 pounds. Look at it this way: If you can’t do a set of 35 unbroken push-ups, then you’ve got work to do. No one should get to the point in their fitness where having proper control over bodyweight staples goes to shit and they no longer possess the strength or endurance to do them properly. Try This: If you really want to cook your chest, try super-setting push-ups and bodyweight deep dips. Do 12 reps of push-ups and then do dips to failure and see how many rounds you can get done in 25 minutes. When your chest and triceps are ready to pop out of your shirt, you can DM me
Origin: The 4 Best Ways to Reignite Chest Growth

8 Secrets For Building Your Best Upper Chest

While many lifters get decent mid and low-pec development, it’s rare to see a truly filled-in upper chest. When it comes to aesthetics, the upper pecs are a game changer. Here are eight things you need to know (and do) to build yours. 1 – Check Your Ego at the Door The biggest reason guys lack upper pec development? They turn chest day into ego day. Flat bench pressing gets all the love because they can use more weight. But if you’re serious about reaching your pec potential, you need to put your ego aside and focus on incline movements – even if you train in a public gym and you currently suck at inclines. Upper pecs are a tricky area. Unless you won the genetic lottery, just emphasizing incline pressing may not be enough. 2 – Hit BOTH Parts of Your Upper Pecs When people think about the upper pecs, they only think about the clavicular portion of the pectoralis major. But there are TWO major portions. The clavicular part originates on your clavicles and run almost parallel to your anterior deltoids. When doing incline presses, many lifters mistakenly use the same grip and style they use for flat bench presses. However, research shows that one great way to emphasize the clavicular portion of your pecs is to use a narrower grip when doing inclines (1). This brings your elbows in and gets your shoulders moving in the direction of your clavicular fibers. Note: Don’t bring your elbows in all the way; this will place stress on the anterior delts. If you use a barbell, use a shoulder-width grip and focus on squeezing your hands together as you press the weight to increase the recruitment of your pecs. You can also do this with dumbbells and your arms at a 45-degree angle: This elbow tuck position is so powerful that you may not even need to use an incline. Research shows that simply doing flat bench press with a reverse grip lights up your clavicular fibers (2). The downside of the reverse-grip bench press? You move your arms into external rotation. While it works, it may not be optimal because the pecs assist in internal rotation. As a result, a better approach is to press with dumbbells (off floor or bench). With dumbbells you get the same elbow position at the bottom as a reverse-grip bench press, but you can internally rotate your arms as you press up for max pec recruitment. The other part of your pecs that’s often forgotten is the upper sternal portion. If you look at the pec anatomy, you’ll see sternal fibers running all the way up to the top of your sternum. If you look at the line of pull of these fibers, you’ll see they’re still pulling your arm across your body. If you only press with your elbows tucked, or a steep incline, you might miss this part. To develop the upper sternal fibers, you need a low incline and a wider elbow position. Note: If you have shoulder problems, or experience pain pressing this way, don’t do it! However, if you want to give it a go, here are some tips that’ll help hammer your pecs while sparing your shoulders: Don’t force the elbow flare – maintain a slight elbow tuck. Remember, you’re on a slight incline. Flat bench pressing with wider elbows is riskier for your shoulders because your shoulders are abducted (out to the side) and internally rotated. This puts you in a position of shoulder impingement. But when you use a slight incline, you externally rotate your arms which moves you out of that shoulder impingement position. Stop when your elbows are in line with your shoulders. This is where most people naturally stop anyway. Also note that the distance between the dumbbells and your shoulders will vary depending on your arm length, so stop looking at the dumbbells and start looking at your elbows. 3 – Find YOUR Optimal Bench Angle If you’re trying to build your upper chest, the angle matters. If your bench angle is too high, your upper pecs will drop out and your anterior delts will take over. What’s your optimal angle? Research shows that a bench angle of about 30-45 degrees may be best for hitting your upper pecs (3). However, before you pull out your protractor, you should know that this study was done with only 14 subjects. That leaves us with the question, “What about individual variation?” If you look carefully at a bunch of different people, you’ll notice significant variance in chest cavities (sunken, flat, barrel, etc.). How can people with different chest structures press on the same bench angle and expect the same muscle activation? The optimal angle for you might be higher or lower than the next bro at your gym. To find your best angle, try this test: Attach a light band to a rack or post at about eye level. Keep the band tension very light. Grab the band and raise your hand overhead. Place your opposite hand on your upper pec of the raised arm. Draw your hand in until it’s at or just past the midline of your body. Slowly lower your hand. Stop the movement when you feel your upper pec light up. Turn to a side mirror and
Origin: 8 Secrets For Building Your Best Upper Chest

Growth Factor Chest Training

Here’s what you need to know… To make a muscle grow, put it under constant tension for 50-70 seconds. This technique mimics the benefits of occlusion training. Occlusion training deprives the target muscle of oxygen during lifting and increases the release of growth factors in a muscle. The growth factor workout is a series of complexes that place your pecs under constant tension. You’ll use several flye and press variations. Contract the pecs. Focus on squeezing at the top. Don’t just go through the motions. Muscle Growth: The Short Version To build a muscle, make it release local growth factors. How? By keeping it under constant tension for 50-70 seconds. This does two things: A lot of lactate and hydrogen ions will accumulate inside the muscle. The muscle will be put in a relative hypoxic state – not enough oxygen enters the muscle which becomes oxygen-deprived. The result? Muscle growth is triggered. Growth Factor Training Growth factors are substances such as insulin-like growth factors (IGF-1, IGF-2) and mechanical growth factors (MGF) that have a very high impact on protein synthesis (muscle building). Stimulate the release of these in a muscle and you’ll build it. Studies have shown that growth factors are stimulated mostly via an accumulation of lactate/hydrogen ions inside the target muscle as well as depriving the target muscle of oxygen during lifting. The latter was found when doing studies on occlusion training: performing sets where blood flow to the muscle is greatly reduced by wearing a compressive cuff. Doing so diminishes oxygen transport to the muscles as well as the clearance of metabolic waste (lactate/hydrogen ions). Sets under these conditions have shown a similar hypertrophy response even when very light weights were used compared to regular, heavier sets. Researchers found that the main contributing factor was the release of growth factors. But you don’t have to create an occlusion with a pressure cuff to get the same effect. When a muscle is either tensed (flexing) or stretched, blood entry inside the muscle is greatly reduced. Less oxygen gets in and less metabolic waste is taken out, which creates the same effect as occlusion training in regard to the release of growth factors. How to Mimic The Effects of Occlusion To mimic the beneficial effects of occlusion training, keep the muscles contracted for 50-70 seconds. Out of those 50-70 seconds, spend as much time as possible with the muscles being flexed. So it’s not just about doing the exercises for the duration required, but about focusing on keeping them under tension/flexed throughout. Sure, you could simply perform one exercise for 50-70 seconds non-stop. But there are several reasons to do compounded exercises in one set: It’s easier mentally. You can maintain better focus (after doing an exercise for more than 30 seconds it’s easy to lose focus). It allows you to hit a greater variety of muscle fibers. You can use a bit more weight overall for each exercise (since you have fewer reps of each than you would if you only did one exercise for the same duration). First, Heavy Work Start the chest growth factor workout with a “heavier” exercise that’s still in line with the growth factor way of thinking – longer time under tension – but doesn’t require all the principles (constant tension, constant focus on the pecs). The whole upper body benefits from training heavier on the bench press, and doing so will “turn on” the pecs which will make the subsequent pump work more effective. One method is a multi-contraction drop set. It requires some specific equipment: light resistance bands and Mark Bell’s slingshot. I find this to be the best option but I’ll provide other ones for those who don’t have these tools. Bench Press First do 5 reps with added band resistance. Then remove the bands and immediately do 5 more reps. Then put on the slingshot and pump out as many reps as you can. Do 3 sets. If you don’t have access to a slingshot and bands here are two options you can use: Option 1 5 reps bench press, then as many top-half bench press reps as possible (going down until elbows are just above 90 degrees). Then hold the top position, squeezing the pecs for 15-30 seconds. Option 2 5 reps: Bench press, close-grip 5 reps: Bench, mid-grip 5 reps: Bench, wide-grip Take 10 seconds between each step. Growth Factor Work Complex 1: Press Medley Start with a medley that will blow up your pecs in only one set. This is brutal work even though light weights are used. It’s a long complex, so pay attention! Here’s the whole thing, then I’ll go through the individual elements below: 8-10 reps: Incline dumbbell press, reverse grip Max reps: Incline dumbbell press, regular grip (same weight) Max reps: Push-up, feet elevated Max reps: Flat dumbbell press, reverse grip (same weight) Max reps: Flat dumbbell press, regular grip (same weight) Max reps: Push-up The reverse grip dumbbell press is a great way to hit the upper
Origin: Growth Factor Chest Training

Tip: A Common Chest Training Mistake

Dumbbell Flye Bench Press: Redundant? Dumbbell flyes and dumbbell bench presses both involve horizontal shoulder adduction. They also create the most tension on the pecs when the forearm is parallel to the ground, which is 90-degrees to the force vector. So they’re basically the same exercise when it comes to how they load your pecs, thus making them redundant to one another. You don’t need to do them in the same workout. Dumbbell Bench Press Dumbbell Flyes The reason you can use much more weight when doing a dumbbell bench press is because it allows the triceps to contribute. The weight is also much closer to your shoulder joints, which gives your pecs and front delts a much better mechanical advantage. Do Cable Flyes Instead Cable flyes aren’t redundant to dumbbell bench presses because they load the pecs in a different manner than flyes with dumbbells. Dumbbell flyes provide little to no force on your pecs when your wrists are directly above your shoulders. However, since cable flyes involve working against 45-degree force vector (the cables themselves), your pecs end up dealing with a great deal of load when your hands are directly in front of your
Origin: Tip: A Common Chest Training Mistake