Advice on building chest relative to arms etc.?

[jackbrannen]

Hi everyone,

I've been lifting a little for a few years just to stay in shape. Recently, I've changed my routine to lift more each week and try to be more deliberate about bulking up.

I think I'm adding mass reasonably well, but my chest seems small in proportion to the rest of my body, even my back and especially my arms. I think the problem might be that I haven't been isolating my chest properly. I was doing normal, incline, and decline bench and some dumbbell flyes (pretty narrow grip, with palms facing my feet). I never felt like my chest got a great workout—even on days when I worked really hard and my arms felt like jello afterward, my chest never felt that way.

I Googled for exercises to isolate my pecs and learned that I should probably lose the benches, add cable crossovers, change my dumbbell flyes so that I am going as wide as possible and holding the weights so my palms face each other.

Am I doing the right thing? And have I diagnosed the problem right, or could there be other issues going on here?

Thanks a lot for any advice,
Jack

 

[2DIEZEL]

Isolating is more less for targeting specific areas, but doing cable cross overs and flys arent going to add mass. Stick to the bread and butter...BB bench or DB flat decline and incline, no fancy stuff. Also toss in some heavy tri movements like weighted dips and CGB, that will help add to your bench. Lift heavy and eat

 

[jackbrannen]

Thanks for writing, 2diezel.

Isolating is more less for targeting specific areas

Is this a typo? I'm not sure whether you meant "more" or "less."

but doing cable cross overs and flys arent going to add mass.

I thought pretty much any exercise would add mass if you did it right? I'm doing 6, 4, and 2 reps and definitely working to failure. Is that wrong?

Stick to the bread and butter...BB bench or DB flat decline and incline, no fancy stuff.

I hear ya, but that's what I'm saying—I've been doing that and it's building up only my arms and not my chest.

Also toss in some heavy tri movements like weighted dips and CGB, that will help add to your bench.

Well, if my bench gets better, but it's only because my tris are stronger, it seems like it kind of defeats the purpose; am I understanding you right? The problem is that my tris are already doing too much of the work and keeping my chest from getting a good workout (I think).

 

[2DIEZEL]

When im bulking i stick to the basics...Heavy compound movements...Such as BB and DB presses using heavier weight, more in the 4-6-8 rep range. Flys and cross overs are more of a shaping execise and not a mass builder. I usally keep the solation movements for when im cutting.

 

[Big_BK]

Isolation exercises are not the best for gaining mass. Stick with the heavy compounds like suggested. What does your ENTIRE routine look like right now?

 

[JDid23]

Hi everyone,

I've been lifting a little for a few years just to stay in shape. Recently, I've changed my routine to lift more each week and try to be more deliberate about bulking up.

I think I'm adding mass reasonably well, but my chest seems small in proportion to the rest of my body, even my back and especially my arms. I think the problem might be that I haven't been isolating my chest properly. I was doing normal, incline, and decline bench and some dumbbell flyes (pretty narrow grip, with palms facing my feet). I never felt like my chest got a great workout—even on days when I worked really hard and my arms felt like jello afterward, my chest never felt that way.

I Googled for exercises to isolate my pecs and learned that I should probably lose the benches, add cable crossovers, change my dumbbell flyes so that I am going as wide as possible and holding the weights so my palms face each other.

Am I doing the right thing? And have I diagnosed the problem right, or could there be other issues going on here?

Thanks a lot for any advice,
Jack

if you want to hit more of your chest with your bench, go wide grip.... also, as previously mentioned, weighted dips are great. If you have the graviton, you choose between 2-3 different grips, do the one that is the widest.

 

[ExtraMile]

I never felt like my chest got a great workout—even on days when I worked really hard and my arms felt like jello afterward, my chest never felt that way.

You just said the problem yourself, maybe your grip is a little narrow or maybe you triceps are more dominant and taking the strain, try squeezing the peck at the top and getting a stretch at the bottom, this is easier if you use dumbells. So you could start with flat barbell bench, 6-8 reps for strength gains, then go to incline dumbell bench 3 sets 10-12 reps squeezing chest at the top and concentrating on negetive and stretch then finally move onto dips getting a stretch in the chest at the bottom 12-15 reps total for 3 sets or so. Squeeze and pose your pecs between sets will help too.

I Googled for exercises to isolate my pecs and learned that I should probably lose the benches, add cable crossovers, change my dumbbell flyes so that I am going as wide as possible and holding the weights so my palms face each other.

nahh dont loose the benches, they are best for mass gains, you could maybe superset your dips with crossovers to finish off the pecs at the end of your workout, but dont make isolation the basis of your workout

see bold

 

[jackbrannen]

When im bulking i stick to the basics...Heavy compound movements...Such as BB and Flys and cross overs are more of a shaping execise and not a mass builder. I usally keep the solation movements for when im cutting.

Ah, okay, that makes sense.

 

[2DIEZEL]

I think i made a typo...I meant to say BB is a mass builder.

 

[jackbrannen]

Isolation exercises are not the best for gaining mass. Stick with the heavy compounds like suggested. What does your ENTIRE routine look like right now?

Before you read it, let me say that I know this workout is not going to get me huge. I really don't want to spend more than 3 days a week. I would be completely satisfied right now if I could just get my chest to build up relative to the rest of my body.

Each exercise is 6, 4, and 2 reps, and I do 2 exercises at a time, alternating sets.

This was the OLD workout (the new one is below):

MONDAY (quads, calves, hams, bis, traps)
1. Squats (on the machine—yeah, yeah, I know)
2. Calf raises
3. Hamstring curls (machine)
4. Concentration curls
5. DB shrugs
6. BB bicep curls
7. BB shrugs

WEDNESDAY (delts, lats)
1. Lat pull-downs (machine)
2. DB military press
3. Lat rows (machine)
4. DB lateral delt raises
5. DB bent-over lat rows
6. DB anterior delt raises

FRIDAY (pecs, tris)
1. Flat bench
2. Tri pull-down
3. Incline bench
4. DB french press
5. Decline bench
6. Skullcrushers
7. Pec flye


This is the NEW workout that I just started this week-—my initial plan to do a better job of isolating my pecs:

MONDAY (pecs, delts)
1. Pec flye
2. DB seated military press
3. Bottom-to-top cable crossovers
4. BB military press
5. Top-to-bottom cable crossovers
6. DB lateral delt raise
7. Incline flye
8. DB anterior delt raise

WEDNESDAY (bis and lats with 1 exercise each for quads, hams, and traps)
1. Squats (machine)
2. Hamstring curls (machine)
3. Lat pull-downs
4. Concentration curls
5. Lat rows (machine)
6. BB bi curls
7. BB bent-over lat rows
8. DB shrugs

FRIDAY (pecs, tris, 1 exercise for calves)
1. DB flye
2. Tricep pulldown
3. Top-to-bottom cable crossovers
4. French press
5. Bottom-to-top cable crossovers
6. Skullcrushers
7. Decline flye
8. Calf raises