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BIG CHEST! BiGho, Needsize? Buehler?

JKurz1

Banned
Good posts for the delt, arms and traps thread from last week...........Let's do the same for Chest..........great knowledgeable information for everyone to learn from..........

What does your chest routine look like? Weight? Reps? Sets? :supercool
 
basics are best, my basic routine for the past few years has been these exercises
flat bench
incline dumbell press
incline dumbell flyes
 
How heavy do you go on the flies and how bent are your elbows? Do you let the weight go down as far as possible to get a good stretch? I haven't done flies in years.

By the way, these threads are a great idea. I really liked the shoulder one.
 
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5x5 incline bench
2x8 flat bench dumbell press
2x8 incline bench dumbell press

stick to the basics i say. i cant do flat bench with a barbell because of a bad shoulder but i would probably throw that in after inclines instead of the incline db press.
 
IronandGravity said:
How heavy do you go on the flies and how bent are your elbows? Do you let the weight go down as far as possible to get a good stretch? I haven't done flies in years.

By the way, these threads are a great idea. I really liked the shoulder one.

I've gone up to the 90's for sets of 8-10, but it hurts my shoulders now to go quite that heavy. I aim for a slight bend in the elbows and bring them down as low as I can
 
I do alot of volume and incline presses.

Incline bb press 4x10-12 @ 245
Incline db press (with wrist rotation at the top) 4x10 @100 lb dbs
flat press either db or bb 4x 10 (once a month I do a max day and do flat bb press first) if db I do 120 lb if bb I stay at 275
Incline cable flys 4x10 @ 120lb on each side.
To finish some times i use the smithpress and do an incline press at 185 for 4 sets of burnouts.

My chest routine is a little differant I know but it works for me,and I dont do this routine when Im cutting.
 
how much would you guys say the weights used determine the size of the chest? I'm talking bb style benching, not powerlifter super-ached style.. I've added 25lbs to my bench in the last month with NO size gains, not even a 1/8"

im starting to wonder if the pecs might be more suited to slower, squeezing style reps with less weight & more volume
 
Tweakle said:
how much would you guys say the weights used determine the size of the chest? I'm talking bb style benching, not powerlifter super-ached style.. I've added 25lbs to my bench in the last month with NO size gains, not even a 1/8"

im starting to wonder if the pecs might be more suited to slower, squeezing style reps with less weight & more volume

Not everyone will be the same!! Both NS and Bigho (lol) have pretty thick pecs..I think Marcus Ruhl probably has the best chest (say what you will about his physique) but i have his video and that mofo blasts a way with heavy heavy inclines with a superwide grip..He does start with high reps (15-20) and each set is heavier and heavier eventually working down to about 3-8 reps!!
 
Lately I haven't been able to do a tonne chest work cause my rotator cuff is bothering me.

Nonetheless, here it is:

Incline DB press 15,10,8,6
Flat DB press 10,8,6
Pec Deck 12,12,12

Normally I do 4 or so more sets.
 
wnt2bBeast said:
Not everyone will be the same!! Both NS and Bigho (lol) have pretty thick pecs..I think Marcus Ruhl probably has the best chest (say what you will about his physique) but i have his video and that mofo blasts a way with heavy heavy inclines with a superwide grip..He does start with high reps (15-20) and each set is heavier and heavier eventually working down to about 3-8 reps!!


I noticed in Ruhl's video he does very partial reps, and I was surprised how light he went on his exercises. He was using maybe 4-5 25's a side on the smith machine. Didnt really understand the method. Maybe to keep constant tension on the muscle? Wasnt impressed with what I saw though. I could repeat almost everything I saw on the video, and even do more reps with the 150lb dumbell rows. Id expect alot more out of someone his size. Maybe its just me though. His size is impressive nonetheless.
 
I have 2 days for chest. Thursday is flat bench, something like:

11(or more) sets of flat bench, 5 sets of heavy cable flies , 2 sets of push-ups to failure

Then sunday for inclines:

11 sets of incline bench, 10 sets of speed work on flat bench , 3-5 sets Cable or Incline Machine flies, 2 sets push-ups to failure

Thats a general idea. Im incorporating the 5X5 in my flat bench routine now, with extra volume added. Its all in my journal. The best routines are in the first 3 pages before my injury.
 
WalkingBeast said:
I noticed in Ruhl's video he does very partial reps, and I was surprised how light he went on his exercises. He was using maybe 4-5 25's a side on the smith machine. Didnt really understand the method. Maybe to keep constant tension on the muscle? Wasnt impressed with what I saw though. I could repeat almost everything I saw on the video, and even do more reps with the 150lb dumbell rows. Id expect alot more out of someone his size. Maybe its just me though. His size is impressive nonetheless.

I agree with you on the d-bell rows, i know you got 25 with a 150??? (sick) I respect your opinion and lifts always but i think some of those plates seemed to be bigger than 45's? wasnt his last set over 500 for 8 reps...anyway none of us are marcus and i think its better to hear but the regular folk ;) do in their routines...
 
wnt2bBeast said:
I agree with you on the d-bell rows, i know you got 25 with a 150??? (sick) I respect your opinion and lifts always but i think some of those plates seemed to be bigger than 45's? wasnt his last set over 500 for 8 reps...anyway none of us are marcus and i think its better to hear but the regular folk ;) do in their routines...

ThanX brother!! Ronnie Coleman's video was more impressive IMO. Dorian and Markus's videos didnt impress me at all. For thier size I figure they should be moving a hell of alot more weight. If I was going to make a video, Id want to move the most weight for the video, and not just rep 35lb dumbells for biceps, or something similiar. I saw the video recently and remember all the plates looking like 25's. The reps were also very partial. Basically just like doing the middle range of motion. Even Ruhls deads off the rack were only at around 500lbs for a few reps. I expect by the time Im that size, Ill be a hell of alot stronger if I can almost match that shit now, and even better the dumbell rows, and Im not on anything at the moment. Theres a number of lifters on here that could match that video Im sure, at half the size. Not sure if the callout was directed towards me or Jkurz, but I was just saying, I expected alot more. I see alot of huge guys who cant back up thier size, and without the strength its just a puffed up appearence. Ive always wanted both
 
That Day again -

INCLINE BNCH - 135 X 12, 225 X 5 X 5
FLT BNCH - X 4 SETS - HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH MY AC JOINT ON FLAT MOVEMENTS - CRACKS AND THROBS AT NIGHT.........VERY BIZZARRE.
DECINE BCH X 3
INC. DBELL FLY 75 X 10 X
FLT FLY - 70 X 10 X 2
DIPS X 2

CALVES X 9 SETS...........
 
JKurz1 said:
That Day again -

INCLINE BNCH - 135 X 12, 225 X 5 X 5
FLT BNCH - X 4 SETS - HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH MY AC JOINT ON FLAT MOVEMENTS - CRACKS AND THROBS AT NIGHT.........VERY BIZZARRE.
DECINE BCH X 3
INC. DBELL FLY 75 X 10 X
FLT FLY - 70 X 10 X 2
DIPS X 2

CALVES X 9 SETS...........

Do you have the same problem when you do inclines? How do you like declines, was wondering if maybe i should add them into my routine?
 
Incline is pain free...........decline hurts, but I fight through it, but Bench is unbearable. Even d-bell bench. I do them because I am of the opinion that you need all three movements for a full, rounded chest...........I like Declines, just don't make them an ego lift.......you have AIM beast?
 
no AIM...I here ya on the ego thing..i really do try to leave it at the door..funny you say that was doing legs this morning and there was a female doing squats..she was strong she almost 200 on the bar feet very close and her range of mtion was about 3 inches..i was like whats the point..then i love this one the good ole hack machine load the plates up and the same thing 3 inch range of motion..ohh boy
 
This is what I hear "Hey, you're a big boy, why am I benching 30lbs more than you?"

My response "because my ass and back are on the bench the entire time, I don't have a spotter doing shrugs while he spots me, and my form is solid....dochbag."

My fav. is the dude on the preacher curl with the 45's and looks like he's doing the pop-corn dance".............
 
I just noticed, that the routines posted, (with one exception) I could prob. knock out in 30-45 mins MAX........eveyone training under an hour now-a-days?
 
JKurz1 said:
I just noticed, that the routines posted, (with one exception) I could prob. knock out in 30-45 mins MAX........eveyone training under an hour now-a-days?

Im right around the 1 hour mark except for back day..But on those shorter workout days ill hit some calves abs just something quick..
 
That question Tweakle asked baffles me. I was buying into the whole idea presented by DoggCrapp, that the more strength gains you make, the more size gains you'll make, but now I'm skeptical. Adding 30 lbs. to your bench with no size at all, Tweakle?

No one seemed to answer his question, so I'll reiterate it for him: How come, if he made those gains, his size didn't budge? Besides the obvious idea that his diet possibly could've been out of whack, but I doubt it...
 
your tendons can be stonger than shit, but yo may still be a lightweight.........I know a few solid guys who are a buck 70, soaking wet, that bench over 3 plates, because they are short and have strong ass tendons..........very simple.
 
Tom Treutlein said:
That question Tweakle asked baffles me. I was buying into the whole idea presented by DoggCrapp, that the more strength gains you make, the more size gains you'll make, but now I'm skeptical. Adding 30 lbs. to your bench with no size at all, Tweakle?

No one seemed to answer his question, so I'll reiterate it for him: How come, if he made those gains, his size didn't budge? Besides the obvious idea that his diet possibly could've been out of whack, but I doubt it...

Diet is definitely key especially when not juiced!! I belive you cannot get bigger without getting stronger..Perhaps he made a form adjustment somehwere along the way that allowed him to increase his weight or he may have been using too light a weight previously?? size will follow especially if you keep getting stronger..
 
The only thing that confuses me is how powerlifters can squat huge weights and not grow too much. Granted they're not tiny, they don't get huge legs despite the fact that their strength increases are huge.

Is it maybe because they're squatting in doubles or triples, which only allows for the CNS to be triggered to be more effecient and not so much damage the muscle tissue and cause growth?
 
Tom Treutlein said:
The only thing that confuses me is how powerlifters can squat huge weights and not grow too much. Granted they're not tiny, they don't get huge legs despite the fact that their strength increases are huge.

Is it maybe because they're squatting in doubles or triples, which only allows for the CNS to be triggered to be more effecient and not so much damage the muscle tissue and cause growth?

absolutely..training in the low (1-4) rep range you may not see very much size but you will get strong as hell..Thats not to say you should never do a set of 4 reps if you want size..5x5 you will experience strength as well hypertrophy (best of both worlds to me)
 
Yeah, my goals are kind of mixed. I want strength in my legs now. Size in the upper body. The reason being, my legs are way ahead of the rest of me. Or at least, enough that I'm happy with their size. Besides, I love to grapple or spar with anyone who'll accept, and leg drive is so nice to have in those cases - and I figure the more you can squat, the more drive you'll have, thusly making you more effective, correct?

So anyway, I wanted to do something like HST for my upper body where I wanted the size, and Westside for lower to develop mainly strength. Could this work?
 
thanks for bringing that back up Tom :) fwiw I went from benching 285 to 315 for 2 sets of 5 with the same style, form & without bouncing or adding an arch or anything (I cant afford to cheat with my back problems) and didn't gain a damn thing. I gained size on my legs and arms in the same time period so I don't think it was because of my diet

My bench was dispropotionately weak before compared to my dip (+180lbs for 4 I think, been a while) and my hammer iso bench (540lbs for 5) so I guess part of it could be simply that I even with the increase in poundage I wasn't putting as much stress on my pecs as I had been when I was doing the other lifts.

I'm not benching right now because all that work for no size gain makes it a bit of a waste of time for me.
 
Tom Treutlein said:
Yeah, my goals are kind of mixed. I want strength in my legs now. Size in the upper body. The reason being, my legs are way ahead of the rest of me. Or at least, enough that I'm happy with their size. Besides, I love to grapple or spar with anyone who'll accept, and leg drive is so nice to have in those cases - and I figure the more you can squat, the more drive you'll have, thusly making you more effective, correct?

So anyway, I wanted to do something like HST for my upper body where I wanted the size, and Westside for lower to develop mainly strength. Could this work?

I dont know what your overall goals are..But if you crave size continue to build ur legs.nothing wrong with big freakish sweeping quads ;) and yes you can use different methods for body parts..Ive had some bad knees and im using the 5x5 to get my squats back up plus a little xtra volume..
 
I usually complete my chest routine in an hour or less. It all depends on how my people start talking to me at the gym. It becomes a serious problem the more people you meet.
 
cwick0 said:
I usually complete my chest routine in an hour or less. It all depends on how my people start talking to me at the gym. It becomes a serious problem the more people you meet.
I used to believe this too, until I learned the headphone trick..........I havent had batteries in my phones for at least 8 weeks, but I still wear them everyday.........that way, I can hear the radio in the gym, hear people I want to hear, and totally ignore those who talk 10X heavier than they lift.....
 
Jkurz1,
My partner does the same thing when im not around. It all depends on what kind of mood im in when i get to the gym. If im in a serious mood, nobody talks to me. It im a little non-shalant, everybody talks to me. I know, my own fault. However, i still get business taking care of.
 
I was trying to concentrate on bench today and this damn blond with huge melons insisted on doing SLDL right in front of me :p But i had a pretty decent chest workout.. 12 sets was done in about 45 mins..lately i feel like i can do some extra volume and im thinking of adding maybe 3 more sets to my chest routine..Jkurz i like the headphone trick!!!
 
I worked chest yesterday and decided that I am going to have to go back to BB presses instead of DB's on incline and flat. I can press way more weight on the DB's than I can get in possition. My new routine will be something like this.

1) incline bb press 4x6-8
2) flat bench 4x6-8
3) decline 3x8
4) hammer strength wide chest 3x6

I am also going to add incline flyes, very light to begin with because of my shoulder.
 
big4life said:
I worked chest yesterday and decided that I am going to have to go back to BB presses instead of DB's on incline and flat. I can press way more weight on the DB's than I can get in possition. My new routine will be something like this.

1) incline bb press 4x6-8
2) flat bench 4x6-8
3) decline 3x8
4) hammer strength wide chest 3x6

I am also going to add incline flyes, very light to begin with because of my shoulder.

Looks good..just out of curiosity how heavy are you on the D-bells right now? routine is similar to mine i was thinking of adding in some type of hammer machine or decline's..if you had to choose one of those which would it be? thanks bro
 
wnt2bBeast said:
Looks good..just out of curiosity how heavy are you on the D-bells right now? routine is similar to mine i was thinking of adding in some type of hammer machine or decline's..if you had to choose one of those which would it be? thanks bro


Right now I am doing the 105's on incline. I can press the 125's, the heaviest my gym has, but I can't get them into position easy enough. So I am going back to bb's to prevent another injury.

If I had to choose one over the other I would choose the decline, just because I feel like it helps round out my chest. I like the wide chest because I get a really good squeeze in my chest, almost like flyes. I like the hammer strength equipment, but some of them put my shoulder in bad positions.
 
Thanks Big i was leaning towards declines..For the longest time when training chest i would start with either BB or BB Inclines then for my second movement use dbells but today i went bb for bothe moves and it felt a lot better got a better pump in my chest so im gonna stick with the BB for awhile..
 
The Hammer wide is the SHIT, it's awesome.. love the stretch and squeeze at the top. Combine that with dips and slight incline DB pressing and that's my dream chest workout :)

only problem is the leverage is so insanely good on it you need 100lb plates if you use it as your primary chest exercise. Total ego trip loading up the equivalent of 6+ 45's a side :)
 
Tweakle said:
The Hammer wide is the SHIT, it's awesome.. love the stretch and squeeze at the top. Combine that with dips and slight incline DB pressing and that's my dream chest workout :)

only problem is the leverage is so insanely good on it you need 100lb plates if you use it as your primary chest exercise. Total ego trip loading up the equivalent of 6+ 45's a side :)

Heh, for YOU, maybe ;) I've never gone over 5/side, and I don't think our HWC will fit more than that anyway!

It is a neat exercise, though. The only downside is sometimes the stretch scares me a little...I might have the seat a bit too far down *shrugs* But I've always been anal about that sort of thing; I want to be the total opposite of the dipshits who move the seat all the way up, then do choppy 4" reps with twice the weight they can really handle.
 
guldukat said:
Heh, for YOU, maybe ;) I've never gone over 5/side, and I don't think our HWC will fit more than that anyway!

It is a neat exercise, though. The only downside is sometimes the stretch scares me a little...I might have the seat a bit too far down *shrugs* But I've always been anal about that sort of thing; I want to be the total opposite of the dipshits who move the seat all the way up, then do choppy 4" reps with twice the weight they can really handle.

you mean ur supposed to have a bigger range of motion?? :rolleyes: i couldnt believe how many 1/2 and 3/4 reps heroes were in the gym last nite..this one guy loaded up the leg press to the gills only to barely even bend his knee..wtf??? then another right next to me came a little late his buddies' were already doing inlcine d-bells (you know with the bench set at about an 80 degree angle lol) just picks up the 80's and bangs outnot even one solid full rep just a bunch of 1/2..and hes a string bean not like hes got a huge chest!!!
 
The only gym near me that has one has these cool extra-narrow 20kg plates rather than the big thick rubberized 45's most gyms use. I crank the seat down as far as possible & the stretch at the bottom is amazing.. it feels much safer than going heavy with DB's & if you can find 2 big guys to ''spot'' you the strength-curve on it & the way it takes the stabilizers out of the equation means that you can do a fair few forced reps after hitting failure -something that I dont feel safe doing with dips or DBs

I'm amazed that the majority of people using that machine do so with one or maybe one and a half plates a side, I'm like wtf just do pushups or something you'd be getting more resistance.

I'm considering buying one for my home gym I love it so much :)
 
JKurz1 said:
That Day again -

INCLINE BNCH - 135 X 12, 225 X 5 X 5
FLT BNCH - X 4 SETS - HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH MY AC JOINT ON FLAT MOVEMENTS - CRACKS AND THROBS AT NIGHT.........VERY BIZZARRE.
DECINE BCH X 3
INC. DBELL FLY 75 X 10 X
FLT FLY - 70 X 10 X 2
DIPS X 2

CALVES X 9 SETS...........


Thinking of incorporating that Zane thread into chest today........guess I'll have to check the ego at the door..........
 
JKurz1 said:
That Day again -

INCLINE BNCH - 135 X 12, 225 X 5 X 5
FLT BNCH - X 4 SETS - HAVING MAJOR PROBLEMS WITH MY AC JOINT ON FLAT MOVEMENTS - CRACKS AND THROBS AT NIGHT.........VERY BIZZARRE.
DECINE BCH X 3
INC. DBELL FLY 75 X 10 X
FLT FLY - 70 X 10 X 2
DIPS X 2

CALVES X 9 SETS...........


Thinking of incorporating that Zane thread into chest today........guess I'll have to check the ego at the door..........
 
Let us know how it works man. Slow negatives are nothing new. Reminds me of DC. It gets rough on the joints with certain exercises after awhile.
 
GReaaattt...just what I need to hear with my bum shoulder and all..........we'll see.....flat bench puts my pain threshold through the fing roof and it SUCKS!
 
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