Hardgainer Chest Update

[buddy28]

Hey everyone, Im a newbie here.

My chest is lacking severly so I read alot of old posts concerning chest training. Ive got the typical strong shoulders/big arms and tri's/ small pecs syndrome.

Judging from past posts, the best suggestions are :

1) Use barbells and dumbell 30 degree incline for thicking upper chest.

2) Use barbell and dumbell flat bench for mid and lower pecs.

3) Keep shoulders rolled back when doing inclines and flat bench

4)*keep your shoulders pinched back* throughout the both flat bench and incline movements.

5) Pre exhausation works sometimes

6) Concentrate on the mind-body connection

This is what I gathered from from all your old posts. Id appreciate if any chest hardgainers could share what excersises and tricks contributed to their succcess in chest training. Much appreciated!

Take it ease

 

[Valdez]

pre-fatigue has helped the most for me. and heavy dumbell incline flyes. superset and dropset until you want to die, then do it again on the next set. if you superset and to drop sets overpowering shoulder/arms cannot interfere with stimulation.

 

[Cube]

Yes thats ok. With compound setting, you can try doing a set of high incline db presses (45 degress +)to positive failure, immediately grabbing the next lighter weight and dropping the bench down a notch, and procede a couple more times until you reach say flat bench.

You should also try swiss ball db presses and dropping the hips during the eccentric, and raising them during the concentric. This will serve as an incline press and flat press with a negative built in.

Also remember to alternate high volume/low intensity with low volume/high intensity. Vary the exercises/ order and hand position regularly and incorporate forced reps, negatives, supersets, compound sets, tri sets etc. but infrequently as these are very taxing on the nervous system.

[This message has been edited by Cube (edited April 08, 2001).]

 

[LeviathanX]

I like #6, concentrate on the mind-body connection. That has to be one of the most vague and useless pieces of advice someone could give you.

Basically, to translate that I would say to bring your own music - it blocks out all background noise, and it helps to keep people from asking you questions, talking to you, etc.

Or take martial arts... that is probably the single most effective sport/art for concentration.

 

[bignate73]

Originally posted by Cube:
Yes thats ok. With compound setting, you can try doing a set of high incline db presses (45 degress +)to positive failure, immediately grabbing the next lighter weight and dropping the bench down a notch, and procede a couple more times until you reach say flat bench.

anything above 30 deg. will be putting more emphasis on your anterior deltoids, not bad if you are trying just to improve your bench but for chest emphasis keep the incline lower.

You should also try swiss ball db presses and dropping the hips during the eccentric, and raising them during the concentric. This will serve as an incline press and flat press with a negative built in.

why not keep a neutral spine and train the actual chest muscles vs auxiliary muscles by rolling around and possibly hurting yourself? the swiss ball is a good idea for building balance and coordination thereby making you stronger when you get on a stable bench later. hit these up for a few weeks and you will notice it when you go back to the bench. try alternating dumbells as well as single arm too.
Also remember to alternate high volume/low intensity with low volume/high intensity. Vary the exercises/ order and hand position regularly and incorporate forced reps, negatives, supersets, compound sets, tri sets etc. but infrequently as these are very taxing on the nervous system. i agree with that

[This message has been edited by Cube (edited April 08, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by bignate73 (edited April 09, 2001).]

 

[bignate73]

Originally posted by LeviathanX:
I like #6, concentrate on the mind-body connection. That has to be one of the most vague and useless pieces of advice someone could give you.

Basically, to translate that I would say to bring your own music - it blocks out all background noise, and it helps to keep people from asking you questions, talking to you, etc.

Or take martial arts... that is probably the single most effective sport/art for concentration.

interesting. though it is vague because no one said exactly what to concentrate on. its still important to concentrate on good biomechanics and proper form. how about breathing is that part of the mind body connection? rep speed? balance?

dont discount "#6" unless you know what they are referring to? its not just "feeling the pump or the muscle working".

 

[Cube]

-Bignate73

I recommended dropping the hips on the swiss ball so you can use a heavier weight that you would use for the flat press that will serve as the negative rep for the incline. This is what Charles Poliquin advocated, and since using it myself I found it extremely effective.

 

[gymnyc]

take dumbells and use medium weights and concetrate on the movement.
do it very very easy until u frrl your chest muscle.
after u got feeling, try to increase the weights