help with pecs please

[swolenole]

Looking for advice on my pecs...I'm 6'2" 233 lbs about 12% BF at this minute I measure 50" at the chest....I have two problem areas with my pecs....lower pec seems to carry fat.....not gyno at the nipples but lower.....also side pecs where they tye into my lats look soft and are not well defined...I am lean enough to have well defined cleavage with some veins in my upper chest..I will add a couple of pics whe I was about 10 lbs heavier with a little higher bf..

currently I'm working pecs as follows:

3 sets of 10 incline flys at 80 lbs each.....
3 sets of 10 flat bench at 240 lbs
3 sets of 6 close grip decline at 240 lbs

alternating with this ever other chest/tri/sholder workout

3 sets of 20 inline flys @ 60 lbs each no lock outs
3 sets of 20 180 lbs flat bench no lock outs
3 sets of 20 180 bs close grip decline no lockouts

any advice on how to better work my problem areas ??

 

[stormin67]

Dude, try cable crossovers, 4sets of 12-15 reps, slow. You might also want to try wide lightweight dumbell flies. It's an ego hit but, keep the weights down and the reps up. It helped me on the pecs. Good luck Bro.

 

[ZGzaZ]

There's no mystery exercise that's going to help you here, it all comes down to genetics and diet. You can't target a certain area for fat loss, so doing cable crossovers, and flies aren't going to do much for you. You can either diet down a little more and hope to lose some stubborn fat in those areas, or accept that those are your genetics and is how your chest will look at that body fat percentage.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

zgzas said it well.


IMO you can't isolate a certain region of the chest as it's one big muscle that's used for pushing. Press weights to build and maintain muscle and eating clean to diet off the rest of the fat. We all hold fat in different areas more perdominatly than others.

For you it may be the last to come off when dieting.

I'm not naturally lean either by ANY means. Dieting sucks.com

 

[s8nlilhlpr]

If you really have your diet under control and are pretty lean elsewhere, you may consider using some Yohimbe (sp) or YES as some people call it. Its a topical cream that may help with stubborn areas.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Spot-injecting GH is about the only effective way to spot-reduce fat. I am NOT suggesting that yuu tun GH to get rid of a little fat, but I am saying that there's really nothing you're gonna be able to do that will make that little bit of fat go away other than leaning out even more.

I wouldn't sweat it. It's minor at worst. Were you obese at one time? If so that may be some exra skin left over. A friend of mine lost almost 250 lbs. and has a 'deflated gut' now that is only fixable via cosmetic surgery

 

[thegoodfoods]

if you want to increase your bench you might want to take Arnold's advice. you see, when you do flat or incline BB or DB presses, your chest is wayy bigger and stronger than the triceps and deltoids which are secondary in the movements. so the chest isn't getting as much as a workload as the secondary muscles are. your delts and tris exhaust much quicker, so the chest isn't fully worked on. what you want to do is pre-exhaust and isolate to chest with flys or cable crossovers first, then head on to the presses. it will dent your ego and lower the weight you can handle w/o a doubt, but i know it helped me increase 2 reps on my bench after about 2 weeks of following this method! I would do this for a few weeks, then test your strength. hope it helps!

 

[NJL52]

Looking for advice on my pecs...I'm 6'2" 233 lbs about 12% BF at this minute I measure 50" at the chest....I have two problem areas with my pecs....lower pec seems to carry fat.....not gyno at the nipples but lower.....also side pecs where they tye into my lats look soft and are not well defined...I am lean enough to have well defined cleavage with some veins in my upper chest..I will add a couple of pics whe I was about 10 lbs heavier with a little higher bf..

currently I'm working pecs as follows:

3 sets of 10 incline flys at 80 lbs each.....
3 sets of 10 flat bench at 240 lbs
3 sets of 6 close grip decline at 240 lbs

alternating with this ever other chest/tri/sholder workout

3 sets of 20 inline flys @ 60 lbs each no lock outs
3 sets of 20 180 lbs flat bench no lock outs
3 sets of 20 180 bs close grip decline no lockouts

any advice on how to better work my problem areas ??

You hate a stubborn fat problem. You have fat accumulated under your pecs that won't leave. You can't cause your lower chest to grow in that area, anybody who says you can is lieing.

Golden rule, in order to gain definition, lose weight. I have heard that Yohimburn works miracles for your percise problem. Read up about YES and purchase it if you feel like it will help.

 

[swolenole]

Spot-injecting GH is about the only effective way to spot-reduce fat. I am NOT suggesting that yuu tun GH to get rid of a little fat, but I am saying that there's really nothing you're gonna be able to do that will make that little bit of fat go away other than leaning out even more.

I wouldn't sweat it. It's minor at worst. Were you obese at one time? If so that may be some exra skin left over. A friend of mine lost almost 250 lbs. and has a 'deflated gut' now that is only fixable via cosmetic surgery

Never obese...I've lifted for years...I have been up to 255 lbs before though eating and drinking unchecked....probably around 20% bf at that point...I'm at about 235lbs in that pic now.....now at about 227 lbs...

 

[mm107]

Also, stretch your pecs out. It will let them be looser and not have such a tight look (tight meaning smaller, rather then looking massive)

I have been streching my pecs out, and they have started looking like pecs.... i always figured genetics this, genetics that, but i was pointed out by 2 people that my pecs were tight. Give it some strethcing, and the area near the LATS will look better....

not much u can do about the fat tho, YES helps, but its still gonna be a battle. Goodluck bro...

BTW....dont worry they dont look bad at all tho

 

[Extra_Strong]

if you want to increase your bench you might want to take Arnold's advice. you see, when you do flat or incline BB or DB presses, your chest is wayy bigger and stronger than the triceps and deltoids which are secondary in the movements. so the chest isn't getting as much as a workload as the secondary muscles are. your delts and tris exhaust much quicker, so the chest isn't fully worked on. what you want to do is pre-exhaust and isolate to chest with flys or cable crossovers first, then head on to the presses. it will dent your ego and lower the weight you can handle w/o a doubt, but i know it helped me increase 2 reps on my bench after about 2 weeks of following this method! I would do this for a few weeks, then test your strength. hope it helps!

I dont know what this guy is talking about ha ha.. but i dont think he was having a problem with strength. and as far as your pre-exhausting you muscles you just got more endurance, causeing you to go up two big reps wooo hoo! ..

..
..
i agree with ZGzaZ all you can do is diet down more.

 

[SgtSlaughter]

if you want to increase your bench you might want to take Arnold's advice. you see, when you do flat or incline BB or DB presses, your chest is wayy bigger and stronger than the triceps and deltoids which are secondary in the movements. so the chest isn't getting as much as a workload as the secondary muscles are. your delts and tris exhaust much quicker, so the chest isn't fully worked on. what you want to do is pre-exhaust and isolate to chest with flys or cable crossovers first, then head on to the presses. it will dent your ego and lower the weight you can handle w/o a doubt, but i know it helped me increase 2 reps on my bench after about 2 weeks of following this method! I would do this for a few weeks, then test your strength. hope it helps!

It's just a 2 week deload. We all need them when we begin to stall on our lifts.

 

[HaZaRDouZ]

hey bro, those are some heavy weights you are using. i would try to these 3 exercises for your chest workout.

start with incline bench 3x6-8 great form, on these you need to pause at the bottom for 2-3 seconds before pressing.

flat bench hammer machine. pause at top and push your chest out real hard. make it count.

flys, alternate a fly machine and incline cable flys. i see that you are doing 80lb flys in each hand. i am sorry but i am doubting that your form is good with those weights. 80lb flys thats alot of weight on your joints and arms. if you want to keep the incline flys, move to the cable and make slow your movements down. muscle growth comes with perfect form..


good luck!

 

[al420]

hey bro, those are some heavy weights you are using. i would try to these 3 exercises for your chest workout.

start with incline bench 3x6-8 great form, on these you need to pause at the bottom for 2-3 seconds before pressing.

flat bench hammer machine. pause at top and push your chest out real hard. make it count.

flys, alternate a fly machine and incline cable flys. i see that you are doing 80lb flys in each hand. i am sorry but i am doubting that your form is good with those weights. 80lb flys thats alot of weight on your joints and arms. if you want to keep the incline flys, move to the cable and make slow your movements down. muscle growth comes with perfect form..


good luck!

Right out of Muscle and Fitness ...

 

[thegoodfoods]

I dont know what this guy is talking about ha ha.. but i dont think he was having a problem with strength. and as far as your pre-exhausting you muscles you just got more endurance, causeing you to go up two big reps wooo hoo! ..

..
..
i agree with ZGzaZ all you can do is diet down more.

hey, i was just giving some advice on how someone might easily increase their bench. it worked for me. it could make his chest bigger and make it show more veins.

all i was doing was trying to help

 

[mad_monkey59]

The guys have already nailed it when they to you spoke about genetics. God (or whatever deity you follow) made you that way, and thats the way it is.

Personally, I would stick to the basic stuff, specfically diet and heavy compound movements.

The muscle fibres in your chest go horizontally - sternum and out - that is to say you cannot target a spot on a muscle fibre whether it be further in or further out (inner pec/outer pec), but you can however go up and down the pec (upper/lower pec). So I would suggest throwing in some declines, perhaps the extra lean growth would put a better (visible) shape on the muscle. I notice you do lots of upper work, not much lower. Normally you don't need it, but it might be worth a shot.

Not much you can do really mate. Lower your bodyfat if all else fails.

Good luck.

 

[Extra_Strong]

hey, i was just giving some advice on how someone might easily increase their bench. it worked for me. it could make his chest bigger and make it show more veins.

all i was doing was trying to help

Well i understand you did this and it felt effective, but did u increase your bench or did you increase your reps?

i understand you wanted to share you happiness. but i just disagree.

 

[thegoodfoods]

Well i understand you did this and it felt effective, but did u increase your bench or did you increase your reps?

i understand you wanted to share you happiness. but i just disagree.

i got an overall higher bench.

but... it could just be because i chose to change things up. i guess i kept my muscles guessin so they adapted to the change.

i repect the fact that you may disagree on that little routine i stated before, but...

you can't disagree that growth will come if you keep your muscles guessing.

^THAT^ is the truth

That's probably what happened to me

 

[mad_monkey59]

i got an overall higher bench.

but... it could just be because i chose to change things up. i guess i kept my muscles guessin so they adapted to the change.

i repect the fact that you may disagree on that little routine i stated before, but...

you can't disagree that growth will come if you keep your muscles guessing.

^THAT^ is the truth

That's probably what happened to me

That phrase really annoys me.

Muscles don't have brains. muscles don't think, and they don't get surprised. They respond to stimulus - to damage.

Cause hypertrophy - eat - they grow, thats it.

It's science at the end of the day.

What you are getting at is the fact that your muscles will adapt - get stronger and bigger - to the correct stimuli, thats why you train. You don't have to jump out on them in the dark or secretly grab a dumbell mid-bench press to shock your biceps; if you understand what I am saying. In my opinion, unless you are steroids, once you get into the whole pre-exaustion, super-setting, tri-setting, drop setting and so on in order to bring your lifts up, at this point in your training... you are on a very dark road.

I don't mean to be pedantic.

 

[Cynical Simian]

you can't disagree that growth will come if you keep your muscles guessing.

^THAT^ is the truth

That phrase really annoys me.

Muscles don't have brains. muscles don't think, and they don't get surprised. They respond to stimulus - to damage.

Cause hypertrophy - eat - they grow, thats it.

It's science at the end of the day.

What you are getting at is the fact that your muscles will adapt - get stronger and bigger - to the correct stimuli, thats why you train. You don't have to jump out on them in the dark or secretly grab a dumbell mid-bench press to shock your biceps; if you understand what I am saying. In my opinion, unless you are steroids, once you get into the whole pre-exaustion, super-setting, tri-setting, drop setting and so on in order to bring your lifts up, at this point in your training... you are on a very dark road.

I don't mean to be pedantic.

Argh, I was going to make a "you damn well bet I can disagree" post, but this guy beat me to it.

Great post, especially the part in bold.

 

[enigma4dub]

you can't disagree that growth will come if you keep your muscles guessing.

^THAT^ is the truth

lol! did you learn this from the shool of pumps and laser-like focus?

 

[petpre61]

Also, stretch your pecs out. It will let them be looser and not have such a tight look (tight meaning smaller, rather then looking massive)

I have been streching my pecs out, and they have started looking like pecs.... i always figured genetics this, genetics that, but i was pointed out by 2 people that my pecs were tight. Give it some strethcing, and the area near the LATS will look better....

not much u can do about the fat tho, YES helps, but its still gonna be a battle. Goodluck bro...

BTW....dont worry they dont look bad at all tho

I doubt that the stretching as anything to do with the shape or the look of your
pecs. apparently stretching doesnt even have an influence on muscle tension
according to these guys

Klaus Wiemann, Knut Hahn: Influences of strength-, stretching- and
circulatory exercises on flexibility parameters of the human hamstrings;
International Journal of Sports Medicine. No 5. Vol 18. July 1997: 340-346.

 

[thegoodfoods]

That phrase really annoys me.

Muscles don't have brains. muscles don't think, and they don't get surprised. They respond to stimulus - to damage.

Cause hypertrophy - eat - they grow, thats it.

It's science at the end of the day.

What you are getting at is the fact that your muscles will adapt - get stronger and bigger - to the correct stimuli, thats why you train. You don't have to jump out on them in the dark or secretly grab a dumbell mid-bench press to shock your biceps; if you understand what I am saying. In my opinion, unless you are steroids, once you get into the whole pre-exaustion, super-setting, tri-setting, drop setting and so on in order to bring your lifts up, at this point in your training... you are on a very dark road.

I don't mean to be pedantic.

You have learned, Grasshopper... lol j/k

you said it better than i did... but i didn't LITERALLY mean keep your muscles guessing. it's not like they got a mind of their own.

Now let us go in peace, Mad_monkey...

 

[eric22]

Whats the best stretches for chest. My chest always looks big and soft even when I get to 10% body fat. I need more shape !!

Also, stretch your pecs out. It will let them be looser and not have such a tight look (tight meaning smaller, rather then looking massive)

I have been streching my pecs out, and they have started looking like pecs.... i always figured genetics this, genetics that, but i was pointed out by 2 people that my pecs were tight. Give it some strethcing, and the area near the LATS will look better....

not much u can do about the fat tho, YES helps, but its still gonna be a battle. Goodluck bro...

BTW....dont worry they dont look bad at all tho

 

[Nathan]

I would switch to starting with a pressing movement - you will get more out of your chest workouts that way. Starting with flyes is more of a "pre-exhaustion" technique IMO which, if you ask me, is crap and will detract from your gains.

I would start your chest workout with flat BB bench for a few (5-7 or so) weeks and then move to starting with incline DB bench, then to starting with decline BB press for a few weeks, etc. Most of your progress will come from whatever you start your workouts with.

And last but not least, from the way you described your chest, you need to lose bf to get the look you want.

 

[BiggT]

I would switch to starting with a pressing movement - you will get more out of your chest workouts that way. Starting with flyes is more of a "pre-exhaustion" technique IMO which, if you ask me, is crap and will detract from your gains.

I would start your chest workout with flat BB bench for a few (5-7 or so) weeks and then move to starting with incline DB bench, then to starting with decline BB press for a few weeks, etc. Most of your progress will come from whatever you start your workouts with.

And last but not least, from the way you described your chest, you need to lose bf to get the look you want.

This is what I call damn good advice. All starting with flyes and pre-exhausting does is limit load, which limits stimulus, which limits growth. In other words, it makes you weaker on the stuff that counts....having your training partner bash your ribs in with a crow bar before you bench will limit load too and certainly pre-exhaust you, but you wouldn't do it.....besides being a little more hazardous to your health, it is no dumber than starting a workout with flyes (or doing flyes period for that matter).