Tips to build a chest of steel

Along with the infamous walk, the elbows out swagger that some muscle men employ to demonstrate how huge they are, one of the most popular moves among these body sculptors is the”puff,” a trick male animals use in order to appear larger to potential enemies and mates. Leaning back, they ruffle their feathers or fill their lungs to simulate a larger, more imposing upper body. We do it to simulate a bigger chest. It’s understandable why we do it – we all dream of having a giant chest. With proper training, you won’t need to do the “puff” to make your chest look bigger.

Here are some of the most comprehensive chest training tips, routines, tricks, and secrets I give to my clients to help increase chest size:

The Incline Press

Everyone calls the flat-bench press the king of upper-body exercises. It’s certainly a great movement, but king? For a full, square set of pecs with thickness from collarbone to breastbone, you should give priority to inclines.

You need the right type of bench for this movement. Some incline benches are set at 45 degrees, which is far too extreme an angle for working the upper chest. If you have access to an adjustable bench that goes down to about 30 degrees, use it. Otherwise, put a box block under one end of a flat bench to simulate this angle. Anything higher, and you’ll be doing shoulder presses.

Because your shoulders always want to take over when you’re pushing, you have to hold them back and down so your chest can do the work. You should feel a distinct pumping and cramping in your chest, not in your shoulders, when you do any type of bench press.

Either dumbbells or barbells are great for inclines. Dumbbells let you bring the bells together at the top of the rep for a more powerful contraction. With a strong mind-muscle connection, however, you can get this type of searing pump with a barbell also. Machines may make it easier to focus on the muscle, but I believe that free weights are the best way to go for building mass.

Bench Press Tips

Since the bench press, when performed properly, is a true mass bonanza for all the pushing muscles of the upper body, it should be your first exercise at every other chest workout, alternating with inclines. The most common mistakes I see in this movement are: using too wide a grip, relying too much on spotters, arching the back and bouncing the bar off the chest. All of these errors come from trying to lift too much weight. I ask people, “Would you rather use these dangerous tricks and get more weight up, or do it right and have a bigger chest?” They usually sulk and say, “Aw, leave me alone. I do it my way.”

Here’s the correct way to do it. Position your hands far enough apart that your forearms are perpendicular to the ground as you lift. Slowly lower the bar until it touches your lower chest. Don’t bounce, but instead pause for a split second to take away any momentum, and then drive the bar up to the top and squeeze your pecs hard. Don’t lock out your elbows, if you do, you’re asking for an injury. Besides, if you lock your pectoral muscles, your arms won’t be able to lock out.

You can also use dumbbells on this movement, as they let you bring the weights together. Pick one or the other, however, because they’re essentially the same exercise.

Machine Flye Tips

I’m going to be a heretic here and make a statement that most of you will find incredible: I believe dumbbell flyes are absolutely useless. Looking at them in terms of gravity, there’s no resistance at the top or bottom of the movement. What’s worse, is that some people turn it into a dumbbell press with bent elbows. For once, machines win, hands down.

My favorite is the flye machine that doubles as a rear delt machine, where your arms are out in a bear hug position rather than bent with your hands pointing at the ceiling. Not only is it safer on the shoulder joints than the standard pec deck, but it allows you a much greater range of motion.

The best way to do these is to keep your back pinned to the support and slowly squeeze your arms together until your pecs are fully contracted. At the contraction point, really squeeze your chest hard. Taking your fingers off the handles and pushing with the heels of your hand will facilitate a more natural movement and greater pump. If you’re very flexible in your shoulder girdle, you’ll be able to get a much better stretch by letting your arms travel farther back. If you don’t have access to this type of machine or want a change every once in a while, use a cable crossover for this exercise.

Complete chest development for the upper chest

In the eyes of the law we may all be equal, but once you take up bodysculpting, it soon becomes obvious that we’re not all equal in our response to exercise and our genetic potential for building muscle. One person can gain more mass and muscle in six months than another person can gain in two years. To make matters even more confusing, despite the fact that all of a person’s muscles are attached to the same body, we all have certain muscle groups that we make fast and easy gains on and others on which we make slow, if any, progress.

What I’ve discovered is that if you have a structure that’s not conductive to building thick, full pecs, particularly in the upper portions of the pectoralis major, you have to resort to special methods to get your muscles to respond. The number-one-requirement for getting your pecs to grow is very high-intensity training. Certain intensity techniques, including pre-exhaustion, supersets, tri-sets and drop-sets, are very effective with chest training, especially when straight sets fail to work.

Techniques For Problem Areas

The trouble with traditional chest training is that it’s hard to isolate your pectorals on compound exercises like the bench press. The bench press is the second-most-popular exercise, after curls, in gyms everywhere. But let’s face it – some people’s structures just aren’t suited to flat bench pressing. For those folks, it’s a better idea to perform bench presses to the neck. It also helps to bring your legs up and cross them over your body, which forces you to hold your back flat and keeps you from arching and cheating. When doing bench presses to the neck, make sure you don’t quite lock out the top. Instead, stop an inch or so short of lockout to keep constant tension on your pecs, but don’t get into the bad habit of only doing half-reps.

Whether you’re doing bench presses, incline presses or flyes, make sure that you align your body before you begin so your pecs get the mechanical advantage, not delts or triceps.

One final tip for when you’re doing dumbbell presses or flyes. You’ll get a harder pec contraction if you turn your elbows in at the very top. In other words, in the fully contracted position, touch your elbows together, not the dumbbells.

Now lets get started with Barbell Bench Presses, Incline Barbell Bench Presses, and we will finish our chest routine with a Cable Crossovers exercise. With proper training, your chest will look bigger.

Barbell Bench Presses

Emphasis: strongly stress the pectorals (particularly the lower and outer sections of the muscle group), anterior deltoids and triceps. Secondary emphasis is on the medial heads of the deltoids, the latissimus dorsi and other upper-back muscles that impart rotational force on the scapulae.

Starting Position: Place a barbell on the rack of a pressing bench and adjust the weight on the bar to an appropriate poundage. Lie back on the bench with your shoulder joints 3-4 inches toward the foot end of the bench from the rack supports. Place your feet flat on the floor to balance your body on the bench as you do the movement. Take an over-grip on the bar with your hands set 3-5 inches wider on each side than shoulder width. Straighten your arms to remove the barbell from the rack and move it to a supported position directly above your shoulder joints.

Movement Performance: Making sure that your elbows travel directly out to the sides, bend your arms and slowly lower the barbell from the supported position downward to lightly touch your chest two or three inches above the lower edge of your pectorals. Without bouncing the weight, slowly push it back to straight arms’ length. Repeat the movement for 10 reps and a total of three sets.

Training Tips
* Do not bounce the bar off your chest.
* When you bring the bar to your chest hold for 2 seconds and then push back-up.
* As I said, do not arch your back, it causes you to place stress on the incorrect muscle group.
* Also, some who perform this exercise tend to thrust their hips upward. This movement places the stress to the more powerful lower pectoral muscles, which can lead to bad balance in your chest musculature.
* When you have mastered Presses with the Barbell use free weights to build even more mass and bulk.

Incline Barbell Bench Presses

Emphasis: Incline Barbell Bench Presses stress the upper pectorals, anterior deltoids and triceps. Significant secondary stress is on the lower pecs, medial deltoids and the upper-back muscles that rotate the scapulae.

Starting Position: Place a barbell on the support rack at the head end of an incline bench and adjust the weight on the bar to an appropriate poundage. Lie back on the bench and sit on the seat provided. Take an over-grip on the bar with your hands set 3-5 inches wider on each side than the width of your shoulders. Straighten your arms to remove the barbell from the rack and bring it to a supported position directly above your shoulder joints.

Movement Performance: Being sure to keep your elbows back as you do the exercise, slowly bend your arms and lower the barbell down to lightly touch your upper chest at the base of your neck. Without bouncing the bar off your chest or arching your back, steadily push the barbell back to the starting point. Repeat for 10 reps and a total of three sets.

Training Tips
* Do not bounce the bar off your chest.
* When you bring the bar to your chest hold for 2 seconds and then push back-up.
* Don’t arch your back, it causes you to place stress on the incorrect muscle group.
* Mix this exercise up by using free weights. You can add extra mass and a little variety to this exercise.
* Make sure that your incline bench is at a 30 degree angle to insure a proper incline.

Cable Crossovers

Emphasis: Cable Crossovers stress primarily the lower, outer, and inner sections of the pectorals, plus the anterior delts. Many use Crossovers to etch deep grooves across the pectorals.

Starting Position: Attach loop handles to the cables running through two high pulleys. Stand between the pulleys with your feet set about shoulder-width apart and grasp the two pulley handles. With your palms down throughout the movement, extend your arms upward at 45-degree angles in relation to the floor. Bend your arms slightly during the exercise.

Movement Performance: Use pectoral strength to move your hands downward in semicircular arcs and toward each other until they touch 6-8 inches in front of your hips. Hold this contracted position for two or three seconds, flexing your chest, shoulder, and arm muscles as hard as you can. Allow your hands to return to the starting point and repeat for 12 reps and a total of three sets.

Training Tips: Normally, your torso will be either erect or inclined slightly forward during this exercise, but it can also be performed in a standing position with your torso parallel to the floor.

A big chest will get you noticed! It adds to your perfect “T” shape and provides the body with lines that look healthy and handsome.