How to build a Big, Powerful Chest.
Building a big, powerful chest is not that difficult if you’re willing to set your ego aside and focus your attention on performing the correct exercises in the proper order. Just like arms, the chest is one of those bodyparts prone to ego lifting. In order to build a proper, well-balanced chest, you must focus on all areas of the chest (upper, mid, lower, outer).
The tremendous chest development of 8-Time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney.
Next time you’re in the gym, take a good look around… most of the chest work you see being performed is a combination of flat bench presses, some declines and tons cable crossovers. These routines focus mainly on the middle, outer and lower portions of the chest. Most guys won’t admit this, but the fact is, these movements (flat bench press and decline press) typically allow most people to push more weight and they are easier to perform than say, Incline Presses – this is ego lifting at it’s finest.
Now, as you’re paying more attention to the workouts in the gym, look a little closer… You’ll notice plenty of outer and mid chest development, and then at the top of the chest, all you see are clavicles – this is not a well-balanced chest. Your focus should be to bury those clavicles under a slab of muscle first. Start from the top and then work your way down.
We can’t discuss chest development without mentioning Mr. Olympia, Franco Columbo.
Always start your chest workout with Inclines.
When I first started training, I struggled with my chest development for the first several months, but once I learned this technique, things really took off. By focusing our attention on incline work first, we’re addressing the clavicular (upper) head of the pectoral muscles. Think about it, we’re working with gravity here; if you place all your attention on the mid and lower chest, you’ll end up having a flat area or an indentation at the top of your chest. Your chest development should start at the clavicle and curve outward, not just down and flat. This is how you fill-out the “upper shelf area” – from the shoulders all the way across and in to the center section of your chest.
Here are a couple of chest routines that worked wonders for me:
Chest Workout 1: Performed in the following order:
– Incline (45-degree or less) Barbell or Dumbell Presses, 4 sets, 8-15 reps
– Flat Barbell or Dumbbell Presses, 4 sets, 8-15 reps
– Dips, 3 sets, to failure
– Flat Dumbbell Flyes*, 3 sets, 8-15 reps
* I prefer to get a full stretch at the bottom, but only come up approximately 3/4 of the way. I find this technique keeps constant tension on the pecs throughout the entire movement. Go down slow, deep breath, then back up slow and controlled. Don’t stop at the top, just reach the 3/4 range, then go back down.
Chest Workout 2: Performed in the following order:
– Incline Dumbbell Press on adjustable bench* (30-45 degrees), 3-sets, 8-15 reps
– Flat Dumbbell Press on same bench* (adjust 0-15 degrees), 3 sets, 8-15 reps
– Decline Dumbbell Press on same bench* (adjust to decline), 3 sets, 8-15 reps
– Dips supersetted with Cable Crossovers, 3 sets, 8-20 reps
* Using the same adjustable bench, you’ll be performing 9 total sets. Starting with the incline, going a little lower with each set until you finish in the decline position.
If you’re chest development is lagging, give either one of these workouts a serious effort, or alternate both of them for a period of 90-days, you won’t be disappointed!
If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
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