# Weak/Undefined chest



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

I have always struggled with Chest in terms of its strength and the way it looks. My PB stands around 70kg x 5 when in comparison I have Deadlifted 130kg x 3, Squatted 100kg, Rack Pulls currently 90kg, Rowing 60kg x 5, Millitary press 45kg x 5.

In 10 weeks from 15th September I managed to progress from

Bench Press 50 x 12 55 x 10 60 x 4 to Bench Press 60 x 10 65 x 7, 7

Not the best progress but I managed to get close to my PB. Now I have been advised to do Chest twice per week so currently thinking:

Monday - Bench Press 5 x 5 2 second pause, Incline Barbell, CGBP

Thurs/Fri - Bench Press 5 x 5 2 second pause, Incline Barbell, OHP

All focused on progressive overload either through increased reps or weight etc.

Looking at my pictures, would this be adviseable?

Thanks

View attachment 2 - front relax.JPG


View attachment 2 - side.JPG


View attachment 2 - Front bi.JPG


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

nathanlowe said:


> I have always struggled with Chest in terms of its strength and the way it looks. My PB stands around 70kg x 5 when in comparison I have Deadlifted 130kg x 3, Squatted 100kg, Rack Pulls currently 90kg, Rowing 60kg x 5, Millitary press 45kg x 5.
> 
> In 10 weeks from 15th September I managed to progress from
> 
> ...


 for me i saw the best chest development when i started flat benching. i do 5x5 115kg flat then onto 5x8 incline hammer strength machine then 3x10 incline dumbbell fly. i finish the session with 3x10 push ups using the dip station. put your hands on the foot plates and lower your body so your chest goes past your hands. when you feel the stretch keep in that position for around two seconds then slowly push yourself up to the starting position..


----------



## Fluke82 (Sep 10, 2015)

You just need more muscle mate.

Stop worrying about lagging Bparts and imbalances etc at this stage - there is no point.

Eat in a surplus, apply sufficient volume and progressive overload (easiest way to track is to get stronger) and it/you will grow. Simple.


----------



## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

If your aim is chest growth rather than bench press strength, give decline presses a go, as they work the chest more and front delts less.

Form is also very important when bench pressing, it's not j ust about the weight:






Finally I'll just add that your chest will probably look bigger when you lose a bit of body fat, as I know you're planning to.


----------



## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

Just to add to the comments above, I would also say that your 5x5 personal best isn't out of kilter with your other lifts.


----------



## DLTBB (Jan 26, 2015)

Continue doing what you've been doing. Get your chest stronger and thicker. A lot of it is down to body fat, I know with me my chest looks much better when I'm lean compared to when I'm bulking because I carry a bit of fat there which must take away from the shape of it. So keep building it up and then when you cut in the future you might surprise yourself.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Thank you for the comments guys, really appreciate it.

One problem I have had is consistency. When I got up to 70kg x 3 a couple of weeks ago I really needed to scale back my Push routine for a couple of weeks.

Is a rest pause on the Bench a proven method of improvement/over coming plateus?


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

i used to always use decline bench. as said above its known to take your shoulders out the press and use more pec muscle fibers then the other movements. What i found though is over 100kg i struggled to get the bar out the rack! i was benching 120 on decline but where i train alone was always asking randoms to spot. got tired of that so swapped to flat bench and i honestly can say my chest has developed more since using flat


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

nathanlowe said:


> Thank you for the comments guys, really appreciate it.
> 
> One problem I have had is consistency. When I got up to 70kg x 3 a couple of weeks ago I really needed to scale back my Push routine for a couple of weeks.
> 
> Is a rest pause on the Bench a proven method of improvement/over coming plateus?


 sorry mate, what do you mean scale back on your push routine?


----------



## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

nathanlowe said:


> Is a rest pause on the Bench a proven method of improvement/over coming plateus?


 Yes... but so are most other form of training. If you're doubling your workload by adding in another session then I wouldn't go adding in things like that at the moment.

But there really isn't a magic bullet, just gotta keep plodding away

I also wouldn't say that you're necessarily in a plateau... you're just trying to make progress like everyone else.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

dannythinx said:


> sorry mate, what do you mean scale back on your push routine?


 Im such an idiot.

Woke up on a Monday morning with a really sore shoulder so decided to take a week off and then have switched to 2 second rest pause at the bottom so not lifting as heavy weights. Not sure why I missed out that vital information in my post.

I originally was doing Bench, OHP, CGBP, Incline 2x per week. One day heavy and the other medium with more reps. It became too much messing around so thats why I have gone to:

Bench, Incline, CGBP

Bench, Incline, OHP

No messing around with different weights and reps etc.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

2004mark said:


> Yes... but so are most other form of training. If you're doubling your workload by adding in another session then I wouldn't go adding in things like that at the moment.
> 
> But there really isn't a magic bullet, just gotta keep plodding away
> 
> I also wouldn't say that you're necessarily in a plateau... you're just trying to make progress like everyone else.


 You wouldn't advise doing:

Monday - Bench Press 5 x 5 2 second rest pause, Incline Bench, CGBP

Thurs or Fri - Bench Press 5 x 5 2 second rest pause, Incline Bench, OHP

??


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

nathanlowe said:


> Im such an idiot.
> 
> Woke up on a Monday morning with a really sore shoulder so decided to take a week off and then have switched to 2 second rest pause at the bottom so not lifting as heavy weights. Not sure why I missed out that vital information in my post.
> 
> ...


 personally i wouldn't worry about rest pause and other techniques right now. focus on progressive overload and keeping your form tight. when you bench bring the bar down so its a little below your nipples and a little above the top of the sternum. this will take some of your shoulders out the movement. go heavy foe 5x5. then for your incline work drop the weight so you can bang out 8 reps by 5 sets. then for your isloation work go to 10 reps and keep your rest period between sets to a minimum. When youve got the sets and reps nailed at a particular weight increas the weight on the bar by a fraction. in my gym the plates go down to 1.25kg! so i will increase the weight on flat bench by 2.5kg when i go up in weight


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

dannythinx said:


> personally i wouldn't worry about rest pause and other techniques right now. focus on progressive overload and keeping your form tight. when you bench bring the bar down so its a little below your nipples and a little above the top of the sternum. this will take some of your shoulders out the movement. go heavy foe 5x5. then for your incline work drop the weight so you can bang out 8 reps by 5 sets. then for your isloation work go to 10 reps and keep your rest period between sets to a minimum. When youve got the sets and reps nailed at a particular weight increas the weight on the bar by a fraction. in my gym the plates go down to 1.25kg! so i will increase the weight on flat bench by 2.5kg when i go up in weight


 Thank you for this.

Kind of what I was aiming for but with the rest pause, but maybe I should remove it as you have suggested and Mark above.

My gym only has 2.5kg weights so the jumps are 60, 65 70 etc which is hard. I do however have 3 sets of wrist/ankle weights so they should allow me to add increments less than 2.5kg each side.

thanks.


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

i think a mistake that i see in the gym a lot is guys that try and progress on weight before there body is ready. eg doing 100kg 5x5 then upping the weight to 110kg and then only able to do one set 4 reps one 3 reps another 3 reps one at 2 reps etc etc


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

dannythinx said:


> i think a mistake that i see in the gym a lot is guys that try and progress on weight before there body is ready. eg doing 100kg 5x5 then upping the weight to 110kg and then only able to do one set 4 reps one 3 reps another 3 reps one at 2 reps etc etc


 I did this.

Managed to get 65kg x 7 and 6 reps. Moved up to 70kg and only managed 3.

Should have waited a bit longer.


----------



## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

nathanlowe said:


> You wouldn't advise doing:
> 
> Monday - Bench Press 5 x 5 2 second rest pause, Incline Bench, CGBP
> 
> ...


 We'll... leaving that aside, no, that's not what I meant.

I was saying if you're doubling your sessions I wouldn't start adding in rest pause as well.

Also I think you're getting confused with rest pause and paused reps.


----------



## dannythinx (Oct 4, 2014)

yeah exactly.. that extra 5kg can make a big difference


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

2004mark said:


> We'll... leaving that aside, no, that's not what I meant.
> 
> I was saying if you're doubling your sessions I wouldn't start adding in rest pause as well.
> 
> Also I think you're getting confused with rest pause and paused reps.


 I for the past few months I have always done Chest, Triceps and Shoulders twice per week.

The only change is doing CGBP and OHP once per week now rather than two, and keeping the same set and rep ranges for both sessions.

I think I may be getting them confused - The ones I have been doing are a 2 second pause just above the chest.


----------



## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

nathanlowe said:


> I for the past few months I have always done Chest, Triceps and Shoulders twice per week.
> 
> The only change is doing CGBP and OHP once per week now rather than two, and keeping the same set and rep ranges for both sessions.
> 
> I think I may be getting them confused - The ones I have been doing are a 2 second pause just above the chest.


 Well I'm confused too as you say in your OP "Now I have been advised to do Chest twice per week so currently thinking" lol

I know you've been advised differently before... but I really wouldn't bother with paused reps at this stage. I also wouldn't be doing 5x5 twice a week.

I'm also confused because you say this "Bench Press 60 x 10 65 x 7, 7"... how is 3 sets of 10, 7 and 7 (at different weights) 5x5?

I suggest you just take it back to basics.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

2004mark said:


> Well I'm confused too as you say in your OP "Now I have been advised to do Chest twice per week so currently thinking" lol
> 
> I know you've been advised differently before... but I really wouldn't bother with paused reps at this stage. I also wouldn't be doing 5x5 twice a week.
> 
> ...


 Those were weights lifted on a previous rep and set scheme.

Would you suggest 3 x 5 then?


----------



## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

nathanlowe said:


> 2004mark said:
> 
> 
> > Just now, 2004mark said: Well I'm confused too as you say in your OP "Now I have been advised to do Chest twice per week so currently thinking" lol
> ...


Is size or strength your priority?


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Ultrasonic said:


> Is size or strength your priority?


 Both.

But if I had to choose, it would be size. I am under the impression however that since no matter what age 16, 18, 21, 24, I have always lifted in and around the 55-65kg mark so really need to break out of this to start pushing the boundaries and forcing my chest to grow.


----------



## 2004mark (Oct 26, 2013)

nathanlowe said:


> Both.
> 
> But if I had to choose, it would be size. I am under the impression however that since no matter what age 16, 18, 21, 24, I have always lifted in and around the 55-65kg mark so really need to break out of this to start pushing the boundaries and forcing my chest to grow.


 I think this post below is something you should take note of.



Drogon said:


> You just need more muscle mate.
> 
> Stop worrying about lagging Bparts and imbalances etc at this stage - there is no point.
> 
> Eat in a surplus, apply sufficient volume and progressive overload (easiest way to track is to get stronger) and it/you will grow. Simple.


 I was in your position 5 years or so ago... been cursing along making little progress. Best thing I ever did was to start counting cals (to make sure I was getting enough) and learned to love deadlifting. Tbh I got quite fat for me (maybe 22-25%) even thought that was the strictest I'd ever been with my food, but this was the first time I'd added any significant strength or size for years.

So I'd suggest simply adding as much size as you can over a set period... say 6-9 months. Up cals, train as hard as you can, logging each workout and making sure you beat the last 8/10 sessions. But the biggest factor by far is you've really got to be consistent. One week of slack diet and/or training can set you back three weeks

Deadlift/db press/squat/oh press would be my staple (on a four day split). Work up to a single 5-8 rep max set, knock 20-30% weight off the bar and rep out a drop set. So maybe 2-3 warm up sets, then put everything you have into those 2 working sets. You could still do this with 5x5 if you wanted.

I'd then do assistance work after that those main lifts. So for example my back day would look something along the lines of this:

Deadlift warm up
Deadlift working sets - 5-8 rep max + drop set (max 60 second break)
-----at this point you really should feel ****ed even after just 2 working sets----
Pullups/lat pull down - 2 x 8
Some type of row - 2 x 8
Curls - 3 x 8-12

I'm reluctant to advise you against what you're currently doing, because there is nothing worse than receiving conflicting advice (and there is always more than one right way to do things)... but that is honestly what I would do myself. If nothing else just ensure you are in a 500+ cal surplus every day (don't just guess at it) and you train hard.


----------



## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

nathanlowe said:


> Both.
> 
> But if I had to choose, it would be size. I am under the impression however that since no matter what age 16, 18, 21, 24, I have always lifted in and around the 55-65kg mark so really need to break out of this to start pushing the boundaries and forcing my chest to grow.


 I asked as the more you post the more it sounds like you're aiming for strength, whereas by posting photos I was guessing size was the real aim.

For chest growth you want to be thinking to what extent you feel you are working your chest training as you train at present? If you don't feel it much in your chest, do try both decline pressing, and reducing the weight and focusing more on form as in the video I posted.

Mixing up lower and higher rep work across workouts as you have suggested is a good idea, but if size is the real goal I'd be tempted to make the lower rep range a bit higher volume e.g. 4x6-8 rather than 3x5. Then say 4x10-12 for the higher rep work. More volume generally means more growth, and dropping to too low reps means the adaptations are increasingly neurological rather than actual muscle growth (see e.g. this).


----------



## nWo (Mar 25, 2014)

Yeah just to add to what the others have said, your chest development and lifts don't seem to be out of proportion with the rest of your body/lifts to be totally honest buddy. In fact, I reckon you'd find that your chest is pretty fairly developed compared to the rest of you if you lost a bit of bodyfat, the pecs tend to hide away underneath chest fat and will look much bigger at lower levels.


----------



## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

nathanlowe said:


> My gym only has 2.5kg weights so the jumps are 60, 65 70 etc which is hard. I do however have 3 sets of wrist/ankle weights so they should allow me to add increments less than 2.5kg each side.


 Do definitely give smaller weight increments a go BTW. I train at home and so don't have this problem but I always find it odd that gyms don't commonly have smaller weights. They're not particularly expensive. Adding your wrist/ankle weights onto the bar should work OK though. My suggestion of 6-8 rep sets above only really works when you can increase the weight in small enough amounts to keep in this range, which I realise now you probably can't do.

I know you're getting conflicting advice here, but on reflection I don't think your suggestion of giving rest/pause a try is a bad one (not to be confused with paused reps). What this will do is counteract your problem of going up a weight and finding the total number of reps you can do drops massively. It's certainly an idea to keep in mind to try at some point. I do rest/pause deadlifts now - 20 reps total with a 20-30s rest between each rep, which I like as it allows me to do a reasonable amount of volume at a decent weight.

I completely agree with others saying your current bench press doesn't sound out of proportion to your other lifts BTW, so it's not like you've been doing anything 'wrong'. Just giving you some thoughts.

What someone should probably ask actually is what your whole routine is like? You've mentioned training chest twice per week but not said anything about the rest of your body. One option would be to train everything twice per week, as part of an upper/lower split.


----------



## BTS93 (Sep 5, 2013)

Great video that mate.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Ultrasonic said:


> Do definitely give smaller weight increments a go BTW. I train at home and so don't have this problem but I always find it odd that gyms don't commonly have smaller weights. They're not particularly expensive. Adding your wrist/ankle weights onto the bar should work OK though. My suggestion of 6-8 rep sets above only really works when you can increase the weight in small enough amounts to keep in this range, which I realise now you probably can't do.
> 
> I know you're getting conflicting advice here, but on reflection I don't think your suggestion of giving rest/pause a try is a bad one (not to be confused with paused reps). What this will do is counteract your problem of going up a weight and finding the total number of reps you can do drops massively. It's certainly an idea to keep in mind to try at some point. I do rest/pause deadlifts now - 20 reps total with a 20-30s rest between each rep, which I like as it allows me to do a reasonable amount of volume at a decent weight.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for the very detailed and informative reply.

I think my problem with chest is:

1 - I have never been able to Bench more than 70 x 5.

2 - I have friends who have little knowledge about training but have over taken me lifting 80 or 90. I have been comparing against them thinking that my Bench is low.

It is a problem that my gym only goes up in 2.5kg incremenets. I pay £12.50 a month, its 1.5 miles down the road, its literally empty all of the time. So in 2.5 months there is only 1 session I couldn't do what I wanted.

I think what everyone is saying here is, don't worry about it and no matter what I do on my Bench as long as I am aiming for progression the gains will come.

ATM I am torn between doing:

Bench and Incline twice per week on a 4 x 6-10 rep range

Bench and Incline twice per week - Once on a heavy 3 x 5 rep range and the other on a higher rep range.

Current routine looks like:

Monday - Bench Press, Incline Press, CGBP

Tues - Single leg dumbbell raised front squat, glute bridges, SLDL + various stretches

Thurs - Pendlay Row, Underarm Pulldowns, Rack Pulls, Ez bar cuels

Fri - Bench Press, Incline Press, OHP

The problem I have with the majority of routines is that I cant Squat or Deadlift. I have had 3 knee operations and now have a lot of lower body problems. The current leg routine I am doing once per week seems to be the best I have found. I identified that my chest is weak in terms of how it looks and its strength and decided to train it 2x per week. Originally I was doing CGBP and OHP twice per week also, but have decided to drop this to 1 x per week so I can really focus on Chest.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Ultrasonic said:


> Do definitely give smaller weight increments a go BTW. I train at home and so don't have this problem but I always find it odd that gyms don't commonly have smaller weights. They're not particularly expensive. Adding your wrist/ankle weights onto the bar should work OK though. My suggestion of 6-8 rep sets above only really works when you can increase the weight in small enough amounts to keep in this range, which I realise now you probably can't do.
> 
> I know you're getting conflicting advice here, but on reflection I don't think your suggestion of giving rest/pause a try is a bad one (not to be confused with paused reps). What this will do is counteract your problem of going up a weight and finding the total number of reps you can do drops massively. It's certainly an idea to keep in mind to try at some point. I do rest/pause deadlifts now - 20 reps total with a 20-30s rest between each rep, which I like as it allows me to do a reasonable amount of volume at a decent weight.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for the very detailed and informative reply.

I think my problem with chest is:

1 - I have never been able to Bench more than 70 x 5.

2 - I have friends who have little knowledge about training but have over taken me lifting 80 or 90. I have been comparing against them thinking that my Bench is low.

It is a problem that my gym only goes up in 2.5kg incremenets. I pay £12.50 a month, its 1.5 miles down the road, its literally empty all of the time. So in 2.5 months there is only 1 session I couldn't do what I wanted.

I think what everyone is saying here is, don't worry about it and no matter what I do on my Bench as long as I am aiming for progression the gains will come.

ATM I am torn between doing:

Bench and Incline twice per week on a 4 x 6-10 rep range

Bench and Incline twice per week - Once on a heavy 3 x 5 rep range and the other on a higher rep range.

Current routine looks like:

Monday - Bench Press, Incline Press, CGBP

Tues - Single leg dumbbell raised front squat, glute bridges, SLDL + various stretches

Thurs - Pendlay Row, Underarm Pulldowns, Rack Pulls, Ez bar cuels

Fri - Bench Press, Incline Press, OHP

The problem I have with the majority of routines is that I cant Squat or Deadlift. I have had 3 knee operations and now have a lot of lower body problems. The current leg routine I am doing once per week seems to be the best I have found. I identified that my chest is weak in terms of how it looks and its strength and decided to train it 2x per week. Originally I was doing CGBP and OHP twice per week also, but have decided to drop this to 1 x per week so I can really focus on Chest.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

I'mNotAPervert! said:


> Yeah just to add to what the others have said, your chest development and lifts don't seem to be out of proportion with the rest of your body/lifts to be totally honest buddy. In fact, I reckon you'd find that your chest is pretty fairly developed compared to the rest of you if you lost a bit of bodyfat, the pecs tend to hide away underneath chest fat and will look much bigger at lower levels.


 Thanks a lot.

Planning to try and cut starting in 2016.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

2004mark said:


> I think this post below is something you should take note of.
> 
> I was in your position 5 years or so ago... been cursing along making little progress. Best thing I ever did was to start counting cals (to make sure I was getting enough) and learned to love deadlifting. Tbh I got quite fat for me (maybe 22-25%) even thought that was the strictest I'd ever been with my food, but this was the first time I'd added any significant strength or size for years.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for this. Very informative.


----------



## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

nathanlowe said:


> Ultrasonic said:
> 
> 
> > 10 hours ago, Ultrasonic said: Do definitely give smaller weight increments a go BTW. I train at home and so don't have this problem but I always find it odd that gyms don't commonly have smaller weights. They're not particularly expensive. Adding your wrist/ankle weights onto the bar should work OK though. My suggestion of 6-8 rep sets above only really works when you can increase the weight in small enough amounts to keep in this range, which I realise now you probably can't do.
> ...


I would reduce the incline pressing, possibly dropping it completely. It is the least effective bench press variation for size, and (overhead) presses are better for shoulder growth. As above, declines are the variation to go for if you want to prioritise chest more. Try them.

Chest development is much more about learning how to properly activate your chest when training than how much someone can bench press in my experience.


----------



## Jordan08 (Feb 17, 2014)

Provided your lifting form is correct, i seriously don't understand why people complicates there workout so much. This program that program. Get over with it mate.

Few points :-

1) I would not bother about how much weight i am lifting after a certain weight (I am 175lbs and i don't feel the need to lift more than 80Kgs on bench, I would rather add more reps on this weight than adding more weight to the bar).

2) As from your post, it looks like you lift 70kg for 5 reps. I would keep this weight for my final set and before that i would concentrate on lifting 10-12 reps of 60kgs)

3) Instead of 5*5 program bla bla, i would increase the weight on bar by 10%-15% after reaching on a weight where i can min do 8 reps. For eg. till the time i am not doing 8 reps on a certain weight, i would not care about adding the weight on my bar. Coz, It would be quite possible that your focus will shift from tension on the muscle to just moving the weights.

My two cents


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Ultrasonic said:


> I would reduce the incline pressing, possibly dropping it completely. It is the least effective bench press variation for size, and (overhead) presses are better for shoulder growth. As above, declines are the variation to go for if you want to prioritise chest more. Try them.
> 
> Chest development is much more about learning how to properly activate your chest when training than how much someone can bench press in my experience.


 The only problem is, the gym doesnt have a decline bench which is a huge logistical nightmare.

The best I could do is Smiths machine, decline the bench to like -30 and have my legs firm on the floor.


----------



## TIDALWAVE (Aug 30, 2015)

Great advice in here.


----------



## nathanlowe (Jan 8, 2008)

Based on the advice above after christmas I am going to try

Workout A

Barbell Bench (2 sets 8-12 range so would be 60kg currently, 1 set 65kg which is 5-7 reps currently. I am going to work on this till around 60kg 2 x 12 and that 65 is up to 8-10.

Decline Barbell Bench - 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

CGBP 2 X 12

Workout B

Dumbbell Bench - Really focusing on form and tension as per the video linked by Ultrasonic. 3 sets of 8x12.

Dumbbell Decline - Again 3 sets of anywhere between 8-12 reps.

OHP 3 x 8-12

I think my main focus is going to be:

1 - Technique - Really focusing on ROM, hitting the chest rather than just getting the weight up. I also seem to be getting a very sore shoulder after Bench Press which will hopefully be overcome.

2 - Focus on progressive overload - However my aim will be to increase my reps at 60 and 65kg comfortably rather than jumping up to 70kg and not being able to psh much. A month back I did 65 x 7, 5 and the week later jumped up to 70kg and only managed 3 reps.

2 -


----------



## toecutter (Dec 28, 2014)

For me, a good chest routine involves press and fly exercises. Where are your flies mate? DB flies, pec-dec or cable cross overs.

Also worth remembering bench is not just a chest exercise, it's a compound exercise. To hit big numbers, you need strong shoulders - front delts - and triceps. I was once lead to believe you don't need front delt raises in your routine as benching hits your front delts, but throwing in some front delt raises really helps me to keep progressing on benching and over head pressing. People here will probably tell you that you don't need to train your triceps either. Dips, skullcrushers and triceps pulldowns, all great exercises. Especially dips.


----------



## ironman1985bcn (Mar 3, 2010)

Mate no offense, but you are lagging on everything, you NEED time to build a solid foundation.

After a couple of years of hard work aim to "polish" you physique, I wouldnt bother too much of shape and symetry... Get the job done as perfectly as you can and add mass to your frame.

Plus fat placing on the body is personas dependant, you might get fatter around your chest and others on the waist... Until you are below 10% bf you cannot really know for sure how you look like and/or what muscles are lagging unless its too obvious.


----------



## TIDALWAVE (Aug 30, 2015)

nathanlowe said:


> Based on the advice above after christmas I am going to try
> 
> Workout A
> 
> ...


 Looks ok


----------



## Mogadishu (Aug 29, 2014)

My friend you need more patience and with your long arms your pressing will always be crap unless you build a great belly and start doing powerlifting benching.


----------



## EpicSquats (Mar 29, 2014)

First things first @*nathanlowe *

Are you benching properly? Pulling your shoulders back, keeping them pulled back through the movement and arching your back? I didn't make much progress with bench until I started doing this.


----------



## Natfx7 (Dec 31, 2015)

nathanlowe said:


> I think my main focus is going to be:
> 
> 1 - Technique - Really focusing on ROM, hitting the chest rather than just getting the weight up. I also seem to be getting a very sore shoulder after Bench Press which will hopefully be overcome.
> 
> 2 - Focus on progressive overload - However my aim will be to increase my reps at 60 and 65kg comfortably rather than jumping up to 70kg and not being able to psh much. A month back I did 65 x 7, 5 and the week later jumped up to 70kg and only managed 3 reps.


 Nathanlowe, one more thing to do is running for a minute and skipping for 5 minutes. It will expand your ribs, lungs and chest. All body builders have wide shoulders which means their shoulder bones are wide than their hip bones. I always have love handles around my waist. I hardly control them with belts. My waist varies from 29 to 30 inch and chest varies from 40 to 43 inch. Now my waist is 30 inch and chest is 43 inch as shown in the picture. I do feel abs inside my stomach which can't be seen in the picture. My stomach skin is thick. How should I make it thin ? I am 35 years old. I got this body naturally without gym.


----------

