# Lagging chest!!



## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Guys, I need a few words of wisdom on my chest routine.... The rest of me is growing nicely but the chest is lagging!

My routine at the moment is (all 3x8):

1: DB flat chest press

2: DB incline chest press

3: DB Incline flys

My old gym didnt have a decline bench so I have changed to one that has as I have read that these are good for pectoral work??

Anyone want to point out what I am doing wrong?? Should I introduce some decline DB press or dips for lower chest? :thumb:


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## tom0311 (Nov 17, 2008)

When I incorporated weighted dips my chest grew much faster.


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

I have the same issue. Why all the decline? No flat or incline?


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Sorry mate, I should have said, should I switch the flat press to decline? Or just bang it in on top? I dont want to over train.


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

59 views and two replys??


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2010)

more volume. drop sets, double drops. supersetting. go the whole hog.


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

I have seen my best progress from doing Incline DB press, then Decline machine press, and then heavy, weighted chest dips.

Its something you are going to have to experiment with and takes time to find what works best for you. Dont, however get stuck in your way and not experiment, i made this mistake and after 18 months im only now finding out what works best for me.


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## Guest (Oct 4, 2010)

kieren1234 said:


> I have seen my best progress from doing Incline DB press, then Decline machine press, and then heavy, weighted chest dips.
> 
> Its something you are going to have to experiment with and takes time to find what works best for you. *Dont, however get stuck in your way and not experiment,* i made this mistake and after 18 months im only now finding out what works best for me.


never a truer word said. sometimes you have to try real off the wall stuff to get it to work. sometime maybe simple as your not doing enough. try your workout twice even 3 times pw and you may get the results


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## jstarcarr (Aug 6, 2010)

pre-exhaust your chest first with flyes ect then do pressing last Ive found this works as I have very strong shoulders and tri's and this seems to be why my chest lags.

Also you could try reverse grip bench press light weight and lower bar a couple of inches below chest , this works the top of the chest very well.


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## BB_999 (Feb 20, 2006)

Pre-exhausting before compound movements or swapping bench press for dips.


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

jstarcarr said:


> pre-exhaust your chest first with flyes ect then do pressing last Ive found this works as I have very strong shoulders and tri's and this seems to be why my chest lags.
> 
> Also you could try reverse grip bench press light weight and lower bar a couple of inches below chest , this works the top of the chest very well.


I thought pre-exhausting would be better for someone with weak tries, so pre-exhaust the chest so you can hit the slow twitch fibres as much as possible without tri's failing first.....


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

1russ100 said:


> never a truer word said. sometimes you have to try real off the wall stuff to get it to work. sometime maybe simple as your not doing enough. try your workout twice even 3 times pw and you may get the results


In 3 weeks when i start the higher doses of gear after cruising im going to train chest twice a week, once with tri's as normal, and once before shoulders to try and bring it up to scratch.


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## jstarcarr (Aug 6, 2010)

kieren1234 said:


> I thought pre-exhausting would be better for someone with weak tries, so pre-exhaust the chest so you can heat the slow twitch fibres as much as possible without tri's failing first.....


It working for me as flyes dont involve tris an shoulders so your just working the chest on its own , then when its weaker you are doing pressing moves were you get help from tris an shoulders .


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

jstarcarr said:


> It working for me as flyes dont involve tris an shoulders so your just working the chest on its own , then when its weaker you are doing pressing moves were you get help from tris an shoulders .


sorry. what i mean is. I thought pre exhausting chest was for people that had weaker tris/delts than chest so they were failing, before actually working the chest to its maximum potantial.

I thought this was what pre exhaustion was mainly for so when you get down to the heavy pressing movement, the chest will fail first and will be fully worked.

cheers mate.


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## Josh1436114527 (Apr 3, 2007)

Some heavy flat bench barbell

sometimes the simple stuff works:thumb:


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## jstarcarr (Aug 6, 2010)

kieren1234 said:


> sorry. what i mean is. I thought pre exhausting chest was for people that had weaker tris/delts than chest so they were failing, before actually working the chest to its maximum potantial.
> 
> I thought this was what pre exhaustion was mainly for so when you get down to the heavy pressing movement, the chest will fail first and will be fully worked.
> 
> cheers mate.


I get you mate , I think it would work good for both. because if you got stong tri's an shoulders and do a normal chest workout your chest isnt getting worked as your tris an shoulders are doing all the work.


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Cheers Jay, I was thinking the cables at the end to get that final bit of a burn but worth a shot!


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

jstarcarr said:


> I get you mate , I think it would work good for both. because if you got stong tri's an shoulders and do a normal chest workout your chest isnt getting worked as your tris an shoulders are doing all the work.


Understand that mate but strong tris and shoulders means you can shift MORE weight, which is on a chest movement so its getting sufficent work.

I agree that pre exhaust is a great method though.


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## CJ (Apr 24, 2006)

What rep ranges have you experimented with.

I know everyone talks about heavy benching but maybe your chest will respond better to higher reps.

The best advice anyone ever gave me whilst training chest was slowing the negative rep down. made a huge difference to the pump I got.


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

CJones said:


> What rep ranges have you experimented with.
> 
> I know everyone talks about heavy benching but maybe your chest will respond better to higher reps.
> 
> The best advice anyone ever gave me whilst training chest was slowing the negative rep down. made a huge difference to the pump I got.


I used to use 12,10,8,6 but thought I may be over doing it so dropped to 3x8


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## Barker (Oct 1, 2009)

Considered FST-7?

Or using a peck deck?


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Barker said:


> Considered FST-7?
> 
> Or using a peck deck?


TBH mate I may need to start on the pec dec as I'm really struggling to isolate my chest.

Doen chest today but feeling it more in my back having finished. I dont understand why. I'm not sloppy with my form with the DBs, I keep it steady and controlled on the descent :confused1:


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## tom0311 (Nov 17, 2008)

kevo said:


> TBH mate I may need to start on the pec dec as I'm really struggling to isolate my chest.
> 
> Doen chest today but feeling it more in my back having finished. I dont understand why. I'm not sloppy with my form with the DBs, I keep it steady and controlled on the descent :confused1:


How wide do you bring out the db's mate? It took me a while to find the form that worked for me, I used to bring them far too narrow and ended up working my tri's. They were my stronger bodypart at the time so my body naturally tried to adjust my form to use them more. Wondered why my chest wasn't really picking up much.


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

IMO dont do pec dec, its sh1te!!!!

Do Dumbell flies, cable flies if you want this sort of isolation movement. I do however think your looking too much into it and just get back to basics, have a play with the ammount of sets and reps maybe....


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## snakebulge (Jul 28, 2010)

kieren1234 said:


> IMO dont do pec dec, its sh1te!!!!
> 
> Do Dumbell flies, cable flies if you want this sort of isolation movement. I do however think your looking too much into it and just get back to basics, have a play with the ammount of sets and reps maybe....


After reading through all 24 posts, i think Keirans' right with this one. Think back to basics and change the way in which you train as this should see you making some good progress.  Don't agree that pec deck is sh!te though, it's just another way to exercise and could give good gains! :thumb:


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

tom0311 said:


> How wide do you bring out the db's mate? It took me a while to find the form that worked for me, I used to bring them far too narrow and ended up working my tri's. They were my stronger bodypart at the time so my body naturally tried to adjust my form to use them more. Wondered why my chest wasn't really picking up much.


Edge of the db to edge of the chest mate :thumbup1:



kieren1234 said:


> IMO dont do pec dec, its sh1te!!!!
> 
> Do Dumbell flies, cable flies if you want this sort of isolation movement. I do however think your looking too much into it and just get back to basics, have a play with the ammount of sets and reps maybe....


I guess, I may make my chest 4x8 instead of 3x8 and see what happens.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

im assuming by 3x8 that means 3 sets of 8?


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

1russ100 said:


> im assuming by 3x8 that means 3 sets of 8?


Ya, for each excercise.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

3 exercises?


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

1russ100 said:


> 3 exercises?


Flat bench for 3x8, incline bench 3x8 and flys 3x8

Three excercises. I see people doing hundreds of sets for chest in the gym (and no, they havent got a better chest than me), I'm guessing you can over train it just like the people who do tons for their arms and complain they dont grow!!


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

kevo said:


> Flat bench for 3x8, incline bench 3x8 and flys 3x8
> 
> Three excercises. I see people doing hundreds of sets for chest in the gym (and no, they havent got a better chest than me), I'm guessing you can over train it just like the people who do tons for their arms and complain they dont grow!!


just be aware that alot of people 'undertrain' and mistake their lack of progress as 'overtraining'.

imo, your not doing enough, but im sure the overtraining crew will say different.

Maybe mix/match different exercise every w/o and youll feel what works and what doesnt:thumbup1:


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

1russ100 said:


> just be aware that alot of people 'undertrain' and mistake their lack of progress as 'overtraining'.
> 
> imo, your not doing enough, but im sure the overtraining crew will say different.
> 
> Maybe mix/match different exercise every w/o and youll feel what works and what doesnt:thumbup1:


You would say that 72 reps on chest in undertraining????

I think if he is going to close to failure on these lifts then its well sufficient, but maybe not for him.....


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

kieren1234 said:


> You would say that 72 reps on chest in undertraining????
> 
> I think if he is going to close to failure on these lifts then its well sufficient, but maybe not for him.....


for me its not enough. im assuming he hasnt included warm up sets because if he has then nowhere near enough.

for me to hit my peak weight i cant just walk in throw them up and crack on. i would need a couple of sets on lighter weights to build up before doind 3 working sets as he has stated.

i cant comment how hard or close to failiure he is training, and im sure if asked he will say 'going balls to the wall, all out, nobody in my gym training as hard as me' but the reality maybe different.


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## Suprakill4 (Jul 11, 2008)

1russ100 said:


> for me its not enough. im assuming he hasnt included warm up sets because if he has then nowhere near enough.
> 
> for me to hit my peak weight i cant just walk in throw them up and crack on. i would need a couple of sets on lighter weights to build up before doind 3 working sets as he has stated.
> 
> i cant comment how hard or close to failiure he is training, and im sure if asked he will say 'going balls to the wall, all out, nobody in my gym training as hard as me' but the reality maybe different.


Exactly that. I say i train as hard as i can but i bet i dont.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

im not saying for a second he isnt but it maybe something that simple. :thumbup1:


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## PHMG (Jun 15, 2010)

Might be as simple as slowing down your reps, lowering the weight a bit slower and being really strict with you reps. Focus on your chest and contract hard at the top of the movement.

Not just an a to b movement is it?


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## warren (Jun 16, 2008)

what are you benching? i ask as i have a weak chest , but has got alot better since getting bench from 70kg to now benching over 120kg.

its still weak lol, but getting better .

c ould it be down to just time and concentrating on getting a decent bench?


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## PHMG (Jun 15, 2010)

warren_1987 said:


> what are you benching? i ask as i have a weak chest , but has got alot better since getting bench from 70kg to now benching over 120kg.
> 
> its still weak lol, but getting better .
> 
> c ould it be down to just time and concentrating on getting a decent bench?


I dont know if thats relevant though mate.

I mean, i can bench 145kg, but doing it like i am meant to (i.e. bodybuilding/focusing on pec muscles and taking out tri and delt as much as i can) i only go as high 115kg. This gets 8 reps with perfect form.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

warren_1987 said:


> what are you benching? i ask as i have a weak chest , but has got alot better since getting bench from 70kg to now benching over 120kg.
> 
> its still weak lol, but getting better .
> 
> c ould it be down to just time and concentrating on getting a decent bench?


flat benching? overated imo as a chest builder. great for front delts!!


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## ekko (Dec 3, 2008)

kevo said:


> Flat bench for 3x8, incline bench 3x8 and flys 3x8
> 
> Three excercises. I see people doing hundreds of sets for chest in the gym (and no, they havent got a better chest than me), I'm guessing you can over train it just like the people who do tons for their arms and complain they dont grow!!


probably because they dont train with any intensity,

to op intensity is key m8 doesnt matter how you create it x reps or x weight supers drops negs they all work.

declare war on your nx chest session :cursing: and train to failure then eat and rest it will grow !

:thumbup1:


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## warren (Jun 16, 2008)

PowerHouseMcGru said:


> I dont know if thats relevant though mate.
> 
> I mean, i can bench 145kg, but doing it like i am meant to (i.e. bodybuilding/focusing on pec muscles and taking out tri and delt as much as i can) i only go as high 115kg. This gets 8 reps with perfect form.


well when i say bench i mean with good form not what can you get up lol, should have stated that, but i think it is relavent as if you can bench 145kg with good form for reps then you will have a better checst than if you can only bench 115kg with good form. if your a bb or aim for bb shouldnt the whole point be to stress the muscle and it will get stressed more through benching more with good form than less.



1russ100 said:


> flat benching? overated imo as a chest builder. great for front delts!!


my front delts are very weak i think, but chest comming on great however added in inc and dips since the chest has come on so cant lay it on one thing however....

everyones genetics, muscle origins and insersions are different and what works for one as a brilliant mass builder may not for another

btw i mean sligtly different not like chest tied into femur lol


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## RyanClarke (May 7, 2009)

instead of going in with a set group of exercises, and reps and sets. Go in pick one exercise. Take it to complete failure after 3 warm up sets. take twelve deep breaths, take it to complete failure and do the same again. If ya can do a press for chest, to full failure and the intensity ya need. Then ya shudnt be able to any exercises after worth doing JUST MO


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## kevo (Aug 7, 2003)

Cheers guys, lots of good info! I dont beanch big numbers (compared to some on here), I can bench more if I want to but it gets sloppy form wise when I throw weights about!

I work so that failure is the last rep or two of the last set(s). I am still adding weight but not entirely sure of thats my chest getting stronger ancillaries that also assist with pressing movements??? The fact that I was feeling it in my back after working chest today suggests I'm out somewhere??

I could maybe try lowering the weight a little and really squeezing my chest at the top?

I'm far from a newb, and you would assume I would have this nailed but I'm not too proud to ask for help, after all, this is why we're all here!


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2010)

warren_1987 said:


> well when i say bench i mean with good form not what can you get up lol, should have stated that, but i think it is relavent as if you can bench 145kg with good form for reps then you will have a better checst than if you can only bench 115kg with good form. if your a bb or aim for bb shouldnt the whole point be to stress the muscle and it will get stressed more through benching more with good form than less.
> 
> my front delts are very weak i think, but chest comming on great however added in inc and dips since the chest has come on so cant lay it on one thing however....
> 
> ...


exactly. what may work for me may not work for you.

on a side note i do think as a whole this whole 'overtraining' thing has got out of hand. i mean, what next? get someone to train for us


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## ekko (Dec 3, 2008)

kevo said:


> Cheers guys, lots of good info! I dont beanch big numbers (compared to some on here), I can bench more if I want to but it gets sloppy form wise when I throw weights about!
> 
> I work so that failure is the last rep or two of the last set(s). I am still adding weight but not entirely sure of thats my chest getting stronger ancillaries that also assist with pressing movements??? The fact that I was feeling it in my back after working chest today suggests I'm out somewhere??
> 
> ...


lower the weight m8 an squeeze it like ye trying to pop it !


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