# Chest - Does it need to be heavy?



## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

My chest for some reason is my weak point. I train at home using dumbbells and i think it maybe because i am not lifting enough weight?

My usual routine is the following:

4x8 incline dumbbell press

4x8 flat dumbbell press

do i need to lift heavier? Get a Barbell bench?

Any advice be good as it area i need to hit more thanks


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## RobH (Sep 12, 2015)

First off make sure your diet in on point. Secondly if you want a bigger chest get really strong on it.. I would highly suggest you get a bench. If you are using just dumbells and a floor you are extremely limited to what you can do where as if you had a bench you can hit it from more angles to ensure you hit all muscle fibres.. Also using a floor you are not even getting any stretch in the lower part of a press as your elbows are prevented goin below the floor obviously.


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## Omen669 (Jun 11, 2015)

I increase to 10 reps. When you can do that for 4 sets, increase to 12. When that becomes easier, add more weight and so you are doing 8ish reps again and repeat.

You need to keep challenging the muscles.


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

Get 2 chairs and start doing dips.

If you don't have many plates and are limited to how heavy you can make the DBs then slow your reps right down, try anything from a 3/6, 4/4 or even 5/5 rep cadence. In fact, slow your reps down anyway.

Load is an important factor, as you need to lift as heavy and progressively as possible in good form, but its not as important as how hard you work.


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## IGotTekkers (Jun 6, 2012)

When you say you are doing sets of 8, are you struggling to lift it on the last rep? Or are you just stopping at 8


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## Omen669 (Jun 11, 2015)

Also, going to failure day in day out isn't healthy for your CNS. If that burns out, you will struggle to keep gaining strength.


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

Omen669 said:


> Also, going to failure day in day out isn't healthy for your CNS. If that burns out, you will struggle to keep gaining strength.


This is true to a degree, but it depends on context.

Training to MMF in itself will not burn out your CNS, and I know this is true as I take every work set I ever do to MMF, however, I only do 1 work set of each exercise, like DC, Baye or Dorian's routines are set up, and I balance frequency and volume with the intensity of effort to avoid burn out or 'over training' (although I'd argue there is no such thing as over training, simply too little recovery/too much frequency). Training to MMF with too much volume or too little recovery time between workouts will have a negative impact, but so would any type of routine that is not set up in an optimal way to take in to account the individuals exercise tolerance and recovery ability.

The mistake most people make with training to MMF is way to much volume and adding set extension techniques that do not actually increase intensity of muscular effort but simply extend the length of the set, and once you're training in that 100% intensity of effort zone very little time is needed, it's things like multiple forced reps or multiple negatives at the end of a set, drop sets etc, that are miss-used and lead to systemic rather than muscular burn out.


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## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

I have a dumbbell bench so am hitting it from different angles, i just dont know if i am lifting heavy enough. I am doing sets of 8 and stopping at 8 but feel i could maybe do more. I done the chest dips in the past ill go back to them too.


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## Smitch (Dec 29, 2008)

Chuck some flyes in there too.


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

Do some TUT reps every other week you really dont need lots of weight to make a muscle grow but you do need to be clued up on how to make it grow


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## Jamieson (Jul 11, 2014)

james90 said:


> I have a dumbbell bench so am hitting it from different angles, i just dont know if i am lifting heavy enough. I am doing sets of 8 and stopping at 8 but feel i could maybe do more. I done the chest dips in the past ill go back to them too.


James, remember its quality not quantum of the work you do that will give you the best progress in the quickest amount of time.

Everyone has their view on training to failure (MMF) and its pros and cons, however, its worked for me and I'd strongly recommend you drop all the light fluffy 'don't push yourself too hard 'stuff that it sounds like you're doing and concentrate on doing just 2 or 3 all out work sets for your chest. By all means warm up adequately to feel physically and mentally prepped for the heavy set but don't bother doing 4 sets of this and 3 sets of that or whatever as all you're doing in spinning your wheels and kidding your self if you think that will make you grow.

A single set taken to failure of Weighted dips OR Decline Press, incline DB press and 'any angle you fancy' flyes done once a week or as often as your recovery ability allows will work wonders.

Work in a TUT/TUL of 48-90 seconds per work set, which with a 3/6 or 4/4 cadence gives you roughly 6-10 reps a set, and remember smooth controlled movements, no yanking or bouncing, it's weight training not weight throwing!


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)

james90 said:


> I have a dumbbell bench so am hitting it from different angles, i just dont know if i am lifting heavy enough. I am doing sets of 8 and stopping at 8 but feel i could maybe do more. I done the chest dips in the past ill go back to them too.


If you can't make progress with dumbells then changing to a barbell won't make any difference. You say you feel you could do more then increase the weight you lift.


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## Dogbolt (Jun 23, 2009)

monkeybiker said:


> If you can't make progress with dumbells then changing to a barbell won't make any difference. You say you feel you could do more then increase the weight you lift.


Cant go wrong with that, why stop at 8 reps if you feel you could do more? Either up the weight or do more reps.


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## Rav212 (May 18, 2011)

Omen669 said:


> Also, going to failure day in day out isn't healthy for your CNS. If that burns out, you will struggle to keep gaining strength.


I've always trained to failure every set every single exercise minus warm ups lol!

So you think doing a see where u know you could of probably squeezed out one or more reps with not as good form is worse and instead I should of just stopped instead of attempting them reps?

I thought it it was simple , overload and stress causes more muscle tears which in turn after decent nutrition and recovery causes larger muscles ! The more stress the bigger the tear and bigger the repair ?


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## Heavyassweights (Jan 18, 2014)

bounce that bar mate, add an extra 40kg to your bench and feel like a god


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## Fluke82 (Sep 10, 2015)

look into DUP and RPE training..much more effective than just training to "failure" ime (although much more complicated)


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## Omen669 (Jun 11, 2015)

Rav212 said:


> I've always trained to failure every set every single exercise minus warm ups lol!
> 
> So you think doing a see where u know you could of probably squeezed out one or more reps with not as good form is worse and instead I should of just stopped instead of attempting them reps?
> 
> I thought it it was simple , overload and stress causes more muscle tears which in turn after decent nutrition and recovery causes larger muscles ! The more stress the bigger the tear and bigger the repair ?


Basically yes. A few Strongmen\power lifters I know, only reach their 1 rep max at competitions. Throughout off season, doing lighter speed work and volume.

Not saying it works for everyone, as said above, but you can't put the body under too much stress for a long period of time.


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## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

I will just push myself a lot harder, training at home i am limited to the amount of weight i can use at the moment. I will just try lifting till failure for a few weeks as that is something i do not do and see if i feel any difference.

I will do the following tonight:

Chest dips, 4x failure

Incline dumbbell press 4x10

Decline dumbbell press 4x10


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

james90 said:


> I will just push myself a lot harder, training at home i am limited to the amount of weight i can use at the moment. I will just try lifting till failure for a few weeks as that is something i do not do and see if i feel any difference.
> 
> I will do the following tonight:
> 
> ...


What is it that specifically is limiting you at home? Do you just need heavier dumbbells or are you worried about getting them in place to lift?


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## barsnack (Mar 12, 2011)

james90 said:


> My chest for some reason is my weak point. I train at home using dumbbells and i think it maybe because i am not lifting enough weight?
> 
> *My usual routine *is the following:
> 
> ...


that's were I previously went wrong....kept the same or 'usual' routine for too long....mix it up...do inclines / flies one day....flat bp / dips another, or rotate as you see fit


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## zyphy (Jun 23, 2014)

Omen669 said:


> Also, going to failure day in day out isn't healthy for your CNS. If that burns out, you will struggle to keep gaining strength.


going to failure up to 10 reps isnt bad at all, its when people constantly hit failure on low rep ranges they will start to burn out


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## PaulB (Jun 6, 2010)

Might be an obvious question but you are progressing with the weight aren't you? I mean for example you bench 26 kg for 12 reps then move up to 28 kg and so on.


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## barksie (Nov 23, 2014)

how about deadstops / deadpress m8, did some last week and my chest was sore, less weight mind, but as no bouncing and doing from a stop each rep you gonna feel it ,

http://www.teampscarb.co.uk/index.php/videos/chest-exercises/

just look for flat dead press


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## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

Ultrasonic said:


> What is it that specifically is limiting you at home? Do you just need heavier dumbbells or are you worried about getting them in place to lift?


Its both, currently I use 22.5kg dumbbells for incline and decline, I reckon I can do more but its just doing it on my own without a spotter, a few weeks ago after chest my bicep was aching for a few days and I think its due to just how I get myself into position with the dumbbells.


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## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

PaulB said:


> Might be an obvious question but you are progressing with the weight aren't you? I mean for example you bench 26 kg for 12 reps then move up to 28 kg and so on.


Yes I am progressing, however I have come to a halt and need to purchase more weight or like others have said increase the reps.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

james90 said:


> Its both, currently I use 22.5kg dumbbells for incline and decline, I reckon I can do more but its just doing it on my own without a spotter, a few weeks ago after chest my bicep was aching for a few days and I think its due to just how I get myself into position with the dumbbells.


I train at home and use dumbbell hooks to help with this, but I hang them off a barbell that by the sounds of it you don't have.


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

One other thought - are you using your legs to help you raise the dumbbells up? This helps, although it's easier with gym style dumbbells with flat ends.


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## james90 (Oct 7, 2010)

So just finished my workout, same as what I usually do however I done 10 reps per set instead of 8, and added in 3 sets of chest dips, I definitely felt it more afterwards and feel like I have actually completed a proper workout. I think I just haven't been pushing myself enough, hopefully I can see some results again by the new year.


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## Prince Adam (Mar 17, 2012)

Ultrasonic said:


> I train at home and use dumbbell hooks to help with this, but I hang them off a barbell that by the sounds of it you don't have.


Dumbell hooks??


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## Ultrasonic (Jul 13, 2004)

> Dumbell hooks??


Is Google broken?


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## Chelsea (Sep 19, 2009)

> My chest for some reason is my weak point. I train at home using dumbbells and i think it maybe because i am not lifting enough weight?
> 
> My usual routine is the following:
> 
> ...


Haven't read all the replies but it probably is a case of not lifting enough weight. Also why are you doing 4 sets of 8 reps? If you are using the same weight for each of those sets then i can see no progression. You also need to add flye's in there too.

Thing is with any muscle group is that, you can always increase volume, but with volume, the progression is finite, there comes a point of diminishing returns/over training. With weight however, the sky is the limit in terms of progression.

Think about what you are doing, don't aimlessly follow the masses doing 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps whilst never moving the weight up, whats the point? "If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got".

Pyramid the weight up and on your final set (the heaviest) go all out, push it to failure and way beyond that, do not go to failure on the other 2 or 3 sets leading up to your last.

Hope that helps.


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## monkeybiker (Jul 21, 2010)

james90 said:


> Its both, currently I use 22.5kg dumbbells for incline and decline, I reckon I can do more but its just doing it on my own without a spotter, a few weeks ago after chest my bicep was aching for a few days and I think its due to just how I get myself into position with the dumbbells.







Skip the first minute he is just jabbering.

I don't do decline but your probably best just dropping the dumbells when finished.


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## bjaminny (Jan 3, 2015)

I started 4 x 25 press ups in between sets during my chest workout a few weeks back. Just to hit my chest differently. Neglected press ups for a long while so re-introduced them. Increase number as I became stronger

No dumb bells/bench/barbell needed. Just a bit of floor space and good old fashioned elbow grease. Healthy addition (for me anyway)


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