Chest lagging behind....

[Archamage]

The subject says it all...strength wise I feel OK, but as far as sheer muscle mass is concerned, it is by far the most underdeveloped. Specifically, I concerned about the lateral half of the muscle, with emphasis to be place on the lower pec area.

Currently, I'm doing 4 sets of flats, 3 sets of inclines, 3 of declines and either dumbell flyes or cables. Usually keep the reps in the 6-10 range, working out around 70-75% of my one-rep max.

Any input from the experienced masses here would be greatly appreciated regarding additional (or substituting) exercises to help bring this muscle group up to speed.

Thanks in advance.

[PIT]

Bump me 2

[HeHateMe]

dumbell pullovers are great for the lower pecs as are dips, you might wanna give those a try

[PIT]

Have you tried flatbench, inclines,declines with dumbells only?
I did that for 2 months and went back to bar bench and really improved...You get to work all your stabilizer muscles with dumbells..

PIT

[alwayzgrowing]

try pre exhausting. doing pec deck first. if you are doing flat bench first, your pecs may still have strenght left, but your delts or tris have given up. so by doing pre-exhaustion, you will cause your chest to fail earlier with benching.

BTW, i dont do flat bench barbell for my chest anymore. i feel it more in my deltz and tris. i use DB for bench

[massive member]

is your chest sore after a workout?

it took me years to learn how to properly set up my body to isolate my pecs. i have to really concentrate when i'm doing presses or i'll just feel them in my tris and front delts. i had to learn the mind muscle connection and i also had to learn how to properly set up my body to lift.

i had to squeeze my shoulder blades together, keep my chest out, dont let it get flat, and grip the bar in kind of a pecular (sp) way and try to squeeze my front delts together while keeping my shoulders blades pinches together.

kinda sounds dumb but thats the only way i get growth in my chest.

[Adonis]

Originally posted by massive member
is your chest sore after a workout?

it took me years to learn how to properly set up my body to isolate my pecs. i have to really concentrate when i'm doing presses or i'll just feel them in my tris and front delts. i had to learn the mind muscle connection and i also had to learn how to properly set up my body to lift.

i had to squeeze my shoulder blades together, keep my chest out, dont let it get flat, and grip the bar in kind of a pecular (sp) way and try to squeeze my front delts together while keeping my shoulders blades pinches together.

kinda sounds dumb but thats the only way i get growth in my chest.

Very good post bro. Contraction of the muscle is the key!

[Archamage]

Thanks for the replies guys.

MM-
To answer your question: yes, my chest is most definately sore after a work out. If I don't get sore, I don't feel like I've put in a good effort. With that being said, you explaination of how you attempt to better isolate your pecs during the benching movement makes sense to me. Definately gonna keep that in mind next workout.

[massive member]

cool.

the reason i ask because i would never get sore and would never see growth because my chest wouldnt do any of the work. it was all tris and front delts. so if your getting sore, you are working the muscles.

[Team Flex]

Re: Chest lagging behind....

Originally posted by Archamage
The subject says it all...strength wise I feel OK, but as far as sheer muscle mass is concerned, it is by far the most underdeveloped. Specifically, I concerned about the lateral half of the muscle, with emphasis to be place on the lower pec area.

Currently, I'm doing 4 sets of flats, 3 sets of inclines, 3 of declines and either dumbell flyes or cables. Usually keep the reps in the 6-10 range, working out around 70-75% of my one-rep max.

Any input from the experienced masses here would be greatly appreciated regarding additional (or substituting) exercises to help bring this muscle group up to speed.

Thanks in advance.

This is exactly what I do for my chest workout also. I find that if I switch it up and use dumbells only every now and then it makes a very big diference. But remember to have proper form on your excersise.

Good Luck!!

[Tinfish]

I love cable crossovers from below. Making sure to fully cross my hands at the top and contract my pecs.

[caladin]

I have always had problems with my chest growth mostly causue my shoulder are more over develpoed. Im thinking about doig the flys first to see if that well help.

[Archamage]

caladin-
I hear you, bro. I think that is a good part of my problem. My shoulders are far and away the msot developed (strength and size-wise) and I am thinking--through the helpful input of the members here--that pre-exhausting with either flyes or crossovers will help. I am also going to plan to incorporate more dumbell work into the routine.

Thanks for the help, guys.

[wrstlr69sdnl]

pyrimid seting also help my chest I did pyrimid sets for about 2 months and I always changed it around one week I would do all barbell bench and another week I would do all dumbbells And i gained strength and mass just remember to change up your workouts so your muscles dont get use to the same movement all the time

[GBAGH]

Once you learn how to properly work the muscle you will be fine.