Lagging Chest !!!

[Torres]

So I've been training for about 6 years , but a lot of stop and go because of life problems .
Well I train 1 body part a week , but chest and legs I hit them up 2x a week because lack of size .
Well I simplified my leg workouts to 3 main exercises and they are def getting size , which I'm happy about .
On the other hand my chest lags and I beat it up 2x every week . I hit different exercises , super sets , drop sets , pyramid up exercises , negatives , contractions , and it has grown some but still not as much as I'd like .
So I saw a video where this dude says to stop the pushing exercises and focus more on flys , dumbells, machines, cables, more dips and more stretching as well .
How true is this to shock the chest into growth ? And is there anything else I can do for more chest growth ???
Any help with this is appreciated !!!

[guns01]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

i would say the exact opposite man. stretching doesnt do much building per say. get rid of all the fly movements and do all pressing for a while. biggest thing you have to find is your hand spacing for chest and everyone's is different. to close and it's more try, too wide and it is almost all shoulders. when you grip the bar or travel with the dbs at the bottom your forearm and upper arm should make an l. that should be the optimal hand spacing. also are you getting a pump while training chest? is it maintaining through the workout? if you are not or it isnt then something isnt going right. once you nail all your presses then work on stretching it out

[guage]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I benched with the 3 will get me 1 attitude for years to build strength on the bench press but now find a much deeper feel with dumb bells. I find angling the hand one way or another as well as placement between nipple and neck affect how the chest feels too( flat bench). my favorite is a slight incline about half your standard incline bench with heavy dumb bells... boy that feels good on the chest for me.

[Torres]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I do get a pump guns !!! I've been focusing more on contracting and squeezing the chest when doin any excersise !!!
And w/ barbell I position hands around shoulder width apart !!!
I'll stop w/ the fly movements and keep the pressing movements going .
I always did like cables and pec deck tho , do u think I should lay off those as well ???

[Young Gotti]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I've always had a crappy chest as well, not really in terms of size but more so shape and I hold fat in my chest......I employed different methods, last winter into the spring I did DC training which brought my chest and really my whole body up a decent amount

Other than that a movement I felt helped a lot was underhand flat bench, it works the upper peck more than an incline press and filling in my upperchest seemed to really feel out the overall look of my chest in general, I also like to finish my chest workouts with hammer strength machines as I really feel my whole chest fireing during the positive and negative part of the movement

I also prefer dumbbells over barbells in most cases when It comes to chest:

Best For Overall Chest Mass: Dumbbell Bench Press

Recent research from Las Vegas based StrengthPro Inc., headed by David Sandler, MS, CSCS, showed that the dumbbell bench press involves the front delts far less than the barbell bench press, since the arms come out to the sides more with dumbbells. Less delt involvement means more pec stimulation, which is exactly what you want for maximal chest development.

[MOUNTAIN-MAN]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

My chest is the slowest grower my body has I use heavy db incline press's pull over and a old one the Johnson press they really helped fill me out

[LittleTom]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

Seems like a common problem, I struggle as well. The thing for me is to make sure I am pushing with my chest as much as I can and not my damn arms. I love pec deck flys and get way more out of them then I do benching. I also love dumbbell flys and dips. I do do presses but only on the machine so I can get enough weight to do the reps I need and keep good form without a spotter. Before I start my session, and visually and sometimes actually, I practice the lift in my head and use the muscles I want to work. Remember to let the ego go and focus on form.

[hicktown]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I feel that my chest doesnt grow like the rest of my body so i bought the Mark Bell slingshot band and its helps with the second part of the press to where youre locking it out. I bought the 2nd band(its red) and it helped me destroy chest last night. Instead of doing 245 for 1 on my last set, I did 265 for 5 with a spotters help on the last rep. So after awhile this should help with my strength!

http://www.howmuchyabench.net/original-sling-shot

[guns01]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I do get a pump guns !!! I've been focusing more on contracting and squeezing the chest when doin any excersise !!!
And w/ barbell I position hands around shoulder width apart !!!
I'll stop w/ the fly movements and keep the pressing movements going .
I always did like cables and pec deck tho , do u think I should lay off those as well ???

i would ditch them for a while man and focus on mass movements. now with that said only add in one stretch movement per workout and i will give you an example below on how to switch it up. again i am pretty sure you are after growth and strength doesnt make a damn bit of difference. we want pump and failure and missing them is pretty much a worthless workout imho. so here is the first setup and the stretching movement is pullovers. we will always do cross bench pullovers or machine pullovers. again pulling with the chest:

machine press start around 40 or 50 and do sets of 10 until you cant get 10 anymore. no rest between sets. this should drive a ton of blood in your chest and get you ready to work
db pullovers 5 working sets x15 x12 x10 x8 x15 (do a couple warmup sets to hit you working weights and also make sure you warm your shoulders up good)
slight incline press (db or bb) 4sets x15 x12 x10 x8
flat press (bb or db) 4 sets of 8. try to get to a weight that is as close to failure without not finishing your sets

alternate setup
slight decline press (db or bb or machine) sets of 8 until you cant get 8 anymore
machine press sets of 10 until you cant get 10 anymore
smith machine slight incline press 4 sets of 12. now with these pause at the bottom and hold there for 2 secs. then drive up explosively and squeeze
db pullovers x12 x10 x8 x15

this should get them going and this is a setup i used that gave me my first stretch marks in my pec shoulder tie ins and added a ton of size to my chest. i had a piss poor chest when i first started out and was seriously shoulder and arm dominate. hand spacing and doing the above made a huge difference for mine

[qhams]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I have read about doing an isolation movement (flys/pec dec/etc,) and then immediately go into your compound chest exercise, even visa versa. So compound and then superset with iso. What is yalls take on these? Chest isolation tear my shoulder up, so I dont do them much. If I ever try the above usually it starts aggrevating the shoulder, so I stop.

My other thought is if the individual uses gear, then do site injections into that muscle group. The few years I ran cycles I pinned into chest and felt my chest looked leaner and had some extra development.

Just seeing what you experienced lifters had to say about the above.

[FUZO]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

I will always start off on Bench but then afterwards I will always do and try something different to keep shit guessing and mixing things up.When I hit a wall then I will Incline first then bench then still mix stuff up.Dont ever stop the pushing pulling exercises

[Yohimbe]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

Chest has been a weak point for me as well. I was always really flat in my upper pecs, so I started hitting my chest workouts doing heavy incline dumbell presses. From there I moved over to incline bench press on the smith machine. Using the smith machine helped me focus on the squeeze in my chest and keeping my shoulders out of the movement. I did these with lighter weight and really high volume for about 5 sets. After that I'd switch it up between different flat press machines/hammer strength equipment using moderate weights and more volume.

[whitetail]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

Everytime I have a great chest workout that involves dips people comment about my chest the following days. Everyone is different but dips make my chest pop bigtime!
There is certainly a place to overload on frequency but I feel working a lagging body part to grow by doing it more frequently isn't always the best way unless you lower the volume and really change the angles for muscle recruitment.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[hicktown]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

Wow, all kinds of advice in here. You cant go wrong with Guns's advice im constantly shocked about how much he knows. If youve been doing high volume then do low and vice versa. Im doing rich pianas workouts right now and shit, the pumps are fracking crazy!

[Rake]

Re: Lagging Chest !!!

Guns is a champ no doubt and his advice is gold. I will put in my 2 cents worth. I am built different then most which we all are. My chest is never as big as I want it but it does look better then most and I do work it a certain way that I believe pertains to my body. First off I care about the looks of it not the strength. The side view is what I work on the most. First thing I never roll my shoulders over for a fake look of bigger chest. My shoulders are always back and up during all chest work outs. I use as wide of a grip I can and do all exercises to the full lower extension so I can feel the tear in my chest. I see so many guys with in my opinion a crapping looking chest use tons of weight but only work the top half. I work the bottom half anyone can work top half to lock out. What helps me is staying low with the bench press so I can feel the tear. A pump is nice and makes me look good in the mirror but what I believe if my chest does not hurt when I am done all the way to the bone it will not build any bigger. Now being older there is a warning that come with this type of work out: Don't Hurt Shoulders. That means stop giving a shit how much you lift and work the weight where it hurts your chest. I start my chest work out with 135 widest grip I can 35 times as slow as I can move it concentrating on my chest muscles.