lagging chest

[Billianaire]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

[Defiant1]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

If your other bodyparts are growing, it is usually exercise selection/rep range combined with less than favorable genetics for a bodypart.

What are you doing currently for chest?

[Billianaire]

i'm constantly mixing up exercises and rep ranges, but an average chest workout for me would look something like this

flat barbell bench 4x6-12
incline dumbbell bench 3x8-12
cable flyes 3x10-15
decline dumbbell press 3x8-10


or something like...

incline barbell press 4x6-12
flat dumbbell bench 4x8-10
incline dumbbell flyes 3x10-12
machine chest press 3x10-15

I through a lot of supersets and dropsets in there too

[Tyrbolift]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

I don't think your chest is lagging.

[-Lucifer]

How's your form? Maybe drop the weight and check the link in my sig.

That worked for me lol.

[JasonDB]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

I can see your problem. Assuming you are doing traditional lifts in yoru routine such as heavy bench, military press, etc... you are training your chest one day a week. On Monday.

Monday: your shoulders and triceps are getting worked. (all presses and dips for chest work deltoids AND triceps).

Tuesday: your shoulders are getting worked doing chinups, rows (all 3 heads of the delt depending on which movements and hand positions you are using) as well as your biceps. In fact it is often argued the rows and chins do more for biceps than curls.

Friday: your shoulders are getting worked again. All your shoulder presses are working triceps, and any upright rows you are doing work your biceps.

Saturday: your triceps and biceps are getting worked (no shoulders or chest assuming you are doing isolation work only).

So total workouts per muscle group:
Shoulders: 3 workouts per week
Triceps: 3 workouts per week
Biceps: 2 workouts per week/3 if you do upright rows for shoulders
Chest: 1 workout per week

Now you tell me why your chest is smaller than your shoulders and arms?

[DJAuto]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

Put shoulders on Saturday, and make Friday a chest day. Mix in arms where you can.

[Billianaire]

Thanks for the advice guys. DJauto that sounds like a good idea but I just don't want to have chest and shoulders back to back. maybe if I put shoulders on wed and legs on saturday with and extra chest day on friday. idk, I'll have to weigh my options.

[RossDB]

If your other bodyparts are growing, it is usually exercise selection/rep range combined with less than favorable genetics for a bodypart.

What are you doing currently for chest?

This.

I had a hard time with my chest (very shoulder dominant presser)

The key lifts that helped me improve;

Dips - If these dont get your chest to grow, you can definitley chalk it up to genetics
Low incline Press with a pause at the bottom each rep - DB and BB

If you really want to catch it up quick, just drop your shoulder day and work chest then. Your shoulders will get plenty of work with chest anyway.

EDIT: Be careful with the paused presses if you choose to do them, they can be very stressful on the shoulder joint.

[Bantropic]

Put shoulders on Saturday, and make Friday a chest day. Mix in arms where you can.

^ Agreed ^

[Billianaire]

Ya it sucks cause I can't really do dips. I had a rough sternum injury last summer playing lacrosse (which is part of the reason why my chest is lagging) and the one exercise i still really can't do because of it is dips : (

what I'm thinking about doing is switching to a six day split of something like this

Mon-chest/abs
tues-back/forearms/calves
wed-shoulder/traps
thurs-legs/calves/abs
fri-chest/triceps
sat-biceps/abs
sun-off

It would be tough considering i'm working alot. But i really want to bring my body to the next level.

[JOSEF RAKICH]

If your other bodyparts are growing, it is usually exercise selection/rep range combined with less than favorable genetics for a bodypart.

What are you doing currently for chest?

This and also most likely his FORM.

Your benching form is probally the reason why you are not getting the chest gains you want. Your probally "trying" to train your chest, but end up training you front delts and triceps due to your form.

Here is proper benching form on how to increase stress on the pectorials and limit front deltoid and tricep involvement.

- Drop your traps and shoulders down

- Pinch your shoulder blades together

- Puff your chest up

- Drop elbows down slightly under the nipple.
(by having your elbows up high at 90 degrees like how most people bench you will notice much less stress is being applyed to the chest and the front deltoids are being worked much more. Also lowering your elbows will increase your bench, just take a look at how the power lifters bench all with there elbows low, the higher your elbows the more front deltiod involvement, the lower your elbows the more chest involvement)

- Dont lock out or roll the shoulders.
(if you follow the steps above you shouldent be able to roll your shoulders anyway, but its always best to stop short just before lock out. Why? When locking out the stress is removed from the pectorials and placed on the elbow joints, also the top ROM of the bench press is more triceps and front deltoids, thats why when you see pros benching like Ronnie Coleman you notice he dosent lock out his elbows)

- If using dumbells slightly rotate your thumbs upwards
(put your hands out infront of you and turn up your thumbs just a little, this is the angle you want to hold the dumbells at, so that even less deltoid is being involved, this is why i prefer DB over BB)

Follow these steps and it will hit your chest.

Also watch this video by Charles Glass, he explains quite good on how to have maximum stress on the chest and limit your front delt and tricep involvement.

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/glasscut3.htm

[msm172021121]

lately it seems that my chest is lagging and I want to bring it up to the size of my shoulders and arms, but I don't know if I can fit in an additional chest workout every week and not be too sore for my other lifts. I follow a five day split where I train each bodypart once a week.
Mon-chest & abs
tues-back & traps
wed-legs
thurs-off
fri-shoulders & abs
sat- bi's & tri's
sun-off
Any advice on how to pump up my chest would be very appreciated.

you dont need 2 days for chest. just one day with the right exercise selections/rep and set ranges, etc. more than likely your problem is with diet, recovery time, and the amount of sleep you get at night. your split looks good, leave it alone.

[Limons.]

Put tris and chest together, bis and back together.

[Billianaire]

thanks for the advice josef. I'll try and keep those tips in mind next time I'm benching. maybe I don't really need another chest day, but i'm gonna try to throw one in. at least for a month. my chest strength has been going up and i feel like i hit it pretty hard when i do it. but my shoulders and arms are taking off and my chest isn't. I will try to "feel" the chest more when I lift it and I will add in an extra chest day for a couple weeks and see where that takes me.

[JasonDB]

thanks for the advice josef. I'll try and keep those tips in mind next time I'm benching. maybe I don't really need another chest day, but i'm gonna try to throw one in. at least for a month. my chest strength has been going up and i feel like i hit it pretty hard when i do it. but my shoulders and arms are taking off and my chest isn't. I will try to "feel" the chest more when I lift it and I will add in an extra chest day for a couple weeks and see where that takes me.

I personally do not think you have the size or experience yet to really benefit from a split routine at all. I think your chest would balance out quicker doing full body routines, and working it 3x a week. Everyone ones to jump into split routines while they are still a novice or intermediate trainee, without understanding the benefits or reasons why one would do such a thing, and when they are not in a position to benefit from one. Your chest is lagging because it is only being trained once a week and the muscles that are developing are being hit 3x a week. This is the type of scenario that happens when you do a split routine. The entire purpose of a split routine is to give a specific lift or body part more work to correct an imbalance or give it specific work, and only advanced athletes and bodybuilders who know a great deal about their own body should be working with split routines.