New Chest Day, looking for ideas

[Muffinhunter]

Chest progression seems to have stalled compared to the rest of my body - most likely since im stubborn as hell and have been doing the same workout for close to 6 months now.

I'll post my recently completed workout complete with weight so you can get an idea.

Flat Barbell Bench 135x10 (warmup), 225x10 (2nd warmup), 275x8, 315x6, 315x6
Incline Barbell 185x10, 205x8, 205x8
Weighted dips 100lbx10, 100x10, 100x10
Pec Dec? (Arms extended, w/e that machine is called) 200x10, 200x10
Incline Cable Fly (hands turned in, working on tie-in) 70x12, 70x12

Thoughts - I need to work on my incline press, that much I know. With my new plan I will have that first, and really try to get my weight up there. My upper chest is a bit lacking overall.

Oh, and I alternate incline barbell with dumbells every week

Any ideas to switch things up and break this plateau?

[smokeater]

Do you incorporate pullovers, and dumbbell flies? What I've found to help with chest is to do one barbell press then a dumbbell press, switching it up every workout.

ie.
workout 1
-flat barbell press
-incline dumbbell press
-flat bench flies
-pullovers

workout 2
-incline barbell press
-flat dumbbell press
-incline flies
-dips or push ups

Play with your rep ranges and sets too.

[Muffinhunter]

Do you incorporate pullovers, and dumbbell flies? What I've found to help with chest is to do one barbell press then a dumbbell press, switching it up every workout.

ie.
workout 1
-flat barbell press
-incline dumbbell press
-flat bench flies
-pullovers

workout 2
-incline barbell press
-flat dumbbell press
-incline flies
-dips or push ups

Play with your rep ranges and sets too.

I don't do pullovers on chest day - They seem to hit my lats really hard, and I don't feel much in my chest at all.

I probly should try some dumbell flyes - I have never got my form to where I feel it as much as pec dec/cable flies, i'll work on that.

Also, I've never enjoyed flat dumbell press. This is also due to the fact that my gym only goes up to 100lb dumbells, which i can rep out for 12.

I'm thinking of trying out an all-out Serge Nubert style high rep/low rest for a month or so, just to freak my body out

Thanks for the tips.

[TheStreetKing]

Any ideas to switch things up and break this plateau?

You need to eat more and put on more bodyweight, It takes weight to move weight! That is what your after isn't it?

Try something like this for your Chest workout:

1) Incline Dumbbell
2) Dips
3)Flat Barbell Bench Supersetted with Pushups

Then focus on Triceps:
Close Grip Bench
Skullcrushers
Tricep Pushdowns

[907xxx]

try only doing 3-4 sets highier reps 1 week lower reps next range also changing weight up. Try doing reverse wide grip bench works better than incline bench for hitting that upper chest

[Muffinhunter]

You need to eat more and put on more bodyweight, It takes weight to move weight! That is what your after isn't it?

Try something like this for your Chest workout:

1) Incline Dumbbell
2) Dips
3)Flat Barbell Bench Supersetted with Pushups

Then focus on Triceps:
Close Grip Bench
Skullcrushers
Tricep Pushdowns

Yup - I'm eating above maintenance (albeit, only 200 cal over). Very slow and steady bulk. I'm questioning my workout because like I said, I've been progressing overall, except for chest.

The less is more approach might be a good idea... I'm currently torn between that (low rep/heavy ass weight) and like I said about, a Serge-style high rep/low rest idea.

Thanks for the advice, much obliged!

[TheStreetKing]

Yup - I'm eating above maintenance (albeit, only 200 cal over). Very slow and steady bulk. I'm questioning my workout because like I said, I've been progressing overall, except for chest.

The less is more approach might be a good idea... I'm currently torn between that (low rep/heavy ass weight) and like I said about, a Serge-style high rep/low rest idea.

Thanks for the advice, much obliged!

Try aiming around 600 calories above maintenance, If your eating 200 calories above maintenance that means you'll gain a 2lbs of bodyweight every month and if you bulk for 3 months thats only 6lbs of weight gained, See what i'm getting at here brah?

[Muffinhunter]

Try aiming around 600 calories above maintenance, If your eating 200 calories above maintenance that means you'll gain a 2lbs of bodyweight every month and if you bulk for 3 months thats only 6lbs of weight gained, See what i'm getting at here brah?

Yeah I get it - My thought process in doing this is just to create a more overall progression. I'm trying to scrap the whole bulk/cut/bulk/cut cycle - for naturals it seems more beneficial to continuously lean bulk.

That being said, you're probly right in the fact that I do probably need to bump calories a bit to break this plateau.

[MikePrice]

Incline dumbbell flies are awesome, give those a shot. If you do them right you can feel your upper chest getting torn apart.

What helped me break my plateau was to fatigue the target muscle before a compound movement.

Example:

Flat bench dumbbell flies - superset into - flat barbell bench - superset into - push ups

You can do the same with incline.

Gained 2-3 reps on pretty much everything the week after and had to up the weight

[spaded]

Switching it up is always good, but you should also try just taking a week off and give your body some extra recovery time. Sometimes thats all it takes.

[Squat-Man]

Chest progression seems to have stalled compared to the rest of my body - most likely since im stubborn as hell and have been doing the same workout for close to 6 months now.

I'll post my recently completed workout complete with weight so you can get an idea.

Flat Barbell Bench 135x10 (warmup), 225x10 (2nd warmup), 275x8, 315x6, 315x6
Incline Barbell 185x10, 205x8, 205x8
Weighted dips 100lbx10, 100x10, 100x10
Pec Dec? (Arms extended, w/e that machine is called) 200x10, 200x10
Incline Cable Fly (hands turned in, working on tie-in) 70x12, 70x12

Thoughts - I need to work on my incline press, that much I know. With my new plan I will have that first, and really try to get my weight up there. My upper chest is a bit lacking overall.

Oh, and I alternate incline barbell with dumbells every week

Any ideas to switch things up and break this plateau?

Rules are simple what to do for preparation of a program. You should know your strength and weak points,needs,capabilities and a program prepared with considering these factors to reach your goals. Your goal is obvious ; to increase your strength-endurance in chest exercises and moving bigger weights in chest exercises for reps. You should know your capabilities. But do you know your strength and weak points and considered this factor while preparing a program to reach your goals? You know the answer of this.To reach your goals factors like exercise selection,order of these exercises, intensity of the sets for the exercises,rest times between sets,volume and frequency of your workouts should be adjusted properly to reach your goals.

[autonoma]

Chest progression seems to have stalled compared to the rest of my body - most likely since im stubborn as hell and have been doing the same workout for close to 6 months now.

I'll post my recently completed workout complete with weight so you can get an idea.

Flat Barbell Bench 135x10 (warmup), 225x10 (2nd warmup), 275x8, 315x6, 315x6
Incline Barbell 185x10, 205x8, 205x8
Weighted dips 100lbx10, 100x10, 100x10
Pec Dec? (Arms extended, w/e that machine is called) 200x10, 200x10
Incline Cable Fly (hands turned in, working on tie-in) 70x12, 70x12

Thoughts - I need to work on my incline press, that much I know. With my new plan I will have that first, and really try to get my weight up there. My upper chest is a bit lacking overall.

Oh, and I alternate incline barbell with dumbells every week

Any ideas to switch things up and break this plateau?

Try to do your incline first, cause it is relatively weak compared to your flat. I would do 2 normal sets of incline then two sets with drops.
Then do some dumbells to switch it up for flat. Do cable flyes with the incline chair and some weighted dips at the end. Try to get your incline to 275 for 8-10 reps, then you can start switching it up again.

[moose054]

If your looking to shock some new muscle growth in your upper chest, I think these 2 movements could help you. They have helped me quite a bit.

When you are doing incline barbell press, when you bring the bar down to your chest, bring the bar halfway up, back down, then all the way up. That's 1 rep. Do that for 8-10 reps. Be careful at first because the weight will start getting to you quickly. Another reason for this movement working is it keeps constant tension on the muscle.

The other one is reverse grip flat barbell bench press. Now you can adjust the bench from 0 degrees up to 45 degrees in increments. Over time this will hit your top chest really nicely. Just simply flip your grip from overhand to underhand. Seems unnatural at first, but over time it will feel natural.

Hope these can help you.

[gkicksass]

i just did this today and i really felt it in my chest. do some pre-exhaustion techniques; ie-db flies, cable flies, db bench, to work you chest a little bit. after that, do partial reps on a flat barbel bench. go so that your arms extend from 90 degrees to approximately 135 degrees. it seems to work for me pretty well and i really felt in especially my inner chest.