Chest is the only thing that wont grow!!!

[Joe106]

All my muscles continue to get huge EXCEPT my chest, Im seeing very visible results every few weeks on my biceps triceps, shoulders and back etc, my chest is always getting way stronger but never bigger. My one rep max went from 275 to 300 in about 2 months. My calorie and protein intake is very solid. I workout my chest the same way I work out all my other muscles, yet its the only one not to grow. I have two chest days a week, every wednesday and friday. I switch up my routine every few months to avoid hitting a platue, but mostly my usual chest day consists of these exercises in order

flat barbell bench 3 sets of 8-10

dumbell presses with a slight incline 3-4 sets of 8-10

(sometimes depending how tired my shoulders are) over head shoulder press with dumbells 3 sets of 8

weighted dips 3 sets of 8-12

drops set on incline bench machine 8 reps lowering the weight 3 times

tricep pull downs 3 sets of 10-12

Each of my workouts last 60-75 minutes max and i always go my hardest, until my whole body shakes on the last rep of each set and I do all my exercises with good form. And my chest is always sore the next day

I take bcaa's, craze, 2.5 grams of creatine before i workout, and a weightgainer shake post workout, I eat a hefty meal every 2-3 hours and I get atleast 8 hours of sleep every night. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!? Please help, and thanks for reading!

[sharpieblet]

ok so your 1 rep max has increased, that's good, how about your standard reps? are you progressing in those as well? it's likely that your chest IS growing if so, you just might be expecting faster visual changes than what really happen at this point.

if you're using full ROM and great form, as well as hitting the chest 2x a week, AND progressing with reps/weight used, you should be doing JUST FINE.

edit: btw, i GOTTA ask, how low do you bring the bar when doing bench press? and have you tried doing decline bench? those last couple inches before actually touching your chest can be the most important for activating the pecs fully, and many will sacrifice it to put up more weight. just be honest with yourself about it.

[Joe106]

ok so your 1 rep max has increased, that's good, how about your standard reps? are you progressing in those as well? it's likely that your chest IS growing if so, you just might be expecting faster visual changes than what really happen at this point.

if you're using full ROM and great form, as well as hitting the chest 2x a week, AND progressing with reps/weight used, you should be doing JUST FINE.

edit: btw, i GOTTA ask, how low do you bring the bar when doing bench press? and have you tried doing decline bench? those last couple inches before actually touching your chest can be the most important for activating the pecs fully, and many will sacrifice it to put up more weight. just be honest with yourself about it.

Thanks for the reply man,
My reps have also gotten much better, from January - May i was repping 225 about 6 times and that was if i was lucky. Currently I can rep 225 10 times with ease, 245 8 times (which is the weight i mostly use on my sets), and on a good day i can do 275 5x.

On dumbells i went from 90's 6-8 reps in January , to 110's 8-10 reps now.

When I barbell bench I usually bring the bar down 1-2 inches above my chest, I've tried bringing it all the way down to my chest but whenever i do that it feels very uncomfortable on my shoulders. On dumbell bench presses though I do go lower and my arms do break 90 degress.

I've tried decline bench for a month or two but stopped because i was told incline and flat were more effective and that since i was doing weighted dips i didnt have to do decline bench

[weppe]

We are all individuals in how our bodies respond to lifting weight. You way want to mix things up a little outside the box. Perhaps your pecs corresponds better to a heavier contraction? In that case you might try to lower the reps, some people find it beneficial.
Mix up your exercises, start doing drop sets to shock your muscles. Basically don't do the same thing as it doesn't seem to work anyway

[Aggressive]

Drop the dips for a start... in fact just drop everything and youtube Dorian Yates - Blood & Guts chest day.

Also add a drop set to failure directly after your heaviest set on a couple of the exercises. Use a decline bench and bench heavy if there's one available.


I had trouble at the start with my chest got the above advice from a knowledgable gym goer. And using it ever since, my chest has become one of my strongest muscle groups

[sharpieblet]

try replacing flat with decline. you say you stop a couple inches before actually touching the chest, but due to comfort issues, and that's really the only legit reason NOT to touch chest. good thing about decline is that it helps reduce shoulder activation and therefor you should be able to touch chest and do so comfortably (obviously start light and work your way up). i also notice, and many others feel the same way, that i get a better deeper stretch in my lower pecs with decline compared to flat.

try it next chest workout man, let us know how it feels on the shoulders as well. but from everything you've described in your reps/maxes, i'm sure your chest is slowly growing regardless. but if you're stopping short of touching your chest i think you could benefit by trying to fix that immediately.

[Joe106]

Alright thanks everyone! Im gonna take all the advice and apply it to my chest days from now on and see how I do. Thanks again!

[rsd147]

Does it feel firmer?

[Joe106]

Does it feel firmer?

Not enough that I've noticed

[unclejesseshair]

Try this out... use dumbbells and do a big drop set, followed by 2 straight sets.

Warmup... then pick the heaviest weight you can lift. Do a flat or incline bench position and pound out 6-8 reps. Then immediately drop those weights grab more at about 10-15% less than you just did and pump out another 6-8. Repeat this with no rest until you get down to 25-35 lbs and hammer out one more burnout set. Rest for a couple of minutes, then get the heaviest weight you can to do a straight (NOT A DROP SET) set of 6-8. Rest, then repeat another straight set.

This pumps my chest up like no tomorrow and you will feel it come the next day.

[iliketojuggle]

The bottom of the rep on chest exercises is where I feel my chest gets the most work from. If you are not touching your chest on every rep then you should lower the weight and start doing so. Try sticking your chest out more and pulling your shoulders back more that should help if you feel shoulder being not comfortable doing so. I always feel my chest really working on the last inch or two before touching my chest so that is the way to go probably.

[Mr_Aryze]

You said you're only bringing it 1-2 inches from your chest... are you sure you are doing this every single time? When you begin to fatigue? That's the problem with those who do not bring it down to the chest, their ROM diminishes as fatigue sets in.

I'm not too sure about the science behind the effectiveness of a full ROM compared to something you do, but if you end up only bringing it down halfway, then I believe you've found your problem.

From experience, when I started bringing it down to my chest (a long time ago) everything just improved.

EDIT: Also, if you're feeling shoulder discomfort when you take it down to the chest, but not when you bring it like 1 inch away from your chest, then perhaps you are estimating how low you bring the bar inaccurately?

[Nastradoomus]

Recently as Ive increased reps to weighted sets previously i'd go strong with lower reps with more on the bar. It did eventually provide growth with that method, but 12-15 reps is a way to strike those fibers to get them to grow overtime. If your sticking with lower reps, that's fine if you've only endured at least a couple of weeks @ 12-15 rate. Additionally, if your increasing weights a week, keep that measured along with the lower rep compounds.

[Joe106]

thanks everyone for the advice, also another question i forgot to ask originally, what kind of grip should I be using? Whenever I bench I line up my middle fingers with the lines, but I know some people grip wider. Which grip is the best for size?

[armsonly]

genetics and form
I've never benched more than 75lb dumbells and chest is my strongest part

[32bulkcycle]

Nobody said the obvious: try dropping down to 1 chest day a week. That will allow rest and recovery for your chest to actually grow. You say you're working out so intensely that you're always sore the next day. Well, if you're doing that on Wednesday than it's highly unlikely that you're totally recovered and ready to go by Friday

[ironlifestyle6]

All my muscles continue to get huge EXCEPT my chest, Im seeing very visible results every few weeks on my biceps triceps, shoulders and back etc, my chest is always getting way stronger but never bigger. My one rep max went from 275 to 300 in about 2 months. My calorie and protein intake is very solid. I workout my chest the same way I work out all my other muscles, yet its the only one not to grow. I have two chest days a week, every wednesday and friday. I switch up my routine every few months to avoid hitting a platue, but mostly my usual chest day consists of these exercises in order

flat barbell bench 3 sets of 8-10

dumbell presses with a slight incline 3-4 sets of 8-10

(sometimes depending how tired my shoulders are) over head shoulder press with dumbells 3 sets of 8

weighted dips 3 sets of 8-12

drops set on incline bench machine 8 reps lowering the weight 3 times

tricep pull downs 3 sets of 10-12

Each of my workouts last 60-75 minutes max and i always go my hardest, until my whole body shakes on the last rep of each set and I do all my exercises with good form. And my chest is always sore the next day

I take bcaa's, craze, 2.5 grams of creatine before i workout, and a weightgainer shake post workout, I eat a hefty meal every 2-3 hours and I get atleast 8 hours of sleep every night. WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!? Please help, and thanks for reading!

Cut to one day... plain as day

[ironlifestyle6]

Nobody said the obvious: try dropping down to 1 chest day a week. That will allow rest and recovery for your chest to actually grow. You say you're working out so intensely that you're always sore the next day. Well, if you're doing that on Wednesday than it's highly unlikely that you're totally recovered and ready to go by Friday

I bet he does 2 days bc he wants his chest to grow the most... silly human. Building muscle is a marathon not a sprint.

[KyleMass]

Try cable flies. Once I started doing these my chest bulked up FAST. I do 2 sets of 5 for each height with the grips locked very low, then medium height, and up high. Try it but don't forget to SQUUEEEEZZZEEE!

Oh and once every 5 days is perfect. For me, any sooner (even if I'm not sore) slows down muscle building.

[Joe106]

I bet he does 2 days bc he wants his chest to grow the most... silly human. Building muscle is a marathon not a sprint.

I used to do one chest day a week, I barely saw results. I saw the most progress doing chest 2 days a week, and yes I am sore on thursday but by friday morning I surprisingly feel fresh and ready to go and sometimes even feel stronger than wednesday, so I don't think I'm over training them. Don't get me wrong my chest has grown a HUGE amount since I started working out, just lately its stopped while all my other muscles continue to grow.

Is it possible that when your lats grow, they make ur chest look smaller? or am i just talking nonsense? Because my back is what has the best genetics and my lats grow so fast that I have stretch marks on them, so i always wondered if somehow they can make the chest look flatter, this is a completely wild question

[steyrsp]

You probably just don't have the genetics for a huge chest, so its harder than other muscles to gain there, along with the fact that you may be bumping your natural genetic peak for how big you can get - you can figure that out with ankle/wrist measurements.

Edit: don't listen to some of these people, I found the same thing as you - that working chest twice weekly gave me the best gains. And in fact at 200 your 1.5x bodyweight bench is 300 which you can do - that puts you right at the start of an Intermediate program like All Pro Intermediate which has chest twice weekly...

[KyleMass]

I used to do one chest day a week, I barely saw results. I saw the most progress doing chest 2 days a week, and yes I am sore on thursday but by friday morning I surprisingly feel fresh and ready to go and sometimes even feel stronger than wednesday, so I don't think I'm over training them. Don't get me wrong my chest has grown a HUGE amount since I started working out, just lately its stopped while all my other muscles continue to grow.

Is it possible that when your lats grow, they make ur chest look smaller? or am i just talking nonsense? Because my back is what has the best genetics and my lats grow so fast that I have stretch marks on them, so i always wondered if somehow they can make the chest look flatter, this is a completely wild question

Even if you "feel" refreshed and stronger, that doesn't necessarily mean your giving your chest ample time to recover and rebuild to max. If your still stuck on doing chest more than 1x a week, atleast give yourself and extra day of rest. Over training can slow down muscle growth, whether you know your doing it or not bro

[theo the man]

Hey brah waht has worked for me is decline bench for lower chest BB neck press for upper and heavy DB flies and like aggresive mentioned drop sets good luck brah and imo 2x a week is ok

[steyrsp]

Even if you "feel" refreshed and stronger, that doesn't necessarily mean your giving your chest ample time to recover and rebuild to max. If your still stuck on doing chest more than 1x a week, atleast give yourself and extra day of rest. Over training can slow down muscle growth, whether you know your doing it or not bro

Muscles recover in 48 hours. The only reason to wait longer is CNS recovery; most aggressive workouts seem to have found 72 hours to be the sweet spot.

[KyleMass]

Muscles recover in 48 hours. The only reason to wait longer is CNS recovery; most aggressive workouts seem to have found 72 hours to be the sweet spot.

If that were the case for every human body, wouldn't every body builder on the planet religiously work every muscle group right after 72 hours, or every 4th day? Some of the biggest guys out there will swear by doing chest once a week, ot every 5 days. I don't think they are wasting time. I get that those numbers show up in some research, but if he isn't getting the results he's looking for working out more often than most, a simple fix could easily be an extra day or two of rest. It's worth a shot. Not changing anything isn't going to fix the problem.

[steyrsp]

If that were the case for every human body, wouldn't every body builder on the planet religiously work every muscle group right after 72 hours

I never said "every human body" so that is a Straw Man. Pretty sure every bodybuilder works them 72 hours or less; Ronnie Coleman 72, Arnold 48.

Nattys like layne norton seems to be 72 if I read his workout right, though he's hitting the same muscles with different exercises and reps.

Some of the biggest guys out there will swear by doing chest once a week, ot every 5 days. I don't think they are wasting time.

Considering Arnold who worked chest every 48 hours had the greatest chest of all time, I would say yeah they are sitting around for nothing.

[Joe106]

OK after all my reading I've decided this is what I'm gonna do on chest day

Decline bench 4 sets 8-10

incline dumbells 4 sets 8-10

Overhead dumbell presses 3 sets 8-10

dumbell flys 4 sets 8-12

Weighted dips 3 sets 8-10

tricep pulldowns 3 sets 8-10

and then at the end either pushups till failure or drop set dumbell presses (which ever one is better)?

How does this sound? Am I over working chest? Should I have a flat bench press somewhere there? (its my favorite exercise) lol

[cantwait2lift]

OK after all my reading I've decided this is what I'm gonna do on chest day

Decline bench 4 sets 8-10

incline dumbells 4 sets 8-10

Overhead dumbell presses 3 sets 8-10

dumbell flys 4 sets 8-12

Weighted dips 3 sets 8-10

tricep pulldowns 3 sets 8-10

and then at the end either pushups till failure or drop set dumbell presses (which ever one is better)?

How does this sound? Am I over working chest? Should I have a flat bench press somewhere there? (its my favorite exercise) lol

nice to see you have some flys mixed in there now. Try some incline ones too, they're my favorite chest exercise. Good luck.

[32bulkcycle]

I never said "every human body" so that is a Straw Man. Pretty sure every bodybuilder works them 72 hours or less; Ronnie Coleman 72, Arnold 48.

Nattys like layne norton seems to be 72 if I read his workout right, though he's hitting the same muscles with different exercises and reps.



Considering Arnold who worked chest every 48 hours had the greatest chest of all time, I would say yeah they are sitting around for nothing.

All of these guys are juicing so going by their routines if you're natural is stupid. Im not saying you cant work out your muscles twice a week. I'm just saying that 48 hours isnt always going to enough, in fact its hardly ever enough after a very intense workout

[KyleMass]

All of these guys are juicing so going by their routines if you're natural is stupid. Im not saying you cant work out your muscles twice a week. I'm just saying that 48 hours isnt always going to enough, in fact its hardly ever enough after a very intense workout

Bingo, and also, if flat bench is your favorite exercise, then do flat bench, man. People will wave around statistics and research, and numbers but it really comes down to what works for YOU, and what you enjoy doing. You've got a lot of suggestions here, so try different variations until something clicks.