JustBulk's experience on getting a stronger and better chest
Well, I know probably very few or no one here knows me. I usually spend my time MISC-ing doing things for the lulz. But I wish to start contributing to the knowledge that is being shared around here. So here I am, sharing a little of my experience; hopefully it will help or provide some food for thought.
Now I'm not saying that I'm super ripped and buff, IFBB standard. I have no photos or pictures to back up whatever I am going to say. I understand that there are many 135lbs people who probably have never lifted before trolling and giving dumb "advice". I'm not here to get into a flaming contest over who I am or who I am not. I simply hope I would be given some space to share my experience. If you think it sounds good, maybe you can pick a page out of my book (for a change, since I've usually been picking pages out of others' books).
I used to have a really bad chest. I struggled to bench 110lbs (50kg) for even 5 reps. And now that I look back, I'm pretty sure I was doing half ROM. My chest was flatter than an airport runway. All that changed when I realized/did/changed the following:
1. Bench press properly.
Have you ever seen anyone squatted a lot with tiny legs? Probably not. The same can be said about the bench press. I haven't seen anyone who is able to bench a lot with tiny chest. That is, if you bench properly.
Benching properly means having the bar touch your chest. The portion when you drive the bar off your chest is the portion of the bench press that works the chest the most.
I'm not saying the bench press is the best exercise for chest; but it is a basic must-have, ie. staple.
2. Focus on the basics-pressing.
For a long time, I tried to bring up my chest by adding flies (incline, flat, machine), cable cross-overs and pec deck. I'm not saying they don't work, but I eventually got my chest better and stronger by stripping away all these and simply focusing on pressing-flat and incline.
Ronnie Coleman, one of the greatest IFBB has ever seen, simply did presses for his chest as well.
3. Train your chest twice a week.
I don't wish to get caught up in a 1x or 2x a week debate. I believe that how often you train a muscle group depends on the size of the muscle. For instance, legs and back are definitely larger than shoulders and can take hammering in the gym more often than shoulders. I've always felt that my back was suited for heavy duty. I would hit it 2x a week, with high volume. Then one day, it struck me. The back makes up half the chest measurement. That would mean the chest muscle, is as big as the back. If the back can handle heavy duty, why not do the same for the chest? Well, in the end, it worked for me. Training chest 2x a week made my chest bigger and stronger (but it can't handle as much volume as back).
4. Added push-ups.
Some people insist that push-ups are great chest builders. Others disregard it simply as a child's punishment. Or maybe because doing push-ups reminds one of his past humiliation of being punished. Whatever it is, doing a few sets of push-ups after my chest routine, did help me improve my bench press. What I notice however is that as the disparity in weight between my maximum bench press and bodyweight grew, the addition of push-ups seem to help drive my bench press up less. Maybe adding weights would be a way to go, but I did not experiment with that.
If you still think push-ups is for children, think again. Jim Wendler, world-famous elite powerlifting and highly regarded for his thoughts, included push-ups as "good accessory exercise" in his 5/3/1 book.
5. Dips are over-rated as chest exercise.
I'm not saying dips are not a good exercise. They are. However, for me, my shoulders always seem to give way first. If your shoulders are limiting you, then dips are not doing much for your chest. In that case, your 4 sets of dips don't equal 4 sets of chest exercise.
6. The Decline bench can be a useful tool.
Some insist that the decline bench is far superior than the flat, some insist it's a waste of time. Whatever it is, I found that it takes the strain off the front delts as compared to the flat bench. How is this useful? Well, for most people, we don't have the luxury of time. And so, it is very likely the second chest session would end up being mixed with shoulders day or after shoulders day. My second chest session is on my shoulders workout. After going ape**** on the OHP, I always found that my front delts were giving up before my chest was even fatigued. Solution? Decline bench.
Feel free to criticize, I'm always hoping to learn new stuff daily.
