How do you get really defined pecs while lean?

[BigChuck888]

You know the pecs I'm talking about. Super defined under shadow in any lighting, the roll over on the bottom. I've been working on my pecs for a few months now. I'm seeing some acceptable gains but perhaps there is a quicker way. I'm 6'0, 180 lbs. I work chest every monday, wed, and fri. It USUALLY (not always) goes like this (in lbs obviously):

1. Flat bench press 4 sets. 135x10, 185x10, 225x6-8, 245x1-2. --- My current max is 285 but I only go for a max set maybe once a month because of injuries.

2. Cable flies, settings 10, 6, 2. 4-5 sets in each position. Usually 10-12 reps until the last set per setting then I max the reps, usually ends around 7-9.

3. Chest press machine. 4 sets. 100x10, 120x10, 140x10, 160x7-9

4. Pepper in dips, pushups, fly machine, and/or pull ups here and there. Not every day.

I'm struggling a bit with eating a bunch. My diet is extremely clean, I don't eat anything with any synthetic ingredients so it's expensive. 2 lbs of beef, 3 slices of home made bread, a bunch of cheese, usually some plants, 2 pieces of raw chocolate, a tbls of honey. That's usually the base of my daily intake, some other things here and there, like a couple spoons of real peanut butter or rice. I haven't counted calories but I maintain 178-183 so clearly I'm not taking in enough to grow but I am seeing fair gains on weight/reps and also on muscle definition. Maybe I just answered my own question.

I don't do much dumbbell work because of my injuries. Bench is rough enough. Incline is not possible. Use correct form, kids.. So is there anything else I should be doing? How did you guys get defined pecs?

[air2fakie]

If you're already lean & aren't gaining weight, I don't think you can expect to get big pecs. They won't grow out of nothing.

Training chest less instead of 3x/week & working to progress the weight up would likely help too, as well as not ignoring everything else. You'll probably find that your current injuries would get better if you had a more balanced workout as well.

[BigChuck888]

The chest workouts aren't the only thing I do lol. I do full body 3x a week and cardio the rest, except for Sunday where I take a walk. The chest exercises are just what I highlighted here. The injuries are a careful balancing act. Not working out isn't going to heal them at this point. The two bad ones were rested for months, now I'm avoiding straining them often with heavy weights and working them with light weight and stretches. Otherwise my strength progress has been substantial and I can't complain about the progress there. The numbers are just this week's, except for the bench max. That has stayed at 285 for the past few months because I'm afraid to go any higher right now.

I am about to up my carbs for a 5 lbs bulk soon once I get some work coming in. What's your chest routine look like?

[jaxqen]

There's a Rich Piana 8 hour chest workout

Every half hour, perform 4 supersets - press & fly.
Alternate between superset A & B every hour.
After every Supserset B, drink one scoop protein shake, and eat one banana.
Continue for a total of 8 hours, 64 sets of supersets, 200 g protein, 8 bananas.

Your chest should increase at least 5 inches from the pump.

Post pics, keep us updated, please!

Thank me later.

[BigChuck888]

"I like to learn from the mistakes of the people who take my advice."

Hmm....

[BeginnerGainz]

You’re avoiding dumbbells but doing barbell benches because you fear injury?

You got that backwards my friend.

There are a lot of reasons flat bench fell out of favor in bodybuilding circles and injury risk is one of them.

[FurtadoZ9]

"Defined" and "lean" is in the same category. If you are already "lean" there's nothing special you can do to further "define" your pecs. The look you are describing comes from having enough muscular size whilst at a low enough bodyfat.

A muscle can increase in size, decrease in size, or maintain it's size. Likewise you can increase your bodyfat, decrease your bodyfat, or maintain your bodyfat. Those are the two variables - with the exception of increased muscle capillarity from high repetition work which adds a bit of visible density.

[MyEgoProblem]

That.. Up.

More Definition
= lower bf% & larger amounts of muscle.

Bench. Injury.
The injury risk of lifting weights is soooooo low.
The only time it really increases id abuses of substances and/or pushing the bleeding edge of workloads.

[air2fakie]

More Definition
= lower bf% & larger amounts of muscle.

Exactly, OP said he's already lean so gaining weight & upping weights to gain muscle even if slow is necessary. But he says his strength gains are substantial & has no complaints about progress (even tho he also says bench is the same for months).

The only time it really increases id abuses of substances and/or pushing the bleeding edge of workloads.

For someone suffering from injuries (or anyone), it sounds excessive to do chest 3x/week with 8 sets of bench/chest press then 15 sets of chest flies each workout (23 x 3 = 69 sets of chest/week not including his extra "peppering" of dips, pushups, fly machine). But OP says this is a careful balancing act.

Hard to have helpful discussions with people who want advice, but also feel they're already doing everything right.

[TAWS6]

You basically diet down to 10 percent (realize you have no where near as much muscle as you thought) look lean and jacked at the beach and small in clothing. Yay for natty lifting