Training your chest has become the most predictable routine of all. Three kinds of presses and flyes and all of us have had success doing that since the first day we stepped into a gym, so why change it now, right? Well, we’re not going to suggest that you blow it all up and start from scratch, but there’s nothing wrong with tweaking your workout to get a little more out of it.
1. PERFORM INCLINE PRESSES FIRST
The usual protocol is flat bench first, but a good idea is to hit the incline at the beginning of your chest workout. The majority of chest exercises do not concentrate on the upper pectorals like incline presses do and flat presses call on the shoulders to do some of the work. On an incline bench, the angle does not get the shoulders involved nearly as much.
This is still a compound movement, but one that isolates a particular part of the muscle and not engage the deltoids nearly as much as a flat press.
2. ALSO USE DUMBBELLS FOR PRESSES
Don’t get into the rut of always using a barbell for incline, flat and decline bench presses. Grab a pair of dumbbells for at least one of the three and even have some chest days where you go with all dumbbells.
They will work your stabilizer muscles and also help you even things out by working your weaker side without any assistance. Dumbbells will also give you a deeper range of motion at the bottom of the rep, something that is not possible with a bar.
And when using dumbbells, keep your pinkie higher than your thumb so you put added emphasis on the middle of your chest at the top of the movement.
3. SQUEEZE THE SHIT OUT OF THEM
All of that pressing will help build up your chest, but you have to add some squeezing exercises like flyes, cable crossovers and the pec dec. These isolation movements can be the difference maker and act as either or both for a great warm-up, finisher or as part of a super set.
Pause at the top of each rep to really tax the pec muscles and you will be able to actually feel the left and right touch each other in the middle while doing so.
4. PULL THE WEIGHT DOWN DURING THE NEGATIVE
Think about this one for a second – when you’re returning the weight back down to the starting position during the negative portion of the rep, try and be cognizant of actually pulling it towards you instead of just trying to control it from falling too fast. You should also engage your upper back muscles while doing this and the result will be your chest muscles will overcompensate and get into the game more.
It sounds kind of ass-backwards to bring in another secondary muscle, but in this case it will push the chest muscles more than if you left your back totally relaxed.
5. DON’T FORGET PULLOVERS
Dumbbell pullovers will stretch the shit out of your lower chest and ribcage and hit muscle fibers that will not be touched by any other pec movement. A lot of people do this exercise as part of their back routine, and while it does hit the lats, it is really a chest movement.