Beast Mode Chest

Over the last couple months, I hope you caught the fellow BeastBlogger posts on bringing up your leg size and not neglecting them in favor of an upper body workout.  That said: If you’re all caught up on leg work, it’s time to build a bigger chest – and believe it or not a lot of chest size can be attributed to a wide back. As you’re probably aware, the chest is comprised of Pectoralis Major and Pectoralis Minor –both of which need to be worked and can be done so by varying the angle of you pressing exercises.  The chest is a large muscle group, so it can take a pretty good beating in a workout and depending on your level of fitness and genetics, some can get away with working the chest twice per week.  **Side Note**  If you decide to work the chest two times per week, make sure you have strong delts and tri’s as they’re recruited in your chest workouts and you don’t want to risk injury or overtraining if your supporting muscle groups are weak. I’ve had the best results training chest AND back on the same day with alternating muscle groups and pyramiding  the reps of my sets of the lifts from 20 down to 6.  Alternating exercises between chest and back seems to give me the rest I need to get that extra “push” on each lift.  I put together a pretty solid routine that has brought my chest to just over 44”.  Here’s how a chest and back workout goes: Warmup for 5-10 minutes on a cardio machine of your choosing (just to get loose, warm and get soe blood moving) Bench press: 5 sets:  20, 12, 10, 8, 6 reps respectively (increase the weight each set) – Have a spotter and go heavy.  The last rep of each set should be tough. Wide, overhand grip Chinups: 3 sets, max reps. – If you’re able, strap some weight around your waist for these – even if it’s a 5lb plate you’ll be lifting your entire body weight + 5lbs! Incline Dumbbell Presses: 3 sets, 10-12 reps. – I vary the angle of the incline for each of the three sets.  Go as heavy as comfortable on these, but don’t go so heavy as to stress your front delts too much.  You  can also change the incline to decline every other week so you’re also hitting the lower chest.  Depending on which part of your chest is lagging, you pick the angle. T-bar Row: 5 sets: 20, 12, 10, 8, 6 reps respectively (increase weight each set).  This is probably one of my favorite back exercises.  Keep the angle greater than 45* to get a good full range of motion.  You can also use 25lb plates instead of 45’s to further increase ROM. Cable Crossovers: 3 sets, 12 reps – These are a finishing move of sorts for the chest.  If you prefer machines over cables, use the pec-dec. Dumbbell Shoulder Shrugs: 4 sets , 10-12 reps: - While not directly working your lats – you wouldn’t want to have a nice size chest with flat traps would you? You’ll notice I didn’t include deadlifts on this workout.  I typically save those for another day after I’ve had a good 48hrs off from this chest/back workout.  If you’re really adventurous you can superset some of the chest/back sets above for an extra kick.  Stay smart and know your body – don’t lift weight with your ego – choose better form and in 6-8 weeks, you’ll build a bigger chest. From 9-5, Lonnie sits in front of a computer.  Outside of being an IT Geek, he’s an athlete who’s familiar with the cycle of being fit-fat-fit that so many of us struggle with.  Down from his highest weight of 300lbs in June 2009, he’s made the permanent lifestyle change to remain Big. Strong. Fit. Healthy.  When not spending time with his wife, son and daughter, he’s at the gym keeping off the fat and adding quality lean mass.