Last Update On January 4, 2012
The Stubborn Chest Routine
by Rusi
I was doing the flat bench press with extreme elbow tucking /elbows close to the side/ and most of the weight was handled by my front deltoids. I didn't care. All I wanted was to lift more weight. But then I said: “Fuck it. This isn't working for me.”
I tried dips & decline bench press and they worked much better but my shoulder couldn't handle them after some time and I had to find a new exercise. That's when I came up with the following routine that took me from flat as an iron plate to finally being able to flex my pecs and fill out my chest.
Exercise 1: Wide Grip Push-ups On Gymnastic Rings a.k.a. Bulgarian Ring push-ups
The week I stopped doing dips I decided to build a homemade training suspension system and use it as gymnastic rings. The first exercise I tried were push-ups. I decided to try them with wide grip to see if there is pain because wide grip bench was a problem for me.
There was no pain at all. I used as wide grip as I could and I didn't feel any kind of shoulder problems. My guess is that the free rotation provided by the rings made my shoulder happier. However the interesting thing happen the next day - my chest was sore from top to bottom and from left to right. For around 4-6 day I was able to feel each muscle fiber during the simplest daily activities. In other words the push-ups just killed my chest big time. That's when I knew - this is my exercise.
I think at first I did something like 2-3 sets of 6-8. Then I started adding weight using a plate attached to my neck. I would do two warm-up sets and one set with a little weight (10kg/20lbs) to form failure and then reduce the weight and do a few more sets. It worked especially for that lower pec line or outer pec. My chest grew more in 3-4 months than 12 months of doing the bench press. Later I read in an article about Vince Gironda that he used to recommend hanging rings for stubborn pecs. I wasn't surprised.
So, I recommend that you perform a few sets of 6-12 reps with good form - bringing the handles together at the top, using a decently wide grip (not mad wide) and trying to make the chest do the work.
Once that's easy add weight - 5kg/10lbs is a good start. I like to attach the weight to my neck but you can use a backpack, weight vest and so on.
Exercise 2: Low-incline dumbbell bench press
The incline dumbbell press is another great exercise that is also extremely shoulder friendly for two reasons - the incline angle and the use of dumbbells. As you know dumbbells are great for upper-body work because they allow your joints to find a painless groove.
The reason why you shouldn't use a high incline is that the higher the incline the less the chest involvement there is compared to front deltoids. 30 degrees sounds about right. At the same time the incline places more stress on the upper chest and as you know - you can't have too much upper chest.
Recommended sets and reps:
2-3 warm-up sets - 10-12 reps
2 working sets - 6-12 reps
"Hmmm...bro why not regular barbell incline press?"
It's simple - the dumbbells allow you to use wide grip which is extremely important for more pec involvement and chest activation in general. Also at the top the dumbbells allow you to bring your hands together and squeeze the pecs. That's even more chest work. Why miss it?
Exercise 3: Dips
While I can't do dips due to shoulder pain a lot of people out there can do them with no problems and they should because dips are a great exercise. The reason for placing it last is to avoid the need to use a lot of added weight. Weighted dips can be a problem for some people's AC joints. By placing them last you just can't do that much weight.
Recommended sets and reps:
2 sets 6-12 reps - don't go to form failure on this one. Focus on form and perform the exercise slowly without bouncing at the bottom. Also don't go too deep. Your shoulders will thank you.
"Hmmm...I'm a bitch like you. My shoulder hurts from dips. Alternative?"
If your shoulders hurt during dips just perform another 2 sets of low-incline dumbbell press. No need to make it complicated. Remember the most important exercise in this routine are the wide grip ring push-ups so don't omit them. If you can't do them use a closer grip or elevate the rings so that you decrease the difficulty level. Sort of like performing push-ups on knees.
The Complete Routine:
Rings Push-ups - 2-3 warm-up sets of 8-12 reps; 2 working sets (with added weight if possible) of 6-12 reps; 1 back-off set of 10-12 with less weight or no weight at all;
DB Low-incline Press - 2-3 warm-up sets of 10-12 reps; 2 working sets of 6-12 reps;
Dips - 2 sets of 6-12 reps;
Rest between sets - 40-90 seconds
Training frequency - 1-2 times a week. If you decide to perform this routine twice a week I would remove any kind of anterior shoulder work like overhead presses, front raises. Why? The frond deltoids are worked heavily during all of those three exercises and if you add a shoulder day on top of it you may end up grossly over-training. If you have stubborn pecs it also means that the triceps and the front deltoids are your dominant pushing muscle groups.
If you decide to keep your shoulder day give the deltoids at least 72 hours to recover before the shoulder workout.
Good luck. Have fun.
When I first started lifting I couldn't hit my chest to save my life. I was doing mainly flat barbell bench presses. It didn't work for me at all. After a year of training my chest was pretty much the same. I was upset because I didn't know what to do but I knew what the problem was - the exercises I was doing were not effective for my body type, structure, flexibility...etc.
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