Advice on training chest - halp!

[OMEGA]

Please correct me if I'm wrong (and I know I am...just trying to understand the higher volume, which I've never done), but it seems like all those reps at a lower weight will just give me pump, which I'm not looking for. You've obviously got a proven technique and I'm not by any means doubting it...just trying to understand the mechanics.

90% of people on this planet dont know how to train chest.
This routine will Build MASS for pecs if you do it right.
Fatigue is fatigue and Hypertrophy will occur if you obey the breaks between sets and the % increase with Each set and the Drop set.

This principle was actually stolen from me by some asshat guru on another board.
Its ok hes not that smart....

 

[RottenWillow]

Trainees vary tremendously on their tolerance for volume. One should always adopt a program then stick with it long enough to test their own personal reaction before changing anything. Changing up anything prematurely is an ideal way to continually failure to discover what works for your body.

Specific to volume, I'm of the opinion one can test their personal tolerance for it in as little was 3 training cycles. That's 3 times training the same muscle. If you hit the same muscle every 4 days, that's 12 days to find out if 8 sets total for chest is just too damn much for your body to progressively adapt. '

Design an experiment (read: a fixed routine built upon sound rational), then conduct the experiment. Failing on either mandate will leave you chasing your tail endlessly.

 

[RottenWillow]

90% of people on this planet dont know how to train chest.

agreed.

"pectoral" training for most people is more of a delt/grind the shit out of your rotators workout.

 

[OMEGA]

agreed.

"pectoral" training for most people is more of a delt/grind the shit out of your rotators workout.

DING DING

 

[nefertiti]

90% of people on this planet dont know how to train chest.
This routine will Build MASS for pecs if you do it right.
Fatigue is fatigue and Hypertrophy will occur if you obey the breaks between sets and the % increase with Each set and the Drop set.

This principle was actually stolen from me by some asshat guru on another board.
Its ok hes not that smart....

Again, maybe I'm showing my ass here, but I'm welcoming you to correct me.

My goal is to be stronger, not bigger....I always thought of them differently. I know there is correlation, but I thought the types of training with the different goals was different.

 

[RottenWillow]

Again, maybe I'm showing my ass here, but I'm welcoming you to correct me.

My goal is to be stronger, not bigger....I always thought of them differently. I know there is correlation, but I thought the types of training with the different goals was different.

They would generally require a pretty different training program than training for hypertrophy. The degree of differentiation between the types of workouts definitely varies between trainees, but generally you'd want shorter time under tension (typically means fewer reps), fewer sets, and with longer rests between them.

Personally I've always made my very best strength gains with very low volume. Two sets to MMF (+ 2 rest/pause reps) per large muscle group and one set in this manner for small muscle groups. This is pretty damn different from the approach Omega favors. His routines I believe would be effective for muscle building. His sorts of routines are the ones that have certainly worked best for me when I was focused solely on muscle building.

 

[nefertiti]

They would generally require a pretty different training program than training for hypertrophy. The degree of differentiation between the types of workouts definitely varies between trainees, but generally you'd want shorter time under tension (typically means fewer reps), fewer sets, and with longer rests between them.

Personally I've always made my very best strength gains with very low volume. Two sets to MMF (+ 2 rest/pause reps) per large muscle group and one set in this manner for small muscle groups. This is pretty damn different from the approach Omega favors. His routines I believe would be effective for muscle building. His sorts of routines are the ones that have certainly worked best for me when I was focused solely on muscle building.

This was my understanding....thanks, brosephine.

I took his and EM's advice in terms of what exercizes to do, but I'm keeping the low volume/high weight that has always worked for me and what I want for my body. I did this for my chest routine last week and was pleasantly sore without feeling that anterior delt tweak that's been pissing me off. i'm gonna stick with it and just be patient.

 

[RottenWillow]

This was my understanding....thanks, brosephine.

I took his and EM's advice in terms of what exercizes to do, but I'm keeping the low volume/high weight that has always worked for me and what I want for my body. I did this for my chest routine last week and was pleasantly sore without feeling that anterior delt tweak that's been pissing me off. i'm gonna stick with it and just be patient.

That should work. Just remember it's critical to backcycle every 6-8 weeks. For everyone but total beginners the body just can't handle continuous progression in weights for very long before it fails to adapt. First gains will stall, and eventually start to backslide.

 

[nefertiti]

Now I'm definitely gonna have a newb moment. Backcycle? I have an idea of what this means but no one has ever told me anything about it. Good to know since i've definitely had the above happen and I usually end up taking a couple of weeks off to fix it. But i'm all for preventative measures. Pls informs me.

 

[RottenWillow]

Now I'm definitely gonna have a newb moment. Backcycle? I have an idea of what this means but no one has ever told me anything about it. Good to know since i've definitely had the above happen and I usually end up taking a couple of weeks off to fix it. But i'm all for preventative measures. Pls informs me.

Backcycle means to back up to an earlier phase in the training cycle in order to make the workouts easier for a while. It would of course be implemented differently from one program to the next, but would always carry a element of reduced load so that your body's adaptive process could get a break. I think I broke it down in a thread a while back with the words "intermediate trainee" in the title.