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Tall Ectomorphs with a Big Chest....Please Read
- Thread starter buddy28
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mekannik
New member
Just bench for 2 years straight... did that in high school and it left me with a chest and little else.
Seriously - Flat Bench - cycle low rep and moderate rep periods of training.
Incline D.B. presses - but do a 2-3 second lowering, 1 sec pause at the bottom
Decline Close Grip Bench - hits yours pecs and builds your tri's like crazy to aid you in your other presses.
Also consider very low (10') incline D.B. presses.
I'm 6'2", #225 - incorporate(d) the latter and have one of the beter chests in my gym. Granted genetics play the larger role though.
Seriously - Flat Bench - cycle low rep and moderate rep periods of training.
Incline D.B. presses - but do a 2-3 second lowering, 1 sec pause at the bottom
Decline Close Grip Bench - hits yours pecs and builds your tri's like crazy to aid you in your other presses.
Also consider very low (10') incline D.B. presses.
I'm 6'2", #225 - incorporate(d) the latter and have one of the beter chests in my gym. Granted genetics play the larger role though.
I would say genetics play a big role as my chest is way out of proportion with my other body parts. I wish my shoulders would grow more. I just look at chest flyes and my pecs grow. But getting back to your question...I would say that if you superset'ed chest flyes with bench, your chest would undoubtedly get worked. You wouldn't be benching as much, but who cares. later bro
My chest is far from huge, but I thought I'd mention what is starting to work for me since my chest lags
If your chest lags pre-exhaust it, Ive been doing this for abit now and I can see it is starting to work for me
All bar work just used to give my delts a workout, now I do incline flyes followed by incline DB's, the key is to not rest very long between the flyes and incline db press, do 1min or 1.25 absolute max, you see your chest recuperates 75% of its strength after 1 minute or so, so KEEP IT LOW and intense, as you are trying to pre-exhaust it!!
The most important factor though, is to feel the muscle working, if you dont; it wont get trained, simple. Put all your concentration into squeezing the hell out of your chest, also tense it during your rest period, dont give it any chance to relax. Tense it every opportunity you get, you dont have to make it obvious.
Sometimes I will do drop sets on the dumbells and forced on the flat bar (following incline db's).
My chest is really pumped after this. The most important factor is keep your rest periods down and form has to be 100%.
Focus on your chest, not on the pain.
This is what is starting to work for me.
Good luck dude
Oh I forgot to say, you'll know the next day if youve hit your chest, I used to get really sore delts and a little soreness in my chest - no good, but I have worked hard on eliminating this and now my delts barely get sore at all whereas my chest feels like it has been worked hard. Its all about form and concentration.
If your chest lags pre-exhaust it, Ive been doing this for abit now and I can see it is starting to work for me
All bar work just used to give my delts a workout, now I do incline flyes followed by incline DB's, the key is to not rest very long between the flyes and incline db press, do 1min or 1.25 absolute max, you see your chest recuperates 75% of its strength after 1 minute or so, so KEEP IT LOW and intense, as you are trying to pre-exhaust it!!
The most important factor though, is to feel the muscle working, if you dont; it wont get trained, simple. Put all your concentration into squeezing the hell out of your chest, also tense it during your rest period, dont give it any chance to relax. Tense it every opportunity you get, you dont have to make it obvious.
Sometimes I will do drop sets on the dumbells and forced on the flat bar (following incline db's).
My chest is really pumped after this. The most important factor is keep your rest periods down and form has to be 100%.
Focus on your chest, not on the pain.
This is what is starting to work for me.
Good luck dude
Oh I forgot to say, you'll know the next day if youve hit your chest, I used to get really sore delts and a little soreness in my chest - no good, but I have worked hard on eliminating this and now my delts barely get sore at all whereas my chest feels like it has been worked hard. Its all about form and concentration.
Last edited:
Liberator -
thanks for the advice dude. Yesterdays chest workout was decent.
I pre-exhausted my chest with 2 sets of 20 reps cable flys followed by incline dumbells, and then decline dumbells.
Its going to take some work to isolate the "Feel" of my chest working during the exercises, but its a good start.
My lower chest is pretty sore from the declines. Ive read here that declines build the whole chest, not just the lower chest. I disagree, but we will see
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thanks for the advice dude. Yesterdays chest workout was decent.
I pre-exhausted my chest with 2 sets of 20 reps cable flys followed by incline dumbells, and then decline dumbells.
Its going to take some work to isolate the "Feel" of my chest working during the exercises, but its a good start.
My lower chest is pretty sore from the declines. Ive read here that declines build the whole chest, not just the lower chest. I disagree, but we will see
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mekannik
New member
Buddy28,
One thing to consider is your past training history. Have low reps or high reps built more muscle for you? If low reps seem to be working - do 5-6 sets of 2 excercises, resting 2-3 minutes between sets. If higher reps work, go for 3-4 sets, 1-2 minutes rest.
Harking back to a previous thread - a training log becomes invaluable - allowing you to see both progress and stagnation in your efforts.
As for all the D.B. work - which I prefer myself - include some barbell work. You're most likely fatiguing the support muscles before hitting the deep fibres of the chest.
********
Madhavoc,
I keep my middle finger on the knurling/smooth junction of the bar. Typically 12"-14" apart.
One thing to consider is your past training history. Have low reps or high reps built more muscle for you? If low reps seem to be working - do 5-6 sets of 2 excercises, resting 2-3 minutes between sets. If higher reps work, go for 3-4 sets, 1-2 minutes rest.
Harking back to a previous thread - a training log becomes invaluable - allowing you to see both progress and stagnation in your efforts.
As for all the D.B. work - which I prefer myself - include some barbell work. You're most likely fatiguing the support muscles before hitting the deep fibres of the chest.
********
Madhavoc,
I keep my middle finger on the knurling/smooth junction of the bar. Typically 12"-14" apart.
guys I have never done decline ever, you can laugh at that if you like but its true, there is no decline bench at my gym, i see guys putting plates under a bench to make it decline, but we have no dedicated decline bench, apparently we are getting one soon though. weve got everything but that one thing.
I used to think it wasent needed if you already incorporate flat bar work, but maybe thats just me being ignorant
is it really that good for overall mass?
i will include it in my routine and try it
I used to think it wasent needed if you already incorporate flat bar work, but maybe thats just me being ignorant
is it really that good for overall mass?
i will include it in my routine and try it
mekannik
New member
Liberator,
It's not so much the direct effect of building mass from doing declines. Consider the following:
* On decline presses, due to alignment of shoulder joints and distance of fully extended arms to chest, the distance is shorter
* Since the distance is shorter ( and I believe shoulder angle to your advantage) - the amount of wieght that can be used is considerably more
* The decline adds variation to your routine - a different angle to reduce injury due to chronic over use of the same training plane
* The stretch added to certain movement (try do skull crushers/nose breakers/whatever you want to call them) on a decline vs. a flat bench - you'll notice a subtle difference.
It's not so much the direct effect of building mass from doing declines. Consider the following:
* On decline presses, due to alignment of shoulder joints and distance of fully extended arms to chest, the distance is shorter
* Since the distance is shorter ( and I believe shoulder angle to your advantage) - the amount of wieght that can be used is considerably more
* The decline adds variation to your routine - a different angle to reduce injury due to chronic over use of the same training plane
* The stretch added to certain movement (try do skull crushers/nose breakers/whatever you want to call them) on a decline vs. a flat bench - you'll notice a subtle difference.
Japanese machine
New member
buddy28 said:
preexhaust your fast twitch, not slow twitch, your looking for growth right? preexausting slow twitch wont do much. so by that i mean stick to heavy weights to preexhaust, otherwise your just warming up
