chest training,

“What are the best chest exercises to build my pecs?”

This is one of the most common questions that lands in my inbox on a weekly basis, and it’s no secret that the majority of lifters out there place chest training at the very top of their list of muscle building priorities at the gym.

In this post I’m going to outline a highly effective sequence of 3 individual chest exercises that I personally recommend to maximize your overall gains in pec mass and thickness.

Rather than blindly telling you to “do these exercises for this many sets and reps”, I’m also going to give concrete reasons for why each exercise has been selected and why I recommend performing it in place of other possible alternatives.

These lifts should be executed in the exact order that they’re listed and will give you a complete, well-rounded pec workout for consistent size and strength increases.

Do keep in mind that there are a million and one ways that you could effectively train your chest, and I’m not claiming that this is the be-all-end-all by any means. Any set of exercises that allows you to place the pecs under tension and consistently add weight over time will result in significant gains in muscle size and strength.

However, this is a specific sequence that I believe will be particularly effective for most people for all of the reasons I’m about to explain…

Chest Exercise #1: Flat Or Decline Dumbbell Press

In my view, these are the two very best chest exercises to select from as they utilize the best chest training tool available (dumbbells) at the optimal angle (flat/decline) to maximize pec hypertrophy.

Either variation is fine, and I simply recommend selecting the one that you most prefer and that you use it as the primary exercise in your chest training routine.

What makes the flat/decline dumbbell press the best choice to build chest mass as effectively as possible? Let’s go over it…

First off, why a dumbbell press rather than a barbell press?

I’ve talked in detail about the barbell press vs. dumbbell press for building chest size in previous posts, but I’ll quickly summarize the main points here…

* The primary function of the pecs is horizontal adduction of the humerus (bringing your upper arm across the front of your body), and dumbbell presses offer a superior range of motion through this function since the hands and arms can be brought together rather than being locked onto a fixed bar.

* Dumbbell presses force each arm to move independently, which prevents strength imbalances and ensures consistent development across the entire chest.

* Dumbbell presses reduce the chance of shoulder injuries since you can position your hands more comfortably and press your hands in a more natural arching motion.

Secondly, why the flat/decline angle?

The pec muscle is comprised of two main portions: the upper clavicular fibers (otherwise referred to as the “upper chest”) and the lower sternocostal fibers.

While some upper chest training is definitely important (we’ll cover this in the second exercise), it’s actually the lower fibers that make up the vast majority of the pec muscle.

For that reason, you’ll want to specifically target these fibers when your strength and energy are at their peak, and a flat or decline angle places your body into the proper position for this.

To start off your pec workout, perform 3-4 sets of flat or decline dumbbell presses for 5 to 7 reps per set.

Chest Exercise #2: 30 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press

As I just mentioned, targeting the upper clavicular fibers is still important for complete chest development from top to bottom, and an incline dumbbell press is the best way to accomplish this.

You’ll be using dumbbells here for the same reasons we just talked about, and you’ll be using the 30 degree incline since this properly angles your body for direct stimulation of the upper chest.

Perform 3-4 sets of incline dumbbell presses for 5 to 7 reps per set.

Chest Exercise #3: Cable Flye (High-To-Low Angle)

To finish off your pec workout you’ll be performing a cable flye utilizing a high to low angle. Flyes isolate your pecs at a slightly different angle than presses and are a great way to round out your chest routine for complete pec development.

There are a ton of different flye exercises you can choose from, such as dumbbell flyes, cable flyes and machine flyes, but as I discussed in my previous post (The Best Chest Fly Exercise), cable flyes are definitely the superior choice.

First off, why use cables rather than dumbbells?

Simple: because of the direction that gravity is pulling the weights (straight up and down) and the path that the weights are traveling in, dumbbells only provide a high degree of tension on the pecs in the bottom half of the range of motion.

As you press the weights up past halfway the tension gradually decreases on the pecs, and at the very top of the movement there is very little to no stress on these muscles at all.

Cable flyes solve this by pulling the resistance out to the sides rather than straight up and down. As a result, you’ll be placing your pecs under significant tension both at the very bottom of the movement all the way into the fully contracted position.

Secondly, why the high-to-low angle?

Setting the cables high up on the stand and pressing them downward places the resistance in line with the lower sternocostal fibers where the bulk of your chest mass is located.

And since the upper chest makes up such a small portion of your overall pecs, there’s no need to directly train it any further using a flye movement if you’re already performing an incline press as part of the workout.

To finish off your pec workout, perform 3-4 sets of cable flyes at a high to low angle for 8 to 10 reps.

There are 3 main questions I usually receive in response to these recommendations, so let me quickly address them here…

“Why Are There No Barbell Presses Included?”

There’s nothing wrong with a barbell press, and it certainly is an effective chest exercise for building size and strength.

However, the truth is that there is no necessity for a barbell press in a routine that is designed for muscle hypertrophy, as it doesn’t offer you anything that a dumbbell press does not, but yet does pose several disadvantages which we discussed previously. (See previous post “Are Bench Presses Necessary” for more info)

“Why Are Wide-Grip Dips Not Included?”

Contrary to traditional bodybuilding advice, if you examine the exact mechanics behind a wide-grip dip you’ll see that it actually isn’t a great movement for maximizing chest gains.

Dips primarily involve flexion of the shoulder and extension of the elbow (rather than adduction of the humerus), meaning that they mostly hit the front of the shoulders and the triceps rather than the pecs.

They also place the shoulder joint into an awkward position and are easily the most dangerous pressing exercise you can perform at the gym.

Again, dips certainly will allow you to build your chest, and performing them doesn’t automatically mean you’ll get injured, but all things considered, the risk-reward just isn’t worth it, especially when you already have superior chest exercises in your arsenal anyway.

“What About Targeting The Inner And Outer Chest?”

There are no are exercises specifically for this purpose because it’s simply not possible to target the inner or the outer chest over any other portion of the muscle.

You can target the upper or lower chest because you’re dealing with two different sets of fibers, but you can’t target the inner or outer because when one portion of the same set of fibers fire, the entire set of fibers will fire with it.

The Perfect Pec Workout: Review

So, that’s all there is to it…

Flat Or Decline Dumbbell Press: 3-4 Sets of 5-7 Reps

Incline Dumbbell Press: 3-4 Sets of 5-7 Reps

Cable Flye (High-To-Low): 3-4 Sets Of 8-10 Reps

Again, there are an endless number of different ways you could train your pecs for mass gains, but this is particular routine utilizes the most effective chest training tools available and at the proper angles to allow for effective, balanced stimulation of the chest, and in a safe and sustainable way.

motivational messages

We’ve all had those days…

You’ve just come home from a long day of work or school… you’re physically tired and mentally worn down… you’ve got a thousand non-gym related things on your mind… and all you really want to do is flop down on the couch, relax and unwind.

Only problem is, it’s Thursday. And Thursday is leg day. And no matter how much you try to rationalize it in your mind, deep down you know there’s just no good excuse to skip this workout, even though you’d love nothing more than to stay right where you are and not move a muscle.

Sound familiar?

Yes, even the most motivated of trainees still experience “off days” every now and then. Days where laying in bed and watching Seinfeld re-runs seems like a much more appealing course of action than getting into the squat rack.

So, what should you do in those situations when, for whatever reason, you really just don’t feel like training and can’t seem to find the motivation to make it happen? Or what if this lack of inspiration is an ongoing occurence for you and you’re finding it very difficult to stick to your fitness plan each week as a result?

The solution is dead simple…

Stop thinking about it and start taking action anyway

See, most people think of action and motivation as being strictly a one-way street. In other words, you feel a sufficient level of motivation, and that inspires you to carry out a specific action.

In reality though, it works both ways.

Not only does motivation cause you to take action, but taking action also causes you to feel increasingly motivated.

In other words, if you feel completely unmotivated to do a particular task but begin taking action anyway in spite of how you feel, you’ll often find that the simple act of merely doing something in and of itself is the very catalyst that causes you to feel increasingly motivated.

This then feeds back on itself, as more motivation inspires further action, and further action inspires more motivation, and before you know it, you’re fully absorbed in the original task that seemed so daunting and insurmountable to begin with.

So, instead of sitting around in your current “uninspired” state and merely hoping that you’ll magically feel some big surge in motivation to get you into the gym… instead realize that the very act of taking positive actions towards performing your workout is often the very thing that will produce the motivation you’re looking for.

The state of mind that you feel as you sit on the couch ready to fall asleep is NOT the same state of mind that you’ll be in while you’re performing your actual workout.

Rather, all of the small actions that you take leading up to your workout, through your warmup and through the first set or two of your session will gradually “shift” your state of mind in a positive direction, so that when it comes time to perform the bulk of the actual challenging work, you’ll already be in that pumped up and motivated state you were originally searching for.

Again, stop thinking and just start taking action anyway.

Stop creating mental pictures of what lies ahead… stop creating “what if this” and “what if that” scenarios in your mind… stop trying to weigh out the benefits and drawbacks of performing or not performing your workout…

If you’ve already made the commitment to yourself and know that the right thing to do is to get into the gym and train, then shut off your mind and just do it.

Stand up… change into your gym clothes… pack your bag…

Even these tiny little actions will kick-start this “state-shifting” process.

Have your cup of coffee, pre-workout supplements or whatever else you usually consume prior to training… walk out the door and start making your way to the gym…

Again, these additional small actions will cause your state to shift further.

Walk onto the gym floor… put your headphones on… begin warming up and moving your body…

Far more often than not, you’ll find that by simply taking all of these individual actions leading up to your actual workout without over-thinking or over-analyzing it, your mindset will shift all on its own and automatically produce the motivation and inspiration you need to tackle your workout with full intensity.

By the time you get past your first few sets, the rest of the workout will usually not only be smooth-sailing, but will actually be fully enjoyable as well, especially since you’ve now reinforced in your mind the fact that you’re a self-motivated person who takes action regardless of the circumstances.

This concept applies not only on the micro-level of individual workouts, but also on the macro-level of your overall fitness program as a whole.

That’s because once you begin taking action consistently and have built up a solid track record of successful workouts over the course of a few weeks or months, it will quickly turn into an automatic ingrained habit that you simply do without thinking too much about.

In fact, you’ll likely begin looking forward to your workouts and will genuinely enjoy performing them rather than viewing them as some unwanted chore that you need to “get over with”.

So, if you’re still a beginner and have been struggling to really get things off the ground with your muscle building or fat loss program, just know that the early stage is always the most challenging part by far, and that it only gets easier and easier with each passing week.

And here’s the most important take away from this article…

This principle can be applied to every area of your life beyond just your fitness program.

Any time you’re faced with something that you know you need to do or should do but are feeling unmotivated and overwhelmed by, you can apply this “stop thinking and just take action” principle in the exact same way.

Have a work project that needs to get done but that you really don’t feel like doing? Just take some initial small steps and then harness the momentum of those first few actions in order to motivate yourself further.

Need to write an essay for school but are feeling completely uninspired and uninterested? Just get the first few lines down on the page and then see where it takes you.

Got an invite from a friend to go out but aren’t in a “social mood”, even though you know you should get out of the house? Just go anyway and watch as the state-shifting process kicks into gear once you speak to a few people.

The bottom line here is this…

If you believe that every single action you take requires you to feel fully inspired and motivated right from the get go, you’ll never get anything meaningful done, or at the very least, you’ll only be a fraction as productive as you could be.

If you already logically know what the “right” thing to do is, then stop relying on positive emotions (or the absence of negative emotions) to drive you forward, and just do it anyway!

If you found these tips helpful, make sure to get your personalized training, nutrition and supplement plans watch video presentation   

fitness plan

The topic of proper training can be made complicated.

Extremely complicated.

We can obsess about every little detail behind optimal workout frequency, number of sets, exercise selection, rep ranges, rep speed, time under tension, resting between sets and more until building muscle effectively seems like an infinitely complex process involving rocket-science precision and an intimate understanding of human physiology.

Yes, all of these individual factors need to be addressed and properly laid out when structuring an effective training routine… but at the heart of it all lies ONE key principle.

One principle that your ENTIRE training program should be based around.

If you don’t give it your full attention, or even worse, overlook it altogether…

You’re completely ignoring the very foundation of the entire muscle building process.

What am I talking about?

“The Law Of Progressive Overload”

To put it into simple terms, the law of progressive overload states that in order for you to gain new muscle each week, you must accomplish the following two things…

1) Train with a sufficient level of intensity in order to stimulate the body’s muscle growth mechanism.

When you go to the gym, you place your muscles under stress by lifting weights.

Each repetition closer to muscular failure creates deeper inroads into the muscle and causes what are called “micro-tears”.

In other words, you are voluntarily inflicting damage on your muscles by breaking down the fibers.

Muscle growth is an adaptive response to that stress, and therefore, it’s critical that the level of stress be high enough during your workouts in order to give your body the proper incentive to grow.

The plain reality is that you will not make significant increases in muscle mass and strength or transform your physique to a truly impressive degree unless you’re prepared to train at a level that is at (or close to) your maximum potential effort.

Exactly how intense should your workouts be?

As an overall guideline, I would recommend taking the majority of muscle building sets that you peform in the gym approximately 1 rep short of concentric muscular failure.

Concentric muscular failure is the point at which you are unable to complete an additional positive repetition of a given exercise in proper form despite your greatest efforts.

In other words, you’ll want to continue your set to the point where, if you were to give a 100% all-out effort and push with every ounce of strength, you’d only be able to manage 1 more rep using proper form.

Do keep in mind though that if you are completely new to weight training then it will definitely be best to ease yourself into the gym and gradually build up your training intensity using lighter weights first.

It is very important that you always utilize proper form and make sure that your joints and connective tissue are not being stressed too heavily. The goal here is to safely push your body to its limits.

Once you have learned the proper form for each exercise and feel comfortable with the various movements, you can then begin to ramp up the intensity over the course of a few weeks.

2) Consistently increase the amount of weight lifted on each exercise over time.

Let’s use a basic analogy here…

Envision a building. A 7.0 earthquake hits and the building is severely damaged. Workers rush to the scene to repair the damage that has been done and to protect the building against a possible future earthquake. 

Sure enough, a 7.2 earthquake hits and the building is once again broken down. The workers return and repair the building once more. Only this time they rebuild it even larger and stronger to protect against any possible future earthquakes. Now a 7.4 earthquake hits…

I’m sure you can see where this is going.

In order for the muscles to continually become larger and stronger from week to week, you must gradually increase the amount of weight you lift on each of your exercises over time.

In doing this the body will continue to adapt and grow to the ever increasing stress.

Think about it; if you were able to squat 200 pounds today, and were still using the same weight 3 months from now, do you think you would have experienced any considerable muscle gains during that time?

Of course not.

Your body would have adapted itself to squatting 200 pounds and will only progress further when it is presented with a workload beyond that capacity.

This is why it is so incredibly important that every single time you set foot in the gym you have your plan of attack in mind.

You should know exactly what you accomplished in the previous week and what you are striving to achieve this week.

Since the ultimate goal of everything you accomplish in the gym is consistent progression, then quite clearly the central basis for building muscle is to build strength.

This is a universal law of muscle growth and is by far the #1 most important principle in your entire workout plan.

It’s all about getting better each week.

Every time you enter the gym, the first thing you should be thinking of is:

What did I do last week?

What must I do this week in order to improve upon last week?

This is the ultimate bottom line.

Just make sure that any time you add weight to the bar, your form and technique is not compromised.

True progression means that your form remains exactly the same every time you increase the weight. If your range of motion begins shortening, you start using excessive momentum, your rep speed increases and/or your technique just gets downright sloppy, you’re simply adding weight at too fast a pace.

Building muscle is not a sprint; it’s a marathon.

Keep your ego in check, take your time, and focus on gradually increasing the weight while maintaining perfect technique at all times.

Not only is lifting heavier weights with inferior form NOT going to help you gain muscle faster, but it’s going to greatly increase your chances for injury as well.

So, to sum up the law of progressive overload in simple terms:

Train hard. Focus on getting stronger. Repeat.

If you aren’t grinding it out in the gym by training fairly close to your limits each time… and if you aren’t adding weight to the bar consistently… you can be rest assured you won’t be building any considerable new muscle either.

So, if you want the most powerful (yet basic) piece of training advice possible, it’s simply this:

Get a notebook and a pen and start tracking every workout in detail.

Write down the exercises you performed, the number of sets you did and the number of reps executed for each one.

Next time you enter the gym, your entire goal is to “beat the logbook” by either adding slightly more weight to the bar or cranking out an extra rep or two with the same weight.

It doesn’t matter how good your memory is or how much you insist that you “keep everything in your head”, you must keep a written record of every workout you perform.

By doing this you will have a visual representation of the exact weight you used and reps you performed in the previous workout.

This is an extremely powerful tool and will enable you to progress as fast as you possibly can. By keeping a written record versus just remembering, you will be much more motivated to increase your weight and reps since you’ll have to hold yourself accountable if you fail to do so.

It is also very motivating to be able to look back at previous weeks of training and have a concrete record of the increasing weight and repetitions.

The difference from week to week will be minor, but when you extrapolate it over months and years of consistent training, you’ll be amazed by the gains you’re able to make.

It still boggles my mind that 90% of people in the gym don’t do this… but then again, it’s no surprise that 90% of people never make any real progress either. watch video

The law of progressive overload: treat it with respect, revolved the basis of your entire workout plan around it, and the difference in your results will be like night and day.

Health and fitness, after all, needs to be a lifelong journey, not a quick-fix solution and for that to happen what you do must fit clean eating into your life and not demand you revolve your life around it.

Sure, it’s challenging to stick with a regular exercise program or a healthy eating plan even WITHOUT the responsibilities of everyday life – kids, spouse, home, job and so on. Having to work late one day can mean you miss a workout. The thing is, missing a workout does not mean you have blown your whole regimen. Being affected by life’s little bumps does not mean you are weak. It means you are simply human.

watch video     

soup recipes for a flat tummy