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What's Your Chest Workout?

Prodiver said:
Yes. @Con: most guys don't stimulate their lower, main, pecs enough, let alone their upper!

Most guys trying to do cable crosses choose too high a weight, grab the 2 handles in the frame, struggle to get them down by their sides and then pump them up and down from their armpits to their quads.

This way they're working their lats and lower traps as much as their pecs. And dips are similar because your arms are by your side and further back.

The correct way to do strict cable crosses is to grab the handles, stand one foot behind the other for stability, and bring the handles forward and down till your arms cross and your hands are at your nuts, so your upper arms describe a forward and down movement, mimicking the shortest contraction path of the pecs. Let the handles go up but don't let the tension off; and repeat.

You'll be surprised at how much stress this puts on the pecs and how little weight you can manage at first with good form.

With any muscle, studying its shortest contraction path and doing exercises which mimic this will give maximum stress and growth.

Do slow and controlled reps with elbows just slightly bent to protect the joints.
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I fully agree with you man! Regarding what exercises give the most isolated stimulation to the pectorals!

What I don't agree with is the ideology that the exercise that most isolates a muscle will do it the most benefit from a hypertrophy point of view.
Sure you could do those strict cable crosses and perhaps work up to 20-30kg per side OR you could work up to strictly pressing the 70kg dumb bells.
Which will cause more pectoral growth (even if using a slight incline or even a flat angle for presses) IMO always the presses.
 
Con said:
I fully agree with you man! Regarding what exercises give the most isolated stimulation to the pectorals!

What I don't agree with is the ideology that the exercise that most isolates a muscle will do it the most benefit from a hypertrophy point of view.
Sure you could do those strict cable crosses and perhaps work up to 20-30kg per side OR you could work up to strictly pressing the 70kg dumb bells.
Which will cause more pectoral growth (even if using a slight incline or even a flat angle for presses) IMO always the presses.
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Totally agree as from my understanding it's more about maximal force generated under tension that causes hypertrophy. Never going to happen with cross overs.

Decline is v Gd however I believe anecdotally it seems to cause the most tears as I can vouch for [emoji17]
 
Slight decline dumbells with a pause at the bottom and a a twist at the top where you squeeze the two dumbells together for a nice contraction (regular hand and dumbell position at the start palms facing together at the top)


On a side note I always find incline bench and dumbells hit my delts far to much (in delts fail before my pecs are tired) however if I use the smith machine inclined I can get a really good feel/ contraction of the pecs

Hammer press supersetted with dumbbell pull overs another favourite

I'll try that plate press next push session !

Got to find what works
 
@doink Tried the plate push away thingy today..
Just felt awkward tbh.

But it was just a random try with 2x 5k plates as I was walking past plate tree.

Chest tomorrow so I will try at the end of my declines :-) as a 'finisher'

Am I right that you do it stood pushing palms away from chest at 90degs, elbows high?
 
doink said:
Start on 5kg mate.

Hold the plate in a sort of sideways Christian prayer position, with your fingers pointing away from you and keep elbows in tight at the side and keep them Low not high.

Then extend the hands outwards. You'll feel your chest contract and squeeze right down the centre. Hold the contraction then bring the arms back in to the start position and repeat.

Like this but I do them stood up




They're just a finisher and give a decent pump on the end of a workout.
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Done as in the video, lying on your back, it's the squeezing with your hands that does anything. The giveaway is in what the guy says. The lifting and lowering barely do anything as the movement is so limited and the pecs don't describe their shortest complete contractile path.

And done standing up and pushing out horizontally it's not a pec exercise at all but becomes a front delt exercise.
 
doink said:
Pat, the video was merely a reference or position. The description I supplied alongside indicates how to do it. Stood up is equally effective as the movement is the same though.

It's pointless discussing it really. IF you did it, you would FEEL exactly where it's contracting and can adapt your outwards movement to the angle you FEEL in your pectoral muscles. Done as I describe it I can feel it straight down the centre my chest specifically.... Which is fucking incredible if it's a 'front delt exercise'.... You'd think I'd feel it in my front delts!!!!!..... Yawn

Done how I described it has minimal front delt involvement as elbows are low and tucked. The contraction as the hands extend will tell the user where it's working.

I explained that. Im not gonna sit and argue with you about it as frankly your penchant to dismiss outright anything that isn't exactly as you dictate as correct is getting really fucking boring to the point I'm starting to gloss over most of what you post these days anyway.

It's purely a finisher to pump blood into the muscles.

If people wish they can go away and try it and their very own nervous system will tell them where it's stimulating by FEEL.

It's not rocket science.
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Don't worry doink, I've long ignored most of what you say too.

But I wouldn't want to mislead TM members.
 
Prodiver said:
Done as in the video, lying on your back, it's the squeezing with your hands that does anything. The giveaway is in what the guy says. The lifting and lowering barely do anything as the movement is so limited and the pecs don't describe their shortest complete contractile path.

And done standing up and pushing out horizontally it's not a pec exercise at all but becomes a front delt exercise.
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The proof is always in the pudding.

We can all read textbooks and study anatomy charts but in bodybuilding 'real-world' results sometimes differ from what a study on 50 people tells us, or what a Mr Universe competitor told you worked for him.

I think sticking rigidly to the 'rules' excluding your body's own biofeedback is a form of 'broscience' all in itself.

I never decline bench and I very rarely flat bench. The majority of my chest movements are done at an incline of 30 degrees...barbell and dumbbell presses, dumbbell flyes...I alternate cable crossovers from high pulleys to the more 'upper pec focussed' low pulleys workout to workout...

According to your logic it's all mostly stressing my delts and my chest is hardly getting touched and my chest training is all wrong.

But yet my chest had grown just fine over the years and it's not a weak point on my physique at all. So what gives?
 
this is how i do cross overs. i dont know enough to say these are the best, but my pecs have came on leaps since doing these.
you can really feel it, and for me more so than benching.
strict cross overs will always be part of my routine now, also cause i just love doing them.
i used to do them like a fanny by watching other guys, throwing delts and leg and back into them lol.
not saying this is thee way to do them, just the way i feel the most activation in the muscle.

@4:30
 
I like press-ups with your hands together but under your lower pecs/upper abs for a finisher. Squeezing the shit out of the pecs.
 
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