To add to what Jake is saying, combine his visualization of sliding the hands together with my concept of concentrating on bringing your upper arms together as the movement. This creates the proper mind-muscle connection. Too many people focus on pushing the weight up. As Jake and I are stating, if you focus on moving your upper arms and hands towards each other without moving your hands on the bar you will be activating your chest muscles. The weight to accomplish this is immaterial unless your goal is powerlifting. As you get stronger, increase the weight but maintain this focus.

John

Thanks. I ll keep the mental sliding in mind. Also a certain emphasis on a slower negative plus a shoulder wide grip.

remember its all about what you look like you can lift not what you actually can lift...

And thanks to you also jmboiardi.

30 years of experience in this game means something. The fascinating thing about working out, building your body and eating right is that there are so many things to remember and learn. I dont have 30 years but 15 years work out (sometimes more intensely sometimes less) experience and I still have so much to learn and make rookie mistakes. Well I guess its like everything in life.

So anyway - thanks for the suggestions and please do keep up passing along information. Cheers.

Jake,

LOL ----- I love that! When I was younger, I would always say something like that - "do you want to bench 350 or look like you can bench 350?" Brings back memories :-)

John

Thanks Sven but trust me I am still learning and still make mistakes :-) I have learned so much from this site and many of the Hermanites here who post valuable info. I am glad I too can contirbute some meaningful stuff as well.

John

Hi Daniel,

if I go for say 4 exercises for my chest per workout, 4 sets per exercise, each with roughly 8 reps (unfortunately my gym has no decline benches so can do those);

a question:

Do I go for a normal execution, ie. do my 8 reps then pause and rest for the next set and do 8 reps again with the weight I can do 8 with (and so on until I finish off the 4 sets for that exercise) or do I go for no pauses and dropping the weight accordingly (or another execution of the set) ?

Thanks

haha john its true, genetically some people will end up benching that 350 anyway people such as myself, muscular wise not big blokes but we're strong so any weight i put on seems to be because of strength gains, but yeah its all about what you look like you can lift when it comes down to wanting to be big :') no one knows what you can lift once you leave the gym... you could be 120lbs in weight but bench that 350 and no one would ever know it... at the same time you could weight 350lbs and look like you could bench 350lbs but only bench 120lbs... i know which id rather be xD

hi againstme79 i know the question is sent to daniel but if i may give my 2cents if you're going to do 4 exercises for chest i would say do it like this

1 strength building exercise

1 for each head of the chest(2)

1 mass building/rounding exercise

so something like this...

5x5 of your weakest variation of benchpress flat decline or incline

8-10x4 of the other 2 variations but with dumbells, so if you chose flat for the 5x5 then do decline and incline for these, or substitute 1 of these for dips since you dont have a decline bench

8-12x4 dumbell fly or cable cross over, again in any postion you choose, decline incline or flat

note... if you do 2 inclines or 2 flats elevate or decline by 1 notch or so to hit the muscle from as many angles as possible

these types of workouts have always worked for me and provided enough variation in training types to develop strength and muscle mass and it is easy to increase the intensity of the workouts

Hi wilkinson,

sounds sensible.

But what do you suggest when you have your exercises figured out? I mean like I asked before in my message to Daniel?

Normally with pauses between each set or super setting by immediately dropping the weights so you can perform your desired reps on each set or any other way?

Another, huge problem I have (you wont really be able to help me there): I injured my shoulder about 4 years ago and since then I cannot bring heavy dumbbells into the starting position of the exercise I am doing. The actual lifting or execution of the exercise with dumbbells is not really a problem but often, when the muscle is already a bit tired, I cant get the dumbell into the starting position. Of course I can always ask someone random (I train alone) to help me get it into the start position but I dont like doing that.

Yeah, I can also go for training my shoulder more. THat would seem sensible but the weird thing is that it was four years ago, my shoulders are actually not weak (its just that little bit of getting the weight into the starting position).

So the point being: as much as I like working with dumbells its not really a option if I want to go heavier (8 reps and below).

So what would your alternatives to the dumbell exercises be?

I know this all sounds weird but thats the way it is.

Cheers

Hey man,

Here is another chest example:

With the rest in between sets you go for normal execution, no drop sets etc. The isometric DB press is basically the same as Scotts plate press but instead of a plate you put 2 DBs together.

In terms of the way I like to design a chest workout there are 2 main ways in which I have found works for different people. The routine I have given you is for people who tend to have no problems with building their chest. The other style I have is for people who have MASSIVE difficulty building their chest.

nothing wrong with daniels workout there actually, but having read your paragraph i would like to state that back when i was 18 going on 18 so just over 2 years ago i set my record and the top record in the gym for under 18's and over 18's bench press of 6 reps for 180kgs, in doing so i tore my CC ligament and fractures my AC joint, type 3, type 4 would have needed surgery but instead i was left as it seemed cose enough in place, what this means is when i am now in my natural posture one of my arms sinks behind my hips while the other sits parallel, this for me for form is and always will be a workout killer, some workouts are fine, some arent, sometimes i get 2 sets in and i cant do anymore and resort to going for a run, its agony forcing a joint to work in a range no longer natural to it, i know your pain training with a bad shoulder, 3 months after i was attacked outside the gym (hence why i stopped going) i ended up bed bound for 10 weeks with a broken neck, C4 and C5, C4still causes constant issues for me, in cold weather it tightens up all my shoulder and neck region making sleeping and so on impossible, i battled with this for the best part of a year, it was literally only 2-3 months before joining this forum i actually realised "hey i signed up for MMA i get punched in the face for sport, im sure i can exercise in pain to" so yeah, i know about getting through injury, but do not give up on dumbells, they are my best friend as its the bench press for me that i avoid and dont go heavy on, as for setting the dumbells put them on your knees and roll back with straight arms keeping them on your knees when the dumbells are in place move your knees back down, its how i avoid stressing my joint till its all in place, basically what im saying is, workout like everyone else but obviously keep in mind that the injury is present, our wounds heal but our scars remain, by the time i got out of bed after the 10 weeks i went down from 198lbs down to 163lbs, im now 213lbs... still gaining strong, dumbell pressing 50kgs a hand bent over rowing the same, able to do press ups with 80kgs on my back, basically choose one of mine or daniels workouts, try it out, invest in some "magic mint cream" also learn some stretches for frozen shoulder, long history of it in my family so i had alot of help with this, it really helps, i did the stretches 3 times a day, went from watching big burly men on youtube tell me what workouts to do to watching elderly women tell me how to stretch out my feeble shoulder :') but yeah, choose a workout, and stick to a set weight for 4 weeks, only progress yourslef in your stretching and stabilising development, especially in the 1 shoulder that gets sore, put as much effort into the stretching as you would an intense workout, take supplements such as DMAE and MSM may sound strange but i buy 1kg tubs of horse supplement MSM for the fact that who is going to put filler into horse supplements? :') i take 10g's a day any my shoulder feels much better, all my joints do, DMAE helps me sleep at night, work days im up at 6 in the morning but with the 4 kittens waking up to play every 2-3 hours i end up having 4-6 hours of sleep, ever since high school ive only ever had 6 hours of sleep a night, thats enough for me, body has adapted to that, but the DMAE helps me to achieve quality REM sleep and i feel fresher when using it, anyway, good luck sorry for the rant ive just had an intense arm session and my fingers are tingling

Jake,

The funny thing is a lot has to do with not only the amount of white muscle fibers (fast twitch) a person is born with but also tendon placement. Some people are born with tendons attached in a manner that provides great leverage so their muscle fibers are able to lift more weight than someone with the same size muscle but tendons that attach with less leverage. For instance if your bicep distal tendon attached just a 1/2 an inch to an inch further down your forearm, you will be able to curl more weight as a percentage of bicep muscle fibers versus a person whose distal tendon attaches a 1/2 inch further towards their elbow.

Same for bench pressing. If your pectoral tendon attaches further down your humerus bone, you will be able to lift more weight with the same corresponding muscle mass as someone whose pectoral tendon attaches closer to the shoulder on the humerus bone. You may be one of these genetically gifted people who have great tendon attachment points which is why you are so strong without needing to weigh a lot.

John

I agree with this statement, as it has help me, too. When making the mind-to-muscle connection by adjusting the weight to isolate the primary muscle group you are training should help. For instance, while your are developing your shoulders make sure the weight matches those muscles only. When developing the chest lighten the weight when doing chest exercises until you feel the work being done by your chest. This is helping me. Take it from someone who has shoulder injuries.

You need to see what works best for you. If you respond better to high volume, short rest periods are optimal. That way the muscle is constantly being pushed for maximum muscle fiber stimulation... But not everyone gets the best results from this. Some people respond better to longer rest periods so they can add 5 - 10 lbs to their weight per set. It will take some time for you to see what works best for you. Trial and error.

As far as your shoulder. IT WILL HURT as you try to strengthen it. You have to break down the build up scare tissue in there.

You need to be doing the shoulder warm-up below DAILY. especially before your routines, EVEN LEGS.

Push through the pain and gain your strength back! #HTH

Hi everyone,

some feedback:

I changed my chest routine. I only do three exercises now (I dont have declines in the gym and cant go for heavy dumbells).

BP flat 7-9 reps, 4 sets

Incline BP machine, 7-9 reps, 4 sets

DB flies incline, 7-9 reps, 4 sets

The big difference being that I have incorporated the mental pressing of the hands and forearms together. Increasing time under tension. Although not really sore - I get a nice slight soreness in the pecs for about two days after the chest routine. Thats great! I would like to heighten the soreness factor (gives me satisfaction - I know it shouldnt all be about soreness), ie. the intensity (without adding more exercises or reps - I dont want to stay in the gym for more than one hour per session).

However: the slight soreness is mainly around where the pecs and the delts meet. How can I (remember no decline) get the routine to hit the inner, upper or middle part of the pecs more? Any more little tricks I am missing out on?

Cheers

Hi everyone,

some feedback:

I changed my chest routine. I only do three exercises now (I dont have declines in the gym and cant go for heavy dumbells).

BP flat 7-9 reps, 4 sets

Incline BP machine, 7-9 reps, 4 sets

DB flies incline, 7-9 reps, 4 sets

The big difference being that I have incorporated the mental pressing of the hands and forearms together. Increasing time under tension. Although not really sore - I get a nice slight soreness in the pecs for about two days after the chest routine. Thats great! I would like to heighten the soreness factor (gives me satisfaction - I know it shouldnt all be about soreness), ie. the intensity (without adding more exercises or reps - I dont want to stay in the gym for more than one hour per session).

However: the slight soreness is mainly around where the pecs and the delts meet. How can I (remember no decline) get the routine to hit the inner, upper or middle part of the pecs more? Any more little tricks I am missing out on?

Cheers