Building chest to size/strength

[Wood Stick]

Obviously for natural lifters here. I plateau the most on this lift as I think most do. I can't do the whole add 5 lbs for 10 here, or 8 here. Recently I started doing my first chest lift with high weight, low reps followed by some high reps DB work and then flys.

For example,

215 lbs flat bench 8x3 (120s rest)
incline DB 60s 3x12 (60s rest)
cable flys

I seem to be making linear progression again. No shoulder pains, stretch wisely so heavy is fine for me. Curious what everyone else seems to be doing to build size and strength. I was stuck for a good 4-5 months at one point.

Click to read more...

 

[Crease]

Happy to hear you have escaped your plataue!

Curious, is there a specific logic to hitting the same muscle group with high range rep/short rest (what I associate with training for hypertrophy) and low range rep/long rest (what I associate with training for density) in the same workout?

I haven't come across that type of program before.

 

[Wood Stick]

Happy to hear you have escaped your plataue!

Curious, is there a specific logic to hitting the same muscle group with high range rep/short rest (what I associate with training for hypertrophy) and low range rep/long rest (what I associate with training for density) in the same workout?

I haven't come across that type of program before.

I was looking at programs online. I was reading some programs through different threads on different forums, etc. Everyone had different routines obviously and opinions on how to grow. I saw DBs only at a high pace, go for a pump to grow and to go heavy. Settled upon powerlifting based for my first lift, and then just to break down my muscle with my next exercise.

Basically the program is the 10x3 but I broke it down to 8 instead due to time. I saw some cool programs. One I was curious about was like

bar for whatever
135 for 15
145 for 15
155 for 15
165 for 15
175 for 15

for example

 

[Mad Brills*]

Pullups also increase chest size

 

[SaltNPeca]

Dips are like a squat for your upper body. Are you doing dips progressing to weighted dips?

imho that puffy buble-chest look is terrible and a lot of lifters have terrible posture and aesthetics due to too much chest work combined with day-to-day imbalances. Mostly due to computers, smartphones, driving, lack of back work, and too much focus on mirror muscles.

 

[Mad Brills*]

I've found that having a built chest, but nothing too big is perfect, and looks better than the guys that have a huge chest and fat hanging off elsewhere

 

[Mrb1p]

Dips are like a squat for your upper body. Are you doing dips progressing to weighted dips?

imho that puffy buble-chest look is terrible and a lot of lifters have terrible posture and aesthetics due to too much chest work combined with day-to-day imbalances. Mostly due to computers, smartphones, driving, lack of back work, and too much focus on mirror muscles.

Dips are also terrible for your shoulders.

 

[Mad Brills*]

Yeah, when I stopped doing dips my shoulders got better.

 

[ColePens]

Dips are also terrible for your shoulders.

Yep. Just so many better ways to build tris up. Dips put way too much strain for not enough gain, IMO.

 

[UnrealMachine]

I loved, LOVED dips, but yeah, they ultimately killed my shoulders, too. Felt so much better after I quit.

 

[Mrb1p]

I loved, LOVED dips, but yeah, they ultimately killed my shoulders, too. Felt so much better after I quit.

I still love them, but I definitely dont do and will never do 2 plates on dips.

I find bodyweight with higher reps to be fine, but weighted hurt me deep in the shoulder.

 

[SaltNPeca]

Dips are also terrible for your shoulders.

Yeah, when I stopped doing dips my shoulders got better.

I loved, LOVED dips, but yeah, they ultimately killed my shoulders, too. Felt so much better after I quit.

No love? For me the dip is one of my core compound exercises I'll always include.

A lot of guys do them improperly and imho progress way too quickly to weighted dips. Lot's of information at our fingertips, but things to avoid: bench dips, wide grip, too frequent (not enough rest), and going too deep without actively working on shoulder flexibility.
Some recommend moving to weighted only after you can perform 3×20 bodyweight, and overall avoiding 1-3 rep "max weight" sets.

I broke my clavicle and actually had a lot of pain with any significant weight on OHP, but never on dips. Only injury I had from dips was a strange elbow "pop"/strain that took a few months to heal.

 

[Marotte Marauder]

Squats and pullovers