No matter what I do, I'm not able to add mass to my chest.. I tried almost everything! Training them alone, training them once a week, training them heavily, training them only incline... I'm desperate!
I've been working out for 8 years now, and they always have been my weak point.. My shouldres on the other hand are very strong.. I was wondering if it's possible that my shoulders take the 'load' instead of my chest...
I always feel pumped in my chest after a workout but the mass just stays away!
Anyone had a similair experience? maybe with another muscle group? I train them once a week currently (in the past I tried to do them more, but this had an adverse effect)
Thanks
Current chest regime:
Incline bench press (or dumb press): 3 sets of 6-12 reps
Dips with extra weight : 3 sets untill fatigue
Incline flyes: 3 sets 8-10 reps
Chest press: 3 sets 8-12 reps
Pectoral press: 3 sets 8-12
Try to train as heavy as possible, with the correct form ofcourse
My shouldres on the other hand are very strong.. I was wondering if it's possible that my shoulders take the 'load' instead of my chest...
Where is your grip on the bar (if you're using BB)? and more generally, are you sure you're hitting pecs and not letting the shoulders carry too much of the load?
Have you tried doing just flat bench 5 x 5 once a week? Sometimes less is more. Try them ramped, only the last set at your 5RM, the first set at 60% and the rest evenly spaced.
You mentioned pump and burn, neither of which contributes to strength or size.
If your shoulders are stronger than your chest than it is natural that they will take the load off your chest. Decline bench would solve that issue.
How about pre-exhausting your front delts, stretching your pecs, and doing some feeder workouts?
Right off the bat it looks like you're doing quite a bit of volume for the chest. That might be part of your issue.
Pre-exhaust the delts by training them first. Your power numbers will go down, but you'll be using more pec when you press. Make sure (as always) to go to a full ROM, too.
Finish your last set of pec work with a stretch a la Doggcrapp: Grab some dumbbells, lay down on a flat bench and stretch to the bottom of a flye. Now hold that stretch for as long as you can (it hurts). Make sure the stretch is on your pecs, not your delts. I'd start pretty light with these, like 20's or so.
Feeder workouts: Every couple of days do 50-100 VERY light reps on a pec movement such as flyes or the pec dec. Avoid failure and like I said keep it extremely light (you're doing 50+ reps in a set, it can't be that heavy). That's an adaptation of an old Waterbury technique.
Just some ideas.
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Isaac Wilkins, M.Ed, CSCS, NSCA-CPT, and who cares what other letters?
I wonder what the rest of your routine looks like, and I wonder if youve ever deloaded from that amount of volume.
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look at the guy bench pressing 250lbs x 5, he probally doesn't have a very good chest. Now, look at the guy pressing 405 x 5, I assure you that his chest will be bigger.
Get stronger and eat to gain. This has worked for years. Supersets, heavy eccentrics, pre-exhasting, etc, may have their place and maybe you are indeed advanced enough for stuff like this, but very few people are.
Chest problems!
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