Chest Day!!!!

With Chest Day upon us I thought I would do a quick blog on training chest. I am one that prefers to train chest by itself then giving it the rest of the week off, however sometimes include press ups in my shoulder routine. The chest is used when to push and when wrapping your arms around an object, however you must remember that no muscles push but pull which is why the contraction of the muscle is one of the most vital aspects to training chest.

This leads me onto how when you're training chest, you're training chest not shoulders!!! Ensure when you are completing any pushing movement for chest that you keep your shoulders out of the movement. Pull your shoulder blades together and shrug into your traps without full extension of the arms which takes the tension away from the chest and more onto the triceps.

There are many different ways to train chest through the different training zones. Bench Press is the fundamental to building mass for the chest in strength sets of 5x5, this will help in building strength as well as mass. I am personally a favourite of Joe Donnelly ethos of a lot of volume for training chest. For those of you who don't know who Joe Donnelly is, you should. He is one of the biggest fitness models in the world and former NFL tight end. If you never heard of him you should definitely check him out, his methods are the way forward in the fitness industry. An example workout see below:

1) 5X20 CABLE FLY ACTIVE WARMUP PRE PUMP

2) INCLINE DUMBELL PRESS 8 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT DUMBELL PRESS 8 REPS (5 SETS)

3) INCLINE BENCH 5 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT BENCH 5 REPS (5 COUNT NEGATIVE/ FULL EXPLOSION ON POSITIVE, BOTH EXERCISES) 5 SETS

4) INCLINE DUMBELL POWER BENCH 8 REPS, SUPERSET FLAT BENCH DUMBELL POWER BENCH 8 REPS ( START WITH BOTH DUMBELLS IN UP POSITION, LOWER ONE ARM KEEPING OTHER STRAIT, THEN PRESS BACK TO START POSITION AND BEGIN TO LOWER THE OTHER, ALTERNATING) (5 SETS)

5) HEAVY WEIGHTED CHEST DIPS. 5 REPS TIL FAILURE, DROP WEIGHT, DIPS TIL FAILURE, DROP TO FLOOR CLAP PUSHUPS TIL FAILURE (5 SETS)

6) FLAT DUMBELL FLIES 8 REPS (4 COUNT NEGATIVE, 2 SECOND PAUSE, 3 SECOND POSITIVE), SUPERSET FEET ON BENCH HANDS ON FLOOR, UPPER CHEST PUSHUPS 30 REPS (5 SETS)

7) LOW TO HIGH CABLE FLY 15 REPS, SUPERSET HI TO LOW CABLE FLIES 15 REPS (3 SETS)

TOTAL=51 SETS

As you can see from above the volume is through the roof, 51 SETS!!!!! However the structure of the workout is the most crucial aspect. Beginning with very much power, mass builders finishing with totally fatiguing the muscle forcing growth into the muscle. My only point would be make sure you use the correct weight at the beginning so you don't max out way to early and end up not being to complete the workout.  Furthermore this is very much an advanced workout, so make regressions such as volume and exercises to you as a individual, just use this as a guideline.

Also for all you that want to look in great shape you should also check out his diet, it even includes donuts!!!

http://www.joedonnellyfitness.com

Enjoy

Jack