best way to build up pecs?

[web]

So, I have been hammering away at the bench. My tri's are geting good size, but my pecs aren't growing much. it seems my tris tire out before I can get a good pump out of my pecs.
Thoughts?

btw- can someone take a moment to differentiate the sexes of the following:?
<img src="http://www.femininemuscle.com/phpBB2/images/smiles/bj.gif" alt="bj" width="35" height="25"><!--graemlin::bj:-->

[BigCorey75]

the best way to build pecs is heavy pressing from all 3 major angles, flat incline and decline, and doing lots of ips these really help build the pecs



sounds like you need to learn how to tuck your shoulders when you benhc. practicediggin your shoulders deep in the bench and trying to push them back down towards your glutes and firmly planting your feet and digging your ass into the bench. this will create a natural arch and really help place alot of stress on the pecs.

hope this helps

what goes down must come back up, its a simple rule of physics....

[Citruscide]

Look into a 5x5 routine... they are listed on several sites including EF and CM.

Also, hitting your larger muscle fibers can do wonders for any muscle group... hitting worksets with 3-5 reps will definately hit them (8-10 reps hits the smaller ones... so it is good to hit the lower/heavier reps too)... no pain, no gain... go heavy, or go home... it all rings true.

You also might want to hit some board presses or hit your close grip and french curls hard for your triceps... also JM presses will help strengthen your tris to make them more useful on bench and so they won't give out on you.

Hit your weak points, and then the rest of your physique will follow.

C-ditty

============================
Fell Deeds awake

Moderator at Chemicalmuscle.com, Elitefitness.com, and Anabolex.com

...chasing the "big bench". Powerlifting style Benching(looser form & exagerated arch) is great for the Numbers, but not superior for Pec development. In bodybuilding the bench press is much stricter in form. Retract the shoulder blades(in towards spine). Concentrate on pushing Blades down towards your ass and into the bench simultaneously. This position will push up the rib cage and pecs will begin in a sort of "pre-stretch".
You will have to lower your poundages significantly in the beginning, but training as a CHEST bencher instead of Delt/Tri will bring up the Pecs quickly. You will not lose TRI/Delt strength(though you might wanna throw in close benches to make sure).
Once you get the PecMajors up to respectable size, I recommend leaving the flat bench alone and focusing on Inclines and WghtDips to keep from "drooping" and protect the rotators. Heavy Flats are hell on a lot of Bros

Nobody tells me what to do.....Not even ME

[sawastea]

"the best way to build pecs is heavy pressing from all 3 major angles, flat incline and decline"

BigCorey summed it up for me. I think the incline dumbell press works wonders when done correctly

<img src="http://www.massmonsters.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_eek.gif" alt="Eek" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:-->

[Totalrecall54]

i agree.... stick with the basics...
flat bench, incline, decline... then finally cable crossovers...

that's all i do for chest (on chest days)
fortunately.. chest grows easy for me

don't concentrate on seeing how much weight you can throw up...
i did that for a while... but it really doesn't get you anywhere..... in long run

stick with weight you can do good form... for 8-10 reps.... no bouncing or doing them superfast... concentrate strict form

do pushups.. for a warm up
2-3 sets of 20 before starting chest workout
i do them at home.. before leaving for gym
stretch good when you get to gym... then go AT IT !

follow this.. and you'll build a heck of a foundation which is what you want...

have a great weekend everyone ! T.G.I.F. !! <img src="http://www.massmonsters.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif" alt="Smile" width="15" height="15"><!--graemlin:-->

-totalrecall54

[chewstermaniac]

i find that bar presses are great for mass. but don't forget to throw in set of dumbbell presses at a nice heavy weight also.

My suggestion would be on chest days:

Week 1:
Incline bar
decline bar
flat dumb bell

Week 2:
Decline dumbbell
flat bar
incline bar

Week 3:
flat bar
incline dumbbell
decline bar

I also find that throwing in pec decks are a nice way finish off. Of course, cable squeezes are just as good when done with proper form.

When using the bar, come down to a comfortable distance, but not any higher than your arm making an L shape, or, 45 degrees.

When using the dumbbells, come down a little further than your able to on the bar, really hitting the width of your outer pec, and make sure you pause at the top to squeeze that iron together.

ideally your doing a weight that at your most you only get 6 reps from during your last set.

i like to do a little extra tri work afterwards. some reverse grip single hand pulldowns and rope pull downs really set of the nice heavy work you just did, and help give your tricep that nice horseshoe shape we all desire by thickening the outer portion.

Enjoy!

[BigCorey75]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by bronc:
...chasing the "big bench". Powerlifting style Benching(looser form & exagerated arch) is great for the Numbers, but not superior for Pec development. In bodybuilding the bench press is much stricter in form. Retract the shoulder blades(in towards spine). Concentrate on pushing Blades down towards your ass and into the bench simultaneously. This position will push up the rib cage and pecs will begin in a sort of "pre-stretch".
You will have to lower your poundages significantly in the beginning, but training as a CHEST bencher instead of Delt/Tri will bring up the Pecs quickly. You will not lose TRI/Delt strength(though you might wanna throw in close benches to make sure).
Once you get the PecMajors up to respectable size, I recommend leaving the flat bench alone and focusing on Inclines and WghtDips to keep from "drooping" and protect the rotators. Heavy Flats are hell on a lot of Bros

Nobody tells me what to do.....Not even ME[/quote]

thats basically the way im talking about, i benhc power lifting style and that is the way they do it, because the pecs are so much stronger than the delts and tris this is the style they use to lift the weight. they lift heavy heavy poundages underintense control.

in fact on heavy weight (anything over 300 for me) i use a pause at the bottom like all powerlifters do for a meet.

the combination of using this good strong control, heavy weight, and learning to make your legs work for you, instead of having them cheat for you is a sure fire way to help your pecs grow. if you think im lying look at most powerlifters and most world class bench pressers how many of them have small pecs??


and dumbells works well for cordination and bringing up those small muscles and really help isolate the pecs and make each one work just as hard, there good also, but majority of my training surrounds barbell because i can move more weight...

what goes down must come back up, its a simple rule of physics....

[web]

lots of good advise.. thanks guys!
I think I'll work on the flat bench form.
I can't use the dumbells anymore since I can't pull up that much weight. - how do you guys do it?

I am a small guy- 165lbs. And I hit about 90lbs per dumbell doing benches. But, getting more than that weight up on top of me just tears up my shoulders.
I now just finish with the dumbells and less weight. But building mass with dumbells just seems like a physical impossibility. - you are pretty much curling the weight you are benching to get it up on you.

[Grunt]

Simple, Just widen your grip, if your grip is too close thats why your tri's are getting such a work out, widen your grip alot on everything, then do Flat Bench, Incline Bench, and Decline Bench and make sure your arms are wide on all of them.

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"Girls talk too much"-Peter Pan