Wednesday 13 July 2016

Superset Chest Workout To Build A Bigger Chest



The chest is one of the most popular muscle groups to train amongst
the fitness and bodybuilding community. From the exercises to the
awesome pump, nothing is comparable.
Supersets are a highly underutilised tool which can be very powerful
for making muscle gains. Essentially, a superset is where you perform
one exercise immediately after another with no rest.
Here are some of the best chest supersets which you should incorporate
into your next workout to really get your chest pumped!

Superset #1

Barbell Bench Press



The king of chest exercises. A staple in our chest workouts. The
barbell bench press is one of the most powerful exercises in really
growing your chest. Begin by lying on a bench, unracking the barbell
with your arms shoulder width apart. Slowly lower the weight down
ensuring you keep a slight arch in your back with your shoulder blades
retracted. Touch your chest with the bar, pause and push up. Repeat
this movement.

Push Ups



The bench press should be immediately followed by push ups. Lie on the
floor with your feet together, back straight and arms shoulder width
apart. Lower yourself to the floor and push up, ensuring that you keep
your back straight and do full repetitions.
Perform 8-12 reps of each exercise for 3-4 supersets


Superset #2


Seated Machine Chest Press



Sit down at the machine with your feet firmly planted to the ground.
Place your hands around the middle of the grips, adjusting according
to your own preferences. As you press the weight, contract your chest
and explode forwards. Slowly lower the weight back to the starting
position and repeat.



Incline Dumbbell Pullovers



Set a bench up at a 45 degree angle. Sit back against the bench with a
dumbbell held above your torso. Ensure you don’t bend your elbows,
only your shoulders should move. Slowly lower the weight back over
your head, pausing at the bottom and maintaining the stretch. Then
press the weight back up to the starting position and repeat the
movement. Incline chest pullovers are a highly underutilised exercise
which can really help to grow your chest.
Perform 8-12 reps of each exercise for 3-4 supersets

Superset #3


Incline Barbell Bench Press



Lie with your back flat on a bench elevated at a 45 degree angle. With
the same form as a regular barbell bench press, unrack the barbell,
with your arms shoulder width apart. Keep your shoulder blades
retracted as you lower the weight down to your chest. Pause for a
second at the bottom of the movement and then explode up. Try to keep
the movement as controlled as possible.

Chest Dips



Using parallel dip bars, hold yourself in the air. Place your legs
behind you with your feet crossed over. As you lower yourself down,
lean as far forward as possible, allowing your elbows to flare out as
you dip down. When you press up to the top of the movement, ensure you
do not totally lock out your elbows to help prevent injury.
Perform 8-12 reps of each exercise for 3-4 supersets

Superset #4

High-to-Low Cable Fly



Set up two sets of cables at a high height, with a medium to wide
width. Grab hold of each of the handles and bring them together,
contracting your chest. As you do this, imagine you are touching the
inside of your elbows together to ensure you get a full contraction.
Pause once the grips meet one another and slowly lower the weight back
to the starting position, repeating the movement.

Low-to-High Cable Fly



Set up two sets of cables with a low height and wide width. Grab a
hold of each of the handles and take a step forward with your arms
straight and behind you. Slowly elevate the handles up whilst keeping
your arms straight and contracting your chest. Bring your arms
parallel to the ground whilst touching your hands together. Pause for
a second, then lower to the starting position and repeat.
Perform 8-12 reps of each exercise for 3-4 supersets

Take Home Message

 
Incorporating more volume into your workout with things like
supersets is an excellent way to grow your muscles.
When your next chest day comes around, try to incorporate some of
these supersets into your workout. Or, better still, use all 4 as your
entire chest workout. You will really blitz your chest, destroying
those muscles fibres so it can grow bigger and stronger.

Chest Workout- 5 Exercises To Build The Upper Chest


The Upper region of the chest is by far the hardest area of the chest
to build. The Middle and Lower chest are somewhat ‘easier’ to develop,
due to being involved in more exercises – such as a Flat Bench Press
or a Decline Press. You are more likely to be stronger in these

exercises, due to the majority of the Chest muscle fibres being
oriented in this direction.

There are much less muscle fibres of the Chest inserting into the
Clavicle. Whilst these muscle fibres are also involved in humerus
adduction, it is the angle at which the humerus is brought across the
body that targets the Upper Chest.



Having a well-developed Upper chest not only contributes to the
‘fullness’ of the upper body, it also has functional benefits.
Sufficient size and strength will contribute to greater strength in
the Barbell Bench Press and Barbell Overhead Press.
Warming up
The ideal goal is to build a bigger chest, but picking up a pair of
weights without preparing your muscles for a vigorous Chest workout
just won’t deliver the results you’re imagining will instantly happen.
Try a short warm-up routine:
– 1 x wide-grip flat push-ups
– 1 x  neutral grip push ups
– (If possible) 1 x decline push ups to hit your chest from all angles:

#1 Incline Cable Fly

This is one of the most suitable exercises for isolating the upper
chest muscles. Performing this exercise with cables instead of
Dumbbells allows for constant tension to be placed directly onto the
Upper Chest fibres.
This constant tension cannot be achieved with Dumbbells due to the
motion curve not considering gravity.

I recommend this exercise after you have performed heavy Barbell or
Dumbbell Bench Press, as it is less fatiguing on the Central Nervous
System.





Training Tips:

✓ Position bench at around 45 degrees.

✓ Lower cables in an “arc” motion, ensure to feel the chest stretch.

✓ Vary the position of the bench to hit different angles of the upper chest.

✓ Hold and contract the chest muscles when hands are together.



#2  Incline Dumbbell Bench Press.

In my opinion, the best compound exercise for adding mass to the Upper
Chest is the Incline Dumbbell Bench Press.
















Including a slight pause at the bottom of the movement allows for the
most recruitment of the Upper Chest muscle fibres. You will have to
use a lighter weight in order to get the benefits of the pause, but
the muscle contraction is much greater.

I recommend performing this exercise during a workout with a lot of
volume, and low-moderate weight, in order to get the most out of the
exercise.

Training Tips:

✓ Palms to face each other, arms positioned shoulder width – wrists
rotated to face ceiling (see image.)

✓ Exhale whilst pushing dumbbells upwards – keep control at all times.

✓ Take your time lowering weights.

✓ Vary bench angles to hit different angles of the chest.

#3 Incline Barbell Bench Press




The Incline Barbell Bench Press is also a great, compound mass builder
for the Upper Chest. An advantage that the Barbell Press has over the
Dumbbell Press is the weight increments. Barbells allow for smaller
increments to be added, thus making progress more linear – i.e. it is
more realistic to be able to increase the weight of a Barbell by
1.25kg per side that it is to increase Dumbbell weight by 2.5kg each.

Whilst the Barbell allows for only a fixed range of motion, and less
humerus adduction, including a pause at the bottom will again allow
for more muscle fibre recruitment of the Upper Chest fibres.

I recommend performing this exercise during a workout with a lot of
volume, and low-moderate weight, in order to get the most out of the
exercise.

Incline barbell bench press Training Tips:

✓ Bench to be around 30 degrees – hands positioned slider wider than
shoulder-width.

✓ Position bar straight in front of you, locking arms to secure
starting position.

✓ The bar should be lowered slowly until it has reached upper chest – and pause.

✓ Power the bar up using your chest muscles – lock arms and squeeze,
getting the contraction.




#4 Incline Hammer Strength Machine



Incline Hammer Strength Machine allows for complete contraction of the
Upper Chest. Due to the machine being designed to only target the
Upper Chest, this makes it a great exercise. It can also be useful to
people with injuries, particularly in the shoulder, if they cannot
perform the Incline Dumbbell or Barbell Bench Press pain-free.

The Incline Hammer Strength Machine also allows for less opportunity
of form breakdown. If you are simply going to fail a repetition, you
can lower the machine back down, without any chance of injuring
yourself.

Again, I recommend performing this exercise as an accessory for the
Barbell or Dumbbell Bench Press.



Training Tips:

✓ Ensure to adjust the seat height to ensure the bar levels with your chest.

✓ Dig shoulder blades into the seat and ‘push out’ chest muscles.

✓ Exhale whilst pushing the bar forward, holding the contraction when stopped.

✓ Slowly return to starting position.

#5 The Landmine Chest Press

The Landmine Press is not a popular exercise, yet provides many
benefits in regards to progressing your upper chest.

It can be performed standing, thus increasing core involvement, and
can improve core stability and strength the abdominal muscles. It can
also be performed using one-arm at a time – unilaterally. Whilst this
is not always necessary, it can be used as a tool to increase the
focus on each side of the Chest muscles.

It can also be easily incorporated into a cardiovascular circuit
through high-repetitions and including a jump in the movement, or can
be used as a strength and hypertrophy exercise using lower volume.



Training Tips:

✓ Hold a neutral spine throughout the movement to prevent injury.

✓ Exhale on pushing movement, inhale when returning to starting position.

✓ Contract the pectoral muscle (pecs) at the top of the movement.

Sets & Reps

If your Upper Chest is considerably undeveloped, I suggest choosing 2
of these exercises, and performing 1 of them at the start of your
Chest workout. If your Upper Chest is well-developed, but you’re
looking to continue to add mass, then I would suggest choosing only 1
exercise.

My ideal sets and repetition ranges would be:

Exercise Sets and Reps

Incline Cable Flies     3-5 x 6-12 reps.
Incline Dumbbell Press  2-4 sets of 5-10 reps.
Incline Barbell Press   2-4 sets x 5-10 reps.
ncline Hammer Strength Machine  2-4 sets of 5-10 reps.
Landmine Chest Press    3-5 sets of 6-12 reps.
For example, your choice may be Incline Dumbbell Press, followed by
Incline Cable Flies. I suggest choosing either the Incline Dumbbell
Press or Barbell Press, and performing these first, as they require
the most energy.

Once the Upper Chest muscles are slightly fatigued, then the other
exercises can be used in order to fully deplete the Upper Chest muscle
fibres.

Thanks for reading, enjoy working your upper chest!


PUSH UP VARIATIONS



Exercise #1: Regular Push Ups




 
We all know what these are! You should perform regular push ups as a
warm up to the full workout. Begin by getting into a prone position,
with your arms planted on the floor shoulder width apart. Slowly lower
yourself towards to ground, pause, and push back up.
Since these will be mainly a warm up exercise, you should keep the
reps high, though try not to tire out your chest immediately.

Recommended reps: 12-20 reps for 3-4 sets



Exercise #2: Wide Grip Push Ups



 
Similar to regular push ups, but you will be placing your hands
wider apart than shoulder width. Doing so eliminates a lot of your
tricep and shoulder involvement from the exercise, focussing more on
working your chest.
Tip: If you find these are too easy and really want to give yourself a
challenge, you can try crucifix push ups. Here you place your arms
about as wide as they will go, with a slight bend to allow the pushing
movement. They will take practice to perform and are very difficult to
do, so don’t give up if you struggle at first!

Recommended reps: 8-12 reps for 3-4 sets



Exercise #3: Clapping Push Ups




These will really work your explosive strength and muscle endurance.
You begin with the same starting position as a regular push up, and
the same initial movement. When you start to push up, you should do so
explosively, such that your torso lifts up more than normal. In doing
so, you should quickly clap your hands together underneath your chest
and then replace them back down in the regular position, continuing
the movement and repeating.
Try to keep the movement controlled when you are performing clapping
push ups; it can be very easy to let your form slide.

Recommended reps: 8-12 for 3-4 sets



Exercise #4: Narrow Grip Push Ups




 
Again, these are very similar to regular push ups. However, this
time you will place your hands closer together, just a few inches
apart. In doing so you are putting more emphasis on your triceps.
Remember, try to keep your elbows at your sides as you perform these,
and refrain from letting them flare out in order to prevent injury.
Tip: If you want to make this exercise one bit tougher, then you can
perform diamond push ups. Get into a push up position, but place your
hands together, with your thumbs and index fingers touching to form a
diamond/triangle shape. Perform these slowly and try not to flare out
your elbows too much.

Recommended reps: 8-12 for 3-4 sets


Exercise #5: Incline Push Ups





These are similar to decline push ups, however here you will use an
elevated platform to place your hands on when performing the push up
movement.
Doing so will place a slight emphasis on your lower chest this time,
adding to the overall chest workout.

Recommended reps: 12-20 for 3-4 sets



Exercise #6: Decline Push Ups



For these, you will need a step, box or other elevated platform. To
begin, get into a regular push up position, but place your feet on the
elevated platform. Slowly lower yourself to the floor, push up and
repeat.
These will place a slight emphasis on your upper chest, allowing you
to get a full all around chest workout.
Recommended reps: 12-20 for 3-4 sets

Finisher
 
To finish off this workout, you should add in one finisher exercise.
A good way to do this is to choose from one of the 6 which you have
already completed, preferably the one you struggled the most on.
Here, you should perform the exercise for as many reps as you possibly
can, then rest for 30 seconds and do so again, for as many reps as you
can. You should aim to complete 3-4 reps of the exercise.
An alternative option is to complete one set of each exercise for as
many reps as possible with a 30 second rest in between.

Take Home Message
This workout is excellent for when you are on the move and don’t have
any access to gym equipment. You should aim to keep your rest periods
below 90 seconds, decreasing them by 5-10 seconds each time you
perform the workout.
If you struggle with any of the exercises, you can modify them to make
them easier, or harder if you like. Remember, don’t give up if you
find it tough at first, just keep at it and you’ll improve in no time.