chest

My lats locked the weight out for me… I’m now one of the only people in the world to deadlift 4x my bodyweight It was a momentous occasion and one that helped me progress as both a lifter and a coach. Now, years later, I not only understand how to use my lats in the squat, bench press, and...

The dumbbell pullover may be the best old-school exercise you are not doing. It was a favorite of the bodybuilding greats, including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ronnie Coleman, and Dorian Yates. This exercise helped get their massive chests and backs that were the envy of the bodybuilding world. If...

Don't have access to your favorite upper body gym machines but still want to hit your favorite upper body workout? Check out these band, barbell, and dumbbell alternatives! Getting the motivation to train at home can be tricky. You’re not at the gym surrounded by other people training with the...

Using mechanical drop sets while training at home means you can build muscle with minimal equipment. They work particularly well for blasting your chest. Traditional drop sets allow you to continue training past failure by lowering the weight and doing another set of the same exercise. With...

Most guys want a big chest, a wide back, and defined arms. Some fall short. Why? They add too much "fluff" to their workouts. If you're natural and dedicate more than half of your exercises to isolation movements like chest flyes, curls, or tricep extensions, you're doing a lot of extra work...

The standard plank isn't an exciting exercise, but it can be a foundational one. If you can't do one and hold it for while, you need to work on your core strength. But most coaches agree that once you can hold the standard plank for a minute or so, the exercise isn't very effective. You need to...

If you want your stubborn back to start growing, you need to attack it from all angles. And you need to do it with more focus on tension rather than just how much weight you can throw around. Try these exercises. ▶️ The Eagle Pulldown Find the cable setup that's most comfortable and best...

The dumbbell squeeze press goes by a few names, like the hex or champagne press, but they all mean the same thing—more gains for your chest. Part dumbbell chest press and the part dumbbell flye, the squeeze press creates muscular tension from the get-go for juicy muscle-building gains. Lifting...

Top 5 Exercises for Sculpted Pecs Many lifters struggle to build their chests for three reasons: Blind love for the barbell bench press. Ego-driven lifting: Chasing weight rather than chest growth. A poor mind-muscle connection. Here are some key strategies and five pillar exercises to...

The inverted row isn’t a complicated move but there are still plenty of room to make inverted row mistakes. It is easily progressed and regressed depending on the lifter’s experience. That and being an excellent movement for the forearms, biceps, upper back, and lats is why it should be in...

One of your goals, when you hit the gym, is probably well-defined pecs. A built chest gives the appearance of strength, but also stabilizes the shoulders, improves posture, and promotes overall upper-body strength. The chest is made up of two major muscle groups—the pectoralis major and...

The bench press and its variations still remain the go-to exercises to build size and strength in the chest. But don’t discount the dumbbell chest flye and all its pec-pumping versions. The beauty of this exercise is that it takes much the triceps out of the move so you can focus on the chest...

Save Time, Build Muscle Build Size and Strength Without the Time Suck Building size and strength isn’t something you can rush, but certain training tweaks can help you get more done in less time. That’s where compound sets come in. What are they? There are disagreements on what a compound set...

My friends, it's time for another quickie. If you read my previous quickie article, then you now know three great techniques for busting those stubborn plateaus. This time, I'm reaching deeper into my big ol' bag of tricks to conjure up three training techniques for stimulating great gains...

Let me know how it looks: A: Quads (probably back squats, depending on availability) Chest Reverse flys Rows *Side laterals/front raises/face pulls (1, 2, or all of these) Biceps Core *Battle ropes/Climbing ropes (optional) B: Lower...

The bench press. It’s one of the original rite of passage exercises that many lifters spend countless—oftentimes too many—hours toward perfecting. When you’re a beginner, you most likely performed two main exercises—biceps curl and bench press. Then, the love affair begins. The bench press is...

The Importance of Exercise Performance The other day, while I was finishing my workout, two veteran trainees, about 50-plus, approached me in the gym. These guys both had decent physiques, but they were not satisfied with their upper pec development. This, of course, is an all-too common...

Twice-Weekly Pectoral Blasts Sounds nice - make it twice! We all know that the best way to create some growth in a pair of lagging arms is to hit them twice a week. Maybe we toss in 6 sets of heavy-ish triceps pressing at the end of Monday's chest day, and biceps enjoys a few sets of curls on...

Let’s get the science out of the way; the pectoralis major is comprised of a clavicular and a sternocostal head, or better known as the upper and lower pec respectively. When flat benching, both heads are stressed evenly. The anterior deltoids also come into play, and the triceps are used during...

It goes without saying that it’s a tremendous honor to spend any amount of time talking with the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there’s always something incredibly cool about getting to talk training with the greatest bodybuilder of all-time. To hear how he trained, why he trained, and...