chest

Similarly sized with the same strengths, when they shared an IFBB Pro League stage seven times in 2005-06, they were sometimes ring shots side by side. In his initial pro years, Branch Warren came out ahead in six of those battles, while Mustafa Mohammad, in his final pro years, took only one...

OPENING ARGUMENTS DEFENSE Horizontal pressing movements engage three primary movers: the chest, the triceps, and the front delts. Changing your hand position allows you to focus the load on one or more of these muscle groups. For chest, the best hand position is a wide hand spacing, either...

QUESTION I'm a hardgainer when it comes to packing on pec mass. What's your advice for breaking down the barriers to building a bigger chest? ANSWER In my earliest days as a competitor, I thought my chest was a weak point and wanted seriously to bring it up. At the same time, I knew that...

It's easy to focus on the 40 or so pounds that separate Breon Ansley from William Bonac and think their physiques share little in common. In fact, both 5'7" bodybuilders debuted, not that long ago, in the 212 division—Bonac in 2012 and Ansley in 2014— before, after one year each, moving on to...

Per Bernal Pecs make the bodybuilder. They form a breastplate, armor cast in flesh, vigilant guards before the engines of life itself. So there’s that. But they’ve also become so emblematic of “jacked” that today’s kids are as likely to hit a most-muscular as a double biceps when asked to “make...

Ian Spanier When your workouts grow stale and your results stagnate, what’s the first area you look to change? The exercises you’re doing? Your volume? Your intensity? Your rep counts? From our observations, most people look for new exercises, because clearly the old ones aren’t working...

Jason Breeze HOW MUCH CAN YOU BENCH? The question is asked of anyone even slightly buffer than Justin Bieber. Of course, it doesn’t ultimately matter in bodybuilding, which is all about muscle and not at all about metal. Still, even Flex Lewis spends a lot more time in gyms than on stages. And...

Per Bernal THROUGH TALKING WITH HUNDREDS OF IFBB PROS OVER THE YEARS, WE’VE FOUND ONE INDELIBLE TRUTH: AS BODYBUILDERS GET OLDER, THEY TRAIN SMARTER. Mark Dugdale, 42 years old as of Christmas Day 2016 and still going strong in the IFBB’s aesthetically pleasing 212 division, is our latest...

Pavel Ythjall THINK YOU CAN’T BUILD MAJOR MASS WITH MACHINES? THINK AGAIN. THESE FOUR-WEEK MACHINE-ONLY CHEST ROUTINES COULD BE THE SHOCK TREATMENT YOUR PECS NEED TO GROW. We use machines to build things every day. Machines build cars; they build roads; they build computers; they build robots...

HYPOTHESIS The bench press is one of the most popular gym exercises. As a compound exercise, it brings multiple muscle groups—including the delts and triceps—into play as prime movers and stabilizers that must work together to balance, direct movement, and generate force. It’s easy to think...

QUESTION I have well-developed legs, but my upper body needs work. Can you give me your best mass-building advice for chest, shoulders, back and arms? ANSWER I have good advice for all of those bodyparts. I'll break it down in a list of "don'ts," giving you two of my top guidelines for...

QUESTION I don’t feel much of a muscular pump when I’m training chest. What exercises are best for attaining that? ANSWER Few people get a pectoral pump from chest workouts, because few people actually engage their pecs fully during them. In truth, many tend to use almost every muscle in...

QUESTION YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN NOTED FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING PECTORAL DEVELOPMENT. WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE MISTAKES PEOPLE MAKE WHEN TRAINING THEIR CHESTS? ANSWER Thank you for the compliment! I’m glad you posed this question to me, as I get quite frustrated at the gym watching so many aspiring...

After big arms, big pecs may be the most sought-after bodypart. And although it’s fairly easy to bring up the middle- and lower- pec fibers with pressing and flye movements, the upper pecs often lag behind the rest of the chest. Getting even more specific, the upper/inner pecs may be the...

dorian-yates-dumbbells-chest-flyes.jpg Although some bodybuilders do well with training twice a day, I prefer once a day. That is due to the way I train. When I go into my gym, I’m committed to investing everything I have, physically and mentally, in the most intense workout I can muster, and...

Ali versus Frazier, Batman versus the Joker, Apple versus Samsung— fierce rivalries bring out the best in both combatants. And sometimes antagonists can join together to double their effectiveness. Think Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the Dream Team. Your physique is an amalgamation of...

After all of the box-office successes (and failures), 
all of the State of the State speeches and ballot initiatives, all of the fame and fortune, it’s easy to forget that at his very core Arnold Schwarzenegger is, first and foremost, a gym rat. Long before he ever uttered a one-liner or...

QUESTION My progress has been stagnant for quite some time, so I think it’s time to shock my muscles into growth by performing more sets. I currently train three times a week for about 75–90 minutes. What type of training split would you recommend? ANSWER If your nutrition and...

grim submitted a new resource: Powerful Pecs - Build a massive chest Read more about this resource...

THE BENCH PRESS Almost anyone who has stepped foot inside a gym has made the bench priority one at some point. After all, a big bench equals a big chest. And who doesn’t want a massive chest that’s the envy of all? So why has an exercise that was once an, ahem, benchmark for strength and size...