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STOP, You're Training Your Chest Wrong!

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Rating: 4.0; Vote: 1

Are you training your chest wrong? You are about to find out in this video on how to get a bigger chest by implementing a chest workout strategy that may be completely new to you. We look to the teachings of the late goat Mike Mentzer to give us clues as to how we may want to switch up the way we do our chest exercises, and all of our workouts for that matter, to get bigger pecs in the long run. It starts with a declaration by Mentzer where he says that the best chest exercise for growth is hands down the dip. Now, keep in mind that the dip also works the triceps and shoulders. If you focus on the angle of your body when performing the dip, you can more effectively target the triceps or the chest while also hitting the shoulders in the process. That said, is he right? Well, it starts with knowing how to train for a bigger chest and that means getting the right tempo. Likely you are doing your chest exercises way too fast. Slow them down. Try taking a cadance of 3-4 seconds up and 4-5 seconds down and watch how much harder the chest exercise becomes. Even if you have to lower the weight here it's ok. The key is to make the chest do more of the work. That said, this revolves around the science of muscle building that tells us that there are 3 different types of contractions; concentric, isometric or holding, and the eccentric or lowering of the weight. You are strongest eccentrically and weakest concentrically. If you want to build a muscle to its fullest you want to drive maximum amount of tension into the chest in this case. You do that by taking advantage of the contraction science. That said, instead of doing it with pec deck as shown here I choose to do it on the dips exercise mentioned earlier. But first, let's discuss the pre-exhaust exercise combination that you can do as your chest workout and get bigger chest gains. It consists of an adduction exercise for chest isolation and then is immediately followed by a compound chest exercise like the incline bench press. I don't particularly like to perform the barbell incline bench press since it bothers my shoulders, but you certainly may. I like to swap in the dumbbell incline bench press. The key is to make sure that you're using a narrow grip to perform the bench press. This will shift more of the focus onto the triceps which, following the cable fly pre-exhaust, will allow them to help you push the chest closer to its full state of overload. So I start with the standing cable fly and perform each rep slowly and deliberately. Trying not to involve the triceps by locking out the elbows and keeping them stationary. Lift up to the count of 3-4 seconds and down to the count of 3-4 seconds. Some will want to do a dumbbell bench fly here but I highly advise against it. Lifting to a failure rep range of 6-10 is not the best for this exercise. It is too vulnerable for the shoulders and is best done on a chest exercise where the risk is minimized. Mike Mentzer preferred to do this as a pec deck and close grip incline bench press using a machine but you can choose the variations that you prefer the most. The key is to get the strategy of the tempo down. Now, Mentzer always advised performing only one set to absolute failure for a muscle group (sometimes consisting of a pre-exhaust exercise combo as shown here) and being done with your workout. I don't believe that has to be the case however. Especially if you don't have access to spotters that are allowing you to perform the forced reps demonstrated by Mike in this video, I think you still will have a little more gas in the tank to do something else. This is where that dip is performed to all three levels of failure. Remember, this dip was the exercise that Mike Mentzer felt was the best for building the chest, shoulders and triceps and it was particularly good here because it allowed you to hit your lower chest whereas the first two parts of the combo targeted mostly the middle and upper chest. Finally, Mike advises against holding in the bottom position of any rep. I don't agree at all. When done with proper positioning, this is the most anabolic portion of the rep. Do not ignore the stretch overload stimulus when it comes to building a bigger chest. You want to apply a deep stretch to the pecs and the bottom of the dip is a great place to do this. Perform that dip to concentric failure first, then hold at the bottom of that rep for as long as you can isometrically. At this point, step yourself up to the top of the exercise and perform eccentric only dips to finish out your chest workout and fry your chest.
Date: 2023-09-18

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Comments and reviews: 17

Ace
Isn t there a maximum healthy heart rate that you shouldn t exceed which keeps decreasing the more you age? Isn t working out that intensely all in one go without rest make your heart beat faster than that healthy heart rate? I m not talking about the slow reps that really focus on the correct muscle doing the exercise, I m talking about Mike s workout in general. Also didn t he die because if heart problems? Could it be related his workout method? I hope not
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The
Got Legs tomorrow. But I'm looking forward to my Push day to incorporate more Tension. Which i have been doing the past few weeks (somewhat) and have notice my chest starting to grow. which i have the nickname Tiddy because i cant usually get my chest to grow any lmao.
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RDH
Mike Mentzer was way ahead of his time. I've lifted for 30 and started using his philosophy for the last few months. My workouts are shorter, but I swear I've seen gains and my motivation is higher than ever. I'm never into fads, but this works.
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pseudoty
Just chiming in to say I refuse to watch these Negative titled videos. I love Jeff s content but we all need a more positive message not Stop, Fix, Wrong, Worst, Bad perhaps it sells but it turns me off.
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Tra
Been lifting 25 years. Started doing this 2 weeks ago and I haven t had second day doms in ages but this has crushed my body. Make sure you REST to let your body heal and then grow before hitting it again.
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Alan
Mike also said that the concentric portion of lifting is useless! Basically, if you focus on eccentrics and isometric holds, then rest to recover as needed. You will see more gains.
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Glyn
This recent adoration of Mike Mentzer and his teachings, is a worry. His ways have always been regarded as a sub culture to mainstream teachings. There's a reason for that.
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blaise
Mentzer really had a way of over complicating a simple idea. Just don't swing the weights. that's it. Also, momentum is not a force, but that's just a peeve of mine.
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MehMehMehMeh
Mentzer eventually had people doing 2 seconds up, then 4 seconds down. It was just the momentum he wanted to limit. Mr America Hart talks about it
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Jesse
I love the effort this guy puts into his thumbnails. He worked out the entire left side of his body the wrong way for years just to show us the contrast.
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treborrrrr
Admit you jumped. Nope! My mind was warmed up and prepped by re-watching Pandorum just before this video so the jump scare had no effect: P
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Jeffery
Hey do you ideas on how to train chest when you have a shoulder issue! I can t do pushups or bench with much weight cause of my shoulder!
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nelson
Hey Jeff, what's your thoughts on a 6-8 week eccentric focused program? Do you think it will increase strength and muscle gains? Thanks
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sport
Could you do some meal prep stuff? You ve nailed the training content but would be good to get your take on realistic meal plans: )
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Steven
Its called time under tension. Great for hypertrophy. Next coming year we'll see a whole 'nother Jeff and jessy as in bigger
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Jeff
Are you going to create a program based on this and the other vids you have posted from your research into Mentzer s training?
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Devin
Great video. I believe Ellington Darden, PhD, did research in similar training areas: Negative-Accentuated Strength Training.
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