Bigger Bench = Bigger Chest?

[quote]ZEB wrote:
Oh yes FLYS! Do them heavy and deep, try it, what have you got to lose?
[/quote]

ummm…shoulder joints?

For the most part, yes a bigger bench yields a bigger chest, but no, Mass does not come so much from rep range but from volume in the 80%+ 1RM range. If you are a 315lb bencher, what do you think builds more muscle, 3 sets of 10 @225, 5x5@250, or 8 sets of 3 at 275? Best way is to try it and see, but heavier is better. I will say for sure if you go from 255 to 295 for 8 sets of 3 you will gain muscle.

Having said that, the two best isolation exercises i know for chest are db bench and hammer iso bp. Just do not buy into myth that higher reps are required for iso exercises. The problem with dumbells is at a certain point you outgrow them. 150 pound dumbells are cumbersome without a big and capable spotter.

As always, you need to eat enough.

[quote]jackreape wrote:
For the most part, yes a bigger bench yields a bigger chest, but no, Mass does not come so much from rep range but from volume in the 80%+ 1RM range. If you are a 315lb bencher, what do you think builds more muscle, 3 sets of 10 @225, 5x5@250, or 8 sets of 3 at 275? Best way is to try it and see, but heavier is better. I will say for sure if you go from 255 to 295 for 8 sets of 3 you will gain muscle.

Having said that, the two best isolation exercises i know for chest are db bench and hammer iso bp. Just do not buy into myth that higher reps are required for iso exercises. The problem with dumbells is at a certain point you outgrow them. 150 pound dumbells are cumbersome without a big and capable spotter.

As always, you need to eat enough.[/quote]

Jack,

Thanks for sharing some of your knowledge. I have been employing your idea of a back off week, now I will try using heavier weight for hypertrophy.

Some good advice and personal insite tossed out… I’m so relieved to not see references to the “archives” in every other post!

I’ll add that you (plural) should try reverse grip bench pressing, elbows in. Its best at the decline or flat angle. Also, try using full ROM pressing for warm-ups/light work, but work in partial reps to avoid shoulder injury when the going gets heavy.

I also second the notion of heavy poundages. I really don’t think the arms and shoulders need as much direct heavy low-rep work as the pecs and lats (thanks anyway Mr. Poliquin). By simply going heavy you will help ensure the tris and delts cannot dominate the press as they will be “overridden” by the load.

As far as flyes goes, I whole heartedly believe in them. I find that programs in which I can incorporate a heavy day of pressing and a light/medium day of pec flyes (dumbbell or machine) I get the best chest gains. It seems T-Nation preaches nearly 100% compound movments, yet we aren’t athletes in a competitive sport - we are bodybuilders. Compound movements are a staple in our training, but shouldn’t be exclusive.

I’m also going to take issue with dips. Because of the extreme rotation of the shoulder joint, I have seen them cause greater injury than even flat bench pressing. But, I think they can be used effectively when not letting the elbow bend past 90 degrees.

TopSirloin

[quote]TopSirloin wrote:
Some good advice and personal insite tossed out… I’m so relieved to not see references to the “archives” in every other post![/quote]

I agree, I don’t understand why someone bothers to tell someone to search the archives. If a person can’t post something useful like advice or a link, why bother to post at all?

base

I just came across an old article that might be just for you.

Q> I don’t feel my pecs when I’m benching?

A> Position yourself properly. Force your chest out, spread your collarbones out,pinch your shoulder blades together and press your shoulders toward your feet, away from your ears. Keep this set-up throughout your set. Reset if nec. Pausing for a second with the bar LIGHTLY touching the chest will help you recruit your pecs. …As you start the press sqeeze the bar and pretend that you are pushing your hands together. Similar in feel to a pec deck.
In addition to blasting the pecs, benching this way helps protect your shoulders.
Good luck

ps. bar to nipple area. Higher than that could affect shoulder girdle

together.

[quote]sasquatch wrote:
base

I just came across an old article that might be just for you.

Q> I don’t feel my pecs when I’m benching?

A> Position yourself properly. Force your chest out, spread your collarbones out,pinch your shoulder blades together and press your shoulders toward your feet, away from your ears. Keep this set-up throughout your set. Reset if nec. Pausing for a second with the bar LIGHTLY touching the chest will help you recruit your pecs. …As you start the press sqeeze the bar and pretend that you are pushing your hands together. Similar in feel to a pec deck.
In addition to blasting the pecs, benching this way helps protect your shoulders.
Good luck

ps. bar to nipple area. Higher than that could affect shoulder girdle

together. [/quote]

Thanks sasquatch!! The more info the better. Maybe a year from now I will have a chest to show off.

Because to search the articles is good advice.

[quote]Gregus wrote:
Because to search the articles is good advice.[/quote]

Perhaps, but it is kind of redundant in a way because most people here know how to search the articles.

I would think that one posts on a forum when they want to hear some examples of personal experience, which is often as useful, if not more so than an article.

[quote]Gregus wrote:
Because to search the articles is good advice.[/quote]

No, its lame advice because unless the poster is a fresh fish, they are posting a question in which they could not get personalized advice elsewhere.

TS

How long have you been lifting and training bench press regularly? The lack of hypertrophy in the chest could also be because although your max has gone up 100lbs, when someone starts lifting, there is a large gain in max quickly due to your central nervous system gettin used to the movement. So if your bench has gone up 100lbs, a significant portion of that is due to your nervous system getting better at benching. So you may just need to train more and your chest will start to show results. Just a thought that I had in the case that you have a short training history.

[quote]TopSirloin wrote:

I’ll add that you (plural) should try reverse grip bench pressing, elbows in. Its best at the decline or flat angle. Also, try using full ROM pressing for warm-ups/light work, but work in partial reps to avoid shoulder injury when the going gets heavy.

TopSirloin[/quote]

What are you talking about? Reverse grip for chest devolopement? Partials to avoid injury!?

[quote]basementD wrote:
Gregus wrote:
Because to search the articles is good advice.

Perhaps, but it is kind of redundant in a way because most people here know how to search the articles.[/quote]

I think you suck. No, that didn’t come out right. :wink: What I meant: I think that most people do NOT know how to search the articles. The search function sucks. And the author library is great - IFF you know the author! An improved search feature would certainly be advantageous.

[quote]timmwwaa wrote:
TopSirloin wrote:

I’ll add that you (plural) should try reverse grip bench pressing, elbows in. Its best at the decline or flat angle. Also, try using full ROM pressing for warm-ups/light work, but work in partial reps to avoid shoulder injury when the going gets heavy.

TopSirloin

What are you talking about? Reverse grip for chest devolopement? Partials to avoid injury!?[/quote]

Ummm… quite self-explanatory, but I’ll humor you. When bench you “reverse” your grip in a supinated fashion - palms facing you. You then perform your presses, but be sure the bar travels in an arc to the lower sternum and elbows are near your sides - not flared. Depending on your biomechanics this may stress a greater portion of your pec muscle and less tricep and shouler. Plus, the traditional bench press grip makes the shoulder externally rotate which can predispose a lifter to injury, accute or redundant, over time.

Partial depth presses (either reverse grip or standard) means only lowering the bar until the elbows are at about 90 degrees bend. This allows two things: 1, greater loads can be lifted, thus stressing the pecs, thus hypertrophy/strength gains could be increased, 2, the shoulder is not stretched as deeply and therefore injury might be less of an issue.

These are just suggestions - they are things that I have used and trained clients with successfully.

TopSirloin

switch to dumbbell bench press and weighted dips for a while for chest hypertrophy.

That’s what helped me.

I agree though, I already have really strong shoulders and tris, i think they take over when I bench using a barbell.

[quote]bkerne wrote:
How long have you been lifting and training bench press regularly? The lack of hypertrophy in the chest could also be because although your max has gone up 100lbs, when someone starts lifting, there is a large gain in max quickly due to your central nervous system gettin used to the movement. So if your bench has gone up 100lbs, a significant portion of that is due to your nervous system getting better at benching. So you may just need to train more and your chest will start to show results. Just a thought that I had in the case that you have a short training history. [/quote]

I have been lifting on and off for years, but I have never put in more than one year of consistent training.

I bench 270, so maybe it is just a matter of me getting my bench up some more for the chest to come up. One of my goals is 300, I always thought I would have a decent chest at that level. I am only 30lbs away, we will see.

It sucks though when I see guys that bench less and have a bigger chest.

[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
switch to dumbbell bench press and weighted dips for a while for chest hypertrophy.

That’s what helped me.

I agree though, I already have really strong shoulders and tris, i think they take over when I bench using a barbell. [/quote]

Xen,

I plan on getting dip bars one day, I have been trying to make gains without this equipment first though.