Over the past summer I have made really nice gains in my delts and bis. However, i have noticed my chest and middle back are lagging behind.
So for the next semester of school(Aug - Dec) I am planning on training these body parts twice a week. For example, I am thinking of wroking chest/ back together on monday then back/bi thurs and chest/tri friday. I would really like help on how I should lift so as not to overtrain. I was thinking lifting heavy chest monday and then heavy back thurs, and on the other days do higher rep iso movements.
Does this sound like it will help me out? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
You should work out your entire body every session, your body will automatically balance itself out. If your back is over developed and your chest is not then your body will compensate by making your back develop less and your chest more.
If you want some good workouts check Chad Waterbury’s workouts. I started on his Waterbury Method workout. But i particularly like his “The Art of Waterbury” workout as it incorporates all his methods.
You don’t have to work your entire body every session. That is just one option. I like Chad’s push/pull variety, alternating horizontal on one day and vertical three days later. Do a search for Chad Waterbury articles to get more ideas.
Also read the new article by CT. It discusses sticking points on chest.
I have a similar problem with chest and I’m coming off of a rotator cuff/ shoulder muscle injury from martial arts.
Is it advisable to work chest every 3 days and break it into low, middle and upper?
I notice if I do too much chest in one day my shoulder hurts by the end and form gets sloppy so I stop after 20 sets/ 4 exercises.
For my chest I’m trying to get it wider with a more pronounced “under cut”/ lower chest. Dips hurt my shoulder but I’ve been hitting the declines 5 sets and 15 reps- adding weight and getting down to 8 reps by the 5th set.
My arms are huge to the point of being disproportionately noticeable and I don’t even work them anymore.
1st suggestion: start a new thread rather than bringing up one from 14 years ago.
I had a cronic shoulder injury for almost a year (anterior delt to clavicle tendon). I couldn’t flat bench; I could do dips, but it hurt a lot. What worked for me was actually incline bench. For some reason I could incline bench with almost no shoulder pain. I also had to learn how to really focus on contacting the pectorals only. I did use KT tape every session and I could tell the difference if I didn’t use it. I also started using the pec dec more.
I also have disproportionately large arms… But I like working them so I keep at it.
I’ll give the tape a try. Seems like my issue is similar but flat bench and declines are all I can really do. Focusing on cable/ shaping exercises as well.
Would I over do it if I tried working chest every 3 days?
You could try it and see. I tried doing calves 3 days a week to bring them up and felt like they were getting overtrained (losing strength and always a bit sore). I since switched to twice a week and that seems to be the sweet spot. I feel like my chest is a weak point in my physique, but is improving significantly more by figuring out what exercises work for me rather than increasing frequency. But that being said I have been considering upping my chest work to twice a week during the next growth phase. I feel like thrice a week would be too much. The powerlifters I know tend to do bench press with that frequency though.
Try it for 4-6 weeks and see how your body responds.