Q: In Old Man, Young Muscle, you end your chest workouts with close-grip bench pushups for chest contraction. I think I read you do cable flyes now since you have a cable machine. Are cable flyes as good as the pushups? I really like the bench pushups. [Read more…]
Flyes: “Ideal” Chest Exercise?
Q: I have a good grasp of the ideal-exercise factors from your ebook Old Man Young Muscle and Brignole’s The Physics of Resistance Exercise. I understand why dumbbell decline presses are ideal for chest, but what about flyes? They appear to encompass the same ideal factors, and you don’t have to use as much weight to get the same load on the pecs because of a longer lever [arms extended]. [Read more…]
Bench Press Blasphemy?
Not a fan of the barbell bench press. I know, I know—it’s the most popular exercise in the gym.
But not because of the results. It’s because it’s one of the best look-how-much-I-can-lift moves. Plus, you get to do it lying on your back… [Read more…]
Muscle Mass Q&A
Q: I like decline cable flyes for my chest. I really feel those. Can I use that exercise instead of dumbbell decline presses as my ideal exercise? Dumbbell flyes and dumbbell declines hurt my shoulders. [Read more…]
Which Cable Chest Press is Best for Perfect Pecs?
I can be lazy. Watching TV with my wife the other night, I saw her phone charging in the kitchen, so I called it…
She got up to answer, and I said, [Read more…]
Bench Pushups for Chest Mass?
I was asked recently about the close-grip bench pushups that I have as my chest finisher in Old Man, Young Muscle. [Read more…]
Chest Mass: DB Declines or Cable Press?
I’ve whined about only having a bare-bones home gym in a lot of newsletters—50-pound PowerBlock dumbbells, an adjustable bench, and a doorway chinning bar.
The new ebook details how I made the best of that pathetic setup and re-muscled my 62-year-old physique training only 35 minutes 3 times a week. [Read more…]
Jaw-Dropping Muscle: This will blow your mind…
I’ve mentioned my recent re-aquaintance with Mr. America and Drug-Free Mr. Universe Doug Brignole (he won the latter contest at age 59)… [Read more…]
Inside Muscle-Growth Secret
Q: I need to build up the inside of my chest, the cleavage, so to speak. A training friend told me that really squeezing and flexing at the bottom of cable crossovers will get my inner pecs popping. Is that true?
A: While full-range cable crossovers can help develop the entire pec muscle—even the inner sections—believe it or not, the BEST way to attack that insertion point of the target muscle is by emphasizing stretch overload… [Read more…]
Best Chisel-Your-Chest Exercise
Q: I’ve been using cable crossovers as my contracted-position exercise in my 3D Positions-of-Flexion chest routine. I do them last for tension, occlusion, and a final pump, but I’m not getting the right feel and not seeing much of a pump. Do you have any form suggestions to make them better?
A: Cable crossovers are a good contracted-position chisel-your-chest exercise—if you have decent nerve-to-muscle connections in your pec muscles. Those who don’t tend to shift the torso forward and backward during the exercise, to bring in more front delts and even lats. We prefer a similar exercise that forces strictness… [Read more…]