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…]
Incline Press Worthless for Chest Mass?
Q: In your early ebooks, you include the incline press for upper-pec development. Doug Brignole continues to say it’s worthless for chest mass. Do you agree, or do you still include it in?
A: Damn, you’re trying to get me to play defense. But after seeing and hearing Doug’s point of view and analysis, I have to agree with him. Seems I wasted lots of time and energy on inclines—although it no doubt helped my front delts… [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…]
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…]
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…]
Bench Press Power
Q: I’m using the Size Surge program, and it’s absolutely fantastic. My only complaint is that I want my bench press power to go up faster. I’m not sure that the two work sets on the bench are enough to make that happen. What would you suggest?
A: Two work sets can be enough. During Jonathan’s original 10-week cycle, his bench went from 200 x 10 to 290 x 6. But to be fair, he was regaining some size and strength that he’d had previously. Still a spectacular increase. [Read more…]
Specialize for Super Size
Q: I got the X-traordinary Arms e-book, but not for the arm routines (although they are great, and I learned a lot from them). I got it for the 3D HIT program, which is absolutely fantastic (I’m done in about 45 minutes!) and is working really well for me. Anyway, my arms are good; it’s my chest that needs work. You’ve said that the 3D HIT program is perfect for specializing
A: Yes, because of the efficient abbreviated nature of 3D HIT, it’s perfect for rotating in specialization routines for one or two bodyparts. It’s so efficient because it has you train each muscle with one work set in each position of flexion for full-range work, a minimum for continuous full development. That leaves more fuel for concentrated work on weak areas, which, in your case, is chest.
[Read more…]Stretch to Etch Slashing Muscle Detail
Q: I’m trying to get that crisp division between my pecs. I want to be able to see the inner part of my chest muscles from the lower part all the way up to the collarbone. I do lots of cable crossovers, but I’m only seeing a bit of detail in my lower chest. Any suggestions?
A: One problem may be fat in the area. A bit of adipose covering the pecs will blur or negate any detail. You need to be fairly lean to see the chest-muscle division (cleavage) from top to bottom.
[Read more…]