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BIG, BASIC, CHEST ROUTINE
Grow your chest in six weeks with little more than heavy weight and basic tools
When your goal is to build bigger pecs as soon as possible, getting creative with exercise selection is not only unnecessary, but in most cases counterproductive. Machines certainly have their place in a hypertrophy routine, but anyone who tells you he got a big chest by doing only the pec deck is either (a) a liar or (b) a pec deck salesman. Adding size requires focusing on the most basic lifting equipment in the gym: barbells, dumbbells and benches.
The following six-week chest-building routine has you training the pecs twice a week and hitting the muscles from top to bottom with incline, flat-bench and decline exercises – four of them free weight pressing moves and one cable flye thrown in as a burnout finisher. The reps top out at 10 to encourage heavier weights and promote hypertrophy, and volume bumps up to 16 sets per workout in weeks 4-6 to maximize mass. Nothing fancy, nothing cute. Just simple and effective.
CHEST BUILDING ROUTINE
Perform twice a week with 2-3 days between chest workouts.
Weeks 1-3
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS |
| Bench Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Incline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Dumbbell Decline Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Decline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
Weeks 4-6
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS |
| Dumbbell Decline Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Bench Press | 4 | 10, 8, 6, 6 |
| Incline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Decline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Incline Cable Flye | 3 | 10, 10, 10 |
Power of the Pyramid
Perform all pressing exercises with a pyramiding rep scheme. On your first working set, choose a weight that allows you to reach 10 reps, then increase weight on each successive set so that you can only do eight reps on your second set and six reps on your third (and fourth, where applicable).
EXERCISE TIPS
Bench Press
Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you press the bar up. This will minimize the distance the bar has to travel as well as help place more tension on the pecs.
Incline Bench Press
Don’t allow your lower back to come off the bench at any point. This will decrease the angle of the incline and de-emphasize the upper pecs, the area you’re trying to target.
Decline Dumbbell Press
Keep the upper arms at 45-degree angles to the body to minimize stress on the shoulders.
Decline Barbell Press
Squeeze the bar throughout the movement while also attempting to pull it apart to activate the lats and triceps, which will allow you to use more weight.
Incline Cable Flye
Don't allow your elbows to drop below the level of your shoulders – this can put undue stress on the shoulders and lead to injury.
