LOWER CHEST

What's the best way to hit my lower chest? I do decline flyes and presses, but can’t seem to feel it like I do the rest of my chest routine. —Steven Wales

While decline flyes and presses are great exercises, and work well for many people, weighted dips are my favorite lower chest builder.

Dips offer not only benefits for building a thick lower chest, but they also pump your triceps and front delts to the max, leaving your whole upper-body feeling huge!

To put some specialization into your lower-chest, put weighted dips first in your workout, and finish with some bodyweight dips to failure. Check out the routine below.

Exercise                                   Sets   Reps
Weighted Dips                              4        8
Incline Barbell Press                   3      6-10
1-Arm Flat Bench DB Press        3       10
Bodyweight Dips                         To Failure

CASEIN

When I make my Casein shake before bed, should I mix it up with water or milk? —Josh Dennis

Both choices are going to work well depending on your caloric needs. The milk will add some extra calories from protein, but won’t add a lot of healthy fats.

Adding some healthy fats before bedtime slows the digestion of the amino acids and essential fatty acids even more, and aids in the recovery and rebuilding process during your sleep.

Try adding some all natural almond butter, ground flaxseeds, or Cod Liver Oil to your nighttime protein shake to give you an even bigger muscle building meal.

SHOULDERS
Is it better to train shoulders on chest day or back day? —Kevin House

Your major shoulder muscles will primarily be taxed on a chest day, since pushing exercises will hit the front and medial delts a great deal.

On back day your rear delts will take a beating on heavy rowing movements.

If your shoulders are an area of concern, I would place them on their own day, so that they are fresh for your heavy overhead presses.

If you need to pair them with another large muscle group, put them after your chest routine, instead of back day.

Here is a sample workout split when pairing chest with shoulders:

Sunday: Chest/Shoulders
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Off
Wednesday: Back
Thursday: Off
Friday: Triceps, Biceps
Saturday: Off