chest wont grow ;(

[AcegMan]

I can't get my chest to grow at all. my arms back everything looks good. im not sure what im doing wrong, im squeezing my chest muscles as much as I can. I eat healthy. the only thing i could think of is possibly lifting too much weight. im not home right now but i will try to post a pic when I can. anyone else have this problem?

[ironwill]

I can't get my chest to grow at all. my arms back everything looks good. im not sure what im doing wrong, im squeezing my chest muscles as much as I can. I eat healthy. the only thing i could think of is possibly lifting too much weight. im not home right now but i will try to post a pic when I can. anyone else have this problem?

If you are lifting to much weight, this will become a problem bro.....A great video is Dorian Yates on MD...I believe Tiramisu posted some snippets....Do a search for the words dorian yates, you will find the vids, he has great advice in there for chest, etc...
Focus on good inclines, and try using dumbells for awhile and get things going bro.......
But check out some vids, then try and try again.....

[PdH]

As usual... post is pretty much worthless unless we have:
Stats.
Diet.
Training.
Past experience.

You sound a little jaded there CCH. Heh, heh. :)

[AlladdinSane]

I think #8 had this problem once. Turned out that he was able to fix it by eating more food if I remember correctly.

[ironwill]

I think #8 had this problem once. Turned out that he was able to fix it by eating more food if I remember correctly.

Agreed AS!!! Food definitely works, but i know there are a lot of folks that dont get the squeeze they need and focus on throwing weights around....I find to get the chest to grow, you need ample calories definitely, they need to feel the muscle and be able to get the most out of it and have chest fail before triceps etc....
The chest also can be held back by genetics and moreso noticeable than other bodyparts as so many folks focus on chest and arms visually and dont see much else when looking....

[Timbo89]

I can't get my chest to grow at all. my arms back everything looks good. im not sure what im doing wrong, im squeezing my chest muscles as much as I can. I eat healthy. the only thing i could think of is possibly lifting too much weight. im not home right now but i will try to post a pic when I can. anyone else have this problem?

you say everything else is developing faster which could lead to your triceps and delts overpowering your chest. I have the same problem so I always make sure to use the bottom half of my ROM, and really focus on my chest, keeping it squeezed throughout the movement.

[Memo]

what I do usually is change my routine, like 2 months focus on flat and 2 months focus on incline alternating like this

[CanadianIron]

Squats... you gotta do more squats!

No but seriously, change shit up, and keep pressing. My chest might seem like its not growing if I check it every week but I think it just takes a lot of time to develop a good chest... like 5-10 years. Dont expect 10lb pecs after 2 years in the gym.

[GYMBRAT]

DB Inlines HEAVY DB inclines FTW....seriously!

[pollox]

DB Inlines HEAVY DB inclines FTW....seriously!

did these for a year... had a nice chest but no arms... now ive been doing barbell only to get my tri's bigger while maintaining chest

[GYMBRAT]

did these for a year... had a nice chest but no arms... now ive been doing barbell only to get my tri's bigger while maintaining chest

you bet...they work! I never even touched flat bench for 10+ yrs

[#8]

aladdin sane is right with the food, it has helped me for sure. i also was not benching properly for most of my lifts with barbells. check out the "how to bench properly" post that might help you, as it has added about 45 lbs to my bench since november i believe.

im still a firm believer in incline benching too. i dont think you can get a strong chest without it.

[AcegMan]

i barely ever do barbell bench workouts its usually all DB for me. ill sometimes use machines for pec flies and barbell for decline bench. my db is like 85lbs each and i can go for about 4-6 on my 4th set... im 192 right now 6' even.. my arms are pretty big and my back is good as well... just my chest is lackin and its more and more noticable. ive been working out for little over 2 years. i have learned alot nd have tried lot's of shit. im eating like a champ right now i went downhill for a bit but its coming back up. i dont think food is a huge factor for me when buidling my chest. im gunna try lowering the weight mabye do 10-12 sets instead of 6-8 and squeeze more

[Memo]

DB Inlines HEAVY DB inclines FTW....seriously!

x2

[Ron Partlow]

Might be a form thing too. You gotta make sure you keep your elbows away from your sides when you press. When youa re at the bottom of the rep, your humerus should be straight out to the side.

Also do a full range......I don't understand how some of these guys get good chests doing these bottom half reps like we see in lots of the pro's vids now. They seem to miss the entire top half of the reps, and then all the fans copy them and the problem persists. They say they are avoiding lock out, but you can avoid lock out and still contract the pec completely. The problem is, it's cuts your weights down, which is a blow to most guys ego.

Watch Yates train, he did full range reps.

[tiramisu]

Might be a form thing too. You gotta make sure you keep your elbows away from your sides when you press. When youa re at the bottom of the rep, your humerus should be straight out to the side.

Also do a full range......I don't understand how some of these guys get good chests doing these bottom half reps like we see in lots of the pro's vids now. They seem to miss the entire top half of the reps, and then all the fans copy them and the problem persists. They say they are avoiding lock out, but you can avoid lock out and still contract the pec completely. The problem is, it's cuts your weights down, which is a blow to most guys ego.

Watch Yates train, he did full range reps.

"Humerus, straight out to the side".... owwww. Clearly you do not have dodgy shoulders. My tendons weep just thinking of this position. Some of us mere humans have a tendency to snap like twigs when the shoulder is place in that angle.

For us sissies what good alternatives are there to flat bench with elbows out for building good chest mass?

[VINZI]

I can't get my chest to grow at all. my arms back everything looks good. im not sure what im doing wrong, im squeezing my chest muscles as much as I can. I eat healthy. the only thing i could think of is possibly lifting too much weight. im not home right now but i will try to post a pic when I can. anyone else have this problem?

By squeezing you meant feeling each rep like you suppose to? are you sure you aren't lifting too muchh weight that your tris and shoulders take over? If you got those down then it's time to shock the ****er. If your style of training is HIT- Yates style then it 's time to add more reps ,sets, supersets, drop sets ,RP.. get some blood in there ..etc..but always feel the rep , dont just lift the weight, feel it, make that mind-muscle connection

[Durk]

Benching BB with the bill star 5x5 routine was the only thing that made mine grow.

[Ron Partlow]

"Humerus, straight out to the side".... owwww. Clearly you do not have dodgy shoulders. My tendons weep just thinking of this position. Some of us mere humans have a tendency to snap like twigs when the shoulder is place in that angle.

For us sissies what good alternatives are there to flat bench with elbows out for building good chest mass?

I hardly ever flat bench, I was referring to presses in general. The closer to your sides the elbow are, the less stretch you get in the pec. Stretch is key to recruiting fibers, so you want to feel the pecs stretch at the bottom. When I press, you could draw a straight line from one elbow to the other looking down from above.

I'd just use less weight if it hurt my shoulders I guess. Maybe I've been lucky with healthy shoulders, but I always try to make sure the target muscle gets stretched.

[dremen]

If you are lifting to much weight, this will become a problem bro.....A great video is Dorian Yates on MD...I believe Tiramisu posted some snippets....Do a search for the words dorian yates, you will find the vids, he has great advice in there for chest, etc...
Focus on good inclines, and try using dumbells for awhile and get things going bro.......
But check out some vids, then try and try again.....


Hmmm did'nt Dorian say for building mass decline bench worked wonders for him, that and db flys? I agree about his vids bro, LOVE the info this man spits out.....gold if u ask me;)

[ironwill]

Hmmm did'nt Dorian say for building mass decline bench worked wonders for him, that and db flys? I agree about his vids bro, LOVE the info this man spits out.....gold if u ask me;)

Yes he did say Declines were great.....I used to do them, but havent so much lately because my gym sucks...lol....I like inclines for dumbells personally, i wreck my tits doing it.......Flyes are also good IMO....
But honestly, ive cut back on the weight a tad and focused more on form and making sure im getting a good stretch at bottom and flex at top and full rom...Works well..

[ironwill]

I hardly ever flat bench, I was referring to presses in general. The closer to your sides the elbow are, the less stretch you get in the pec. Stretch is key to recruiting fibers, so you want to feel the pecs stretch at the bottom. When I press, you could draw a straight line from one elbow to the other looking down from above.

I'd just use less weight if it hurt my shoulders I guess. Maybe I've been lucky with healthy shoulders, but I always try to make sure the target muscle gets stretched.

Agreed, i get a bit of flack for doing them like this, but im going for the full stretch as well, i get my elbows flared...Maybe i cant press as much weight but i get a better stretch and feeling in my pecs as opposed to shoulders and triceps....

[AcegMan]

alright thanks for the input fellas. i believe my form is good, i stretch like a mothaf and my elbows are away... im gunna try lowering my weight ex, for incline db i was doing 60/70/80/85 lbs.. might cut it back to like 50/60/65 with some more reps ...we'll see what that does

[ironwill]

alright thanks for the input fellas. i believe my form is good, i stretch like a mothaf and my elbows are away... im gunna try lowering my weight ex, for incline db i was doing 60/70/80/85 lbs.. might cut it back to like 50/60/65 with some more reps ...we'll see what that does

Are you talking pressing, or flies???

[JacktheThriller]

ive been working out for little over 2 years. i have learned alot nd have tried lot's of shit. im eating like a champ right now i went downhill for a bit but its coming back up. i dont think food is a huge factor for me when buidling my chest. im gunna try lowering the weight mabye do 10-12 sets instead of 6-8 and squeeze more

just be consistant and work on strength. stop trying many different exercises for chest and just focus on one chest movement and making weekly gains
eventually that strength will transfer to size IMO

i mean your not exactly pressing extraordinary weight so you can still benifit from a basic compounds routine

[JacktheThriller]

ive been working out for little over 2 years. i have learned alot nd have tried lot's of shit. im eating like a champ right now i went downhill for a bit but its coming back up. i dont think food is a huge factor for me when buidling my chest. im gunna try lowering the weight mabye do 10-12 sets instead of 6-8 and squeeze more

just be consistant and work on strength. stop trying many different exercises for chest and just focus on one chest movement and making weekly gains
eventually that strength will transfer to size IMO

i mean your not exactly pressing extraordinary weight so you can still benifit from a basic compounds routine

[JacktheThriller]

ive been working out for little over 2 years. i have learned alot nd have tried lot's of shit. im eating like a champ right now i went downhill for a bit but its coming back up. i dont think food is a huge factor for me when buidling my chest. im gunna try lowering the weight mabye do 10-12 sets instead of 6-8 and squeeze more

just be consistant and work on strength. stop trying many different exercises for chest and just focus on one chest movement and making weekly gains
eventually that strength will transfer to size IMO

i mean your not exactly pressing extraordinary weight so you can still benifit from a basic compounds routine

[AcegMan]

Are you talking pressing, or flies???

presses... flies i keep at a lower weight already..