5 Tips For a Bigger Chest

A bigger chest you want?

Follow these 5 tips you must:

• Take your time to warm up. Shoulder rotations and warm up sets are key. 
• Do not ego lift. Lower the weight, focus on contraction and connection. 
• Work on improving your scapula retractions. That will help you with your range of motion and your pecs activation. 
• Time under tension is key for any muscle to growth, and chest is not an exception. 
• Do not neglect your triceps. Remember that they are involved in all pectoral pressing exercises. 

Want to learn why these particular tips are goin to help you? Then keep reading 😉 

Chest day best day, am i right? Don’t say no, or you won’t get more emails… jk but in all seriousness, chest day is my favorite day of the week. Not because I am an absolute gym bro (maybe a bit yea 😉 ) but because chest has always been my strongest point. That is why today I want to share with you 5 tips for a bigger chest that have helped me a lot.

Take your time to warm up.

Warming up is not only about preventing injuries and reducing the risk of injury, it is also about starting to drive blood into the muscle, synovial fluid into the joints and improve muscle fibers activation during your workout. 

What I usually do to warm up for chest days is basically shoulder rotations both internal and external to work up the rotator cuffs and the overall shoulder joint (since it involved in pretty much any chest exercise). A couple of sets of 15 – 20 reps to really warm up the joints and then I jump into my first exercise which typically is a bench press (flat or decline). First, I do 2 warm up sets with just the bar, 2 warm up sets with like 35-40% of my 1RM and then 1 warm up set with 50 – 60 of my 1RM. That allows me to start driving blood into the chest and start working on MMC in order to recruit as many muscle fibers during my working sets. This is my favorite way to warm up, I am not saying it is the best, I am saying it’s the one I like and works for me. So, the point I want to make clear here is: please, take your time to warm up

Do not ego lift.

This is one of the biggest problems I see not only training chest but overall in the gym. Ego lifting won’t get you anywhere. Leave your ego outside the gym, you are here to improve yourself, not to impress anyone. So, when it comes to picking your weights, use loads that allow you to perform quality reps with a good ROM and a proper contraction. Don’t just try to go as heavy as you can before breaking yourself. If you are at the gym to make progress, you have to train smart.  

Work on improving your scapula retractions.

One of the main things you can do to improve your chest activation is to work on your scapula retractions. Because of the mechanics of most chest exercises there is always going to be certain degree of front delt work (it will always be activated as a secondary muscle group on any chest exercise). However, that doesn’t mean it can’t be minimized. The better your scapula retraction is, the less front deltoid involvement you are going to have. I am not saying that you can transform a bench press into a chest isolation exercise, but you can drastically improve your chest muscle fibers recruitment by just bettering your scapula retraction and keeping it in mind at all times. Before starting every set, retract your scapula, put those shoulders blades down and then jump on the set and enjoy the difference.

Time under tension.

Because of the mechanics of some chest exercises, when you complete the range of motion and you reach the initial position, you actually lose tension because there isn’t actually any tension or movement at that point and that reduces time under tension. This can happen in any pressing movements for example, or any fly laying on a bench. So, instead of completing the range of motion, don’t lock up your shoulders and don’t go full ROM, this way you are still getting a very good range of motion but you are not breaking that time under tension at any point during your set. I am not telling you to half rep, just don’t finish the movement so you don’t lose tension at any point. Consciously contract your chest at all times during the set and never let lock up your shoulders.

Work on your triceps.

On any pressing movements the triceps are going to be a big secondary muscle involved. By putting on some mass and strength on your triceps, you will get better at pressing. That is going to lead to you being able to add a bit more weight on your chest pressing movements and that’s actually progressive overload, so it will help you keep making progress and maximizing chest growth.