How To Destroy Every Muscle Fiber In Your Chest!
To get full pec development, you need to hit the chest from different angles.
You know that, right?
But while most guys are relying on doing this solely via the incline, flat, and decline benches, I have a BETTER tip for you…
Instead of changing the angle at which you work your chest…
…Build A Bigger Chest By Cycling Your GRIP WIDTH!
Here’s why…
Depending on how close your hands are together on the barbell, you target either different areas of your chest.
The closer your hands, the more you work the inner and upper pecs (but also your triceps).
The wider your hands are, the more overall chest stimulation you get as you take a lot of the triceps out of the power equation.
So here’s how you can use this knowledge to further your chest development…
- Start with the flat bench and do one set of the barbell bench press with a close grip until you reach failure at about 8-12 reps.
- Rest 2 minutes and then do another set of 8-12 reps to failure with a shoulder width grip.
- Finally, after you next 2 minute rest, do another set with your hands about 6-8 inches wider than shoulder width.
- From here, you can move on to the incline bench and do the same exact thing for 3 more sets.
- Follow it up with a trip to the decline bench for 3 more and you’re all done for “Chest Day”!
hi Jeff
I like this idea Coach Joe Kenn does something similiar called dumbell elevators where you do sets varying angle of bench for each set but less recovery than you suggest here, you can see it on his website big house power
adrian
Thanks Jeff
Already hitting the angles but looking forward to trying this one out. Only trouble is chest day isnt til Monday!!
Is it better to do all these presses in one day? I’ve been doing flat bench presses one day, then incline bench presses my next workout day. I’ve not done the decline presses so I’ll add that to my workout.
Hi Jeff, One question…what about the weight..keep it constant or pyramid it ? I’m sure there would be a difference depending on the grip wouldn’t there ?
I suppose one could use this technique for a lot ofother muscle groups as well too like Biceps..use a close grip..medium grip and wide grip barbell curl …ditto for Barbell Rows and perhaps even for squats …..
its a superb technique , we used to do it for increaing our power and sticking points for power lifting ( a long ago) but the ligaments and tendons as well as the muscle got so strong we our selves were surprised by the power we used to generate.
keep up the good work , other mags evenm after paying through or noses do not divulge so many techniques u r giving out for free.
If you want pectoral development, USE your pecs to press the weight. If you can’t flex your pecs at least together (same time) you ain’t gonna be developing no pecs anytime soon. if your “inner chest” is lagging, you just need more mass overall, thats your genetics
if your upper pecs are lagging, focus on inclines, DB presses and weighted dips. And yes, you folk are welcome to comment on my progress thread on tnation and bb.com (same name)
Finally if you dont have good chest shape/development after 2 years of training, you’ll never have an “armor plated” chest no matter how much you bench or how many secret techniques you use, thats just the way it is. you could focus on fat loss, and adding some quad and back thickness instead.
That said, this is a good technique that will HELP you understand how to use your pectorals to press properly.
Saying that “if you don’t have good chest development/shape after two years of training, you’ll never have an ‘armor plated’ chest no matter what” is the most bogus thing I’ve ever heard, especially from someone who speaks as if they know what they’re doing. That’s like saying “if you don’t have a six pack after training for 2 years, you’ll never have them”. Absolutely ridiculous. Anybody can build an impressive physique. All you need is the “know how” from people like Jeff and the drive to succeed. I trained for six years and didn’t add a single lb to my skinny frame but after finding the right information on diet and training, I’ve added 40 lbs to my frame this year alone and I’m not done. And don’t tell me it’s genetics because I come from a skinny asian family. Never build an armor chest plate after two years of training? BOLLOCKS..
Feel free to put pictures of your progress on t-nation.com and get some hyena laughs lol. Proof is in the pudding. And cock a snook at XYZ’s pectoral development before you assume XYZ’s sage advice will get you wherever you want to go. oh thats right, he don’t wanna get too big, but he knows exactly what YOU need to do.
Most guys will end up on Jason Ferrugia’s blog in 5 years making fun of bodybuilders for being unfunctional, having made no progress physique-wise themselves.. i guarantee you.
Again, if you don’t have a good chest after 2 years of training, EVEN Charles Glass can’t help you out. Juicing CAN made a difference but not that much. I recommend Synthol.
And yes, feel free to visit me on tnation. Peace.
And yes, congratulations on adding 40 pounds of lean mass, thats a very good achievement. But where did you add that mass? in what proportion?
Most people who add size end up having a pigeon chest, thick anterior delts, thick middle back, poor lats, big glutes and turnip thighs with no shape whatsoever. genetics will determine where the cards fall for you: if you’re not destined to have a nice chest shape, you will need to add a massive amount of size (USING JEFF”s ideas obviously AS WELL AS massive eating to gain weight) to compensate. If you’re the kin who diets as soon as he’s lost his abs, that ain’t gonna happen.
And MOST people should be able to have a 4 pack, 6 or 8 pack depending on torso length, unless they have a very tight sheath coating their abs (seen it a few times). The abs dont hypertrophy significantly, its the attachme,nt that causes the 6 pack look and body fat that allows it to be visible. pec develoment is related to SIZE in the pec region that depends on your genetic make up there.
Again Jeff knows what he’s talking about. But YOU WILL NEED to make building mass a priority before anything happens. That means allowing yourself to bulk up somewhat.
Seems like a great idea!
will try it today
Cable Crossovers work best for me for overall chest workout. No matter how much I “focus” on using my pecs during a bench, my arms fatigue after 8 to 10 reps and I hate that. I don’t feel like I got any chest workout at all.
For example, place your left hand over your right pec and push forward with your right arm (simulating a press). Do you feel any work in your right pec? I don’t. Now do the same thing, but take your right arm and bring it across your chest as if doing a flye. Feel the difference?
Sure, everyone knows that bench brings “mass”, however, if people aren’t doing it properly, they end up hurting themselves – mainly in the shoulder and arms area. Considering I can’t seem to feel any work when doing bench, I must be doing something wrong.
Please disregard the above post. I just realized what I’m doing wrong. I was just moving my arms in a pressing motion – not squeezing my pecs on the upward movement. I just tried squeezing my pec when I had my left hand over my right pec and simulated the pressing movement again and I could feel the difference.
Cool. All these years and I finally figured out what the F I was doing wrong. LOL.
I don’t like decline presses because I think they create a bit of a drippy look, do you have to finish with the decline press?
This article was terrible advice. If someone sucks at benching or has an underdeveloped chest, it’s not because they don’t train different angles or grip widths, it’s cause their diet sucks, their program sucks, their consistency sucks, or their training intensity sucks. Not only will switching angles or grip widths not make a difference, it will distract people from the things that actually will make a difference. Posting this article was irresponsible of you.
Careful of your tone Zach. You’re in my house, remember?
Professional debate is always welcome and I’m more than happy to swap back alternative points of views in a mature setting but I don’t think you’d go into some stranger’s house and accuse them of being irresponsible, would you?
You’re welcome to stick around and share any comments that provide true value and not just sharpshooting other people’s ideas and tips. But if you can’t, then I’ll ask you to unsubscribe from my newsletters and not visit my blog, ok? No hard feelings and nothing personal. It’s just that you’re a welcome visitor here…but still a visitor nonetheless and I ask you to respect that.
Cool?
Now…on to your comment…
As I state in many of my programs, building muscle requires the integration of SEVERAL “anabolic factors”. You’ve stated some of them: diet, intensity, etc.
However, certain exercises, bench angles, and yes…grip widths DO in fact target different muscle fiber types and locations better than others. Targeting muscle fibers is what creates the NEED for hypertrophy and without it, the best diet in the world and the most dedicated consistency won’t do squat.
So yes…this technique absolutely DOES make a difference in mass gains and will help someone better target their pecs for growth as long as they also focus on the other anabolic factors that support proper recovery.
~ Jeff
Switching grips is KEY to understanding how to bench correctly, Zach. Obviously a different grip will work better for everyone, and that’s why Jeff asked you to try out multiple grips. he assumes people are smart enough to use his advice to figure out their benching style that works best for them.
I think this is the first time I’ve heard this advice.FROM ne guru. I haven’t even heard this from vince in the MYM program. sounds good. I just know i have underdevelopment in my right pec.but my right arm is stronger.I know they all say discontinue with barbell presses.but ive been noticing lately my chest getting more developed using barbell presses vs dumbell presses. lately my chest has been filling in.still a few inches off.and i need more inner chest development.maybe this grip cycling thing will help.
Everything works from time to time.Diet is the key factor to a great body after you get the lifting part down to a religion.Do to my back injury I gained weiht,because I stop lifting,but the muscel is still their.The surgeon who cut me open,told me she never seen so many muscels in a back before,and that counts for all the football players she does for a local college.She said she couldn’t cut through them without giving me a muscel relaxer shot for every inch she cut.I was stoned for 3 day afterwards.So that tells me Iam riped under the fat.Thanks for all the good tips jeff
i think that’s a very brilliant idea….i will try it….thanx jeff
your idea looks gud.,and i’ve tried it before..the problem is,the risk for injury increases with weight(wide grips)..
the i started doing push-ups with weights on me…i can feel the difference and less chance of injury…
Oh, superb write-up! I have no clue how you were able to write this report..it’d take me weeks. Well worth it though, I’d suspect. Have you considered selling advertising space on your blog?