Crossover Pencil Grip

Everyone wants a huge chest, simply. It is too common to see inexperienced lifters slaving away on endless sets of bench presses and cable links in search of full, thick pecs. The reality is that there is nothing complicated about building an impressive chest. The bottom line for huge chest gains is consistency, effort and steady progression in weight and repetitions.

The breast is composed of two main components, the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. To stimulate the chest using weights you use one of two motions: a press or a flye. If you want the most for your money on your chest exercises, the real gains lie in your pressing movements. Flyes can have their place from time to time, but nothing can compare to the overall effect of anabolic intensive pressing movements. I speak of the base, lifts the bread and butter as heavy barbell presses, dumbbell presses and dips traction. Save the pec-deck and cable crossings for pencil neck geeks on the treadmill; real men train with real lifts.

As I said before, building a thick and well developed chest is fairly simple. There are no secrets, magic formulas or killer techniques that "shock" of the chest by a massive increase. Stick to your basic presses, focus on overload and progression, and I promise you that you will see impressive progress. Here are the most effective lifts for packing muscle on the chest:

Flat / Incline / decline bench press Barbell:

A press bar is standard meat and potatoes of any effective chest routine. This basic compound movement will allow you to manage the most weight through the given range of motion. The press will move more slope of the stress to the upper region of the chest while the decline does the opposite, targeting the lower / outer region. The flat bench press works the upper and lower regions too. I highly recommend a standard bar press as basic component of your routine chest.

Flat / Incline / decline dumbbell press:

Dumbbell presses are another basic and very effective in stimulating breast development movement. The main advantage they have over the bar, is that they allow you to move in a more natural range of motion, helping to prevent shoulder injuries. They also prevent strength imbalances from occurring since one arm can not cheat the other. The only drawback is that you are not able to handle much weight. In general, a standard dumbbell press is a formidable movement that allows large trunk stimulation.

Wide-Grip Dips:

An extraordinary movement for the chest that is often overlooked. Make sure to use a wider grip and lean forward to move the stress on the triceps pectorals. If pressing your own weight is not enough then you can always add weight using a weight belt. Dips are an excellent compound movement for overall chest development.

Here are some sample routines chest

1) Flat Barbell Bench Press: 2 x 5-7 Dumbbell incline press: 2 x 5-7 Wide-Grip Dips: 2 x 5-7

2) Barbell Incline Bench Press: 2 x 5-7 Wide-Grip Dips: 2 x 5-7 Flat Dumbbell Press: 2 x 5-7

All games should stay in the 5-7 rep range and should be taken to complete muscular failure. Record details of each workout you perform and focus on progress in weight or representatives from week to week. There is nothing more complicated than that. Good luck!