Pecs of Power
Written by: Markus Ruhl
Originally featured in:
Flex January, 2000
INCLINE
BARBELL PRESSES
Why? For complete
mass across the entire upper body, the incline barbell press is
indispensable. Pressing through an elevated angle not only raises the
fullness of your pecs higher on your chest, but it also works the front
delts in direct proportion. In fact, there's no other way to build size
and separation all the way across the shoulders and upper chest, and no
better way to add width to the shoulder girdle. This has been a specific
goal of mine, and in that effort I've relied heavily on this exercise,
specifically with a free-weight barbell.
When? The incline
barbell press is a compound movement, which means it involves several
muscles working together, so it should be first in your chest workout,
or second behind the flat barbell press. It should be performed while
your strength capacity is high.
How? The front delts
are directly employed in the incline barbell press movement, so I make
sure I get a thorough warm-up, starting with a set of about 30 reps. If
I use this exercise first in my workout, I pyramid through 10 or 12
sets, finishing with three or four reps, plus a couple of forced reps.
If I start with the flat bench press and this is my second exercise,
then I do six to eight sets for six to eight reps each.
I've found that the tighter I grip the bar and the more I tense my
entire body, the lighter the barbell feels. By concentrating especially
on my hips, back and shoulders, I have much more stability and control.
As I lower the weight, I think of myself as a spring being compressed,
so that, at the bottom, I've built up maximum potential energy, or
strength. My press to the top then explodes with everything I have.
Sets: 6-8; Reps: 6-8.
CABLE
CROSSOVERS
Why? You can be the
biggest bodybuilder on earth, but without definition within muscle
groups, you will only appear massive, not muscular. Cable crossovers can
help solve this problem. As the ultimate isolation exercise, it allows
you to specifically target individual pec areas in more detail than the
pec deck. Different angles and varied ranges of motion can be
used.
When? Use it as the
final exercise in your workout, either following or as an alternate to
the pec-deck. Its advantage is that it can be included without danger of
overtraining: Regardless of how hard and long your workout was, you can
always add cable crossovers for an extra burn at the end.
How? Performance is
similar to pec-deck flyes. I bend my elbows slightly, so that I have
more power to "hug" the cables. During the extension, I can stretch my
arms even farther behind me than with the pec-deck.
The angle of the crossover can be varied, depending upon what area of
the chest you want to work. Experiment and you'll be able to feel the
differences. The farther you cross the cables, the greater peak
contraction you will achieve.
I use this exercise to fill my pecs with as much blood as possible, so
I do six to eight sets, the first for 20 reps to get a maximum pump,
then pyramiding to failure at six reps on the last set.
Sets: 6-8; Reps: 20-6.
Pec-Deck
Flyes
Why? Free-weight
dumbbell flyes contribute significantly to chest mass because they place
more stress on your pec-delt tie-ins than standard presses. If you hope
to increase your poundages, you need as much tendon and ligament
strength in that area as possible. Ironically, if you do too many
pressing exercises first, those tie-ins will be so fatigued that you
won't receive maximum benefit from flyes.
That's when it's time for the pec deck. It relieves you of the
necessity to stabilize dumbbells, but still enables you to place
effective stress on your pec-delt tie-ins when your arms are fully
stretched backward. The pec deck also allows you to maintain consistent
power throughout the range of motion and get a superior peak
contraction.
When? Because the
pec-deck's major benefits are to provide a detail exercise for the
pec-delt tie-ins and maximize a pump, it is best used as the final
exercise.
How? To build mass,
bend your arms slightly so that you are performing more of a hugging
movement than a pulling motion. This transfers the stress from the
pec-delt tie-ins to your pecs. It's difficult to cheat with this
exercise, so I squeeze the handles together with all the force I can
muster, then get a peak contraction in my pecs and resist during the
extension.
Even though this is a pump exercise, I pyramid the weight through six
to eight sets, starting with 20 reps and maxing out at six reps for the
last set.
Sets: 6-8; Reps: 6-8