This Workout Uses The '5/20' Method for Bigger Chest and Arm Gains
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There’s a reason the debate between light-weights-and-high-reps versus heavy-weights-with-low-reps has raged on for so long: it's because they both work.
In fact, picking a side in the war of weights may just be costing you your beloved gains. A healthy spread of rep targets, and using exercises that complement those ranges could be your ticket to playing both sides (and reaping the benefits).
The ‘5/20’ principle, detailed below, starts hard and heavy but shifts gears, to move you up in reps until you reach a fiery, 20-rep crescendo. This workout targets your pecs, hitting them from all angles, ensuring maximum growth, in minimum time.
For the chest pump of the century, work your way through five rounds of the following circuit. Leave no rest between each movement, but rest for two to three minutes between each round, allowing yourself to fully recover, ready to bulldoze the next circuit.
1. INCLINE DUMBBELL BENCH PRESS x 5
Lay on a bench set at a 45-degree angle, holding two dumbbells above your head (A), slowly lower both bells over 4 seconds, keeping your elbows at a slight angle to your torso, until both dumbbells touch your chest (A) explosively press the bells back to full lockout and repeat.
2. DUMBBELL FLOOR PRESS x 10
After your final incline press, jump off of the bench and lay flat on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the ground, still holding your dumbbells. Press the weights above your chest, locking out your elbows
(A). Lower them slowly until your upper arms are resting on the floor
(B) pause here before explosively pressing back up
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3. DIPS x 15
Jump up on two parallel bars with your palms facing inward and your arms straight (A). Use two boxes or the backs of two sturdy chairs if you’re at home. Lean forward and slowly lower your body over 3 seconds until you feel a deep stretch in your chest.(B). Drive yourself back up to the top and repeat.
4. PUSH-UP ON DUMBBELLS x 20
With dips despatched, drop into a plank position, with your core tight and hands on your dumbbells (A), bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor (B). Keep your elbows close to your body as you push back up explosively.
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5 Must-Do Exercises to Build a Big Barrel Chest
For many lifters, chest day is a Monday ritual. For others, creating the perfect upper-body blend of strength, hypertrophy, mobility, and pec definition can be classified as an art form.
Which of the wide range of chest exercises work the absolute best? Usually, when we think of heavy chest workouts, most peoples' minds automatically turn to the bench press. But there are a host of heavy-hitting options besides this old-school classic—most of which fall into a pair of categories, presses and flys—that will allow your to hit all the right angles and give you a solid chest contraction and pec squeeze.
Here, Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. and celebrity trainer and MH Advisory Board member Don Saladino break down their top five must-do moves that you should include in your chest training.
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The 5 Must-Do Chest Building Exercises Machine Press
Once thought of as a training day last resort or afterthought, chest machines have improved drastically over the years (one in particular being the Hammer Strength incline press machine). Samuel and Saladino say that machine presses now provide plenty of pectoral punch to include them in your chest training, especially if the rest of your training is focused on free weights and 'functional' movements.
What makes machine presses beneficial? One reason, according to Saladino, is that the machine’s fixed motion allows you to push a heavier load past your normal limit in a more stable environment, creating a safer exercise during those fatigue-plagued supersets. Machines also make for a better and safer option to incorporate rest-pause sets.
Alternating Incline Dumbbell Press
Sometimes this exercise might feel too easy during the first few reps that you forget how effective it can be—until you build up the time under tension to create a fantastic chest challenge. Unlike the traditional incline dumbbell press, in which both arms move simultaneously, this variation's staggered movement allows you to double the time under tension each set. If building muscle is your goal, that’s a good thing.
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Cable Fly
There's really no right or wrong way to do this exercise—high cable, low cable, medium height—each cable fly variation targets a whole set of different muscle fibers. Pro tip from Samuel: Look down at your chest to watch the squeeze.
This isolation movement allows you to maintain constant tension throughout the entire range of motion. Cables are also a more joint-friendly alternative to traditional dumbbell flys, which can be tough on your shoulders.
Pushup
The most basic and universal exercise for your chest is quite possibly the move most often performed incorrectly.
Think of pushups as a moving plank—you want your glutes tight, lats activated while you externally rotate your hands to create as much tension throughout your body as possible. One rep should look like one fluid pressing move. After you've done one perfect rep, make sure you don't flag and drop your hips.
Dumbbell Bench Press
The most effective of all exercises, according to Samuel and Saladino , remains this basic chest classic. What makes the dumbbell press more effective for most general exercisers than the barbell variation is that you're able to focus on the unique aspects of your anatomy, which makes it a safer option to push heavier weight without compromising your shoulder safety. You also don't have to worry about the fixed position of your hands, and since your goal is building muscle, not pressing weight, you can more safely fail on a rep without a spotter.
However, according to Saladino, keep your feet flat on the floor when doing these if you're ultimate goal is building chest muscle. Even though you may think you’re activating your core, you’re instead creating instability that will only hurt your goals.
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2 workouts to grow big chest muscles in under 10 minutes with no equipment
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It's beach body season, finally! But don't let the body you worked hard on last year by not getting a good pump before you head down to the seaside – these three chest workouts will un-flatten your pecs and pump up your arms and shoulders in under 10 minutes so you can look as good as you're supposed to without your shirt on.
What's a pump, you might ask? Pump is when your muscles swell up due to blood rushing into them which makes them look bigger. This is the sort-of look bodybuilders have after a workout – and you can look the same by activating the muscles right before you take your top off.
Quick workouts such as the ones below will get you pumped in no time; better still, they use no equipment so you can do them in your hotel room or right down on the beach, which will make you look good for more than one reason. After all, people who exercise are generally more appealing than those who don't, so if you work out on the beach, you'll show everyone you're a workout-type of person.
10-min chest workout (no equipment) by velikaans
This is an excellent workout to get your pecs pumping! Velikaans' workout uses 6-rep sets – after six repetitions, you take a 15-second break before you move on to the next exercise/set.
As the uploader says, "You can do it every day or 3 days a week. Just 10 minutes a day is enough. DO NOT BE AVERAGE! - BE THE BEST VERSION OF YOURSELF!" Sounds encouraging if you ask me!
Here is the breakdown of the workout:
10-minute follow-along home chest pump workout by Abnormal Beings
It should come as no surprise that the second workout also incorporates many different versions of push-ups – it's the best bodyweight workout to get an upper-body pump without any home gym equipment.
The reason why this video was chosen is because Abnormal Beings explains all the exercises carefully and offers a less demanding option when available. Can't do standard push-ups? It'll be easier if you drop down your knees. You can always train your core and start doing full push-ups when your abdominal area is strong enough.