Exercises for the Chest.

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 5/09/2003 7:26pm

"Maybe I should start doing pushups. Is a wide base best for the chest?"

yes the wide stance is working for me....
I have problems working my chest but it has generally gotten better with the wide stance pushups.....

--
Hard work, Patience, Dedication.
(And my two creaky knees...)

**Rashomon** · Posted On: 5/09/2003 7:30pm

Hmmm... Thanks for the tip, Hapk03. I'll try that.

Do you have any tips for building tricep muscle? I tried the standing raises (over and behind your head), but I don't think I was doing them right. I often felt it more in my shoulder than my triceps. Then, I discovered the bench dips and started doing those. Those worked GREAT... for awhile. Now, I'm doing like 20-30 reps on my 4th set, which I think is too much. Great for endurance, but not mass. My workout partner recommended using a bar, instead of dumbells, for the raises. He said that would isolate the triceps better. What do you think?

**HAPKO3** · Posted On: 5/09/2003 7:40pm

Well, I'm not exactly an expert on building muscle, but here's what I know.

The absolute best way to put on muscle mass is by doing complex excersises, that is excersises that work a whole bunch of muscles at the same time.

There's a lot of professional bodybuilders that will tell you to forget everything else, and do just dead-lifts, squats, and bench press to put on weight. Things like curls, butterflies, etc are good for tone.

One thing that worked pretty well for my triceps is close-grip bench press. Grip the bar at about shoulder-width and keep your elbows next to your sides when you lower and raise it.

**Dochter** · Posted On: 5/09/2003 8:08pm

Incline and flat bench press, I prefer barbell flat and dumbell inclines.

One thing to consider is that flys are probably one of the better exercises for building chest muscle, however, they just build big rather ineffective muscles. Usable muscle will come from press type exercises

**Get in my belly!**

**Dochter** · Posted On: 5/09/2003 8:11pm

te he he,
just realized Hapko said that too.

Hapko close grip is the single best exercise for your tri's, if you're looking to improve them strictly for your bench max. Otherwise other exercises might be better.

**Get in my belly!**

**Stold3** · Posted On: 5/10/2003 9:12am

I just do the dumbell press...Or whatever it's called. Bench press but with dumbells...Stabilizers wheee.

**Kensai** · Posted On: 5/10/2003 9:53am

Thanks people.

PizDoff, why should I automatically know whats a good chest exercise?

&lt;sarcasm&gt;We cant all know EVERYTHING like you&lt;/sarcasm&gt;

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 5/10/2003 10:24am

http://naturalweightlifting.com/Free%20Trial/chest.htm says
"Every set you do is to failure, that is until you cannot do another rep, and even then you try to squeeze out 2 more. Many weight lifters will do 5 or so reps and stop, even though they probably could do 5 more. This just does not make any sense. The whole point of weight lifting exercise is to fatigue your muscles as much as possible so you get max muscle growth. So when you feel that burning pain during your sets just block it out and squeeze out a few more, with good form and concentration of course."

and for triceps I like dips (can do 'em anywhere there's a ledge or a chair) and kickbacks.

http://www.geocities.com/trulygenuine21/training/triceps has this info:
Dumbbell Kickback

1. Kneel over bench with your left arm supporting body.

2. Grasp dumbbell with your right hand.

3. Position right upper arm parallel to floor.

4. Extend arm until it is straight. Return and repeat.

5. Continue with opposite arm.
I try to look at my little finger at the top of the lift - arm above hip and extended upward, more than flat to the ground, and also watch the mirror. Not too many people do the kickbacks - they aren't as much fun I guess as pull downs.

"Only IDIOTS think kata is useless because they don't know what they are talking about!!!" 5/6/03 by the the man himself, Asia

**FingerorMoon?** · Posted On: 5/11/2003 6:07pm

Why do you want your chest to get bigger?
Are your back and shoulders massive and your chest out of proportion ?

Concentrate on compound exercises.

Pat - going to total failure and fatigue is fine and does work, but that method is assuming that weight lifting is your primary goal.

Its no good if the method works but leaves you too sore or fatigued to train at martial arts.

--------
El Guapo says, ""You can buy muscles, but you can't buy COJONES!"
--------

**patfromlogan** · Posted On: 5/11/2003 6:53pm

Why do you want your chest to get bigger?
Strength, ego, girls, and it will look good with a gold chain.

"Only IDIOTS think kata is useless because they don't know what they are talking about!!!" 5/6/03 by the the man himself, Asia