Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That’s how it should be – as you progress through the various stages of learning you’ll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.
Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we’ll look at the chest exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.
1. Dumbbell flyes – this exercise provides a useful means of isolating the pectorals and preserving the triceps for the subsequent exercise. The exercise should be performed as follows:
- Hold dumbbells directly overhead.
- Lower them to sides with elbows slightly bent, pulled back and to the side. Lower no further than level with the torso.
- Use the pectorals to pull the weights back up to the starting position.
2. Incline bench press – you can move straight on to this exercise if you have reached an appropriate level of experience. If you perform this exercise as the second part of a pre-exhaust routine you may have to use lighter weights than normally.
- Take a shoulder width grip.
- Lower the bar to the chest with the elbows pointed to the side.
- Return to the starting position.
Showing posts with label pectorals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pectorals. Show all posts
Increase Your Training Intensity Pre Exhaustion
You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth.
In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we’ll focus on the role that pre-exhaustion has to play in intensifying the training effect.
When an exercise employs two or more muscles it will be impossible to achieve failure for the primary muscle as the weakest muscle will give out first. This is perhaps best explained by giving an example. When targeting the chest, most exercises involve use of the triceps which is a relatively small and weak muscle. When performing the incline bench press for example, the triceps will fail before the pectorals have the opportunity to work to failure thus limiting the value of the exercise.
How do you get around this? By first performing an exercise that isolates and tires the pectorals before immediately moving on to the main exercise. For maximum benefits there should be no rest between the pre-exhaust exercise and the main compound exercise.
Beginners don’t need to worry about pre-exhaust routines but when they advance to intermediate level they can be introduced once a week for each body part.
Examples of pre-exhaust routines commonly performed by bodybuilders are listed below:
Biceps – barbell curls and close-grip, palms-up pulldowns.
Triceps – pressdowns and dips.
Pectorals – flyes and bench presses.
Lats – dumbbell pullovers and barbell rows.
Deltoids – dumbbell laterals and presses behind neck.
Traps – shrugs and upright rows.
Thighs – leg extensions and squats.
In an earlier article I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we’ll focus on the role that pre-exhaustion has to play in intensifying the training effect.
When an exercise employs two or more muscles it will be impossible to achieve failure for the primary muscle as the weakest muscle will give out first. This is perhaps best explained by giving an example. When targeting the chest, most exercises involve use of the triceps which is a relatively small and weak muscle. When performing the incline bench press for example, the triceps will fail before the pectorals have the opportunity to work to failure thus limiting the value of the exercise.
How do you get around this? By first performing an exercise that isolates and tires the pectorals before immediately moving on to the main exercise. For maximum benefits there should be no rest between the pre-exhaust exercise and the main compound exercise.
Beginners don’t need to worry about pre-exhaust routines but when they advance to intermediate level they can be introduced once a week for each body part.
Examples of pre-exhaust routines commonly performed by bodybuilders are listed below:
Biceps – barbell curls and close-grip, palms-up pulldowns.
Triceps – pressdowns and dips.
Pectorals – flyes and bench presses.
Lats – dumbbell pullovers and barbell rows.
Deltoids – dumbbell laterals and presses behind neck.
Traps – shrugs and upright rows.
Thighs – leg extensions and squats.
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