06-23-2003, 11:15 AM
Yea, I've been lifting for the last 5-7 years, and had free range in gyms the past 3.
For your Chest, there are a few Excercises that work well.
Benching (obviously). There are 3 forms though. Incline, Decline and straight back. Incline is with head above the feet, it works the upper pecks, the Decline is with the head below the legs, it works the lower pecks, and stright works the center area. They are all EQUALLY important. I can't stress that enough. Second, weight isn't everything. It's a factor, but then so is repitition. I reccomend a Burn out once a week. A Burnout is where you take a smaller weight, and you pump it as much as possible. As for regular sets. I reccomend you choose a base weight that you can bench AT LEAST 10 times. Lifting 185 lbs once isn't impressive. When I was in my best shape, I would only do 2 sets of 10, and I would do 155 lbs on a regular basis (45+10 on both sides).
There are a few other excercises. Military presses. You take two dumbells. The prone position has your upper arms straight out left and right, the lower arms are resting on your biceps with the weights above you, you then proceed to lift the dumbells up until your arms are straight and the weights touch. This will work your shoulders and upper pecks. You can perform this sitting or standing, but if you don't have a support, do this standing. You can perform this excercise in any incline, but it will start working the same muscles as a bench press as you get in lower inclines.
Butterflies. You lay down on the bench. With the dumbells above you, lower the weights down in an arc until your arms are straight left and right. Be sure your elboys bend (you don't want them to brek). When I do this, I tend to go as low as I can until I feel the stress on the peck right by the shoulders. This works the outside of the peck, and the muscles underneath your arms.
Front and Lateral Raises. You stand straight up (I reccomend finding a building support or wall and leaning against that with your feet against the wall) lift the dumbells straight forward with your arms straight (elbows bent slightly of course, but not too much). Those are the Front raises. The Lateral raises are the same except you lift to the side. For these raises, you will want to stop when you're arms are parallel to the ground.
the raises work your shoulders more than your Chest (but you want large Shoulders with a big chest). A note on lifting weight. DO NOT EXCEED A SENSIBLE WEIGHT. I've seen all too many people work out with bad form because they try to lift too much (or possibly the other way around). To put it sensibly, you get more out of a work out with good form than with bad because A) Good Form will work the designated muscles correctly B) will stave off injury. As for sensible (and ultimately appropriate) weights, start SMALL. Do not enter an excercise and start with 40 lbs. Even if you THINK you can do it, start off small. So what if you do one set with only 15 lbs, at least you know you can do the excercise with that weight, and just increase the amount of reps in that set. The best weight to work with is the weight that makes you tired after 10 SUCCESSFUL reps. Not almost reps or 8-9, but 10. I say this because lifting 100 lbs once doesn't work you out (it strains and hurts you). And ultimately, when working out, no other part of your body should move beyond the ones I tell you. Your back should almost NEVER move when doing anything beyond back excercises. Any sort of press pull down pull up, etc requires a straight and stiff back. Do not be spastic when excercising. If you have to make a spastic move to lift something beyond an initial lift (to get the dumbell in place and even then you shouldn't strain your self to do so), then the weight you are using is too heavy. Don't have an inflated ego when lifting. There is always someone bigger and stronger than you, so don't try to act like hot shit.
That's my spiel. It doesn't matter if you think working the wrong way works for you, it's bad in a long run. use your head when lifting.
For your Chest, there are a few Excercises that work well.
Benching (obviously). There are 3 forms though. Incline, Decline and straight back. Incline is with head above the feet, it works the upper pecks, the Decline is with the head below the legs, it works the lower pecks, and stright works the center area. They are all EQUALLY important. I can't stress that enough. Second, weight isn't everything. It's a factor, but then so is repitition. I reccomend a Burn out once a week. A Burnout is where you take a smaller weight, and you pump it as much as possible. As for regular sets. I reccomend you choose a base weight that you can bench AT LEAST 10 times. Lifting 185 lbs once isn't impressive. When I was in my best shape, I would only do 2 sets of 10, and I would do 155 lbs on a regular basis (45+10 on both sides).
There are a few other excercises. Military presses. You take two dumbells. The prone position has your upper arms straight out left and right, the lower arms are resting on your biceps with the weights above you, you then proceed to lift the dumbells up until your arms are straight and the weights touch. This will work your shoulders and upper pecks. You can perform this sitting or standing, but if you don't have a support, do this standing. You can perform this excercise in any incline, but it will start working the same muscles as a bench press as you get in lower inclines.
Butterflies. You lay down on the bench. With the dumbells above you, lower the weights down in an arc until your arms are straight left and right. Be sure your elboys bend (you don't want them to brek). When I do this, I tend to go as low as I can until I feel the stress on the peck right by the shoulders. This works the outside of the peck, and the muscles underneath your arms.
Front and Lateral Raises. You stand straight up (I reccomend finding a building support or wall and leaning against that with your feet against the wall) lift the dumbells straight forward with your arms straight (elbows bent slightly of course, but not too much). Those are the Front raises. The Lateral raises are the same except you lift to the side. For these raises, you will want to stop when you're arms are parallel to the ground.
the raises work your shoulders more than your Chest (but you want large Shoulders with a big chest). A note on lifting weight. DO NOT EXCEED A SENSIBLE WEIGHT. I've seen all too many people work out with bad form because they try to lift too much (or possibly the other way around). To put it sensibly, you get more out of a work out with good form than with bad because A) Good Form will work the designated muscles correctly B) will stave off injury. As for sensible (and ultimately appropriate) weights, start SMALL. Do not enter an excercise and start with 40 lbs. Even if you THINK you can do it, start off small. So what if you do one set with only 15 lbs, at least you know you can do the excercise with that weight, and just increase the amount of reps in that set. The best weight to work with is the weight that makes you tired after 10 SUCCESSFUL reps. Not almost reps or 8-9, but 10. I say this because lifting 100 lbs once doesn't work you out (it strains and hurts you). And ultimately, when working out, no other part of your body should move beyond the ones I tell you. Your back should almost NEVER move when doing anything beyond back excercises. Any sort of press pull down pull up, etc requires a straight and stiff back. Do not be spastic when excercising. If you have to make a spastic move to lift something beyond an initial lift (to get the dumbell in place and even then you shouldn't strain your self to do so), then the weight you are using is too heavy. Don't have an inflated ego when lifting. There is always someone bigger and stronger than you, so don't try to act like hot shit.
That's my spiel. It doesn't matter if you think working the wrong way works for you, it's bad in a long run. use your head when lifting.