Top six growth tips for chest

1. Always use a full range of motion

Don’t get into the habit of only lowering the weight halfway down, which is what many unconsciously do in order to handle more resistance. All muscles fare better when they are trained through their complete range of motion, all the way down and up. The only exception to this may be when you have already reached failure and wish to extend the set with one or two partial-range reps.

2. Avoid maxing out

Your max bench press may have been considered a barometer of your budding manhood back in adolescence, but some things are better left in the past. Using so much weight that you can only lift it once does absolutely nothing to improve the size and shape of your pecs. Worse, a one-rep max exposes you to a high risk of injury to either the delicate rotator cuff structure or the tendons that connect the pecs to their insertion points above the armpits. Keep your sets in the 8-10 rep range for best growth results and safety.

3. Stretch and flex the chest between sets

You can not only increase your range of motion and flexibility by stretching the chest between sets, but many believe that the combination of stretching and flexing actually improves the overall look of the muscle. Muscle separations and striations often become more evident, which look ten times better when you lean out and get a tan for summer.

4. Suppress your stupid ego

In an effort to use more weight, many lifters employ horrendous cheating form and ultimately use a host of other muscles to help. Rarely are they able to feel their pecs working as they do their set, and the results are typically almost nonexistent. Little do these misguided studs know that the key to making mass gains again would be to simply lighten up the weight.  

5. Always warm up thoroughly

Chest training isn’t as dangerous as running the bulls at Pamplona, but shoulder injuries and torn pectoral muscles are not unheard of. You can drastically reduce your risk of suffering such a debilitating situation by taking the time to gradually introduce heavier loads to your muscles and connective tissues. Always do 5-7 minutes of light cardio before starting on the weights to raise your body temperature, then do at least two warm-up sets before attempting heavy weights. These sets should start out with 12-15 reps, then can go down to just 4-6 as the weight gets closer to what you will start with. Never be afraid to spend a couple minutes on another preparatory set if you don’t quite feel ready to rock just yet.

6. the weight yourself

What good does it do you to use 350 pounds in the bench press if your spotter is lifting 100 pounds of it for you? Choose a weight that allows you to complete at least eight reps by yourself and use forced reps only sparingly. Growing dependent on someone else to help you lift the weight robs you of significant results and only marks you as an egomaniac who refuses to accept his own limitations.