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Hey guys, Sean Nalewanyj here of BodyTransformationTruth.com, and in this video I’m going to outline a
highly effective sequence of 3 individual chest exercises that I personally recommend
in order to maximize your overall gains in chest mass. And rather than just blindly telling
you to “do these specific exercises for this many sets and this many reps”, I’m
also going to give you some concrete reasons for why each exercise has been included and
why I recommend performing it in place of some of the other possible alternatives. These
lifts should be executed in the exact order that I outline them in and it's going to give
you a complete, well-rounded chest workout for consistent gains in size and strength.
Now do keep in mind here that there are pretty much a million ways that you could effectively
train your chest, and I’m definitely not claiming that this is the be-all-end-all by
any means. Any set of exercises that allows you to place your pecs under tension as well
as consistently add weight over time will result in significant gains in muscle size
and strength. However, this is a specific sequence that I believe will be particularly
effective for most people for all of the reasons that I’m about to explain. So chest exercise
#1 is a flat or decline dumbbell press. In my view, these are the two very best chest
exercises to select from because they utilize the best chest training tool available (which
are dumbbells) and at the optimal angle (which is flat or decline). Either variation is going
to be fine here, and I recommend that you just select the one that you most prefer and
then you use that as the primary exercise in your chest training routine. So, what makes
the flat or the decline dumbbell press the best choice available here? Well let’s cover
the two main issues. First off, why a dumbbell press rather than a barbell press? Well, I’ve
talked in detail about the barbell press vs. the dumbbell press when it comes to build
chest size in previous videos, but I will quickly summarize the main points here. First
off, the primary function of the pecs is horizontal adduction of the humerus (which means to bring
your upper arm across the front of your body), and dumbbell presses allow for a superior
range of motion throughout this specific function since your hands can actually be brought together
rather than being locked onto a fixed bar. Secondly, dumbbell presses force each arm
to move independently of eachother, which prevents strength imbalances and gives you
consistent development across both sides of your chest. And thirdly, dumbbell presses
reduce the chances of shoulder injuries since you can position your hands in the way that's
most comfortable for you and because you can press your arms in a more natural arching
motion. And secondly, why the flat or decline angle? Well, the pec muscle is comprised of
two main portions. You have the upper clavicular fibers (or the “upper chest”) and the
lower sternocostal fibers. Some upper chest training is definitely important (and we will
cover that in the second exercise), but it’s actually the lower fibers that make up the
vast majority of the pec muscle. And for that reason, you’ll want to specifically target
these fibers when your strength and your energy levels are at their peak, and a flat or decline
angle places your body into the proper position for this. So, to start off your workout, perform
3-4 sets of a flat or decline dumbbell press for 5 to 7 reps per set. Chest exercise #2
is an incline dumbbell press at about a 30 degree angle. As I just mentioned, targeting
the upper clavicular fibers is still important in order to allow for complete chest development
from top to bottom, and an incline dumbbell press is going to be the best way for you
to accomplish this. You’ll be using dumbbells here for the same set of reasons that we just
talked about, and you’ll be using a 30 degree incline because this positions your body at
the proper angle to allow for direct stimulation of the upper chest. So next up, perform 3-4
sets of an incline dumbbell press for 5 to 7 reps per set. And chest exercise #3 is a
cable flye performed at a high-to-low angle. Flyes isolate your chest at a slightly different
angle than presses do and they're a great way for you to round out your chest workout
to get complete pec development. There are a ton of different flye exercises that you
could choose from here, such as dumbbell flyes, cable flyes, machine flyes etcetera, but as
I've discussed before in previous videos, cable flyes are definitely going to be the
superior choice. So first off, why use cables rather than dumbbells? Well, because of the
direction that gravity is pulling the weights (which will be straight up and down) as well
as the path that the weights are travelling in, dumbbells only provide a high degree of
tension on your pecs in the very bottom half of the range of motion. As you press the weights
up and go past halfway, the tension gradually decreases on the pecs, and at the very top
of the movement there is very little to no stress on the pecs at all. So cable flyes
solve this by pulling the resistance out to the sides rather than straight up and down.
And as a result of this, you’re going to be placing your pecs under significant tension
both at the very bottom of the movement all the way up into the fully contracted position.
And secondly, why the high-to-low angle? Well, setting the cables high up on the stand and
pressing them downward, that's going to place the resistance directly in line with the lower
sternocostal fibers of the pecs where the bulk of your chest mass is located. And since
the upper chest does make up such a small portion of your overall pecs, there’s no
need for you to directly train it any further using a flye movement if you’re already
performing incline dumbbell presses as part of the workout. So in order to finish off
your chest routine, perform 3-4 sets of cable flyes at a high to low angle for 8 to 10 reps
per set. Now there are three main questions that I usually receive in response to these
recommendations, so I'm going to quickly cover them before I close this video out. The first
question is, “why are there no barbell presses included?”. There is definitely nothing
at all wrong with a barbell press, and it certainly is an effective chest exercise for
building size and strength. However, as I've previously outlined, the reality is that there
is no necessity for a barbell press in a routine that is designed for muscle hypertrophy, because
it really doesn’t offer you any advantage over a dumbbell press, but yet it does pose
several disadvantages as we outlined previously. Secondly, “why are there no wide-grip dips
included?” Well, contrary to traditional bodybuilding advice, if you actually examine
the exact mechanics behind a wide-grip dip you’ll see that it actually isn’t a great
movement when it comes to maximizing your chest development. Dips primarily involve
flexion of the shoulder and extension of the elbow rather than adduction of the humerus,
and this means that they mostly hit your anterior delt, so the front of your shoulder, along
with your triceps rather than your pecs. They also place your shoulder joints into an awkward
position and they're easily the most dangerous pressing exercise you can perform at the gym.
And thirdly, “what about targeting the inner or the outer chest?” Well, there are no
exercises in this sequence specifically for that purpose because it’s simply not possible
for you to target the inner or the outer portion of the chest over any other portion of that
muscle. You can target the upper or the lower chest because you’re dealing with two different
sets of fibers, but you can’t target the inner or the outer chest because when one
portion of the same set of fibers fire, the entire set of fibers are going to fire with
it. So, that’s all there is to it. 3-4 Sets of 5-7 reps on the flat or decline dumbbell
press, 3-4 Sets of 5-7 reps on the incline dumbbell press, and 3-4 Sets of 8-10 reps
on cable flyes at a high-to-low angle. Again, there are an endless number of different possible
ways that you could train your chest in order to build size and strength, but this particular
routine utilizes the most effective chest training tools available and at the proper
angles to allow for effective, balanced stimulation of the chest, and in a safe and sustainable
way. So thanks for watching this video. I hope you found the information useful here
today. If you did enjoy the video, as always, please make sure to hit the LIKE button, leave
a comment and subscribe to stay up-to-date on future videos. Also make sure to check
out my complete step-by-step muscle building and fat loss programs over at BodyTransformationTruth.com
by clicking the icon at the top of the video or using the link in the description box below.
And make sure to check out my official blog over at SeanNal.com for all of my latest articles,
tips and other updates. Talk to you again soon.