Increasing chest size

"Bully" wrote in message

> Stephan Carydakis wrote:
> > Mornin',
> >
> > I think I'm lacking in my chest and want to make it bigger. I've done
> > some research and have decided to try a 5x5 program. Anyone use/d
> > this with success?
> >
> > Steph.
>
> Yup, me! However, prior to this I also wanted to build my chest and found
> that incline d/bell presses made a noticeable difference!
>

So you added db incline press to existing split or did you substitute?

I tried the 5x5 at gym today. I did flat bench, incline press, and cable
flyes. The program I found suggested 4 exercises but I find this takes too
long especially if you are resting 3 minutes between sets. It still took me
around an hour. Then I had abs and leg pres left so I was in there for over
1.5 hours. Right on th edge for me.

Steph.

> --
> Bully
> Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk
>
> "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
> matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Stephan Carydakis wrote:
> "Bully" wrote in message
>
>> Stephan Carydakis wrote:
>>> Mornin',
>>>
>>> I think I'm lacking in my chest and want to make it bigger. I've
>>> done some research and have decided to try a 5x5 program. Anyone
>>> use/d this with success?
>>>
>>> Steph.
>>
>> Yup, me! However, prior to this I also wanted to build my chest and
>> found that incline d/bell presses made a noticeable difference!
>>
>
> So you added db incline press to existing split or did you substitute?

Added them, after flat bench, before dips. Three sets of 10.

>
> I tried the 5x5 at gym today. I did flat bench, incline press, and
> cable flyes. The program I found suggested 4 exercises but I find
> this takes too long especially if you are resting 3 minutes between
> sets. It still took me around an hour. Then I had abs and leg pres
> left so I was in there for over
> 1.5 hours. Right on th edge for me.
>
> Steph.
>
>> --
>> Bully
>> Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk
>>
>> "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
>> matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss



--
Bully
Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

On Tue, 5 Dec 2006, Andrzej Rosa wrote:

> Dnia 2006-12-05 Pete napisa?(a):
>> "Stephan Carydakis" schreef:
>>
>>> I thought that cable flyes would give me a 'wider' looking
>>> chest.
>>
>> Personally, i think both are wrong. They *can* be good exercises,. but not
>> for the reasons usually given.
>
> I thought the same.
>
> http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1327855

Wow. First time i've seen SimCity used as a rhetorical tool.

tom

--
the logical extension of a zero-infinity nightmare topology
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
>
> "Bully" wrote in message
>
>> >>>> If I do dips, I can add weight
>> >>>> and stick to my 5x5 trial yes?
>> >>>
>> >>> Yes, i would do that.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> Cool. I'll give it a whirl around the block and see how it handles.
>> >
>> > Just do not sacrifice depth for weight. To make dips good chest
>> > exercise one should try to lean forward and go really deep.
>>
>> p.s. they won't trash your shoulders!
>
> This is an issue for my left shoulder as mentioned with decline. So that is
> a bonus. Apparently the pain I have in my left shoulder is the bicep tendone
> which connects over the top. For the last couple of weeks, I have had a
> sharp pain on the inside of my left bicep muscle as well but it doesn't hurt
> during workout. I just massge the heck outa it which seems to work. I do get
> a regular (fortnighly) massage which does wonders.

It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
the injury.

I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week and see if it helps.
You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest and
build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on pushing
harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body at
all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
from gym for several months.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
>>
>> "Bully" wrote in message
>>
>>>>>>> If I do dips, I can add weight
>>>>>>> and stick to my 5x5 trial yes?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, i would do that.
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Cool. I'll give it a whirl around the block and see how it
>>>>> handles.
>>>>
>>>> Just do not sacrifice depth for weight. To make dips good chest
>>>> exercise one should try to lean forward and go really deep.
>>>
>>> p.s. they won't trash your shoulders!
>>
>> This is an issue for my left shoulder as mentioned with decline. So
>> that is a bonus. Apparently the pain I have in my left shoulder is
>> the bicep tendone which connects over the top. For the last couple
>> of weeks, I have had a sharp pain on the inside of my left bicep
>> muscle as well but it doesn't hurt during workout. I just massge the
>> heck outa it which seems to work. I do get a regular (fortnighly)
>> massage which does wonders.
>
> It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
> without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
> and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
> the injury.
>
> I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week

....or a month, or a year !!!

> and see if it helps.
> You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
> attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest
> and build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on
> pushing harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
> something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body
> at all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
> from gym for several months.



--
Bully
Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

"Bully" wrote in message

> Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> > Dnia 2006-12-05 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
> >>
> >> "Pete" wrote in message
> >>
> >>>
> >>>> If I do dips, I can add weight
> >>>> and stick to my 5x5 trial yes?
> >>>
> >>> Yes, i would do that.
> >>>
> >>
> >> Cool. I'll give it a whirl around the block and see how it handles.
> >
> > Just do not sacrifice depth for weight. To make dips good chest
> > exercise one should try to lean forward and go really deep.
>
> p.s. they won't trash your shoulders!

This is an issue for my left shoulder as mentioned with decline. So that is
a bonus. Apparently the pain I have in my left shoulder is the bicep tendone
which connects over the top. For the last couple of weeks, I have had a
sharp pain on the inside of my left bicep muscle as well but it doesn't hurt
during workout. I just massge the heck outa it which seems to work. I do get
a regular (fortnighly) massage which does wonders.

>
> --
> Bully
> Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk
>
> "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
> matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

"Andrzej Rosa" wrote in message

> Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
> >
> > "Bully" wrote in message
> >
> >> >>>> If I do dips, I can add weight
> >> >>>> and stick to my 5x5 trial yes?
> >> >>>
> >> >>> Yes, i would do that.
> >> >>>
> >> >>
> >> >> Cool. I'll give it a whirl around the block and see how it handles.
> >> >
> >> > Just do not sacrifice depth for weight. To make dips good chest
> >> > exercise one should try to lean forward and go really deep.
> >>
> >> p.s. they won't trash your shoulders!
> >
> > This is an issue for my left shoulder as mentioned with decline. So that
is
> > a bonus. Apparently the pain I have in my left shoulder is the bicep
tendone
> > which connects over the top. For the last couple of weeks, I have had a
> > sharp pain on the inside of my left bicep muscle as well but it doesn't
hurt
> > during workout. I just massge the heck outa it which seems to work. I do
get
> > a regular (fortnighly) massage which does wonders.
>
> It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
> without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
> and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
> the injury.
>

Not really. I haven't worked my arms more or less than most other muscle
groups. As far as training around an injury or problem I definately agree.
My PT emphasised this point because I've had pain on the front of the left
shoulder from the very beginning of my training. It was particularly bad
when doing decline bench so I stopped it. I tried it again a couple of weeks
ago and it still got painful on the heavy set. This too seems to be a bicep
injury where one of the 'ceps' joins to the shoulder area - you know what I
mean?

> I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week and see if it helps.
> You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
> attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest and
> build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on pushing
> harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
> something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body at
> all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
> from gym for several months.
>

What, no gym - you should be shot for even suggesting the possibilty of it!

> --
> Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
>
> "Andrzej Rosa" wrote in message
>
>> Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
>>
>>
>> It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
>> without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
>> and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
>> the injury.
>>
>
> Not really. I haven't worked my arms more or less than most other muscle
> groups. As far as training around an injury or problem I definately agree.
> My PT emphasised this point because I've had pain on the front of the left
> shoulder from the very beginning of my training. It was particularly bad
> when doing decline bench so I stopped it. I tried it again a couple of weeks
> ago and it still got painful on the heavy set. This too seems to be a bicep
> injury where one of the 'ceps' joins to the shoulder area - you know what I
> mean?

I know what you /may/ mean. If so, it doesn't look much like bicep and
more like front delt. There is not much reason why your biceps should
give you problems while decline benching. Your shoulders, on the other
hand, have a right to do so.

You sure it's your biceps?

>> I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week and see if it helps.
>> You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
>> attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest and
>> build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on pushing
>> harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
>> something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body at
>> all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
>> from gym for several months.
>
> What, no gym - you should be shot for even suggesting the possibilty of it!

It's hard to do much work when you can't move your arm.

Be careful now. After a year of training, or thereabouts, your muscles
outgrow your tendons by a substantial margin. This time around I was
wise in knowing that it will happen, so after some time I switched my
focus to less hypertrophy inducing ways of training for several months,
while putting more work into developing my tendons.

Slow down a bit, or your body will do it for you and you'll shoot the
messenger, which means me! I don't want to be shot without good
reason.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

"Bully" wrote in message

> Andrzej Rosa wrote:
> > Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
> >>
> >> "Bully" wrote in message
> >>
> >>>>>>> If I do dips, I can add weight
> >>>>>>> and stick to my 5x5 trial yes?
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Yes, i would do that.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>
> >>>>> Cool. I'll give it a whirl around the block and see how it
> >>>>> handles.
> >>>>
> >>>> Just do not sacrifice depth for weight. To make dips good chest
> >>>> exercise one should try to lean forward and go really deep.
> >>>
> >>> p.s. they won't trash your shoulders!
> >>
> >> This is an issue for my left shoulder as mentioned with decline. So
> >> that is a bonus. Apparently the pain I have in my left shoulder is
> >> the bicep tendone which connects over the top. For the last couple
> >> of weeks, I have had a sharp pain on the inside of my left bicep
> >> muscle as well but it doesn't hurt during workout. I just massge the
> >> heck outa it which seems to work. I do get a regular (fortnighly)
> >> massage which does wonders.
> >
> > It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
> > without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
> > and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
> > the injury.
> >
> > I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week
>
> ...or a month, or a year !!!

Cmon Bully - thats not nice. I want to look like this guy:

http://www.ebicep.com/biggest-bicep.html


>
> > and see if it helps.
> > You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
> > attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest
> > and build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on
> > pushing harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
> > something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body
> > at all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
> > from gym for several months.
>
>
>
> --
> Bully
> Protein bars: http://www.proteinbars.co.uk
>
> "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't
> matter, and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

"Andrzej Rosa" wrote in message

> Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
> >
> > "Andrzej Rosa" wrote in message
> >
> >> Dnia 2006-12-06 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
> >>
> >>
> >> It looks like building all those inches in your arms didn't came
> >> without a price. Try to find out which exercises make it feel worse
> >> and simply avoid them. Do not train through the injury, train around
> >> the injury.
> >>
> >
> > Not really. I haven't worked my arms more or less than most other muscle
> > groups. As far as training around an injury or problem I definately
agree.
> > My PT emphasised this point because I've had pain on the front of the
left
> > shoulder from the very beginning of my training. It was particularly bad
> > when doing decline bench so I stopped it. I tried it again a couple of
weeks
> > ago and it still got painful on the heavy set. This too seems to be a
bicep
> > injury where one of the 'ceps' joins to the shoulder area - you know
what I
> > mean?
>
> I know what you /may/ mean. If so, it doesn't look much like bicep and
> more like front delt. There is not much reason why your biceps should
> give you problems while decline benching. Your shoulders, on the other
> hand, have a right to do so.
>
> You sure it's your biceps?

Fairly sure. My masseuse pin-pointed the spot where the pain was and said
it's where the bicep attaches to the shoulder. I also tweaked my right AC
joint yesterday from doing weighted pull-ups. I think I'm getting
old-er-ish. I managed a total weight on my last pull-up (including my own
weight) of 292lbs - around the same as I do on lat pull down. It's the first
time I did them in my back workout and I liked them. Better than lat
pull-down IMO.

>
> >> I'd stay away from direct biceps work for a week and see if it helps.
> >> You have plenty of muscles which probably would like some more
> >> attention, so simply do focus on them. You'll let your biceps rest and
> >> build plenty of mass at the same time. If you'll insist on pushing
> >> harder than your tendons are able to recover you might develop
> >> something serious and end up not being able to train your upper body at
> >> all. It won't help your biceps to grow if you'll have to stay away
> >> from gym for several months.
> >
> > What, no gym - you should be shot for even suggesting the possibilty of
it!
>
> It's hard to do much work when you can't move your arm.

Yes but I could get one arm really massive. Like those crabs that have 1 big
claw and the other is puny. Then I could start a new competition for the
symmetrically challenged body builder.

>
> Be careful now. After a year of training, or thereabouts, your muscles
> outgrow your tendons by a substantial margin. This time around I was
> wise in knowing that it will happen, so after some time I switched my
> focus to less hypertrophy inducing ways of training for several months,
> while putting more work into developing my tendons.
>

OK. How do you develop tendons?

> Slow down a bit, or your body will do it for you and you'll shoot the
> messenger, which means me! I don't want to be shot without good
> reason.
>

I can tend to go a bit all out at times. But at the same time, I do listen
to my body - it just needs to speak up a bit :-]

> --
> Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Dnia 2006-12-07 Stephan Carydakis napisa³(a):
>
>> You sure it's your biceps?
>
> Fairly sure. My masseuse pin-pointed the spot where the pain was and said
> it's where the bicep attaches to the shoulder.

I remember that I read about something like that once, but I still
don't know how it gets irritated by benching.

> I also tweaked my right AC
> joint yesterday from doing weighted pull-ups. I think I'm getting
> old-er-ish. I managed a total weight on my last pull-up (including my own
> weight) of 292lbs - around the same as I do on lat pull down. It's the first
> time I did them in my back workout and I liked them. Better than lat
> pull-down IMO.

You gonna get good at it. I'm jealous.

[...]
>> Be careful now. After a year of training, or thereabouts, your muscles
>> outgrow your tendons by a substantial margin. This time around I was
>> wise in knowing that it will happen, so after some time I switched my
>> focus to less hypertrophy inducing ways of training for several months,
>> while putting more work into developing my tendons.
>>
>
> OK. How do you develop tendons?

By stressing them with sharp explosive movements. For wrists, for
example, punching a bag is supposedly goo. I know that snatching did
work for me. As a side effect you slow down hypertrophy of your
muscles to the point when your tendons can catch up. After several
years of training there is no problem here, because your muscle gains
slow down too, but at intermediate stage it might be helpful to use
less efficient hypertrophy program for a while.

>> Slow down a bit, or your body will do it for you and you'll shoot the
>> messenger, which means me! I don't want to be shot without good
>> reason.
>
> I can tend to go a bit all out at times. But at the same time, I do listen
> to my body - it just needs to speak up a bit :-]

It does. As someone used to say, an injury is a body's way of saying
to slow down a bit.

--
Andrzej Rosa 1127R
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size 

Hi,

For the last 10 months my sets for every muscle group consist of 10x2 reps
for warmup, 8x3 for heavy, 10x1 for warm down. Since I have never changed.

my workout and was reading of the need to chop it up a bit, I think I need a
change. I understand that lower reps of higher weights are better for size
and strength of muscle.
 >> Stay informed about: Increasing chest size