How To Spark Growth In Your Chest Muscles
January 28, 2010 by Shaun
Filed under The Fitness Bug
A few months back, I was over in a forum discussing what everyone’s pain points were. I have my own pain points too (Building leg muscles, Maintaining muscle mass in my arms), but there were a few people that I got talking too that just couldn’t manage to increase the size of there chest muscles. Every solution i threw at them they seemed to have tried, and i couldn’t figure out what to recommend without getting to know there past a little better (Or meeting them in person).
I always have been known for one to try and find new ways of doing things, and that’s probably one reason I’m always enthusiastic to share the new things I learn with YOU. The Stayfitbuggers – Innovative and new ways to build muscle.
Anyhow, since then I have played around with a few chest exercises which I know everyone who builds muscles with weights will be performing. All this testing, playing around and analyzing has lead me to find ways that can help you spark muscle growth in your chest muscles.
How do I know these work?
Because they have been working for me!
But Shaun, you said to never follow the leader…
Correct! What you need to do is try these small tweaks to these already popular exercises and if what i have instructed doesn’t work for you, just give them a further tweak.
It could be anything from,
- The number of reps you perform
- Adding more resistance to a dipping belt
- More explosive exercise technique
Or other things.
All of us have to find our own ‘map’ and way of doing things when it comes to building muscle, busting through plateaus and living a happy bodybuilding life. But hopefully guidance from individuals like myself will help give you a good kick start and great get-up-and-go motivation in those times of need.
Enough of my blabber. Check the tweaks.
The Dumbbell Bench Press
The Tweak
Start with your palms facing each other in the bottom position and your elbows tucked to your sides.
As you push the weights up, rotate your wrists so that your palms face forward in the top position.
The Result
The twisting motion activates the fibers in all of the areas of your chest.
Dip’s
The Tweak
Move your hands out wider so you get a deeper stretch in your pecs when you lower your body.
Look for V shaped Dip bars rather than parallel ones. Doing so will give you much better results
The Result
A wider grip position makes for a more challenging exercise and helps you recruit even more muscle fibers in your chest.
The Dumbbell Fly
The Tweak
- Try doing these by placing a towel on the floor.
- Fold the towel in half and place one palm on each end of it and get into pushup position with your knees on the floor.
- Move your arms apart as in a normal fly and lower your chest toward the floor.
The Result
A much more challenging exercise that will work your pecs, back, and core.
Give these a try. If you see no substantial changes to your chest after a few weeks then take out your own map and start tweaking. If that is what you end up doing and manage to find success further to what I’ve instructed here, then feel free to post in the comments below.
See you there.
Link to this page
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Hey man! I’ve been looking for something like this. Even though I’m getting ripped by shedding my fat and working out regularly, I’d still like a bigger chest and these look great. Could you, maybe, post some pics of these?
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 5:47 am
Hi Bill
I’ve been doing these tweaks for some time now. Especially the dips tweak. That’s my fave. I’ll try to get some pictures up of each soon.
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Looking forward to it! Oh, hey! I’m your #1 commentator!
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 6:22 am
Bill surely has taken the top spot! If you had a website you might even get some SEO benefits too.
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Bill Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:01 am
Oh, I got one but it’s a gaming blog…In Greek…:P
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:04 am
Ah. I see. Still… when you comment you may possibly benefit by leaving your website in the url section
. Gaming is big in Greece?
It’s big for me
I’m a huge gaming nerd. But to break a stereotype, I love working out, I do martial arts and go out XD Oh, I also develop websites for a living, so I’m double the nerd!
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:10 am
It seems we have much in common then Bill. I do all of the above other than the martial arts
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Bill Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:19 am
I’m also this guy http://www.facebook.com/bill.pairaktaridis on Facebook. A question everybody asks me is “Where do you find the time?” and I reply “Well, if you really want it, you find the time”. I hit the gym in the mornings before work. I train at night and do a little extra like punching the bag or running on weekends
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:23 am
And I bet people think you don’t sleep. Because that is what they say to me ‘Don’t you sleep’? PS3, Xbox360, Wii or PC?
As of yesterday, all of them! I got a great offer on a PS3 slim and I got it…I started with the Wii but not enough quality games, then went to the 360 and it got kinda busted and MS wouldn’t repair it, so that pissed me off and I got a PS3
I’ve had a PC for years, so I don’t consider it a gaming console, even though I game quite a bit on it too 
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Shaun Reply:
January 29th, 2010 at 7:34 am
I’ve been a console guy since… forever. I tried to get into PC but never got around to suping one up to handle the best games. Right now I’m in Love with the PS3 and I’ve had a ridiculous infatuation with God of War (Greek Mythology) for the past 5 years. God of War 3 is out in March. You know of it?
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Bill Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 6:35 am
Yeah, of course! Even though I’ve never played them, I will be getting all three for my PS3. I’ll get the God Of War collection for cheap and down the line, the third
Gotta love uncensored violence XD
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 6:51 am
Violence for sure and I’d gladly go up against the masses to hold the crown as Kratos’ biggest fan
. Like I’ve said in recent times… everyone has a little bit of Kratos in them. I also think he has the perfect muscle mass that most people would want too. Talking of building perfect bodies, I was looking through some previous comments and I remembered it was you that showed interest in this post.
http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/the-weightlifting-reality-tv-no-internet-show/
I may still implement some form of this. But I’m still in the process of finding out what peoples pain points are. The survey is still up and running too. Once I have enough data I then intend to build a service plan around it. Being a fitness geek that you are, what sort of things would benefit you in a subscription service, or better yet… be willing to pay for.
Well, right now I’ve paid for a fitness schedule that’s to get me lean. I paid for that for two reasons. 1) It promised results or money back 2) I’m able to do my workout in minimal time and sometimes at home with very little equipment. Plus , I know the guy. Mostly, the second part is what interested me the most and I’m sure is what most people look for. Gyms are often crowded, expensive and a lot of people who are out of shape don’t feel too comfortable working out around all those people. Personally, I prefer going in the morning before work and that works great for me. But I know that not everybody can do that…
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Right. The whole thing with ‘crowded gym’ I covered in posts such as
http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/gym-etiquette-follow-these-rules-or-else/
http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/shower-at-home-or-shower-at-the-gym/
http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/home-work-out-vs-gym-workout/
it is an issue for many, which I know of no doubt,
So We have
-Time factor
- Trust
- Home workout Solutions
- Limited Funds
- Insecurities
To some up some basics you mentioned there. Does your current workout have anything in place which utilities those ‘exercise tweaks’. Similar to those I mentioned with those exercises to build a better chest.
Since that was helpful to you, do you know of others that might have found that helpful too. Just in general from those you’ve trained with.
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Bill Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 10:28 am
Well, I did use the db bench press variation today and I did feel it working. Hard as hell but I felt it. Currently, I train alone but in the near future I’ll probably be working to get a buddy of mine in shape as well and I’ll be sure to try a few new things with him. In general, I really like your articles even though they veer towards more muscular and bigger outcomes than the lean result that I want. Still, I like your passion in this and that’s why I follow. Anyway, since I’m doing sort of a strict schedule now I don’t do many variations but whenever I can I do try to make my life harder XD and that’s where your suggestions come in…
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 10:54 am
I see. That is good to know for sure. And a big thank you to add to that. You are right, the articles do veer towards more muscular and bigger outcomes. It all stems from my own personal experiences of how one can maintain or take things to the next level. Any of the methods I have spoke of till now work for both maintenance and growth.
That is a solution for you when you need it, which is great. What I now need to know is how others are using the solutions and then bolt everything you see here into a service. I have the basics in place, but I want to ensure that what goes on offer really helps everyone out for the on-going long term.
Well, I wish you the best! You’re really gonna have to bring to compete with the big names right now in the Internet fitness world. Any help you need, I’ll be glad to provide.
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 1:38 pm
For Sure!
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 1:45 pm
Ah… one thing you could tell me on that note. When you are in workout mode. What is the one thing you wish existed which currently doesn’t exist anywhere you look?
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Bill Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
What do you mean?
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Well… every now and again, we find ourselves in situations. And we might have that one moment… ‘ This thing is cool, but I wish…’ or ‘ Couldn’t they add this…’
Ever had any of those moments while at the gym, at home when training?
Hmm…I really can’t think of anything. There are things that I like but aren’t at my disposal, such as the cool Iron Gym Xtreme pull up bar or my own equipment at home but I can’t say I’ve gone to the lengths of wanting something different in terms of gym equipment. I have been looking for a good set of bluetooth headphones that are light and unobtrusive…Of the stuff you have at home, what would you call your favourite piece of equipment?
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 2:13 pm
The Iron gym and Powerblocks. The Powerblocks are pricey, but durable and don’t take up to much space.
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Bill Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
I’ve heard great things about the Powerblocks. I’m wondering how they measure up against the Bowflex db’s…
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
They do look good for sure and are a good alternative. The only downside of both is that they don’t allow me to use them in creative exercises. Take a look at the roll outs for example
http://www.stayfitbug.com/the-fitness-bug/unique-bodyweight-exercises-part-3/
Well, my favorite are my Bodylastics. It’s amazing how many different exercises I can do with them and with few downsides. I still like free weights and I think that nothing beats, say, a good ol’ bench press but they are handy on a Sunday
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 3:48 pm
I don’t think anything will take the place of the good old fashioned exercises like bench press, deadlifts and squats. They are like a part of the fitness world furniture. A fan of bodylastics eh. Have you tried the TRX products such as the the suspension training?
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I’ve seen them. Don’t look too bad. But since now I can go to the gym, I got my needs covered. It was hard over the holidays, however. New Year’s and Christmas on Fridays so the gym was closed for like 4 days each…Still, I made do. Haven’t missed a session yet since I started in October
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Shaun Reply:
January 30th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
That is really good. That is the type of dedication that succeeds every time. That’s what I try to make people do…. stick to it. It’s different for each and every person because everyone lives a different lifestyle. But when you apply the ‘stick to it’ principles, whatever the lifestyle, then you are on to a winner!
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