“Hi, Rick…come over here and meet my friends…” I thought I was dreaming. No, wait a minute. That’s putting it too mildly. It was one of those moments in my life when I was so blown away by what I was experiencing that I couldn’t seem to stammer out a word…
The time was June,1998 and the place was the Power Shack Bodybuilding Championships in Kansas City, Missouri. A few minutes earlier, I had witnessed top Mr. Olympia contender Kevin Levrone, along with a young, up-and-comer named Ronnie Coleman, guest pose before the sell-out crowd of which I was a part. I was more fortunate than most since I was allowed backstage access and was able to see these genetic freaks up close and personal.
“Oh my God, can that be… is he really that big?” I wondered to myself. I looked closer. Yes! It was the same Ronnie Coleman on whose mind-blowing 60-inch chest, when fully expanded in a side chest pose, you could balance a full wine glass.
“Damn!” I whispered to myself.
Afterwards, Levrone and Coleman, surrounded by a sea of autograph-seekers, were floating towards the front of the hall. The auditorium was beginning to clear out when I spotted the biggest bodybuilder I had ever seen. And it wasn’t Levrone.
I waited for the crowd to thin out before I approached him. That way, I reasoned, if he turned out to be mean, I wouldn’t be embarrassed in front of too many people. As I walked up to Ronnie, I stuck my hand out and said, “Mr. Coleman, I just wanted to say hello.” He looked at me, broke into a grin almost as big as his chest, and asked me my name. He then swung a massive arm around my shoulder. “Hi, Rick…come over here and meet my friends…”
Ahh, the things we remember from our pasts! There are two things I remember about meeting Ronnie Coleman that day, and both would serve me well as I embarked on my own bodybuilding career. The first was the humanity he showed others and the accompanying humility with which he carried himself, both hallmarks of a great champion. I can’t tell you what an impression it made on me. What a great example to emulate!
The second point I remember was the breadth and depth of Ronnie’s chest development. Even though he wore an enormous sweat suit that evening, Ronnie’s chest development could not be hidden. I knew at that moment that to develop a championship physique, I too, would have to attempt developing my chest to heroic proportions.
Not having been blessed with the “chest genetics” that Ronnie Coleman possessed, I had my work cut out for me. My chest was as flat as a board. I had to train smart in order to create a thick chest, which is the foundation of the side poses needed to win bodybuilding competitions. Even if you aren’t into competing, you will want your chest development to be at its best so that you can look good on the beach or by the pool. If you want to develop a deep, thick chest too, then read on. If I can do it, you can too.
Most aspiring bodybuilders get their introduction to chest training with that true-blue, old-faithful, king of upper body exercises, the bench press. The bench press and variations thereof have been called “squats for the upper body”. That is because when used properly, bench presses incorporate most of the muscle groups of the torso and hence, are great developers of size and strength. The bench press is the “benchmark” by which all novices compare their upper body strength. As a funny note, from time to time I am asked, “How much do you bench?” I get a bemused expression on my face, as my initial thought is to play the smart-ass that I truly am and say, “More than you!” Since I probably wouldn’t make too many friends that way, I usually answer, “Oh, about 150 pounds on a good day.” Invariably they’ll come back with something like, “I have a friend that can do 400 pounds.” If they then ask me to arm wrestle, I tell them only if they put up a $100 bet. If that doesn’t work, I run…fast!
I always start with an incline bench press exercise when I train chest. Though the flat barbell bench press is the most common, and decline, machine, and the dumbbell versions of the flat bench press are all good variations, I believe that one cannot develop a deep, thick, complete chest without concentrating on the upper chest. Being a compound exercise that involves movement around both the shoulder and elbow joints, the incline bench press incorporates not only the pectoral muscles (pecs), but also the anterior (frontal) deltoids (delts/shoulders), and triceps muscles of the upper arms. I like to use some variation of the incline bench press (dumbbells, barbell, Smith Machine) first in my chest routine because it forces a lot of blood into the muscles of the torso, especially the pecs.
The order of exercises is important for two reasons. First, you want to hit the pecs with heavy weights early in the workout while they are still fresh. Doing so will maximize the number of muscle fibers recruited and tax those muscles as much as possible, and in as short a time as possible. This creates intensity and the stimulus for muscle growth. Second, you want to be thoroughly warmed up before proceeding to isolation exercises such as flyes, which involve only one joint and “isolate” stress primarily on the pectoral muscles themselves (more on this later). Flyes really stretch the pecs muscles, so they need to be warm and elastic to prevent injury.
To perform an incline bench press correctly, start by lying directly underneath the bar on the bench. Grip the bar with your hands placed just a little more than the width of your shoulders apart. A wider grip will limit your range of motion, cheating you out of maximum chest development. Firmly plant your shoulders into the bench. Slide your butt slightly back towards your shoulders, to create a slight arch in your back. Once your back is slightly arched, press your butt firmly into the bench and keep it there throughout the entire exercise. Finally, keep your feet firmly planted on the ground.
Arching your back slightly will raise your sternum (breast bone). Keeping the chest high during the entire movement will ensure the best biomechanics for the execution of this exercise, and will produce the best contraction of the pectoral muscles. Begin the movement with the bar held straight above the shoulder joint, arms vertical and elbows just short of full extension. Lower the bar in a slight arc to its finishing point directly underneath your chin. I feel that bringing the bar to the throat instead of the lower sternum (about nipple level on most people) as most people do will create more of a stretch to the targeted area which allows for greater growth. As you complete each repetition, it is important that you keep your chest high and expanded. Keep your chest up and shoulders back. Allowing the chest to “collapse” at the top of the movement as many novices (and not-so-novice) do, shifts stress onto the arms and shoulders, and away from the pectorals.
After the bench press, most beginning trainees graduate to alternate versions of the bench press such as the incline bench press, flat, incline or decline dumbbell presses, and machine chest presses. All of these are great pectoral stimulators, but because of the mechanics of the exercise, the majority of the stress on the pecs is during the first part of the movement. Let me explain. At the starting position of any of these pressing movements, the pecs are fully stretched and under maximum tension. As the weight is raised, the moment-arm (think of a lever) shortens. By the time the barbell or dumbbell is completely overhead in the contracted position, the tension on the pecs has fallen off dramatically. Consequently, bodybuilders who rely too heavily on these pressing exercises fail to maximally stimulate all muscle fibers of the chest muscles.
What to do? The answer is not to discard useful chest pressing exercises, but to supplement them with exercises that maintain the tension on the pectorals in the finish position. Two examples of exercises that accomplish this are cable flyes and pec deck. For these exercises to be beneficial, you must contract the pec muscles hard as the arms are brought together. You might even try doing partial reps at the end of each set, limiting the range of motion to the last third of the exercise. For a unique stimulus, try doing one of these exercises before your normal pressing work. By pre-exhausting your pecs, they will experience even more stimulation than when you normally do your presses. To stimulate the upper pecs, try incline cable flyes, varying the bench angle from twenty to thirty degrees.
To perform a flat flye movement, position yourself face up on a bench with your back slightly arched and sternum up, just as mentioned above with the bench press. Start by holding the dumbbells straight above your eyes with a slight bend in the elbows. Make note of this position because this is exactly where you want to return the dumbbells to at the completion of each repetition. This is important. Begin by slowly lowering the dumbbells out to the side, maintaining (or slightly increasing) the bend in the elbows. Lower the dumbbells until the upper arm bone (humerus) forms an angle of about 15 degrees below the horizontal plane of the shoulder joint. This will put your elbows a couple of inches below your shoulder joint. This is a good rule-of-thumb but will vary depending on your individual flexibility. You should feel a good, not painful, stretch in your pecs in the bottom position. Unless you want to know what it feels like to have a torn pec or dislocated shoulder, do not go down too far on the flye.
I prefer to do compound sets including one of the aforementioned exercises with dips. I believe that dips are one of the greatest chest-building exercises of all time. I also have noticed that it is rare to see someone doing deep, chest-stretching dips. That’s because dips are not easy. Dips are hard to do. But anything worth having comes at a cost. If you want a thick chest, get your butt in gear and start doing dips.
When doing dips for the chest it is important to lean slightly forward. This places more of the emphasis on the pectoral muscles. Make sure you get a full stretch at the bottom of the exercise and stop pressing upwards when you feel the tension start to leave the chest and transfer towards your triceps. This should be approximately two-thirds of the way up before locking out your arms. By stopping each rep at that point in the movement you will keep continuous tension on the chest and avoid having your triceps fatigue before the much larger and stronger pectorals.
So far we have focused on chest exercises primarily targeting the pectoral muscles. But the foundation for those pectoral muscles is equally important if you are seeking championship level development. That foundation is the rib cage. Stretching and expanding the ribcage adds inches to your chest measurement, creating a thicker, deeper appearance to your torso as it is viewed from the side.
Though some may disagree, I believe the ribcage can be improved at any age. From an anecdotal standpoint, I believe it works because I have seen it. From a physiological standpoint, it stands to reason that it’s possible because bone is a very active tissue constantly being remade and can change depending on the stresses placed upon it.
Pullovers have even been used by doctors to successfully treat mild cases of pectus excavatum (sunken chest). All would agree the most dramatic improvements are possible by those whose bones are still ossifying (changing from cartilage to bone). Young bodybuilders, typically those under about 21 years of age, can significantly increase their rib cage size with consistent training specific for this area. The best rib cage expander I know is the pullover.
Pullovers can be performed using either a bar or a dumbbell, which is my favorite of the two. While some bodybuilders like to perform pullovers in conjunction with their back training, I prefer to do pullovers immediately following my chest training. Besides pullovers utilized for back training are performed differently than those used in chest training. I use a slow and deliberate style that emphasizes the stretch at the bottom of the movement. To perform dumbbell pullovers, begin by lying with your upper back and shoulders resting on a bench that has been turned sideways. This allows you to drop your butt down slightly during the movement to maintain stability. Once your butt is in this position DO NOT ALLOW IT TO MOVE. Doing so negates the whole purpose of the exercise. Start by holding a dumbbell between your hands with your arms extended and the dumbbell over your chest. Begin the movement by slowly lowering the weight in an arc back over your head. As with the flye, you may find it necessary to slightly bend your elbows during the descent. Lower the dumbbell until you feel a good, but not painful stretch. Those with normal shoulder flexibility can usually stretch within a few degrees of, or to the point where, the humerus (upper arm) is parallel to or in line with the torso. Again, err on the side of caution here to avoid a trip to the ER. And, once again, DO NOT ALLOW YOUR BUTT TO MOVE.
To put it all together, I combine at least one heavy bench pressing (ALWAYS starting with an inclined exercise) with a flye movement (flat or incline dumbbell, cable flyes, or pec deck) and finish with pullovers. After a brief warm-up, I use the heaviest weights that I can on each set of each exercise for 6-10 reps per set. My goal from the beginning of the workout to the end is to fatigue the target muscles more and more with each subsequent set, until I reach the training threshold, which I define as the point at which the muscles are thoroughly exhausted and a growth signal is sent to the brain. I limit the work I perform for chest to no more than 16 sets of chest exercises, or 45 minutes of chest training, whichever comes first. Typically, I only rest long enough between sets to allow time to catch my breath. Then it’s time to start the next set. By pacing myself this way, I neither exceed my cardiovascular capacity, nor do I rest too long, allowing the muscles to fully regain their strength between sets.
The result is a brief, targeted chest workout that is guaranteed to yield explosive results. Try it for yourself and see. You too, may be balancing a full wine glass on your upper pecs one day!
Here is the summary of my chest workout:
Incline bench press 5 x 10
Flat bench press 3 x 10
Flat or incline dumbbell flyes, pec deck, or cable crossover compounded with dips 3 x 10
Pullovers 3 x 10
Oh, and by the way…Ronnie Coleman went on to win the first of eight straight the Mr. Olympia titles that following October and has not lost it since then, becoming one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time.
Rick Streb
