Written by Ron Harris
29 December 2014

14fivetips-wreck-pecs

5 Tips to Wreck Your Pecs

With Jose Raymond & Aaron Clark

 

 

Tip #1: Try a wider grip

 Jose

 “I used a wider grip for many years, and I found it was putting more and more stress on my shoulder joints as time went by. I also noticed I could never get the squeeze I was looking for with my grip out that far, especially in my inner pecs. Through trial and error, I found myself bringing my grip in a little bit more every so often. That allowed me to feel the bench press more in my chest and less in my shoulders, plus my shoulder joints weren’t getting beat up as much. Notice I also keep my elbows close to my sides instead of flared out and away from my torso.”

 Aaron

 “As for the wider grip, I don’t know if it’s anatomically correct or not, but I am able to get a deeper stretch of the pecs that way. You need to be careful with the negative and control it, though, because you are putting the tendons in a more precarious position going wider. In the end, everyone needs to try various types of grips and find the one that they feel works best. Don’t worry about what me or anyone else does.”

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Tip #2: Don’t neglect the incline dumbbell press

 Jose

 “I don’t do these in the same workout as the incline barbell press, but I will do them with incline dumbbell flyes. The bar and the dumbbell press are similar exercises. You can obviously load more weight on the bar, but the dumbbells ensure that both sides are working equally hard. The only trouble with dumbbells is that once you’ve built a decent amount of strength, those huge dumbbells are going to be tough to get up into position to start your set.”

 Aaron

 “I do both dumbbell and barbell incline presses. A lot of times I will even do a Hammer Strength incline press too. The dumbbell inclines will come last every time, though, because the gym I train at only has dumbbells up to 125 pounds. If I did those first, I would be doing a lot of reps. It’s fine, because once you get into very heavy dumbbells, you need someone to hand one off to you to start— and I train alone most of the time. But of those three, I feel the dumbbell incline press is the most effective for me. You get the most complete range of motion and I am able to get the best contractions.”

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Tip #3: Dip

 Jose

 “I do dips at times. I did those last week. For me, they work best at the end of a chest workout as part of a superset. Last week I was going right from dumbbell flyes to dips. My bodyweight is enough at that point in the workout. I’m just doing them for a good squeeze and pump. If I did dips at the start of the workout, I don’t even want to know how many I could do. A lot!”

 Aaron

 “I do dips a few times a week, and not just on chest day. Sometimes I will do them at the end of a shoulder or arm workout too. It’s just a great exercise to open up the chest and give it a good stretch, plus you also stretch the shoulders and triceps.

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Tip #4: Master the flye

 Jose

 “For years and years, I never liked flyes because I couldn’t figure out how to get the right feeling in my pecs from them. But I persisted and mastered them, and now I love flyes. Machines and cables aren’t the same because they don’t require any mastery. With the dumbbells, you have to learn how to balance them and get that good-quality contraction and stretch on every rep. I don’t go too heavy on these. 60-65 pounds is all it takes for me.”

 Aaron

 “It all depends on how I have arranged my exercises for that day. I don’t really feel flyes are essential the way that some guys do. But ideally, I like to do both a flye and a machine or cable. I do like the incline dumbbell flye, but I will usually finish with a pec deck. You have more control with the machine, and I find it’s easier to keep my delts out of the movement. Plus, you can do things like drop sets and partial reps with a machine or cables that just aren’t suited to dumbbells.”

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Tip #5: Train smarter, not harder

 Jose

 “I’ve certainly gotten a lot stronger, but more importantly I’ve developed a much better connection with my chest. It used to be about pushing as much weight as I could for the hell of it. That did not do much for my actual chest development. I do things now like pausing reps at the bottom to increase the tension on my chest, or slowing down the negatives.

 Aaron

 “My chest training has gotten a lot smarter. I’ve learned how to press with the chest instead of my shoulders, and get the type of quality contractions it takes to stimulate growth. Some guys just move heavy weights from point A to point B, and I think that’s a good way to get banged up in the long term.”

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Jose’s Training Split

Sunday:     Light back and chest

Monday:     Heavy quads, light hams and calves

Tuesday:     a.m. - Cardio, abs, posing   p.m. - Chest and triceps, 8-10 supersets of lateral raises and rear delts

Wednesday:     Back and biceps

Thursday:     Shoulders and abs

Friday:     Heavy hams, light quads and calves

Saturday:     Arms

 

Jose’s Chest Routine

Pec Flye Machine or Cable Crossovers     5 x 12-15             

Incline Barbell Press                                4 x 15, 12, 10, 10

Hammer Strength Decline Press               3 x 12, 1 triple drop set of 10, 10, 10 reps

Incline Dumbbell Flyes                             4 x 12

 

Jose’s Major Wins

2000 NPC USA Championships                   Lightweight Winner

2001 NPC Nationals                                     Lightweight Winner

2004 NPC Team Universe                             Welterweight winner

2005 NPC USA Championships                    Welterweight Winner

2005 NPC Team Universe                             Welterweight and Overall Champion

2005 NPC Nationals                                      Welterweight Winner

2007 USA Championships                             Middleweight Winner

2007 NPC Nationals                                       Middleweight Winner (accepted pro card)

2010 IFBB Tampa Bay Pro                             Winner

2010 IFBB Battle of Champions, Hartford         202 Winner

2011 IFBB New York Pro                                202 Winner

2012 IFBB Optimum Classic, Shreveport         Winner

2013 IFBB New York Pro                                212 Winner

2013 IFBB Toronto Pro                                   212 Winner

2014 IFBB New Zealand Pro                          212 Winner

2014 IFBB Europa Phoenix                            212 Winner

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Aaron’s Training Split

Day 1:    Hamstrings and some quads

Day 2:    Chest

Day 3:    Arms

Day 4:    Quads

Day 5:    Delts

Day 6:    Back

Day 7:    OFF*

Off days aren’t actually scheduled, but are taken as needed. Abs and calves are typically done twice a week.

 

Aaron’s Chest Routine

Hammer Strength Incline Press                 3 x 8-12

Incline Barbell Press                                 3 x 8-12

Incline Dumbbell Press                             3 x 8-12

Flat Dumbbell Press                                  3 x 8-12

Flat Dumbbell Flyes                                   3 x 8-12

Cable Crossovers on Incline Bench           3 x 8-12

Standard Cable Crossovers                       3 x 8-12

 

Aaron’s Contest history

2008 Southern States                                  Teen Light Heavyweight, Second Place

2008 Teenage Nationals                              Light Heavyweight, Second Place

2011 Maryland East Coast Classic               Heavyweight and Overall Champion

2012 USA Championships                           Heavyweight Winner

2013 IFBB New York Pro                             Fourth Place, 212 division

2014 IFBB Arnold Classic                            Third Place, 212 division

2014 IFBB New York Pro                             Winner, 212 division

2014 IFBB 212 Olympia                               Sixth Place, 212 division

 

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