Written by Team MD
17 July 2017

17charles-camp2

MD Training Camp: Charles Glass #2

 

Training Back vs. Chest: Like Apples and Oranges

Charles, I’m curious about the appropriate amount of volume for the chest. Often, I have heard that “smaller” body parts like the arms and calves only need around three to four sets of three to four exercises each at most, while larger body parts require more. Would you say that the chest and back are similar in what they need in terms of volume?

No, I would definitely say that the chest needs less. This has less to do with the size of the chest versus the back as it does the amount of muscles involved and their functions. The chest is relatively simple. In terms of the muscle to work, there’s just one: the pectoralis major. You can get the job done right on chest day with nothing more than a flat or a decline press, an incline press and some type of flye movement. Obviously, many bodybuilders do more than this, but in terms of full development, that’s not really necessary. Further exercises are fairly redundant, though for advanced bodybuilders whose goal at this point is more detail and maturity, they can be useful.

When we talk about the back, we’re encompassing not only the lats or latissimus dorsi, but also the rhomboids, trapezius, teres major and minor, and the spinal erectors. Three exercises to cover all that ground would not be adequate. Usually, we want to do at least one vertical pulling movement like chin-ups or lat pulldowns, a horizontal pulling motion such as a barbell, dumbbell, cable or machine row, some type of shrug for the traps, and either hyperextensions, good mornings or full deadlifts from the floor for the lower back (which I rarely have my bodybuilder clients do, as it can thicken the obliques). But if you are a bodybuilder past the intermediate state, you would more likely want to do both a wide and a closer grip with different hand positions for both the vertical pulling function and the horizontal.

The back is such a large and complex group of muscles that you will need to attack it from many different angles to achieve maximum development. In comparison, the chest only needs a handful of exercises. So as you can see, lumping all muscle groups together and giving them all the same prescription for volume isn’t enough. You always have to look at the structure of that muscle or group of muscles and the various functions they serve in the body.

 

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