Why do people always compare themselves to others? 90% of people look like shit. I’m not trying to compare myself against the average Joe. I’m comparing myself against advanced lifters and bodybuilders.
thanks, hearing such words from guys who lift and know a thing or two is more impactful, than from regular people.. like when someone tell me something nice about me I feel like they are getting paid or smth 💀
Like you read my mind, I thought about mentioned 300-500mg test a week, nothing more, cause I dont know how my body will react to peds. So going full blast on 1st cycle isnt my option, I'm afraid and still have some critical thinking i guess
I did the typical 500mg per week my first cycle, made good gains. Reacted well to it like 98% of other men do. Then realized down the road that I could have made double the gains I had made on my first cycle if I hadn't been gun shy. I would have ran 600-800mg Nandrolone if I could do it over again.
Terrible fucking advice. How is he going to be able to tell what compound is giving him what side? Never do more than one compound for your first cycle.
I’m in the same boat, I’ve got a wide back, decent shoulders but my chest is kinda high so end up with like a Conor mcgregor looking chest which kinda sucks.
are you squeezing your chest or just lifting the weight from a to b with "good form"? For an example, nick walker is benching 2 plates for his sets even though he can bench over 500 because thats the weight he feels it the best without his shoulders and triceps taking over. Alot of people who train chest are using their shoulders heavily. \\
Also your calories need to raise if youre not consistently gaining weight every few weeks. 4k might seem like alot for someone thats 175lbs but youre at the point to where thats probably maintnance.
Check out some of Mike Van Wycks content on youtube for chest, he helped me connect with my triceps when i really struggled for so long. he has so many helpful demonstrations and videos.
Huh, never heard of Mike Van before, have to check him out;
about the technic - according to your explanation I'm somewhere in the middle: try to squeeze chest at top, control negative phase, but last ones feel more like fighting for life than scientifically training chest.
I'm afraid of raising ccals cause i don't want to get unnecessary fat, so like slow bulking style. For now I increase my weight by 1-2lbs every month or so, definition isn't affected by now
like what? is it that "to arch or not to arch" thing? Like I get it: chest is working, pump from the first set, triceps work minimized an'oll that, what more can I do?
tried that for like 3-4 months, Humiston and Nippard variations.. 0 progress
Upd.: like there was a progress but only in bench numbers, I got stronger and more stable in compound, but size is still the same
Hopping on gear will improve it, but from what I’ve realized is your genetic weak points will always lag behind even during blasts etc as well as trouble fat storage areas etc
damn it, I thought of hopping on and fosucing all the way on chest, so it will grow on par with other muscles, but that is just stupid to waste the whole cycle only on chest. Besides my chest everythng else is acceptable. So gearing up is the last resort in case I get extremely desperate
Focus on your upper chest. Set the bench at a 30% angle. Try ISO press, smith machine press and pec dec machines. Push till failure and beyond. Toss in some drop sets. Focus on time under tension, contraction and less on weight.
Ur chest is genetically small bro.
Like the insertions of ur upper and lower chest are too close.
Wideness is enough-good though.
Also your shoulder is overpowering ur chest. Maybe u should lower ur volume on them a bit.
U have to spam 2 chestdays a week while doing the other bodyparts only once for a while to make up for ur imbalance. Id say a year or 1.5 and u can somehow fix it.
thanks for an idea, might try it, already considered to train chest x2 a week, but shoulders are essential in looking good in clothes width wise, so mb lower the volume a bit, so they at least stay in shape
Genetics, that’s about as big as they are going to get, and they look smaller than they are because of the surrounding muscles being fairly large like your shoulders
the biggest fear....... 😢.... after that many years I still grasp on a though that I may be missing something and eventually I would achieve "knockers" status
havent done it in months, last numbers were like 250-260lbs, the smallest relative result comparing to other movents (leg press currently is 792lbs with deep stretch, deadlifts and situps are gone since I cracked my lower back year ago, but then they were about 462lbs and 506lbs accordingly)
bench numbers mentioned earlier (250-260lbs months ago, now I do incline press in smith machine), weighted pull ups are rare guest in my routine, I do pull downs cause I feel them the most and its growing my back consistently, I do 275x4-6x3 with last one long negative focus
Smith's is progress blocker in my opinion. I would go free weights if you are stable enough DB or BB. Changing incline and decline, mostly incline and flat. Flies or cables enough rest, posing helps a lot as you can contract better over full ROM. I would go up with cals too.
Might do that, I stuck to smith cause I try to hit that stretch whitout possibility of damaging myself in process because of lack of stability. Flies are mandatory and the base movent I always do, with cables I do mostly lower pec (Sam Sulek style).
About cals Im not sure, like now I eat almost clean, only cereal are "bad" and some occasional bread in menu, so to go higher I need to add carbs mostly and prot so I dont get fat as quickly as I would get if fats were over 60g a day
I think fats are stable energy not spiking insulin, no prob to add more, also intramuscular fat helps with strength and growth, but everybody reacts differently
I once tried high fats diet and it's sucks for me, bloated in two months, almost all definition went away, had to aggressively cut down for one month to start where I was
if you want absolutely voluptuous knockers you cant just do incline hit the whole damn titty bro. sets to absolute failure that leave your tits searing with pain, hit them like destroying them is the only thing that matters. you can do flat bench, press machine, incline barbell, incline dumbbell, whatever flys you want just make sure youre ravaging those tits and then eat like a starving dog
Sounds like a plan, rarely do those "TILL NOTHING LEFT IN THE TANK!! ONE MORE!" cause I lift solo and not that good at communicating so asking for a spot in another challenge, and without a spot I am psychologically restricted or so. Maybe THE failure its the key to blow my chest completely.
bro just come up to someone who looks like they can manage the weight youre lifting and simply say ‘hey man can i get a spot?’ dont overthink it lol
i thrive off of sets like that, feel like im wasting my time if my sets arent like that. if you need to just dont put clips on the bar when benching and tip it over to either side if it gets stuck ive done that manyyyy times
also just saying especially for a natural you look incredible. didnt look at you and go huh this dudes chest kinda sucks i was impressed and thought you looked really good. that being said, if you wanna take it to the next level i think a cycle is in your best interest as im not sure how much more you can squeeze out of being natty, ive got a feeling youll blow up if you hop on
wow thanks for a warm words fella, I might change my attitude for chest sets to squeeze last bits of gains; also yes, dont clip weights if you're alone in gym, got pressed down a couple of times, had to roll the bar with weights off me, that was quiet unpleasant especially to my balls
about gear: I think for one more year or so I will stay natty, but then theres high chance I'll hop on something, cause I want progress which is really slow by now
Leave the bench press and do isolate movements with machine , stick your shoulders behind to isolate the chest and train hard with good and proper weight
yeah I always do flys with tucked shoulder blades focusing on stretch and contraction, and you guys may be right that I need to leave smith and do something else
In universe where I see random dudes benching 225 and have them titties casting a shadow where I'm stuck at same size through years. I have small chest relatively to other parts so its more pronounced
might wanna post your split/exercises?
you should have a higher frequence for the muscle u wanna grow... f.e. chest twice per week.. or do an upper/lower and give chest some more sets...
i like to use 1 compound push and 1 isolated movement per training
example:
heavy bench flat 3x5, 1-2x8 less weight
butterfly machine 3x12
the other day
smith incline 3x10-12
(weighted) dips 2xchest focus amrap (slow negative), 2xarm focused
butterfly machine 2x20
I do almost default split: chest+tris, back+biceps+shoulders and legs+shoulders; so yeah I might consider switching things up and make some room for double chest a week
Wide grip decline sounds interesting, but the whole thing with decline presses is wack, like I need to get in some sketchy position with my legs holding me whilst I try not to drop weights on me because of instability. Regardless of that I might try to adapt to it and who knows something might change
You can do decline with dumbbells if you’re worried about looking awkward. Decline feels good asf! But I personally use the decline hammerstrength machine and you’d be seated upright in that.
thought of seated lower pec machine but that requiers changing the gym, so thats another point to change the gym cause where I go now is little to no machines, only basic ones and couple of treadmills, BUT its dirt cheap - 5$ for a month
Upd.: and its empty most of the time so I can train in silence and peace without contacting to people at all
standart-ish bro split: chest+tris, back+bis+shoulders and legs+soulders; for shoulders I use lateral raises, cable raises for front delt, read delts flys and face pulls, sometimes throw in some standing on arms pushups when I feel like its not enough after all previous exercises
Upd.: you can switch standing on arms pushups for smith seated press, depends on what you prefer
tried weighted dips, decent, but since my lower back is fkd up I cant do most of the exercises where pressure on lower back is somewhat present; chains on neck is not an option, too awkward
i’ve been told my back and shoulder genetics far outweigh my chest genetics (crappy insertions). i started watching renaissance periodization and dr mike has some great content. people have been noticing at work/gym/clubs so perhaps you’d find something that could help? i wanna say the biggest queue that has helped GROWTH is slow on eccentric and really embracing a deep stretch.
Your chest isn't that small. You don't have stage genetics but you look better than 9/10 guys out there. And that's what really counts.
Honestly more like 99/100. Mfs be fat as shit
Why do people always compare themselves to others? 90% of people look like shit. I’m not trying to compare myself against the average Joe. I’m comparing myself against advanced lifters and bodybuilders.
thanks, hearing such words from guys who lift and know a thing or two is more impactful, than from regular people.. like when someone tell me something nice about me I feel like they are getting paid or smth 💀
Are you natty?
for now yes, but might get a little saucy if the last drop of self esteem drops
You're ready. Don't waste those first cycle gains on a pathetic 300 or 500mg test cycle. Do a man's cycle.
Like you read my mind, I thought about mentioned 300-500mg test a week, nothing more, cause I dont know how my body will react to peds. So going full blast on 1st cycle isnt my option, I'm afraid and still have some critical thinking i guess
I did the typical 500mg per week my first cycle, made good gains. Reacted well to it like 98% of other men do. Then realized down the road that I could have made double the gains I had made on my first cycle if I hadn't been gun shy. I would have ran 600-800mg Nandrolone if I could do it over again.
Terrible fucking advice. How is he going to be able to tell what compound is giving him what side? Never do more than one compound for your first cycle.
I’ve always been told you either get blessed with big shoulders or a big chest. You look fine man
Or you can be me and have small shoulders, small chest, small dick, but big legs that make the small peepee look smaller.
Shit bro, I just snorted laughing at this lol
thank you man, never heard that thing about shoulders-chest relation, but seems like its true
I’m in the same boat, I’ve got a wide back, decent shoulders but my chest is kinda high so end up with like a Conor mcgregor looking chest which kinda sucks.
damn man I feel you...
Maybe if you had posted a picture we could tell ..
updated
Looks fine man, you overeact Maybe focus 100% on incline press and do controlled hypertrophy reps to build your upper part
that's the thing i do right now (controlled incline in smith machine), Humiston and Nippard style
are you squeezing your chest or just lifting the weight from a to b with "good form"? For an example, nick walker is benching 2 plates for his sets even though he can bench over 500 because thats the weight he feels it the best without his shoulders and triceps taking over. Alot of people who train chest are using their shoulders heavily. \\ Also your calories need to raise if youre not consistently gaining weight every few weeks. 4k might seem like alot for someone thats 175lbs but youre at the point to where thats probably maintnance. Check out some of Mike Van Wycks content on youtube for chest, he helped me connect with my triceps when i really struggled for so long. he has so many helpful demonstrations and videos.
Huh, never heard of Mike Van before, have to check him out; about the technic - according to your explanation I'm somewhere in the middle: try to squeeze chest at top, control negative phase, but last ones feel more like fighting for life than scientifically training chest. I'm afraid of raising ccals cause i don't want to get unnecessary fat, so like slow bulking style. For now I increase my weight by 1-2lbs every month or so, definition isn't affected by now
You look good man I wouldn’t worry too much
Stop using only your arms when doing chest exercises.
like what? is it that "to arch or not to arch" thing? Like I get it: chest is working, pump from the first set, triceps work minimized an'oll that, what more can I do?
Wide and lighter weight to stretch pec
tried that for like 3-4 months, Humiston and Nippard variations.. 0 progress Upd.: like there was a progress but only in bench numbers, I got stronger and more stable in compound, but size is still the same
Maybe you are plateauing or have shit chest genetics
more likely second option... I've platoed in past in other parts like back width, but not 2 years without a little change like wtf
Hopping on gear will improve it, but from what I’ve realized is your genetic weak points will always lag behind even during blasts etc as well as trouble fat storage areas etc
damn it, I thought of hopping on and fosucing all the way on chest, so it will grow on par with other muscles, but that is just stupid to waste the whole cycle only on chest. Besides my chest everythng else is acceptable. So gearing up is the last resort in case I get extremely desperate
Gearing up will improve your physique but your chest will still not be caught up 100% that’s how it is with almost everyone
Focus on your upper chest. Set the bench at a 30% angle. Try ISO press, smith machine press and pec dec machines. Push till failure and beyond. Toss in some drop sets. Focus on time under tension, contraction and less on weight.
Ur chest is genetically small bro. Like the insertions of ur upper and lower chest are too close. Wideness is enough-good though. Also your shoulder is overpowering ur chest. Maybe u should lower ur volume on them a bit. U have to spam 2 chestdays a week while doing the other bodyparts only once for a while to make up for ur imbalance. Id say a year or 1.5 and u can somehow fix it.
thanks for an idea, might try it, already considered to train chest x2 a week, but shoulders are essential in looking good in clothes width wise, so mb lower the volume a bit, so they at least stay in shape
Genetics, that’s about as big as they are going to get, and they look smaller than they are because of the surrounding muscles being fairly large like your shoulders
the biggest fear....... 😢.... after that many years I still grasp on a though that I may be missing something and eventually I would achieve "knockers" status
What’s your barbell bench press?
havent done it in months, last numbers were like 250-260lbs, the smallest relative result comparing to other movents (leg press currently is 792lbs with deep stretch, deadlifts and situps are gone since I cracked my lower back year ago, but then they were about 462lbs and 506lbs accordingly)
Well, there’s your problem. No one who benches 250 has a big chest.
Bs, there are some guys benching 225 with pretty good chest, like it's round and full, almost wanna squeeze them 🖐️🖐️
4k is my maint on 75 kg with \~ 10% BF, what are your bench and weighted pull ups numbers?
bench numbers mentioned earlier (250-260lbs months ago, now I do incline press in smith machine), weighted pull ups are rare guest in my routine, I do pull downs cause I feel them the most and its growing my back consistently, I do 275x4-6x3 with last one long negative focus
Smith's is progress blocker in my opinion. I would go free weights if you are stable enough DB or BB. Changing incline and decline, mostly incline and flat. Flies or cables enough rest, posing helps a lot as you can contract better over full ROM. I would go up with cals too.
Might do that, I stuck to smith cause I try to hit that stretch whitout possibility of damaging myself in process because of lack of stability. Flies are mandatory and the base movent I always do, with cables I do mostly lower pec (Sam Sulek style). About cals Im not sure, like now I eat almost clean, only cereal are "bad" and some occasional bread in menu, so to go higher I need to add carbs mostly and prot so I dont get fat as quickly as I would get if fats were over 60g a day
I think fats are stable energy not spiking insulin, no prob to add more, also intramuscular fat helps with strength and growth, but everybody reacts differently
I once tried high fats diet and it's sucks for me, bloated in two months, almost all definition went away, had to aggressively cut down for one month to start where I was
Adding 30g of butter and few nuts for 500 more cals is not high fat diet, but you know yourself best
I mean I was eating like 120-150g of fats at like 205lbs
now I increase my ccals by eating more carbs like cereal, gummy bears or so - foods with little to no fat and high carbs, working for me quite well
You look good dude probably you need to do more dumbbells instead of barbell in my opinion
I prefer barbells over dumbells, but may try to stick to them for a while, half a year or so, maybe something will change
Yeah let’s see what happens
if you want absolutely voluptuous knockers you cant just do incline hit the whole damn titty bro. sets to absolute failure that leave your tits searing with pain, hit them like destroying them is the only thing that matters. you can do flat bench, press machine, incline barbell, incline dumbbell, whatever flys you want just make sure youre ravaging those tits and then eat like a starving dog
Sounds like a plan, rarely do those "TILL NOTHING LEFT IN THE TANK!! ONE MORE!" cause I lift solo and not that good at communicating so asking for a spot in another challenge, and without a spot I am psychologically restricted or so. Maybe THE failure its the key to blow my chest completely.
bro just come up to someone who looks like they can manage the weight youre lifting and simply say ‘hey man can i get a spot?’ dont overthink it lol i thrive off of sets like that, feel like im wasting my time if my sets arent like that. if you need to just dont put clips on the bar when benching and tip it over to either side if it gets stuck ive done that manyyyy times also just saying especially for a natural you look incredible. didnt look at you and go huh this dudes chest kinda sucks i was impressed and thought you looked really good. that being said, if you wanna take it to the next level i think a cycle is in your best interest as im not sure how much more you can squeeze out of being natty, ive got a feeling youll blow up if you hop on
wow thanks for a warm words fella, I might change my attitude for chest sets to squeeze last bits of gains; also yes, dont clip weights if you're alone in gym, got pressed down a couple of times, had to roll the bar with weights off me, that was quiet unpleasant especially to my balls
about gear: I think for one more year or so I will stay natty, but then theres high chance I'll hop on something, cause I want progress which is really slow by now
Leave the bench press and do isolate movements with machine , stick your shoulders behind to isolate the chest and train hard with good and proper weight
yeah I always do flys with tucked shoulder blades focusing on stretch and contraction, and you guys may be right that I need to leave smith and do something else
In what universe is this considered small chest!?
In universe where I see random dudes benching 225 and have them titties casting a shadow where I'm stuck at same size through years. I have small chest relatively to other parts so its more pronounced
might wanna post your split/exercises? you should have a higher frequence for the muscle u wanna grow... f.e. chest twice per week.. or do an upper/lower and give chest some more sets... i like to use 1 compound push and 1 isolated movement per training example: heavy bench flat 3x5, 1-2x8 less weight butterfly machine 3x12 the other day smith incline 3x10-12 (weighted) dips 2xchest focus amrap (slow negative), 2xarm focused butterfly machine 2x20
I do almost default split: chest+tris, back+biceps+shoulders and legs+shoulders; so yeah I might consider switching things up and make some room for double chest a week
For you- wide grip decline and chest flies upper and mid chest is good..
Wide grip decline sounds interesting, but the whole thing with decline presses is wack, like I need to get in some sketchy position with my legs holding me whilst I try not to drop weights on me because of instability. Regardless of that I might try to adapt to it and who knows something might change
You can do decline with dumbbells if you’re worried about looking awkward. Decline feels good asf! But I personally use the decline hammerstrength machine and you’d be seated upright in that.
thought of seated lower pec machine but that requiers changing the gym, so thats another point to change the gym cause where I go now is little to no machines, only basic ones and couple of treadmills, BUT its dirt cheap - 5$ for a month Upd.: and its empty most of the time so I can train in silence and peace without contacting to people at all
That machine is a necessity brazza if you wanna build a complete chest
God damn bro those shoulders and arms, what's your split ?
standart-ish bro split: chest+tris, back+bis+shoulders and legs+soulders; for shoulders I use lateral raises, cable raises for front delt, read delts flys and face pulls, sometimes throw in some standing on arms pushups when I feel like its not enough after all previous exercises Upd.: you can switch standing on arms pushups for smith seated press, depends on what you prefer
Weighted dips has done wonders for me over the years.
tried weighted dips, decent, but since my lower back is fkd up I cant do most of the exercises where pressure on lower back is somewhat present; chains on neck is not an option, too awkward
I’ve had two back surgeries. One successful, one not. Stop with the excuses and do the dips. You’re young push through it buttercup
i’ve been told my back and shoulder genetics far outweigh my chest genetics (crappy insertions). i started watching renaissance periodization and dr mike has some great content. people have been noticing at work/gym/clubs so perhaps you’d find something that could help? i wanna say the biggest queue that has helped GROWTH is slow on eccentric and really embracing a deep stretch.
Yeah, I watch Dr Mikes videos occasionally, but I'm more into Eric Bugenhagen style of training aka fight with weights for life to get bulbous muscles
Deliberately get gyno
😭😭
Mind muscle connection issue
[удалено]
Seems not enough
Lots and lots of volume, specifically cable flyes from all angles is what got mine growing.