We’ve all seen guys in the gym doing chest for three or four hours, never mind that pecs aren’t all that big to begin with. In fact, of the three major muscle groups—legs, back and chest—pecs are the smallest.
Forget those endless hours of effort. Train your chest instead with a few key exercises that total no more than 15 sets max. How you train it is more important anyway than how much. Quality trumps quantity, especially in the gym.
| Exercise |
Sets/Reps |
| Chest Press* |
4/8-12 |
| Incline Press* |
4/8-12 |
| Dips |
3/10-12 |
| Flyes (Cablecross) |
3/12-15 |
*Dumbbells or barbells
Your whole routine shouldn’t take more than a good half-hour. Keep your intensity up with rests of a minute or less, and maintain a challenging weight.
Train it like this: Lay down, arch your back and tighten your core muscles. Now lock your abs, bring your shoulders back, and focus tension onto your pecs. Bring the barbell down slowly to the high point of your chest (armpits if you’re using dumbbells). Stay controlled at the bottom before pushing the weights smoothly back up. The negative rep should be slow, .the power stroke explosive.
And remember: if you’re spending more than 45 minutes working your chest something is wrong!
