Packing on some size on the Pecs

The Morning after my chest routine

Since I’m at it, I might as well share it. Last night while working out in the gym, another member came up to me to ask me for tips and pointers on how to build a thicker chest. Best bit is, this guy has at least a 18 – 20 inch arm and I can’t even see my reflection in the mirror if i stand behind him. He’s a mass builder all these while. It’s an honour I guess.

Pectorals is a big muscle group. One which you need a good weight to pump it up

My routine is very simple straight to the point.

#1 There is only 1 width grip on the bar.

I work with just 1 type of grip. there is no narrow-grip which works the triceps more and there is no extra wide-grip which place more pressure on the delts and back. It’s slightly wider than shoulder width. Making sure each time I lower the bar, my forearms are pointing straight up and elbow pointing straight down. Creating a 90° angle.

#2 Keep my chest erected all the time

It’s the basics of basics. Keeping a strict form from starting position till the ending position of each rep. Always arch the lower back, keep the chest higher than the shoulder, keep the delts low. Press the bar up not jerk it up. Lower the bar down not drop it. Keep the neck planted and don’t make pretend that you are a turtle when the weight feels heavier. Try not to extend your head cause this will place a lot of pressure on the spine. Plus it looks weird.

#3 Use the right weight

This is very crucial. it all depends on your goal. But in this case, we are talking about packing on some size so HEAVY it is. I usually stack up a weight which makes me struggle on the 8th rep. Targeted reps 4 – 8. Make sure its A QUALITY REP on each count and not Chipmunks presses. Quality meaning a good stretch on the top without locking in the elbows and a good stretch below without resting the bars on the pecs far too long. The only rest stops in the set is a good 1 1/2 second squeeze at the top or a 1 1/2 second stretch at the bottom.

#4 Focus! Focus! Focus!!!

Couldn’t stress enough. FOCUS! It can help you to avoid injuries. And with proper focus on each targeted muscles, you know if you are working it correctly or not. I don’t know bout u but I can feel every  fiber moving with each stretch and each time i press it up I can feel it compressed. Always FOCUS cause when you do, you know when your form is wrong and adjust it so you won’t be wasting your time..

This was my pecs before I started the all Press routine

Of course, this works for me and don’t mean it’s going to work for everyone. With so much different genetics, lifestyle, diets, and even environments there can be so much possibilities on the results. You have to first know your body well and maintain a discipline lifestyle. I remember how I 1st got the thickness. I came back to my hometown where the gyms are limited. Meaning the equipments too. So happens I was a regular in this Eastwood Valley gym and they only have dumbbells and a smith-machine I can work with for my pecs. The Pec-Deck machine was faulty. So I’ve no choice but to work my pecs on the smith-machine. There is this nice incline bench with 12? 14? 16? holes.. I did 3 sets each on each hole at 8 – 12 reps initially. As time pass I add on the weights and did the same amount of sets but 4 – Max 6  reps or failure. That was the 1st time i got my pecs up thick.

Got it flexed a little just to see how it is

Like I said…

(Disclaimer: It works for me but not too sure if it has the same effect for you. This serve not as a guideline for sure pectoral thickness routine just an example routine)

 

 

 

Fat burn or water loss?

Do you sweat because you work your body hard or because of the heat surrounding you?

Well, I guess I See the point to blog about this because I notice more and more builders (locally – not too sure if it’s similar in any other places) mistook sweating as the signs of fat burning. But Not so According to the New England Journal of Medicine. (CLICK IT & READ IT… lol)

There is a huge misunderstanding. I’ve met builders who told me that Sun bathing burns body fats, sauna burn body fats, training in a stuffy closed up gym burns more fats… & many more. You’ll be surprised. But the best one I’ve heard so far is still Narrow grip on a Preacher curl machine builds triceps. Trust me, you don’t even need to move an inch in a stuffy room to sweat. Don’t have to comment on the sauna. But does all these heat boost up your metabolism or cause your body to burn fats? Well, probably it might just do in micro ways. You need energy to sit, nudge, stand, move fingers, twitch the toes… so you are still burning fats. Just very very micro which is not enough to cover the calories you might be eating. But the scenario here, even if you lay down and play dead in the sauna room, a stuffy room or any heaty environment you will still be sweating because our sweat pores will automatically react towards the heat and release moisture to cool down the temperature. Well, probably there is some more micro metabolic increase here. Maybe.

So does this mean that sweating = fat burn? The sweat was release due to the increase in temperature around the skin to decrease the temperature of the body will not over heat which might cause heat stroke or some other malicious conditions. In other words, you are losing water or being dehydrated. Too much of that and it’s a big NO NO for the skin health because you are losing the skin moisture which is important for the skin’s elasticity.

On the other hand, if you train / workout / exercise in a cool environment with AWESOME air circulation and still sweat… YOU HELL KNOW YOU ARE PUMPING HARD!!! LoL. Well, I used to workout in a Seria, Brunei Darussalam Gym with 6 air-con at 16° – 18° (Practically it’s full blast) and I can still sweat a bucket… well a chinese tea glass. 😛 So make sure you are eating right for the body to work hard to digest the food to increase your metabolism and workout right to increase your metabolic rate to burn fats and not wait for the sweat to think you burn fats.

One of my photoshoot with Annie, Miri Photographer