Simply The Chest

Simply the chest Eight weeks into this schedule to get a chest to beat the rest, head for the beach, peel off your T-shirt and reveal an upper body that’ll have ladies falling off their lilos. Your goal The perfect chest The routine on the next two pages attacks the primary cause of puniness: “The mistake most men make when looking for more chest size and strength is always sticking to the traditional eight-to-12-repetition principle,” says strength coach Jason Ferruggia. His first rule: Change your repetition schemes and emphasise lower-repetition, heavier-weight sets. This allows you to target your body’s fast-twitch muscle fibres, the ones with the greatest potential for growth. At times, this workout also calls for you to lift only your body weight. Think gymnasts, who build rock-hard bodies without ever picking up a dumb-bell. “Moving your body through space is more taxing to your central nervous system than normal weight-training,” says Ferruggia. This will train your body to recruit more muscle in every exercise. The pay-off Fewer crunches The press-ups and single-arm bench press challenge your core stability while building your chest, so your midsection works just as hard as in any ab exercise. A stronger upper body The heavy weights you’ll use in this workout develop muscle fibres that produce strength and power. This added strength improves performance in many upper-body lifts. Extra muscle This routine uses several body-weight moves that train stabilising muscles in addition to your largest muscles, so you end up working more muscle overall. Perform the Phase 1 workouts (overleaf) for 4 weeks, working your chest twice a week with two separate routines (Day 1 and Day 2). Do the exercises here as the chest portion of your upper- or total-body routine. Rest at least 2 days between workouts. Complete the Phase 2 workouts in the next 4 weeks.

You’re one page away from a better body.

Phase 1 Day 1 1. Dumb-Bell Single-Arm Bench Press 1. Lie on your back on a bench with a heavy dumb-bell in your left hand alongside your chest, palm facing in. Hold the other arm out to the side for balance. 2. Push the weight up so your arm is above your chest. Pause, then slowly lower the weight to the starting position and repeat using the opposite arm.

THE PLAN Do5-7 repetitions with each hand. Complete4 sets, resting 2 minutes after each set.

2. Two-Hand Incline Bench Press 1.Lie face-up on an incline bench and hold a pair of heavy dumb-bells along the outsides of your chest with a neutral grip (palms turned in). 2. Slowly press the dumb-bells straight above your chest, without locking your elbows. Pause, then lower them to the starting position.

THE PLAN Perform6-8 repetitions. Do3 sets and rest 2 minutes after each set.

Day 2 1. Body-Weight Suspended Press-up 1. If your gym has Blast Straps or chains, try this press-up variation. Or do the weighted press-ups below. Set a bar about 1 metre from the floor in a squat rack. Loop the straps round the bar. Get into a press-up position. 2.With your hands grasping the handles, so only your feet are touching the floor, bend at the elbows to lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, then push yourself up to the starting position.

THE PLAN Do as many press-ups as you can, then rest for 90 seconds. Do a total of3 sets.

2. Dumb-Bell Incline Fly 1.Lie back on an incline bench, keeping your feet steady on the supports. Hold a pair of dumb-bells over your chest with your arms straight (but elbows not locked),with your palms facing out in front of you. 2. Keeping your palms forwards, slowly sweep your arms down and out to your sides in an arc, until the weights are level with your chest. Pause, then reverse the motion until the weights are once again above you.

THE PLAN Do8-12 repetitions of the dumb-bell incline fly, then immediately superset it with the parallel-bar dip.

3. Parallel-Bar Dip 1. Grab the parallel dip bars and lift yourself on to them, so your arms are straight. Keep your back straight and cross your ankles. 2. Slowly lower yourself by bending your elbows until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Pause, then push up to the starting position.

THE PLAN Do as many reps as you can, then rest for 3 minutes and repeat the superset with the previous move.

4. Side-Lying Single-Arm External Rotation 1. Lie on your left side with your left arm bent and your head resting on it. Holding a light dumb-bell in your right hand, bend your right arm90 degrees and tuck your upper arm by your right side, the weight in front of you. 2. Keeping your right upper arm stationary, slowly rotate your right forearm until it points toward the ceiling. Then rotate your forearm back to the starting position and do the same while lying on your right side.

THE PLAN Perform 12-15 repetitions, then rest for1 minute. Repeat the exercise on the opposite side. Do2 sets.

Phase 2 Day 1 1. Bar-Bell Bench Press 1. Lie on a bench with your feet fl at on the floor. Grab the bar with your hands slightly more than shoulder-width apart and hold the weight over your chest.

2. Pull shoulder blades back, then lower the bar to your chest. (Tuck your elbows in at 45degrees; don’t let them fl are out to the sides.)Pause, then push the weight back up.

THE PLAN Do5 sets of 4 reps at 80% of your 1RM.Increase weight but decrease reps, so by week 8 do 4 sets of 1 rep at 90% of your 1RM.

Day 2 1. Weighted Press-up 1. (Instead of the suspended press-up.)Assume the standard press-up position, with your hands beneath your shoulders. Ask a workout partner to place a weight plate on your back, between your shoulder blades. 2. Keeping your body straight and your feet in the same position, lower yourself with a controlled movement by bending your elbows until your chest touches the floor. Pause, then push yourself back up to the start position.

THE PLAN Do8-12 reps, then immediately move on to the Cable Lying Fly to create a superset.

2. Cable Lying Fly 1. Place an exercise bench between the stacks of a cable crossover station and attach handles to the low-pulley cables. Grab

the handles and lie face-up on the bench. Hold your arms straight above your chest. 2. Keeing your feet fl at on the floor, your palms turned inwards and your elbows slightly bent, slowly lower your hands out to your sides in an arc motion, then reverse the movement to return to the start position.

THE PLAN Do8-10 repetitions, rest 150seconds, then repeat the superset for a total of 3 sets.

3. Sitting External Rotation 1. Sit on the floor with your left knee bent and your right leg fl at. Hold a light dumb-bell in your left hand and rest the elbow at 90 degrees on your knee with the weight hanging down. 2. Keeping your elbow in place, slowly rotate your left arm up. Pause when your forearm points to the ceiling, then reverse the motion until the weight is back to its start position.

THE PLAN Do10-12 reps with each hand, then rest 60 seconds.

Benchmark of success

How do you measure up? The best barometer of chest strength is your maximum bench press – the most weight you can lift for a single repetition. To determine your max, you’ll need a spotter. Grab an empty bar and perform 10repetitions of the bench press. Rest for 30 to 90 seconds, then add 5-15kg and repeat.

Continue this process until the weight feels difficult. Then do only one repetition per set until you work up to the heaviest weight you can lift once – your one-repetition maximum, or one-rep max(1RM).Measure your 1RM at the beginning of the schedule and then again in the last week and adjust your routine for the Bar-bell Bench Press (right) accordingly. Track Your Progress Record your one-rep max in the chart below. Then follow the exercises overleaf and retest yourself every 4 weeks. Start…………………………………….. Week 4……………………………………. Finish………………………………………….

Gym assassin But if you’ve only got 4 weeks… You can blitz your way to a better chest if your holiday is only a month away, just spend two weeks on phase one and two more on phase two. You might not end up quite as ripped, but you’ll still see some results worth writing home about.