Unconventional Chest Day Workout Routine to Bust Your Pec Training Plateau – Fitness Volt – Fitness Volt

Training plateaus are very frustrating. You hit the gym, work hard, take your supplements, and get your sleep, but still don’t make any noticeable gains. It’s like you are usually wasting your time.

Faced with a situation such as this, a lot of lifters double-down on their workouts and increase training volume. While this can work for a while, it’s usually the short-term fix for a long-term problem.

In simple terms, you just end up doing more or what is already not working. When a person think about it like that, it’s no wonder that small plateaus often turn into endless ruts.

So , what you really need to do is try something entirely new. Whatever you are currently doing, take the opposite approach. That’s how you smash through coaching plateaus.

Giving up your favorite workout can be somewhat unsettling. Still, the very definition of insanity will be doing the same workout over and over while expecting different results.

In this article, we provide you with an unconventional chest day workout that’s guaranteed to reignite pec growth. It’s different, but that’s why it’s going to work!

What’s Wrong with Your Current Chest Workout?  

If like most bodybuilders, you train your chest once a week, the reason for your own plateau is already pretty clear – exercise frequency plus training intensity are too low.

Low frequency + high volume = low intensity + poor outcomes!

Muscles generally take 48-72 hours to recover from a workout. Once recovery has occurred, your muscles are ready in order to train again.

But , if you only work your chest once per week (168 hours), that means you are not stimulating your muscles frequently enough to produce maximal gains. In fact , you’re actually detraining between workouts instead of making progress.

Also, once-a-week chest teaching invariably involves a lot of exercises and sets – the low-frequency, high-volume approach.

The more volume you do, the less intense your own workout becomes, but the more fatigue you accumulate. Getting tired doesn’t make muscle tissue grow – exposure to ever-increasing degrees associated with muscle tension is the trigger for hypertrophy. You can train long, or you can train hard, but you can’t do both.

For example , maybe your current upper body workout currently looks some thing like this particular:

1. Bench press 4 units of 8 reps
2. Incline dumbbell press 4 sets of 8 reps
3. Decline bench press 4 models of eight reps
4. Cable crossovers 3 pieces of 10 reps
5. Upper body press machine 3 sets associated with 10 repetitions
6. Pec deck a few sets of 10 reps
7. Chest dips 2 sets associated with AMRAP (max) reps
8. Push-ups two sets of AMRAP (max) reps

While a person have most definitely strike your chest from all the available angles, the intensity will have steadily declined over the course of the particular workout until, by the end, you are basically just going through the motions.

Your education weights will be light, you won’t manage many reps, and all you are really doing is creating fatigue. You get the greatest hypertrophy stimulus from the first couple of workouts in your workout (1). The last few exercises and sets are usually basically pointless junk quantity.

That’s the reason why most lifters tend to front-load their workouts, doing the majority of important, demanding exercises at the start and the particular easier ones near the end. This allows for the accumulating fatigue.

Imagine how much more productive your exercise could be in case you trained each exercise with maximum intensity…

Also read: High-Frequency, Low-Volume Strength Training

Too a lot exercise redundancy

Look at many bodybuilding exercises, and you’ll see a lot of very similar exercises. Most of this variety is usually unnecessary. Subtle changes in order to things like hand position or switching from freeweights to machines makes no real difference to hypertrophy.

Your muscles are pretty dumb – they do not know if you are doing along with presses or even push-ups. They just know tension plus work. Providing you work the muscles hard enough, they’ll respond by getting stronger and bigger.

As soon as they’ve been stimulated, you don’t need to hit them once again using an almost identical exercise. There is simply no additional induce for growth, and instead, you’re just creating a deeper level of exhaustion, so you will need longer to recover among workouts. Doing more than a couple of exercises per muscle group is basically a waste of time and energy.

In contrast, performing fewer workouts and sets means a person can raise the intensity associated with your workout, producing better results while saving your energy for recovery and development.

Lower instruction volume also means you may train your muscles more frequently. In studies, more frequent workouts have been shown to be superior for building hypertrophy plus strength (2).

Creating a Better Chest Workout

So, if exercising your upper body once a week along with a high-volume workout isn’t working, you should do the opposite.

Of course, some genetic freaks (and steroid users) develop like weeds training the particular “wrong” way, but when you’ve tried the standard approach and failed to get the results you want, it’s time to do something else.

Considering the potential issues with high volume, low-frequency bodybuilding schooling, that means:

• 2-3 exercises per chest exercise
• Choose very different exercises
• Hit your own chest 2-3 times per week
• Train at a high level of strength, i. e., very close to failure
• Rest a little longer in between sets to maximize workout performance

Basically, you’ll take your usual chest training volume and spread it out over several shorter workout routines. This will certainly allow you to a) train harder and b) hit your chest multiple times each week to produce more hypertrophic (muscle building) events.

Upper body Day Workout Routines

Using the information above, you should be able to create your own unconventional upper body training plan.

But, to save you the bother, we’ve got one for you to try.

Yes, it is VERY different from what a lot of bodybuilders do, yet that’s exactly why it works. Sometimes, the particular best solution to a problem is doing the opposite.

For this particular workout strategy , you’ll be training your chest three times the week, electronic. g., Monday , Wednesday , and Friday . The volume is lower, so you can get each set to failing.

Don’t be fooled by the brevity of these workouts; you still need to train difficult and, more importantly, have in order to do it again a couple of days later.

Furthermore, bear in mind that rather than carrying out 15-20 units for your upper body in a single workout , you will be doing 18 models each week, providing more than enough quantity for muscle mass growth. Combined with the particular increased intensity, this should blast you away of your own current chest training rut.

Workout 1

*This is definitely your last chest workout. Make this count simply by doing a drop arranged . Rep out to failure, reduce the weight by 10-15% and rep out again. Lower the weight 2-3 a lot more times to fully exhaust your chest and get a great pump .

Workout two

*This can be your final chest physical exercise. Make it count by doing the drop established . Representative out in order to failure, decrease the bodyweight by 10-15% and representative out once again. Lower the 2-3 more times to completely exhaust your own chest and obtain an excellent pump .

Workout 3 or more

*This is your last chest exercise. Make it count by doing a drop fixed . Rep out to failure, reduce the weight by 10-15% and rep out again. Lower the weight 2-3 more times to fully exhaust your chest plus get a great pump .

Chest Day time Workout Program FAQs

1 . A lot of champion bodybuilders train their own chests once per week, so why can not I?

Most elite bodybuilders use steroids. Steroids increase protein synthesis, which means drug-using bodybuilders are in an almost constant state of anabolism, and even the particular “wrong” exercise will create the right results.

Training such as a steroid-using pro will not work with regard to natural lifters because your body is not in the same 24/7 anabolic condition. Natural lifters usually do better on shorter, a lot more frequent workouts.

2 . Are 1-3 sets really enough regarding muscle growth?

Studies possess shown that will one set is sufficient to result in hypertrophy offering that you teach to failing or near to this. However, performing 2-3 pieces will generate better outcomes. More than three sets won’t lead to much more muscle tissue growth but will create more fatigue, which indicates you will not be able to train as usually.

Offering you build up between 10-20 sets for each muscle group per week, a person should obtain good hypertrophic results from the more regular approach to training (3).

3. Is this a bulking or cutting workout?

The main difference between cutting and bulking is your own diet rather than the particular workout a person are following. For example, if you  eat 300-500 calories   above your  TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure) , you should bulk up and build muscles.

In contrast, if you reduce your calorie expenditure in order to 300-500 calorie consumption BELOW your TDEE, you need to burn fat and get leaner.

Therefore , adjust your diet according to your  body composition goal . Eat more to build muscle plus less to lose fat. Train hard to stimulate muscle growth or even preserve your own existing muscle mass during your cutting diet.

4. Can I change the exercises?

Providing you make use of similar workouts, you are free to create changes in order to the programs. However, don’t increase coaching volume or use different rep ranges.

The idea is to teach with heavy weights intended for maximal muscle tissue tension (exercise 1), moderate weights to create plenty of metabolic stress (exercise 2), and then moderate progressing to gentle weights in order to fatigue as many muscles fibers as possible (exercise 3).

Providing a person stick with that format, changing exercises ought to have no real effect on your improvement.

5. What does training to failure mean?

Training in order to failure means doing as many reps as you possibly can with good form. This is also known as technical failure.

You’ll know you are approaching failure when your repetition speed starts to decrease and you feel you need to consider longer pauses between repetitions. Your facial expression will also change, and you’ll start to grimace. In short, you need to feel that you cannot do any more reps without obtaining assistance through a spotter.

6. How long should I do this workout to get?

Stick with this particular workout pertaining to 6-8 weeks, or until you feel it is no lengthier productive. During that period, do your own best to use more bodyweight, do more reps, or even just perform each set with the higher degree of specialized proficiency. These “micro progressions” are exactly what keep your muscles growing.

Then, when you are usually ready for a new exercise, use the similar strategy but using mostly brand new exercises. Alternatively, revert to a lower-frequency, higher-volume upper body program for a few weeks before returning in order to this workout.

7. I’m super sore after carrying out the first workout – is it okay to train once again so soon?

Muscle soreness is simply a sign that will you’ve done something new and is not necessarily a good indicator that anything is certainly wrong or that you aren’t recovered from your final workout. In this case, soreness is probably the result associated with doing six high-intensity sets when you are used to higher volume yet lower strength training.

If you are sore, spend a little extra time warming up and do 2-3 ramped units of the 1st exercise in order to ease yourself into your own workout.

For example:

1. 20 reps (empty barbell)
2. 12 reps 40kg/90lbs
3. 8 repetitions 60kg/135lbs
4. 3 reps 80kg/175lbs
5. 6 reps 100kg/220lbs (1 ^st work set)

Soreness should become much less of an issue as you become accustomed to this new style of teaching.

Read more regarding dealing with post-workout muscle soreness here.

Chest Day Wrapping Up

In case you are making benefits with a more traditional chest exercise, then a person should continue doing it. After all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

But, in case you are training tough and not really seeing the particular results you would like, it’s time for you to try a different method. Doing a lot more of the same is not the answer.

Use this particular workout to see how your chest responds in order to low-volume, high-frequency training. If it works for the chest, you can use a similar method for all your muscle groups.

References:

one PubMed: Single Vs. Multiple Sets of Resistance Exercise for Muscle mass Hypertrophy https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20300012/

2. PubMed: Effects associated with Resistance Training Frequency on Measures of Muscle tissue Hypertrophy: The Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27102172/

3. PubMed: Dose-Response Relationship Between Weekly Strength training Volume and Increases in Muscles Mass  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27433992/