Seriously stubborn and weak chest

[polarbearwear]

I’ve been lifting now for about 2 years and have spent that time trying to train as optimally as possible.
I have been able to progressively overload every muscle group consistently week to week apart from my chest which has hardly gotten stronger in months.
Ive made sure my nutrition, technique, intensity is all in check. I’ve tried adjusting volume, rep ranges and excersise selections.

I train chest twice every 8 days, currently doing 6 sets a workout ( tried lower and higher volumes )
Flat press x 2 -
Incline press x 2 -
Cable fly x 2

I take every set to failure or 0 rir with controlled ecentric and full rom. But I’m just not getting stronger.
For reference current strength levels from last workouts.
Db flat press - 25kg 8-12 -
Db incline press - 25kg - 5-8 -
Bb flat press - 55kg 12-15 -
BB incline press - 50kg 8-12

 

[unbridledwild]

@polarbearwear What’s helped me start to fill out my chest is going really light with slow eccentric into a pause with a deep stretch at the bottom. I would consider adding more volume, regardless.

 

[kvolm]

@polarbearwear What does your programming look like for these movements? Are they all on one day? What is the volume of each?

You said your nutrition is good, but what does it actually look like? Are you gaining weight?

 

[polarbearwear]

@kvolm Currently doing chest back arms legs rest x 2. I do flat db press 2 x 8-12, incline bb press 2 x 5-9 - cable fly 2 x 12-16 then rotate dumbbells and barbell next session.
As for nutrition I’m getting 1lb of protein per pound of body weight and have been gaining around 0.5-1 lbs a week.
I’ve spent countless hours learning trying to perfect my diet and training and have made great gains on everything but my chest is very stubborn.

 

[kvolm]

@polarbearwear Assuming your execution is as tight as you say, I would probably try swapping out the barbell movements for machines for a while, and/or increase frequency for pressing movements.

 

[christianmom21]

@kvolm If anything the dumbbells would be better to replace than barbells. Dumbbells can't be microloaded like the other two usually.

 

[kvolm]

@christianmom21 If neither are progressing I don’t think it particularly matters which one he swaps. If he chooses to swap barbell he can still go for more reps/partial reps on DBs.

 

[peggys]

@polarbearwear How long have you been training 6 sets/0 RIR for? If that’s been your routine for weeks/months and you aren’t progressing, aren’t getting sore, aren’t getting a pump, etc, then your body may be very well adapted to the current training and staleness may be preventing gains.

Im not saying you need to ditch training to failure long term, but if you’re looking to gain strength, you probably need to be doing a higher volume of sub-maximal training for at least a block of training. If you look at any serious powerlifting/strength programs, it’s primarily periodidized training and doesn’t involve maxing out every session.

 

[shayyydee]

@peggys Menno Henselmans says, that high intensity (1-5 reps) is the best for strength gains, while high volume (6-30 reps) best for size gains.

 

[frustratedhusband]

@polarbearwear Try not going to failure all the time. Leave a rep or two in the tank for your presses and go to failure on flys if you have to. That way you can probably increase volume a bit, like 3 sets of your 3 exercises

 

[kennycool]

@polarbearwear Hmm - I can speak to what I would personally change.

First always bench first. I’m not sure if you just typed it out on memory but definitely bench press first.

I wouldn’t incline and flat dumbell press on the same day, I would alternate. Do one more set for bench press and one more set for either flat or incline.

Stop going to failure for each set. You absolutely should not be doing that. You should go to failure on like your last set for each workout.

25 kg 8-12 reps twice ? Do 25 kg for 10 reps once, then do 30 kg for 4-6 reps. Eventually you’ll be able to do more.

 

[aktsumi]

@polarbearwear I would try dropping the rep ranges to about 6-8 range and increase calories a bit.

 

[christianmom21]

@polarbearwear Whats your progression scheme? Do you typically try to add weight or add reps? Adding a rep is usually harder than increasing weight by 5 lbs.

 

[polarbearwear]

@christianmom21 I try to increase reps in the given rep range then once I’ve past it I increase load then repeat

 

[christianmom21]

@polarbearwear It's not a bad method but also can cause issues with progression because like I said even adding 1 rep at the same weight can be harder than weight or other variables. Try either adding 5 lbs the next session and meeting the same reps, doing a longer eccentric or maybe adding partials.

 

[mac1]

@polarbearwear Try out Bilbo Method, it's perfect for those who wanna get a big chest, dudes a European masters champ and natural lifter, at 45yo he benched 240kgs at bw 90kg

 

[itsjoseph]

@polarbearwear I would need to see your training log/ nutrition logs. But based on information provided my GUESS based on you not being very strong, current body weight, and how you are having issues getting stronger.

Nutrition sounds like the culprit.

AGAIN I would need to see training log/nutrition log to diagnose the problem.

 

[alamana]

@polarbearwear Also have a naturally weak chest, but over the years I progressed from 22s to 54s with flat bench.

What helped?
*Chest twice a week: a press day and a flye day
*Periodise. Do some volume phases but also sometimes push intensity with a spotter present. Even throw in some powerlifting work.
* pick exercises that really give you good chest pump and mind/muscle connection, as opposed to your triceps and front delts. This may vary from person to person.

 

[monicawinter]

@polarbearwear Look for a powerbuilding program and apply those principles to your chest day. It’ll have you perform incline/flat barbell bench with a set and rep scheme that maximizes strength adaptations, with some accessory work for hypertrophy.

 

[kpmasonry]

@polarbearwear height/weight?