My man's right. I did a weighted dip specialization phase, got up to 145lbs for 4 at 160 lbs. My chest development was good but with the OHP as my accessory my shoulders far outclassed my chest. Now with a bench phase I'm running it's blowing up my pecs. Bench press is really #1 in this regard.
Amazing. I Hit the 225 bench and started looking for *optimal* excercises instead of keeping on doing what got me the original progress. So much love and respect for the advise and inspiration!
Weighted dips are one of my favorite movements and I heavily credit them with helping increase both my bench and pec size. No matter my programming at a given time, a weighted dip is gonna be in there. I've found that switching between bars and rings is also a great way to keep things interesting and progressing, since the instability of the rings forces me to cut the weight way back while getting a better stretch, whereas bar dips let me move some more serious weight
It's the king of upper body. It works on your lats too, which is why it focuses centrally less on the chest. That's why you can use more weight on it. Plus you cant k*ll yourself with it by accident (neck).
i'm pretty much a novice and i'm training with calinsthenics but i've noticed that since i've incorporated some set of incline push-ups (with a very close grip, almost diamonds) my pecs are looking fuller, and also on the first times that i was doing the exercise i had DOMS like crazy only to the upper chest.
I'm currently on a self-imposed 30 day chest challenge and on day 11. The video encourages me do more work with the bench press and to include more versions of dumb bell chest exercises. My goal is to increase my upper chest muscles to match with the lower chest muscles which look pretty good. Thanks for sharing---keep them coming!
He already made many videos about it. For back at least total 315 lb pullup (including bw), cheat rows, rack pulls, shrugs…. For biceps he suggests preacher and incline curls for the stretch reflex
Pecs are interesting. You look at boxers and wrestlers, who have ripped arms, legs, and torsos, and they don’t usually have thick pecs. The old time strongmen didn’t really have much pecs either. I always kind of wondered about that. It seems to be an area where the body does not want to add a lot of mass. I think you definitely have to be intentional about it. But a thick chest does wonders under a t-shirt!
This was very informative for how to hit the chest and different variations. Nice job on shouting out Fitness FAQs, I use his methods as well. I always been a shoulder puller and pusher, you could say, (if I'm saying that right) so I have always had to do the alternative exercises for the chest, not the standard ones. But, this video has given me something to think about and try for my training. Great video.
One good thing the internet did for my training was it showed that it's possible to hit huge numbers naturally and that there's really strong people almost everywhere. 315, 405 bench press aren't mythical numbers - they're something that can be realistically hit if you shut up, put your head down, and train and eat consistently over many years.
Also, when learning the push up. Start from the floor. Lay completely flat, center your hands underneath your shoulders, depress your shoulder blades and push from your core. Push up powerfully like you're pushing the world away from you, finish with extension through your shoulder blades, and then do the eccentric phase slow and controlled. Remember to start by depressing your shoulders blades on the eccentric then lower through your pecs, your pecs should almost be at full stretch before you even begin bending your elbows. Lowering through your pecs, does NOT mean dropping your spine/hips/core, this remains tight like you're expecting someone to stand on your back, otherwise your form has failed. And while we're here, you better be planking straight, not sticking your but up or tea bagging the floor.. Time and place for that. Power up, controlled down. Full ROM. As a beginner with a proper rest/nutrition program in place, 3 times a day, 3/1 RIR, never even hitting failure, your chest will explode. You're way, WAY better off doing 5 strict power pushups, than 15 baby reps. Allll day.
Wait so I should be doing 3x10 flat bench, 3x10 low incline, 3x10 dips/ deficit stretch motion, and 3x10 fly motion? 12 sets at 2x a week I think 24 sets per week is approaching max recoverable volume but not too bad while bulking and giving 72 hours recovery in between chest sessions.
My chest has always been its biggest and most impressive when I've put more emphasis on dumbbell flies and concentrating on that stretch at the bottom, as you mentioned here the top range of the movement isn't really all that important. It never gave me the strongest chest but a bigger and fuller looking chest than most who were much stronger than me and focused all their chest work around the bench press.
Haven’t benched in a couple years… only weighted dips and push up variations. Chest looks better than it ever has. But I’m thinking of trying to bench again and wonder what the carryover will be.
Alex can you do a video on ramping and how heavy do the warmups have to be to count as straight sets? Geoffrey Verity Schofield says that any weight over 50% of your Rep max should be counted but that seems super low if my bench 5RM is 225 and 115lbs is considering a working set.
As a woman it's very hard to progress on chest press ...been lifting 80 lbs finally and omg it's hard, but I finally can do it from 75. Is there any way to increase ur chest press faster?
Good stuff as always, man! For me personally, feet-up bench pressing with a close grip (that sounds like some Joel Seedman stuff, honestly) blew my chest up. Dips and push-ups like you said are excellent as well!
I swear to god I’ve never seen more chest gains in my life than I have with the weighted push ups, absolute game changers. Would you recommend using push up bars so there’s a greater chance of a stretch at the bottom ?
Its genetics people, you will grow how you should. Just hard to accept, but good to be manipulated with from the fitness industry. Just work fucking hard. Thats it.
I have seen many gymnastic/calisthenics guys on Instagram and UA-cam who never bench press, but can bench press 275+ lbs pretty easy... what do you think about that Alex?
I just don’t like doing bench press. I’ll strap 90lbs on the belt and do weighted dips. I can feel that much better in my chest. But most people love the bench press.
Do what you like when it was a lookdown I was only doing dips and honestly I didn't notice any difference in strength and size even though I only had 30kg at my disposal.
I had open heart surgery which required my sternum to be cut in half. I've had trouble with bench press due to this but lately I've been using a machine and increasing the weight by pretty big sums with little issue. I am definitely seeing gains, so my philosophy right now is push ups followed by bench press machine at a heavy weight. It's amazing how fast my muscles are growing from this combination.
Paused reps were a game changer for me. Bench was a big weak point of mine. However, after adding in paused benching a few years ago, my bench press, and my chest, have gone from strength to strength. I do 5/3/1, but in a pyramid fashion for bench, I simple do paused reps on my 2 deramping sets.
@@TheAbear53 I most often stick to 3 seconds. If I'm at the lighter end of my training block I'll up it to 5 seconds, and on rare occasions even 7 seconds, but I'm not convinced such long pauses are necessary.
Guys I cannot express how much weighted dips help. At the beginning of December I could bench 225 for 4 reps and I didn’t bench press at all until mid January and I hit 225 for 8 reps. During that period my body weight stayed the exact same and the only pressing movement I did for chest was weighted push ups and dips. Absolutely insane I recommend
Everybody is different. For me, dips didnt help out at all. Just going from bench press From 2 times a week to 1 Time a week with one set being 6 Sets and one between 12-15 reps
@@turo302 I didn’t believe those people but then the gyms closed for a month and it was my only option and man did it pay off. Was legit plateaued at 4 reps for a year and then doubled my reps in a month out of no where
My chest was very lacking so I widened my grip, did some push ups here and there, a little incline dumbbell work, and my pec grew like crazy in my 7 weeks of running 5/3/1
Same, wider grip and bringing the bar little higher on my chest works wonders! Only started doing that recently few weeks back and already noticing some gains. Chest has always been lacking for me.
The numbers you chat are crazy man, very impressive. I see huge guys at the gym struggling to hit 180 pounds for 10 reps incline in the gym with good form. 225 is very rare.
I think Alex is an outlier phenom when it comes to natural strength. No one is putting up these numbers in commercial gyms or even on youtube. His poundages (& for reps) rival those of top powerlifters. 225 lbs OHP at 165 lbs 5'5?? come on..no one does that. And just as you observed - the aesthetic / juicy guys in the gym are FAR OFF from alex's strength standard. In fact for an average height/weight guy - getting 225x5 or ramping up top triples of 245-255 then back off sets of even 185 lbs [done with various volume or cluster/rest pause] is MORE than enough to get massive pecs and aesthetics. I just don't see how he comes up with these strength standard #'s sometimes...love the guy but his #'s sre literally beyond elite. Nippard can't hit them. Natural hypetrophy can't. bald omni man [who is on trt] hardly..etc..much less any natural (or even enhanced) in commercial gyms. really don't see where ge gets these strength standards...
Even 225 for 3x10 is extremely difficult. A lot of people can rep 225 for 10…then 7…then 4-5 on the last set. The only people in my gym that hit it for all sets are the muscle monsters whose natty status is questionable.
i tryed today 175 after one month of only dungbell work and i did only one negative , dropped the weights side to side and the whole gym staring at meXD
I think UA-cam has definitely changed what I consider a strong lifter, these days you see people in their teens benching 160kg at a bodyweight of like 90kg. I have trained for the last 3 years to hit my most recent pr, its only when I come to your channel that I get an idea of what can be done naturally after years and years of hard work and dedication, thankyou for your channel, its helped me ALOT
Most people that are on gear will never admit it and from someone who hasn't trained for a long period if time won't be able to tell what's actually achievable.
When I began pausing my ventures back in the late 90s, my progress went through the roof. I attribute this to consistency in form. At that time I did two things I began pausing, I spent more time learning to set up the bench, ID came obsessed with bar path, and I narrowed my grip substantially.. As Louis Simmons said a narrower grip will make your wide grip stronger but your wide grip will not do shit for your narrow grip. A narrow grip bench, also you may not be a strong will get all of your prime movers working together. You learn how to engage your lats, how to really drive with your triceps, and you’ll get a better range of motion in the chest without destroying your shoulders. Doing lots of bench presses with a shoulder width or slightly narrower grip will make your overall upper body much thicker and denser. Wide grip bench presses with flaring elbows does not utilize enough muscle, but in competition many guys widen the grip little bit in order to limit the range of motion. So you should always train with different grips But don’t ever spend a lot of time doing ultra wide grip bench presses with heavy weight. It’s a one-way ticket to an injury and it will not make you very strong if you do it frequently
Rep PR’s are the shit. I have a chart on my room, every 5kg jump from 60-130kg, ever. Once a fortnight I’ll run an AMRAP on one I’ve not done in a while and try and beat my last one. Do the same for OHP for 2.5kg’s and Squats + Dead for 10kg’s Also found OHP to be a big chest booster. Big OHP mean stronger shoulders and triceps. Stronger shoulders and triceps mean more strength in the bottom and the middle. Stronger at weak points means bigger weights for same reps. That means more eccentric overload on the reps. OHP specialisation has indirectly grown my chest like crazy.
If I could do only one movement it would be weighted dips. It suits my anthropometry better than bench, and I agree the weighted stretch is so fkn key 🔑 also why I’m a fan of the weighted deficit push-ups as well, and also do mine on the boxes with feet on bench. Rings do provide e amazing variations too. Another reason I neglect flat benching more than I’d like to actually flat is that I have a great sturdy multi-angle bench but that fkn gap I didn’t think ahead about when I got it as I hadn’t owned a bench of my very own til that point, drives me crazy when flat benching lol, the low incline setting is nice tho and rock solid on it. I’m inclined (no pun 🧐) to agree however that weighted decline push-ups are prolly better overall and are highly underrated just like the flat version. I also tend to use my boxes to do feet elevated weighted pikes for OHP (working on getting my HSPU back in order at the moment), and def less setup time there when doing full body…the nice thing about the weighted cali’s too on the chest work is the full scapular freedom it provides and like you said it’s just so easy to get elbow positioning right, and imho easier to direct tension into the muscles via mind-muscle connection, tho I’m sure this is also tied in with the tighter positioning as well. Great video, has me wanting to barbell bench more tho haha
I think Alex is an outlier phenom when it comes to natural strength. No one is putting up these numbers in commercial gyms or even on youtube. His poundages (& for reps) rival those of top powerlifters. 225 lbs OHP at 165 lbs 5'5?? come on..no one does that. And just as you observed - the aesthetic / juicy guys in the gym are FAR OFF from alex's strength standard. In fact for an average height/weight guy - getting 225x5 or ramping up top triples of 245-255 then back off sets of even 185 lbs [done with various volume or cluster/rest pause] is MORE than enough to get massive pecs and aesthetics. I just don't see how he comes up with these strength standard #'s sometimes...love the guy but his #'s sre literally beyond elite. Nippard can't hit them. Natural hypetrophy can't. bald omni man [who is on trt] hardly..etc..much less any natural (or even enhanced) in commercial gyms. really don't see where he gets these strength standards... "Going from low 300's lbs bencher to 405..resulted in massie pec gains". Sorry i have not seen any naturals (hardly any enhanced, unless powerlifter) hit these #'s. 3 plate benches are SUPER rare, especially if done for reps or done by a non fatty (cut, lean dude). Alex is literally the only one who does this. I can't even find another natural on youtube or in real life who hits 405 for reps like he does [at that weight]
Why do you assume he is natural? He has nice advice but there is no point in comparing yourself to him. Do what you can to get the best results for you
Of course, I agree that his standards give false hope to naturals the funniest thing is that when you go deeper into the rabbit hole, it turns out that these standards from the Internet have never been verified so everyone can enter what they like
A few dubious claims in here. NH has admitted to having subpar strength genetics, Nippard is most certainly capable of hitting these numbers and is approaching a 405 Bench, bald Omni man has never mentioned being on trt? Most “juicy/aesthetic” guys are likely on gear, which promotes muscle growth on its own and responds better to high volume training. You can literally look up “3 plate bench” and find thousands of naturals benching 3 plates lol
It's possible but it's takes years of training, even Alex is been training for almost a decade. If you have convinced yourself that you'll never hit those numbers then you never will.
I already wanted to do 250lbs for 8-10 reps before even starting to do incline bench or other variations of presses. Mostly because my recovery isnt that good for doing something except standard bench press even with right nutrition, sleep etc
The bench Press won’t give most people complete development, On the other hand I have put more mass on my chest getting strong and benchpress than any other Lift, With the exception of waited disinvited push-ups with your also excellent basic pec builders. Some guys might get bad results from heavy barbell incline pressing, but the reality is if you’re not doing a heavy barbell press, your chest is never going to be the size of Ronnie Coleman or other elite bodybuilders in powerlifter who have big pressing Strength. There’s a video Dan Green the power lifter sitting with a shirt off next to it well built bodybuilder. Green just looks like he’s a thicket denser man Through the chest shoulders and overall torso. The idea of that a heavy barbell and bench press or variations of a bench press Don’t build the foundation of mass in the chest front delts and over all of her body is a silly argument. Lots of guys who are Citibank pressures other ones while we say the bench presses and overrated left which couldn’t be further from the truth. Is it heavy bunch more important than a heavy squat For most sports. No of course not because most sports require you to be stable while standing. Is the bench press the best chest pushing movement or upper body pushing movement. Arguably. So I might say the dip or the weighted push up or the incline press. The bottom line is that if you want to big chest and shoulders and triceps you gotta press and press a lot. For great overall posterior chain you need to perform squats deadlifts good mornings or something like that which Involves to heavyweights. If you want a big back you have to do heavy rowing and heavy Pull up work. No if you weigh more than 250 pounds you’re probably going to be focusing on rowing and pull down tight movements because doing pull ups is probably not something you’re very interested in doing if you’re extremely heavy. The bottom line is big basic movements of the compound variety using a barbell will put most of your mass on your frame. That’s just the way it is and also you can get big doing other things the most guaranteed method of gaining size and strength is buying a barbell and lots of plates and performing tried and true movements with good form and heavy weight. There’s just no way around it
The BEST thing I ever did for my chest was add powerlifting style pauses to the negative of the bench. I realized I was much stronger from quick reps, but this was NOT due to having strong pecs. Once I started pausing, my chest had no choice but to be the most activated muscle
Hey, I’m somebody who really values and needs to grow my upper chest. I’d like to focus on progressively overloading my incline bench press at the beginning of every push session, and my secondary presses will be ones that hit my mid and lower pecs such as dips etc. Do you think this makes sense and is a smart way to get a large upper chest while still making some gains on the rest of the chest?
This video 100% supports my current body and my goals for this year. My pressing is comparatively weaker than lower body or upper pull, and my chest and shoulders don't look as developed as my back or legs. As a result, my main strength goal for this year is increasing pressing strength
Hey man. I've been watching you for quite some time and I know your content it's based on muscle hypertrophy, but do you have any experience in training for posture, and mobility, or how to treat kyphosis or any kind of this stuff? Or does your content may apply to what I said , in any fashion? Anyway, love your content! Keep it up!
@@prodbypjay7148 Harder variations will always increase strength for your base movement. So yes, paused reps for any compound movement will give you bigger numbers for your regular reps.
"my standards are extremely high and it will require a tremendous amount of effort and long term consistency" alright I automatically trust you, where do I sign and initial ?
Because of corona gyms got closed and no training for 14months.. It's been 2months started training again... I am aiming for 405 benchpress and 225 Ohp for reps
When I started lifting awhile ago my chest was just rib cage and asymmetrical at that. Got up to maybe top single of 215lbs but then I switched to a wide grip dropped me way down to like 135 touch and go. Everything I train usually I can tell I had a good workout but chest is always like meh. Added in some paused at about 125lbs instead w drop set and some weighted dips. I feel this approach does much better than touch and go. FYI when I first started I was embarrassed to go lower than 135 for awhile even though I desperately needed to dial it down. Don’t be embarrassed guys ! I’m years deep with underdeveloped chest I’m not fking giving up I need my chest to match the rest of me .
Personally I'm lower body dominant. I can slack off from legs for a week or two, hit them one session hard and still make gains. I'm 4 months into my 4th return to the gym journey, and my upper body has always, ALWAYS! been slower to grow and gain size and strength. No wonder, I use my legs everyday, my upper body I might lift a piece of toast alone on an off day. And I love leg work outs, All my best lifts are with my legs. Since I started prioritizing push up volume work everyday, minimum 3 sets usually max 6 sprinkled throughout my day anywhere from 3 to 1 RIR, the strength, size and muscle fibre engagement generally has blown up. The goal is not to beast myself on any set, just practice strict form, grease the groove, and activate the muscular/neural pathways. So I feel good for doing it, not bad I'm not stronger yet. Want a bigger chest/arms/biceps/triceps/shoulders? Make the push up and all it's variants your b*tch. Slow controlled, fast, 1 arm, incline, deficit. Say to yourself "Minimum three sets a day to just before failure/1 set to form failure" you WILL blow up. On top of your regular program of course.
Glad you mentioned sternum pain. I can bunch 275 (or more I haven't done it in a bit), but I need 70 lbs assistance on dips to do 10 without horrible pain. I've been doing assisted a few times a week and hopefully I can build back up to unassisted and then weighted
Been there, have tried to drop your percentage and up your reps and push them for a plus 1 each week? Add an extra day each week with a close and wide grip?
Can i have big chest only with dumbell bench press (because i have home gym), i do 90 pounds dumbells 3x10 and i want to do 130 for reps in the future. Is it worth the process?
Cheers for the shoutout big dog. This video is packed with value :)
Always happy to shout you out, plus you have the best weighted pushup demonstrations so referencing the OG setup was a must :)
Appreciate the mention man 🙏
My pleasure man, cheers to more success & uplifting the fitness community 👊🏻
My man's right. I did a weighted dip specialization phase, got up to 145lbs for 4 at 160 lbs. My chest development was good but with the OHP as my accessory my shoulders far outclassed my chest. Now with a bench phase I'm running it's blowing up my pecs. Bench press is really #1 in this regard.
Weighted Dips + weighted Push-up really raised my chest, but Bench-press is the real real bodybuiling exercise for chest
I gotta rely on dips and incline bench for chest. Flat bench just feels uncomfy af for me
@@copeenthuisiast5453 then get better form
@@copeenthuisiast5453 same too much stress on my shoulders. Dips and incline dumbell feels great
Amazing. I Hit the 225 bench and started looking for *optimal* excercises instead of keeping on doing what got me the original progress. So much love and respect for the advise and inspiration!
agreed! Great inspiration here 💯
Weighted dips are one of my favorite movements and I heavily credit them with helping increase both my bench and pec size. No matter my programming at a given time, a weighted dip is gonna be in there. I've found that switching between bars and rings is also a great way to keep things interesting and progressing, since the instability of the rings forces me to cut the weight way back while getting a better stretch, whereas bar dips let me move some more serious weight
It's the king of upper body. It works on your lats too, which is why it focuses centrally less on the chest. That's why you can use more weight on it. Plus you cant k*ll yourself with it by accident (neck).
@@RJ-is9ko that IS the reason i prefer Dips and weighted Push-up 🤣
One of the very best channels on you tube.
i'm pretty much a novice and i'm training with calinsthenics but i've noticed that since i've incorporated some set of incline push-ups (with a very close grip, almost diamonds) my pecs are looking fuller, and also on the first times that i was doing the exercise i had DOMS like crazy only to the upper chest.
Nicee, there's always something new to learn
Finally someone is talking about Matt Vena ! The guy is a beast and full with useful knowledge
6:16 LMAO the smile killed me 🤣😂
I'm currently on a self-imposed 30 day chest challenge and on day 11. The video encourages me do more work with the bench press and to include more versions of dumb bell chest exercises. My goal is to increase my upper chest muscles to match with the lower chest muscles which look pretty good. Thanks for sharing---keep them coming!
*I HIGHLY recommend heavy weighted pushups. They blew up my chest crazy fast*
Alex, you have always been my favorite. Thank you for your existance.
Thank you Kyle!
6:16 what's the name of that bird research im curious
The avian stretch studies
I NEED MORE LIKE THESE! Back or Arms philosophy next?
He already made many videos about it. For back at least total 315 lb pullup (including bw), cheat rows, rack pulls, shrugs…. For biceps he suggests preacher and incline curls for the stretch reflex
Awesome video. Waiting for the updated big legs version
Pecs are interesting. You look at boxers and wrestlers, who have ripped arms, legs, and torsos, and they don’t usually have thick pecs. The old time strongmen didn’t really have much pecs either. I always kind of wondered about that. It seems to be an area where the body does not want to add a lot of mass. I think you definitely have to be intentional about it. But a thick chest does wonders under a t-shirt!
I cant do any horizontal pressing because I trashed my shoulders over the span of about 20 years
Try using the slingshot by Mark Bell
This was very informative for how to hit the chest and different variations. Nice job on shouting out Fitness FAQs, I use his methods as well. I always been a shoulder puller and pusher, you could say, (if I'm saying that right) so I have always had to do the alternative exercises for the chest, not the standard ones. But, this video has given me something to think about and try for my training. Great video.
One good thing the internet did for my training was it showed that it's possible to hit huge numbers naturally and that there's really strong people almost everywhere. 315, 405 bench press aren't mythical numbers - they're something that can be realistically hit if you shut up, put your head down, and train and eat consistently over many years.
Also, when learning the push up. Start from the floor. Lay completely flat, center your hands underneath your shoulders, depress your shoulder blades and push from your core. Push up powerfully like you're pushing the world away from you, finish with extension through your shoulder blades, and then do the eccentric phase slow and controlled. Remember to start by depressing your shoulders blades on the eccentric then lower through your pecs, your pecs should almost be at full stretch before you even begin bending your elbows. Lowering through your pecs, does NOT mean dropping your spine/hips/core, this remains tight like you're expecting someone to stand on your back, otherwise your form has failed. And while we're here, you better be planking straight, not sticking your but up or tea bagging the floor.. Time and place for that.
Power up, controlled down. Full ROM. As a beginner with a proper rest/nutrition program in place, 3 times a day, 3/1 RIR, never even hitting failure, your chest will explode.
You're way, WAY better off doing 5 strict power pushups, than 15 baby reps. Allll day.
Weighted ring push ups
Wait so I should be doing 3x10 flat bench, 3x10 low incline, 3x10 dips/ deficit stretch motion, and 3x10 fly motion? 12 sets at 2x a week I think 24 sets per week is approaching max recoverable volume but not too bad while bulking and giving 72 hours recovery in between chest sessions.
Correct! You'll get SWOLE AF with this template.
@@AlexLeonidas God bless dude. One of the top UA-cam channels for intelligent programming. You'll be at 500k in no time. 👍
My chest has always been its biggest and most impressive when I've put more emphasis on dumbbell flies and concentrating on that stretch at the bottom, as you mentioned here the top range of the movement isn't really all that important. It never gave me the strongest chest but a bigger and fuller looking chest than most who were much stronger than me and focused all their chest work around the bench press.
Haven’t benched in a couple years… only weighted dips and push up variations. Chest looks better than it ever has. But I’m thinking of trying to bench again and wonder what the carryover will be.
It will feel awkward at first, but after 2-3 months you will be back to a higher level than you were before, if you got stronger of course.
Alex can you do a video on ramping and how heavy do the warmups have to be to count as straight sets? Geoffrey Verity Schofield says that any weight over 50% of your Rep max should be counted but that seems super low if my bench 5RM is 225 and 115lbs is considering a working set.
good vid man
As a woman it's very hard to progress on chest press ...been lifting 80 lbs finally and omg it's hard, but I finally can do it from 75. Is there any way to increase ur chest press faster?
Good stuff as always, man! For me personally, feet-up bench pressing with a close grip (that sounds like some Joel Seedman stuff, honestly) blew my chest up. Dips and push-ups like you said are excellent as well!
I believe you bro, feet up is all upper body and take your muscles through a large ROM!
Maybe you can give an update on your actual workout. Sets reps exercises split days on and off. Thankyou
Thanks fir the advice Saitama
Inb4 watermelon pecs
I just bench pressed every day for the last 500+ days
Alex, is it a bad thing that I prefer Dumbbell pressing over Barbell for my chest?
Nothing wrong with that, just get stronger at it! Once you can max out the dumbbells at your gym for sets of 10-15, you should have a great chest.
I swear to god I’ve never seen more chest gains in my life than I have with the weighted push ups, absolute game changers. Would you recommend using push up bars so there’s a greater chance of a stretch at the bottom ?
That or parallettes, just make sure they can handle the extra load!
@@AlexLeonidas thanks! Been using a push up bar that hangs on the door for the time being but gonna invest in the push up bars!
Great video, what collars do you use for your olympic dumbbells?
Oso collars! Best in the game
@@AlexLeonidas Thank you brotha.
Its genetics people, you will grow how you should. Just hard to accept, but good to be manipulated with from the fitness industry.
Just work fucking hard. Thats it.
I agree, there is no need to bother but to do your part in training
Weighted dips and ring flies were key for me, not even ring dips hit my chest as much.
wouldn't dumbells be a better option for that? we use alot of triceps on bench
Weighted dips are the TRUTH!
What's happened to your shreds
Big bench = Big chest !
It's that simple!
Stuck at 175 for reps for months and months now..:/
How can some one tell you how to get a bigger chest when they dont have a big chest themselves 💁
So if i was doing bb bench weighted dips and push ups on a heavy chest day what should my sets and reps be
I have seen many gymnastic/calisthenics guys on Instagram and UA-cam who never bench press, but can bench press 275+ lbs pretty easy... what do you think about that Alex?
Says a lot about the effectiveness of calisthenics, and strength is strength 👍
I just don’t like doing bench press.
I’ll strap 90lbs on the belt and do weighted dips. I can feel that much better in my chest.
But most people love the bench press.
Do what you like when it was a lookdown I was only doing dips and honestly I didn't notice any difference in strength and size even though I only had 30kg at my disposal.
Do you take creatine? Great physique
Not right now but sometimes I use it. Gotta restock
Please do more of this series man for each muscle group.
yes please do!
agreed
YES!!!! DO IT for all (including calves and forearms)!
DO ITTT!! - Arnold maybe
Yes
Me, a Noble Natty, checking in to support and corroborate the huge strength standards
My man! Let's keeping raising natural standards 💯
@@AlexLeonidas cheers bro
@@BaldOmniMan Both of you are extremely inspirational, love your content!
Bald Omni-Man and Bald Leonidas. What a crossover
@@AlexLeonidas You typed this from mobile eh brother? Anyways much love man. Loving the video frequency.
I had open heart surgery which required my sternum to be cut in half. I've had trouble with bench press due to this but lately I've been using a machine and increasing the weight by pretty big sums with little issue. I am definitely seeing gains, so my philosophy right now is push ups followed by bench press machine at a heavy weight. It's amazing how fast my muscles are growing from this combination.
Good job man. Keep us updated 🙃
@@juniodias7079 thank you, will do for sure!
I salute your dedication. Stay safe chasing those gains though
from the jab?
@@Born2Punch no from a congenital defect
Paused reps were a game changer for me. Bench was a big weak point of mine. However, after adding in paused benching a few years ago, my bench press, and my chest, have gone from strength to strength. I do 5/3/1, but in a pyramid fashion for bench, I simple do paused reps on my 2 deramping sets.
Can this same philosophy be applied to the squat as well?
How long do you pause for ??
@@TheAbear53 I most often stick to 3 seconds. If I'm at the lighter end of my training block I'll up it to 5 seconds, and on rare occasions even 7 seconds, but I'm not convinced such long pauses are necessary.
Sir how do you program your workouts?
Where can i learn to program my workouts better
@@tarlancharkasov1048 He uses concurrent training, and his method and routines are outlined in detail in his book, Naturally Enhanced.
Guys I cannot express how much weighted dips help. At the beginning of December I could bench 225 for 4 reps and I didn’t bench press at all until mid January and I hit 225 for 8 reps. During that period my body weight stayed the exact same and the only pressing movement I did for chest was weighted push ups and dips. Absolutely insane I recommend
SAME and this is exactly what i tell people. But they just say “ dips is for triceps” 🤦🏽♂️
Everybody is different. For me, dips didnt help out at all. Just going from bench press From 2 times a week to 1 Time a week with one set being 6 Sets and one between 12-15 reps
@@turo302 I didn’t believe those people but then the gyms closed for a month and it was my only option and man did it pay off. Was legit plateaued at 4 reps for a year and then doubled my reps in a month out of no where
Did you do them weighted or what was your approach exactly
Why does my sturnem hurt when I do them ?
My chest was very lacking so I widened my grip, did some push ups here and there, a little incline dumbbell work, and my pec grew like crazy in my 7 weeks of running 5/3/1
Same, wider grip and bringing the bar little higher on my chest works wonders! Only started doing that recently few weeks back and already noticing some gains. Chest has always been lacking for me.
What is 5 3 1?
I've only just started doing this same thing so I can't speak for the results yet, but I do feel really good and strong this way.
@@fijian0811 a programm
What's 5/3/1
The numbers you chat are crazy man, very impressive. I see huge guys at the gym struggling to hit 180 pounds for 10 reps incline in the gym with good form. 225 is very rare.
I think Alex is an outlier phenom when it comes to natural strength. No one is putting up these numbers in commercial gyms or even on youtube. His poundages (& for reps) rival those of top powerlifters. 225 lbs OHP at 165 lbs 5'5?? come on..no one does that.
And just as you observed - the aesthetic / juicy guys in the gym are FAR OFF from alex's strength standard. In fact for an average height/weight guy - getting 225x5 or ramping up top triples of 245-255 then back off sets of even 185 lbs [done with various volume or cluster/rest pause] is MORE than enough to get massive pecs and aesthetics.
I just don't see how he comes up with these strength standard #'s sometimes...love the guy but his #'s sre literally beyond elite. Nippard can't hit them. Natural hypetrophy can't. bald omni man [who is on trt] hardly..etc..much less any natural (or even enhanced) in commercial gyms.
really don't see where ge gets these strength standards...
Exactly. If 225 on the bench means you’ve “completed” the novice stage, then 90% of my gym are novices
If you want above average chest you have to chase above average strength.
Even 225 for 3x10 is extremely difficult. A lot of people can rep 225 for 10…then 7…then 4-5 on the last set. The only people in my gym that hit it for all sets are the muscle monsters whose natty status is questionable.
i tryed today 175 after one month of only dungbell work and i did only one negative , dropped the weights side to side and the whole gym staring at meXD
I think UA-cam has definitely changed what I consider a strong lifter, these days you see people in their teens benching 160kg at a bodyweight of like 90kg. I have trained for the last 3 years to hit my most recent pr, its only when I come to your channel that I get an idea of what can be done naturally after years and years of hard work and dedication, thankyou for your channel, its helped me ALOT
Most people that are on gear will never admit it and from someone who hasn't trained for a long period if time won't be able to tell what's actually achievable.
When I began pausing my ventures back in the late 90s, my progress went through the roof. I attribute this to consistency in form. At that time I did two things I began pausing, I spent more time learning to set up the bench, ID came obsessed with bar path, and I narrowed my grip substantially.. As Louis Simmons said a narrower grip will make your wide grip stronger but your wide grip will not do shit for your narrow grip. A narrow grip bench, also you may not be a strong will get all of your prime movers working together. You learn how to engage your lats, how to really drive with your triceps, and you’ll get a better range of motion in the chest without destroying your shoulders. Doing lots of bench presses with a shoulder width or slightly narrower grip will make your overall upper body much thicker and denser. Wide grip bench presses with flaring elbows does not utilize enough muscle, but in competition many guys widen the grip little bit in order to limit the range of motion. So you should always train with different grips But don’t ever spend a lot of time doing ultra wide grip bench presses with heavy weight. It’s a one-way ticket to an injury and it will not make you very strong if you do it frequently
Well put!!
Rep PR’s are the shit. I have a chart on my room, every 5kg jump from 60-130kg, ever. Once a fortnight I’ll run an AMRAP on one I’ve not done in a while and try and beat my last one. Do the same for OHP for 2.5kg’s and Squats + Dead for 10kg’s
Also found OHP to be a big chest booster. Big OHP mean stronger shoulders and triceps. Stronger shoulders and triceps mean more strength in the bottom and the middle. Stronger at weak points means bigger weights for same reps. That means more eccentric overload on the reps. OHP specialisation has indirectly grown my chest like crazy.
That's what's up and well said at the end for getting stronger shoulders and tris which inevitably help the long term overload/correcting weaknesses!
Now we need a whole series on every body part! Next up should be shoulders 👀🤝
Your eyes tell you've been training hard lol.
If I could do only one movement it would be weighted dips. It suits my anthropometry better than bench, and I agree the weighted stretch is so fkn key 🔑 also why I’m a fan of the weighted deficit push-ups as well, and also do mine on the boxes with feet on bench. Rings do provide e amazing variations too. Another reason I neglect flat benching more than I’d like to actually flat is that I have a great sturdy multi-angle bench but that fkn gap I didn’t think ahead about when I got it as I hadn’t owned a bench of my very own til that point, drives me crazy when flat benching lol, the low incline setting is nice tho and rock solid on it. I’m inclined (no pun 🧐) to agree however that weighted decline push-ups are prolly better overall and are highly underrated just like the flat version. I also tend to use my boxes to do feet elevated weighted pikes for OHP (working on getting my HSPU back in order at the moment), and def less setup time there when doing full body…the nice thing about the weighted cali’s too on the chest work is the full scapular freedom it provides and like you said it’s just so easy to get elbow positioning right, and imho easier to direct tension into the muscles via mind-muscle connection, tho I’m sure this is also tied in with the tighter positioning as well. Great video, has me wanting to barbell bench more tho haha
lets go alex uploaded at 12am on a school night again
5pm for me 👍
I can barely do 1 plate on bench press and body weight pushups not sure how i m supposed to build upto weighted this and weighted that
I think Alex is an outlier phenom when it comes to natural strength. No one is putting up these numbers in commercial gyms or even on youtube. His poundages (& for reps) rival those of top powerlifters. 225 lbs OHP at 165 lbs 5'5?? come on..no one does that.
And just as you observed - the aesthetic / juicy guys in the gym are FAR OFF from alex's strength standard. In fact for an average height/weight guy - getting 225x5 or ramping up top triples of 245-255 then back off sets of even 185 lbs [done with various volume or cluster/rest pause] is MORE than enough to get massive pecs and aesthetics.
I just don't see how he comes up with these strength standard #'s sometimes...love the guy but his #'s sre literally beyond elite. Nippard can't hit them. Natural hypetrophy can't. bald omni man [who is on trt] hardly..etc..much less any natural (or even enhanced) in commercial gyms.
really don't see where he gets these strength standards...
"Going from low 300's lbs bencher to 405..resulted in massie pec gains".
Sorry i have not seen any naturals (hardly any enhanced, unless powerlifter) hit these #'s. 3 plate benches are SUPER rare, especially if done for reps or done by a non fatty (cut, lean dude). Alex is literally the only one who does this. I can't even find another natural on youtube or in real life who hits 405 for reps like he does [at that weight]
Why do you assume he is natural?
He has nice advice but there is no point in comparing yourself to him. Do what you can to get the best results for you
Of course, I agree that his standards give false hope to naturals the funniest thing is that when you go deeper into the rabbit hole, it turns out that these standards from the Internet have never been verified so everyone can enter what they like
A few dubious claims in here. NH has admitted to having subpar strength genetics, Nippard is most certainly capable of hitting these numbers and is approaching a 405 Bench, bald Omni man has never mentioned being on trt? Most “juicy/aesthetic” guys are likely on gear, which promotes muscle growth on its own and responds better to high volume training. You can literally look up “3 plate bench” and find thousands of naturals benching 3 plates lol
It's possible but it's takes years of training, even Alex is been training for almost a decade. If you have convinced yourself that you'll never hit those numbers then you never will.
One problem is alot of people just focus on adding more weight. Form breaks down. They dont see it. Injury incomming.
Yeah can't be sacrificing technique
man i really struggle with my shoulders and pecs... i nees help! i'm doing 5x5 stronglifts and i'm always failing with those two pressing movements...
Increase paused bench = chest gainz
he knows:)
Alex please do more videos focused on body parts like this one I loved it!
Glad you enjoyed it brother! More like these on the way.
Hey bro could you make a video on exercises that will carry over to weighted dips and pull ups?. Loving the series keep up the good work man.
Would love to see that video from him! Hopefully he sees this comment
Weighted push-up and Unilateral pull down
I already wanted to do 250lbs for 8-10 reps before even starting to do incline bench or other variations of presses. Mostly because my recovery isnt that good for doing something except standard bench press even with right nutrition, sleep etc
The bench Press won’t give most people complete development,
On the other hand I have put more mass on my chest getting strong and benchpress than any other Lift, With the exception of waited disinvited push-ups with your also excellent basic pec builders.
Some guys might get bad results from heavy barbell incline pressing, but the reality is if you’re not doing a heavy barbell press, your chest is never going to be the size of Ronnie Coleman or other elite bodybuilders in powerlifter who have big pressing Strength. There’s a video Dan Green the power lifter sitting with a shirt off next to it well built bodybuilder. Green just looks like he’s a thicket denser man Through the chest shoulders and overall torso. The idea of that a heavy barbell and bench press or variations of a bench press Don’t build the foundation of mass in the chest front delts and over all of her body is a silly argument. Lots of guys who are Citibank pressures other ones while we say the bench presses and overrated left which couldn’t be further from the truth.
Is it heavy bunch more important than a heavy squat For most sports. No of course not because most sports require you to be stable while standing. Is the bench press the best chest pushing movement or upper body pushing movement. Arguably. So I might say the dip or the weighted push up or the incline press. The bottom line is that if you want to big chest and shoulders and triceps you gotta press and press a lot. For great overall posterior chain you need to perform squats deadlifts good mornings or something like that which Involves to heavyweights. If you want a big back you have to do heavy rowing and heavy Pull up work. No if you weigh more than 250 pounds you’re probably going to be focusing on rowing and pull down tight movements because doing pull ups is probably not something you’re very interested in doing if you’re extremely heavy. The bottom line is big basic movements of the compound variety using a barbell will put most of your mass on your frame. That’s just the way it is and also you can get big doing other things the most guaranteed method of gaining size and strength is buying a barbell and lots of plates and performing tried and true movements with good form and heavy weight. There’s just no way around it
Excellent commentary!! Lots of truth here.
The BEST thing I ever did for my chest was add powerlifting style pauses to the negative of the bench. I realized I was much stronger from quick reps, but this was NOT due to having strong pecs. Once I started pausing, my chest had no choice but to be the most activated muscle
interesting, thanks for sharing!
Yeha, this is spot on for nattys. Alex on point as usual.
Shout out to Matt Vena. Been digging his content 💪🏽
Hey, I’m somebody who really values and needs to grow my upper chest. I’d like to focus on progressively overloading my incline bench press at the beginning of every push session, and my secondary presses will be ones that hit my mid and lower pecs such as dips etc. Do you think this makes sense and is a smart way to get a large upper chest while still making some gains on the rest of the chest?
This video 100% supports my current body and my goals for this year. My pressing is comparatively weaker than lower body or upper pull, and my chest and shoulders don't look as developed as my back or legs. As a result, my main strength goal for this year is increasing pressing strength
Pause bench is killer , it grounds you😅
Hey man. I've been watching you for quite some time and I know your content it's based on muscle hypertrophy, but do you have any experience in training for posture, and mobility, or how to treat kyphosis or any kind of this stuff? Or does your content may apply to what I said , in any fashion? Anyway, love your content! Keep it up!
Check out the Squat University channel. It’s awesome. The guy who runs it is a physical therapist.
@@domepiece11 Thanks man, definetely check it out!
This guy is a pro at his work
I appreciate that man.
Hey Alex I started to do pause Bench and it really humbled me! You can get more out of less weight and it reduces injuries. Amazing exercise.
Best way to bench!!
Is it a good way to increase numbers?
@@prodbypjay7148 Harder variations will always increase strength for your base movement. So yes, paused reps for any compound movement will give you bigger numbers for your regular reps.
@@CrowandRaven will include those for sure
Pausing at the bottom of pushups helped me a lot too!
Great video! Chest development made uncomplicated without “fancy” exercises
Yess straight to the point
Return of the AVIAN STRETCH
0:45 based Alexander
"my standards are extremely high and it will require a tremendous amount of effort and long term consistency" alright I automatically trust you, where do I sign and initial ?
I do my incline BP in a smithmachine, i find this safer for my shoulder and i get the bar really close to my neck,
Because of corona gyms got closed and no training for 14months..
It's been 2months started training again... I am aiming for 405 benchpress and 225 Ohp for reps
yoooo why is his bench press grip offset? can someone explain that? its not even with the rings on the barbell?
Thumb away from the smooths! Feels much better on the shoulders, try it out bro.
When I started lifting awhile ago my chest was just rib cage and asymmetrical at that. Got up to maybe top single of 215lbs but then I switched to a wide grip dropped me way down to like 135 touch and go. Everything I train usually I can tell I had a good workout but chest is always like meh.
Added in some paused at about 125lbs instead w drop set and some weighted dips. I feel this approach does much better than touch and go. FYI when I first started I was embarrassed to go lower than 135 for awhile even though I desperately needed to dial it down. Don’t be embarrassed guys !
I’m years deep with underdeveloped chest I’m not fking giving up I need my chest to match the rest of me .
How is it going?
405 yields a big chest😉
Damn right
Personally I'm lower body dominant. I can slack off from legs for a week or two, hit them one session hard and still make gains. I'm 4 months into my 4th return to the gym journey, and my upper body has always, ALWAYS! been slower to grow and gain size and strength. No wonder, I use my legs everyday, my upper body I might lift a piece of toast alone on an off day. And I love leg work outs, All my best lifts are with my legs.
Since I started prioritizing push up volume work everyday, minimum 3 sets usually max 6 sprinkled throughout my day anywhere from 3 to 1 RIR, the strength, size and muscle fibre engagement generally has blown up. The goal is not to beast myself on any set, just practice strict form, grease the groove, and activate the muscular/neural pathways. So I feel good for doing it, not bad I'm not stronger yet.
Want a bigger chest/arms/biceps/triceps/shoulders? Make the push up and all it's variants your b*tch. Slow controlled, fast, 1 arm, incline, deficit. Say to yourself "Minimum three sets a day to just before failure/1 set to form failure" you WILL blow up. On top of your regular program of course.
If you want NON-RUBBISH NO-BS content, this dude is definitely the guy! #RESPECT
Is that bench press weight chart based on 1 rep max weight? Or the amount of weight you do for sets?
I fucking love the pause bench. It shot my bench up 20 pounds!
Have you seen Josef Eriksson?
Nordic bench press champion.
240kg natty bench raw at 95-105kg bw.
He said the same thing about watermelon pecs.
BENCH!
Increasing my my bench to 100kg+ has made upper body grow significantly!! Shoulders,chest,triceps+lats!
Looking good bro, keeping it real out there too
I love watermelon mommy milker tony the tiger pecs
🤣🤣🤣🤣💪💪
Dam I gotta do more paused pressing
Glad you mentioned sternum pain. I can bunch 275 (or more I haven't done it in a bit), but I need 70 lbs assistance on dips to do 10 without horrible pain. I've been doing assisted a few times a week and hopefully I can build back up to unassisted and then weighted
Struggling to move up in bench for years... Really demoralizing.
Been there, have tried to drop your percentage and up your reps and push them for a plus 1 each week? Add an extra day each week with a close and wide grip?
Can i have big chest only with dumbell bench press (because i have home gym), i do 90 pounds dumbells 3x10 and i want to do 130 for reps in the future. Is it worth the process?