There is more to a great chest workout than just pumping out as much weight as possible. Of course it feels great to be able to lift a lot of weight but if you are serious about developing a lean muscular chest you will want to consider adding a little variation into your chest workout.
For full pectoral development it is advised that you do more than just a barbell bench press. Stage your workout over a 12 week program. Include up to 3 different chest workouts in your program. These could include barbell bench press, cable crossovers, dumbell flys, incline flys or even pushups.
For the first 4 weeks the focus will be on increasing the endurance and density of the muscle. This is done by performing all three exercises slowly in a controlled manner. Lower the weight down to 80% and perform 4 sets of 20 repetitions of each exercise in your chest workout. Only allow 30 seconds rest between each set.
The following 4 weeks should be changed so that you are lifting close to your maximum weight. Chose a weight that you can get at least 3 complete sets with 8 repetitions in all three. Perform the same exercises in your chest workout at the usual pace. Try to limit the amount of time between sets, aim for 30 seconds to 2 minutes of rest.
The last 4 weeks is a repeat of the first 4 weeks. This will ensure that your chest workout shapes the muscle mass that has been built and remove any fat.
