Chest muscle needs reforming

[Septooth]

Ok, I weight lifted a bit when I was younger and when I worked my chest I always did the same exercise...flat bench press. But now that Im older and redoing this again, I realize I should have been switching the angles and types of chest exercises. Most of my chest muscle is up top and more near my shoulders. I never worked my lower chest or the inside of my chest. I need to even my chest out so that it will be solid all around. I see on my last post there was a website showing the different exercises. I dont have a membership to a gym yet, but I have my own free weights at home with a bench that inclines, dumbells and curl bar. But Im not sure If I should start working my whole chest off the bat, or should I work on building up the lower inside of my chest with the rest of my chest and then concentrate on the whole chest area? What exercise would you suggest on building up the underneath and lower inside of my chest?

[Kane]

Your chest is one muscle. The idea of having an inner, lower and upper is purely a myth. I know there was a discussion about this on another thread but I cant remember which one. The shape of your pecs is ,from what I understand, purely based on genetics and you cannot reshape it. Similar to the "Peek" in biceps.

[TALO]

^^^ you can't reshape it, but you can target the different areas. Incline (upper) decline (lower) wide -grip and even close grip target the inner and the outside.

Change up your work out with a few sets of each.

[Kane]

Originally Posted by TALO

but you can target the different areas. Incline (upper) decline (lower) wide -grip and even close grip target the inner and the outside.

I don't think it works that way. I think that switching up your exercises like that will just provide different angles of attack and change the stimulii. Maybe someone else can chime in and lend some more insight.

[Septooth]

Ah, I just figured that with all the different chest exercises (lying bench press, incline bench press, decline bench press, lying fly, incline fly, decline fly, pullovers...) they were for different areas of the chest. So if I were to stick to either flys or bench pressing which has more advantage of producing muscle mass?

[Kane]

I've had my best growth from doing heavy DB flyes or DB Bench, I've gotten very little growth from BB bench. By no means should you get rid of Bench, it has to be a staple of any routine, but if pec development is a main goal of yours I would simply throw in some heavy DB flyes or DB Bench as an accessory. Everyone's different however so what works for me might not work for you, you may have to experiment a bit.

[Septooth]

Sounds good, thanks for the tips. Still need to figure out exactlly what I need to do for my workouts each day. How does this look?
Mon - Stretch, Core, Squat/D.Lift, Chest, Cardio
Wed - Stretch, Back, Squat/D.lift, Arms, Cardio
Thurs - Stretch, Core, Squat/D.lift, Legs, Cardio
Sat - Stretch, Push ups, crunches, cardio

That may look retarted, but I dont know what to do exactlly so just work with me, I learn fast.

[TALO]

You'll have to figure out what a good program is for yourself, like Kane said everyone is different.
If you want to take full advantage of everything then you should change your program up every 6 - 8 weeks. It will help with growth and keep it exciting.

[Darkhorse]

Good advice Kane.. The pectoralis is ONE muscle and works as a WHOLE. Hypothetically, if one was to only do incline everything for a few months, that would make some really wierd looking pecs

[Kane]

Originally Posted by Septooth

Sounds good, thanks for the tips. Still need to figure out exactlly what I need to do for my workouts each day. How does this look?
Mon - Stretch, Core, Squat/D.Lift, Chest, Cardio
Wed - Stretch, Back, Squat/D.lift, Arms, Cardio
Thurs - Stretch, Core, Squat/D.lift, Legs, Cardio
Sat - Stretch, Push ups, crunches, cardio

Your Welcome.

You've got the right idea as far as incorporating squats and deadlifts into your routine. I wouldn't advise deadlifting 3 times a week, especially when you've got two days back to back. If you can you should try and get a day between workouts if you're going to be working the same muscles again.

I wouldn't look at Chest and Arms as muscle groups. I would recommend Bench, Rows and Military Press (preferably standing) and that should take care of your arms pretty much, maybe throw in some BB curls or Skullcrushers as an accessory.

Throw in your Accesory chest on a day when you're hitting the bench too, you'll be warmed up and slightly fatigued and should provide the best growth IMO.

I would also keep the cardio seperate from lifting days if you can. Lifting takes alot of energy and cardio afterwards can be brutal, not to mention it will severely catabolic.

For your thursday, squats will take care of legs but you can throw in some accessory work such as Hamstring curls or leg extensions if you want.

How about something like this: (rep ranges and sets will vary based on what your goals are...hypertrophy, strength, cutting etc.)

Mon - Squat, Bench, Chest Accessory, Triceps Accessory
Tues- Cardio
Wed - light Squat, D.lift, Military Press, Bicep Accesory
Thurs- Cardio
Friday - Squat, Bench, Rows, Hamstring/Quad Accesory
Sat - Stretch, crunches, cardio

That's a very basic skeleton of what a program would look like. You want to keep your squat at the top of the lineup so that you've got the most energy, keep your bench and deads close to it for the same reason. Take a look at the programs listed on the site and see if any of them catch your eye, theyre definitely alot more organized than the one I just threw down.