Many lifters prioritize chest day but get mediocre gains in return for their time and sweat equity. If you haven’t seen new chest growth for a while, hypertrophy expert Dr. Mike Israetel shared 12 technique tips to reset your chest gains stimuli:
Grow Your Chest
- Warm Up With Dumbbell Flyes
- Pre-Exhaust With Flyes
- Retract Your Shoulders
- Arch Your Back
- Lift Your Chest to the Bar
- Slow Negatives
- Guillotine Press
- Slow Down at the Bottom and Pause
- Maximize Stretch w/Dumbbells or Machines
- Chest-Up Press & Mid-Set Adjustment
- Include Lengthened Partials
- Apply New Techniques Gradually
[Related: Hany Rambod Critiques Wesley Vissers’ 2024 Olympia Physique]
1. Warm Up With Dumbbell Flyes
Before heavy pressing, start with a few light sets of dumbbell flyes (five to 15 pounds) for five to six reps each. This helps mentally connect to the movement, enabling improved form that better applies a more acute stimulus to the target muscle fibers.
2. Pre-Exhaust With Flyes
When the chest isn’t properly warmed up, the shoulders and triceps compensate significantly during pressing exercises. Doing three to five sets of 10-15 reps of heavy flyes before pressing can help shift more of the effort onto your pecs.
Follow flyes with dumbbell presses to better prevent the delts and triceps from taking over. Having to stabilize the weight can help you feel where the stimulus is being applied during the movement so you can shift it to the pecs.
3. Retract Your Shoulders
Pull the shoulders back when pressing so the chest is lifted (think of cueing a proud chest). This can help maximize the stretch and contraction while simultaneously reducing front delt involvement.
Tension under stretch is better for hypertrophy.
—Dr. Mike Israetel
4. Arch Your Back
“[Push] your tummy and chest up, and [walk] your hips back toward your shoulder blades,” Dr. Israetel explained.
An extreme arch isn’t necessary during a bench press variation, but creating space between the back and the bench enhances the desired stretch. Strong hips help maintain stability while moving the weight.
5. Lift Your Chest to the Bar
Caving the chest during the descent of a pressing movement reduces chest activation. Keep your chest proud to maximize tension.
A useful cue to reinforce chest activation is to meet the barbell with your chest during eccentrics rather than simply lowering the barbell. This cue can enhance the pre-stretch effect.
6. Slow Negatives
Rushing through eccentrics could shortchange gains potential. Lowering the weight with control for two to three seconds can optimize mind-muscle connection, which, again, can improve how the stimulus is applied to the target muscle fibers.
7. Guillotine Press
Guillotine presses track the elbows out as you lower the bar to the upper chest, providing a gnarly stretch. Pause at the bottom, descend slowly, and use moderate loads to avoid injury.
8. Slow Down at the Bottom and Pause
Don’t bounce out of the bottom position of a bench press. Slow the tempo and stretch as deep as possible in the bottom position for one to two seconds before engaging the press.
The stretch is exceptionally muscle-growth promoting.
—Dr. Mike Israetel
9. Maximize the Stretch with Dumbbells or Machines
Skip barbell presses that stop at your chest. Use dumbbells or machines so that the elbows move back past the chest, allowing the chest fibers to stretch farther. Pause at the bottom of each rep, allowing the pecs to stretch naturally on their own under the load.
10. Chest Up Press & Mid-Set Adjustment
A common mistake is dropping the chest during a press. Imagine lifting your pecs with the bar to keep it activated. Then, if you feel form slipping, readjust mid-set, ideally at the top of the press.
11. Include Lengthened Partials
After reaching failure with full reps, prolong the stimuli by performing additional reps in the bottom, stretched position.
The bottom half is the most growth-promoting of the lift.
—Dr. Mike Israetel
12. Apply New Techniques Gradually
Don’t apply all of these tips all at once during a single chest day. Instead, incorporate two to three into each training cycle and track progress. Try different cues, and prioritize what works best for you.
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Featured image via Shutterstock/Dusan Petkovic
