One of the most common muscle groups to target is the chest, with many bodybuilders seeking substantial muscle mass in the pecs through performing numerous sets of intense bench pressing. Despite most weight lifting plans centering upon the bench press as the primary upper body muscle building exercise, there are numerous bodybuilders who produce disappointing progress in the chest region, and are searching for an alternative to the bench press for significant muscle gain.
Many bodybuilders are likely still unaware as to the real reasons why the chest in many cases does not develop as quickly as other smaller muscle groups, and replacing the bench press is not a viable solution, since this particular exercise is very effective in adding chest muscle, that is, when the shoulders and triceps do not fail prior to the chest, which occurs far too often. This is the factor that many forget when analyzing how to produce an effective chest building regimen, as there are quite a number of smaller muscle groups that participate in compound exercises such as the bench press, and if they offer less stamina than the target muscle that a bodybuilder is attempting to train (such as the shoulders or triceps experiencing fatigue prior to the chest during bench press), the supporting muscles (shoulders or triceps in this example) will fail initially, and this will cause disappointing results in the primary muscle group (chest).
How this applies to building larger chest muscles in particular is that the triceps and shoulders are frequently insufficiently powerful to allow the pecs to fail first during bench pressing, which leads to disappointing muscle gain in the chest. Therefore, to rectify this scenario, a bodybuilder must institute pre-exhaustion, a technique that targets the chest in a more direct way, which fatigues the pectorals sufficiently to allow them a significantly larger chance for failure prior to the shoulders and triceps during the bench press, and this will result in far quicker and more elaborate chest muscle growth.
The most effective pre-exhaustion weight lifting movement for the chest is pec deck, where both hands or elbows are brought together from an outstretched position either placing the forearm behind padding or holding a pair of handles, and this greatly targets the pecs, causing them significant fatigue. When performing this exercise prior to bench pressing, the shoulders and triceps will in most cases outlast the chest due to performance of this pre-exhaustion exercise (pec deck), and this allows the chest to receive far greater fatigue during bench pressing.
Some decide to use dumbbells instead of the pec deck, performing a weight lifting movement known as dumbbell flies, but doing so is not as effective as using pec deck since the dumbbell fly exercise allows less weight to be used, in addition to requiring the bodybuilder to hold the two dumbbells above the chest as if executing the bench press, which introduces unwanted shoulder fatigue (and the goal is to target the chest and prevent as much shoulder or triceps overload as possible). The pec deck targets the chest in an isolated fashion, which is the goal of any pre-exhaustion technique, and thus pec deck should be implemented immediately prior to the bench press for any bodybuilder who experiences lagging chest muscle growth.
For bodybuilders who cannot access a pec deck machine, the cable crossover is a somewhat less effective, but acceptable alternative, yet those who are unable to use a pec deck likely also do not own a cable crossover unit, therefore, in such a scenario, dumbbell flies are acceptable for chest muscle pre-exhaustion before bench pressing. Keep in mind that the weight used during bench press will decline as compared with what you were able to utilize before implementing the pec deck as a pre-exhaustion technique, as your pecs will have experienced significant fatigue from pec deck prior to executing the bench press exercise, but this should not be of concern to you, as the total amount of overload will still increase due to a combination of the extra pec deck exercise and the heightened focus upon chest fatigue during bench press that occurs as a result of pre-exhausting the pecs. The goal is to use the most weight while targeting the intended muscle group, and for quite a number of bodybuilders, when performing bench press as the first exercise of a workout, without pre-exhaustion, the pecs never receive sufficient stimulation to work towards their impressive muscle building potential.
Author Resource:-
Francesco Castano authors MuscleNOW.com, a diet and weight training program teaching the exact techniques for muscle building without supplements or drugs. He also owns IncrediBody.com, an online fitness superstore selling weight training equipment at guaranteed lowest prices.
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