When it comes to Chest training, we must first analyze the shape and function of the muscle itself. Unlike the biceps, triceps, and back, the chest contains a single muscle, the pectoralis major. However, as we all know, the chest area contains different regions that need to be attacked specifically.

There is the all important upper chest region that lies along your collarbone, the outer chest region that curves toward your armpit, the inner chest region that attaches to your sternum, the bottom chest region that hangs below your nipple,  and everything in the middle being considered the middle chest region.

As outlined in all of my training guides, an effective workout targets each of these regions specifically to build a world class chest!

When working a large muscle like the chest, HardGainers should aim for 4 sets, with reps in the 8-12 range.

Hardgainer Chest Workout:

Exercise	Rep Range	# of Sets
Incline Dumbbell Press	12-8	4
Flat Dumbbell Press	12-8	3
Pec-Deck Machine	12-8	3
Incline Dumbbell Flyes	12-8	3

I always start off my chest workouts with an upper chest movement. The reasoning behind this is that when isolating the upper chest we are able to take stress off the shoulders and triceps and focus all our energy on hitting the chest area. Thats why we go hard and heavy on this movement. Another reason is purely for aesthetics. If hit the middle chest area first, over time we will build drooping, sagging, pecs. Whereas with a strong upper chest it pulls the pec up making it look better. To warm up your shoulder and elbow joints do 2 warm-up sets of this exercise before jumping into your 4 working sets.

Next we move onto a Flat Dumbbell Press to hit the middle chest area. Lower the dumbells all the way down to your chest and extend out so they are almost touching at the peak contraction. Don’t let them touch as this will take the stress off the pecs and onto your elbows and shoulders.

To get an extra pump going and hit that inner chest effectively we head over to the pec-deck machine. Put the arm back far enough so you get a good stretch at the beginning, and pause for a second at the peak contraction to get a good squeeze in. At this point your pecs should be engorged with blood.

To finish of our workout, we head back over to the incline bench to do incline dumbbell flyes. These take alot of concentration to do effectively. You will need to go light on these to really feel them working. Get a good stretch at the beginning, and slowly bring your arms up in an arc. Hold the contraction while the dumbbells are about a foot apart from eachother at the top. This keeps the stress on the upper and inner chest regions.

This completes our chest workout! At this point you should have an insane pump going on. Remember to stretch out your pecs the next day when they are sore to break down that scare tissue, and get the blood flowing.

You may have noticed that we didn’t hit the lower chest region specifically in this workout. There is a strong reason for that. I believe that lower chest work is left for the advanced bodybuilders who are looking on refining their phsyique. As a hardgainer, if you start hitting the lower chest hard you will end up with drooping, saggy, “man-boobs”. You don’t want that right!!

Related Articles:

• HardGainer’s Guide to Training