lagging chest
- Thread starter shakeel
- Start date
I challenge anyone to prove to me that compound exercises are better than isolation ones. When you bench press or do pec-deck, the pecs adduct the humerus. They couldn't care less whether you bench or do any other exercise. "But", I hear you say, "with compounds I lift more weight, isn't that more beneficial ?" Guess what, you lift more exactly because they are compounds. For example when you bench you lift more because delts and tris are also lifting.
Anyway, this small introduction was just to say that after years of falling in the trap of "heavy compounds", I have managed to see some decent progress on my chest with pec-deck. Pec-deck is the only exercise that makes me feel the burn in my pecs while doing dropsets (even with flies, my wrists get tired before my pecs).
Of course the above is purely anecdotal, but so is the advocation of heavy compounds. There is no physiological reason to believe that bench is better than pec-deck. By this, I don't want to dump compounds, I just want to say that different people have different biomechanics. Several old-timers never used bench-press, while for others it was the king of exercises.
Anyway, this small introduction was just to say that after years of falling in the trap of "heavy compounds", I have managed to see some decent progress on my chest with pec-deck. Pec-deck is the only exercise that makes me feel the burn in my pecs while doing dropsets (even with flies, my wrists get tired before my pecs).
Of course the above is purely anecdotal, but so is the advocation of heavy compounds. There is no physiological reason to believe that bench is better than pec-deck. By this, I don't want to dump compounds, I just want to say that different people have different biomechanics. Several old-timers never used bench-press, while for others it was the king of exercises.
I propose to use exercises that make your chest feel burning on dropsets. This is a good indication that you get a good workout from the particular exercise and that biomechanic individualities (like extreme active & passive insufficiency points) do not take the focus away from your chest.
Another thing that I have found helpful is 3-4 days of relatively high volume (6-9 sets) followed by a mini-SD of 3-4 days. This can help you extend your low-rep / neg weeks and significantly delay RBE.
Another thing that I have found helpful is 3-4 days of relatively high volume (6-9 sets) followed by a mini-SD of 3-4 days. This can help you extend your low-rep / neg weeks and significantly delay RBE.
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micmic- "By this, I don't want to dump compounds, I just want to say that different people have different biomechanics." This is so true. A certain bench press record holder even uses a REVERSE grip on the bench- I tried that and almost tore my arms off with a light weight. And the deal with compound versus isolation on things like pecs and lats is not really an argument. The difference is in the fact that you can't FEEL your pecs working on a compound movement like some can. If you do enough heavy pec deck work, I'll wager that over time, you'll gain greater inroads to your pecs and then a heavy bench might feel completely different. I had the same problem with chins and pulldowns (burned out biceps and no lat stimulation), until I did some single arm cable work on my lats. The deal with "heavy compounds" is that once you can feel your pecs working they will become a greater part of the lift, and your bench will go up dramatically, even if it means that your pecs are just a massive stabilizer for the weaker links in that chain- the frontal delts and triceps. So, I agree with micmic on doing those lifts that help you feel it in your pecs- pec deck, crossovers, flies, or maybe even just going to dumbell benching are all good. 