what are the best 2 chest exercises for mass?/changing exercises every cycle bad?

W

waray214

Member
what do you guys think are the 2 best chest exercises to maximize mass gains and/or what chest exercises do you guys use in your hst routines? i'm currently on my the last 2 weeks of my 3rd cycle. i've loved hst but have struggled in the chest department. for my first 2 cycles i went with flat barbell bench and chest dips. for my 3rd cycle i switched up the bbell bench with slight incline dumbbell bench on about a 15 degree incline and stuck with dips. i've generally heard that barbell is better than dumbbell for mass due to the amount of weight that can be used and am thinking about switching up to a slight incline bbell bench this next cycle just to be able to push more weight. is it a bad idea to switch up my chest exercises again though next cycle? i've heard that it takes a while for neural adaptations to take place so i'm just curious if it's ok to switch it up or if i should just stick with dbbell press...

also, how do you guys feel about the hammer machine for shrugs? i've been doing the dumbbell shrugs for a long time now and have gotten good sized trap around my neck but am having a hard time getting them to "pop" in the back. i've been thinking about switching to the hammer machine or using another shrug variation. any suggestions? thanks again guys. hst ftw
 
i do bb flat and incline for chest

and bb for shrugs but i think i may switch to dumbell

I think you should pick a main exercise and stick with it. change the auxillary stuff if you want
 
Everyone is a little different. IMO the best mass exercises for chest are Incline Bench Press and Dips, but YMMV. There is nothing wrong in switching between DB and BB of the same exercise as they are similar enough not to need much neural re-adaptation. I’ve actually started a cycle doing DB version of an exercise and when I got to the point I couldn’t progress anymore I switched to the BB version part way through the cycle. I think in doing that you can get the benefits of doing it both ways.

I doubt you can really work you traps with DBs since most max out way below what your traps can handle. I’m not sure about using the Hammer Machine, I would probably just use a BB if you can though I doubt the machine would hurt since the range of motion for a Shrug is so limited I don’t think that being locked into the machines range of motion would be too much of a problem. One advantage to doing Shrugs with a BB is that if you do them in a power rack you can lean forward very slightly letting the bar ride along the supports. I feel that doing them at a slight angle hits more of the upper traps than just standing straight up. You may be about to do the same thing with the machine but I don’t see any way to do that with DBs.
 
T-man said:
grunt,

Is there an optimum angle for incline bench?
Click to expand...

Most recommendations I’ve seen say no more than 15 degrees if you want the main focus to stay on your chest. But that also assumes you are not power bench pressing and arching your back. Sometimes I just put a plate under each of the legs of the bench to give a very slight incline to keep the focus more on my chest than shoulders. The best thing you can do is experiment a little to see were you feel the muscles working the most to find the best incline for yourself.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top