How a Skinny Guy Built a BIG Chest!

By ATHLEAN-X

SAFE & EFFECTIVE TRAINING THAT YIELDS UNDENIABLE RESULTS

How a Skinny Guy Built a BIG Chest!

Source: YouTube
Jun 05, 2022
410,153 Views
14,937 Likes

Share with friends Leave a rating Add to favorites Add to playlist Practice together

About This Class

If you want to build a big chest and feel that you’re too skinny to do it, you need to watch this. In this video, you will see how a hardgainer built a bigger chest and be able to copy the exact same workout tips and tricks to make the same type of gains.

The first important point is to make sure that you are performing the bench press if you want to grow a bigger chest. This key compound exercise for the chest is one of the most effective for packing on size and strength. The big thing that Jesse did, however, was increasing the frequency of how often he was benching and continuing to progressively overload the exercise as well.

However, it is well known that it’s daily easy to stall on the bench press and see limited progress, so it is important to explore other exercises to build a big chest too. Extra exercises will not only allow for the opportunity to explore adduction of the chest, but incorporate different muscle building techniques as well. To grow muscle, progressive overload is not the only route you should take, but you should also include metabolic stress as well as a focus on the eccentrics.

Taking a powerbuilding approach allows for you to explore the avenues of strength in the compound lifts, such as the bench press, and build the most muscle possible using isolation exercises that allow for the use of different muscle building techniques with moves like the cable press, cable crossovers, and the cable saw.

Next, you need to emphasize a serious focus on the upper chest. You might not realize this, but the overall size of the pecs is greatly influenced by the upper, clavicular portion. A lagging upper chest will lead to less than ideal overall pec development and make them look bottom-heavy. So, it is important to make sure you attack this area effectively. The way that Jesse did this was by incorporating a 2:1 exercise ratio. For every chest exercise he did that was not focused on the upper chest, he did two exercises specifically targeting that area. The extra volume directed towards the upper chest made a huge difference in growth. Some of the exercises of choice were low-to-high crossovers, incline dumbbell bench press, upper chest pullovers, and decline pushups.

Now, to get a bigger wider chest, you have to explore full range of motion to engage the all-important stretch range of each exercise. We know that many muscle groups respond great to stretch overload (such as the traps and the calves) and the chest is one of them. That means we need to be aware of and focus on the stretch portion of each exercise. On an exercises such as the dumbbell bench press, this means making surer that at the bottom of the rep, the dumbbell needs to be touching the outside of the chest. Another good chest exercise for exploring this stretch is the cable crossover.

So now that we know the importance of getting a stretch on the pecs through an exercises full range of motion, is there a way we can reinforce that? Well, there is a great way to do that actually, and it is through the use of pause reps. Paused reps are great not only for removing momentum from a lift as well as increasing the time under load, but also reinforcing full range of motion.

On an exercise like the dumbbell bench press, holding the dumbbells at the bottom of the rep for a 2-3 count will accentuate the stretch you feel in your pecs. This technique is also great for a chest exercise like the high-to-low crossover. Unlike a standard db fly, you’re not placing your anterior shoulder capsule into a vulnerable position lacking support. Just make sure that when you are doing a chest dip, you don’t go too low that you end up putting your shoulders in a vulnerable position.

To round out the appearance of the chest, you are going to to want to target the lower chest as well. I put together a whole video detailing how to target this area to get defined pecs that you can check out via the link below.

If you are looking for a step by step program for building a bigger chest and ripped athletic body, follow the exact plan that Jesse used by heading to athleanx.com via the link below and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Every workout and meal is laid out in step by step fashion to make sure there is no guesswork along the way to a new you.

For more chest workouts and exercises to get a bigger chest, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on YouTube via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so that you never miss a new video when it’s published.

Meet Your Teacher

ATHLEAN-X

SAFE & EFFECTIVE TRAINING THAT YIELDS UNDENIABLE RESULTS

THE ATHLEAN-X CREATOR JEFF CAVALIERE

Jeff Cavaliere MSPT, CSCS served as both the Head Physical Therapist and Assistant Strength Coach for the New York Mets during the National League East Championship 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons and coached some of the game’s most accomplished players including future hall of fame pitchers Tom Glavine and Pedro Martinez, and perennial all-stars Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Billy Wagner to name just a few. He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

TRAINING AND EDUCATION

Jeff received his Masters Degree in Physical Therapy and Bachelor of Science in Physioneurobiology / Premedicine from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT (one of the top 5 universities in the country in physical therapy and sports medicine). Off the field, Cavaliere is a much sought after author and lecturer, speaking on the topics of baseball injury prevention and sport specific conditioning and has appeared numerous times in print media writing (including many of the top Fitness Magazines) on the topics of sports training, injury rehabilitation and prevention. Consistent with his desire to leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of creating the “complete and functional athlete”, Cavaliere also possesses an extensive knowledge of nutrition that he has simplified for the masses and both practices and preaches with outstanding results.

PUTTING THE SCIENCE BACK IN STRENGTH

In the weight room Jeff is known for his unique and cutting edge approaches to functional strength and conditioning and has been called the actual “brains behind the brawn” for putting real muscle science back into training. Cavaliere’s physical therapy background is his greatest asset and what separates him from most all other trainers, as it provides him with the ability to apply his knowledge of bio mechanics, muscle anatomy and function in order to create some of the most effective (and often never before seen) exercise combos and programs around…while prioritizing safety and injury prevention always. His creativity and credentials are second to none in the game. When the goal is reaching peak performance and maximizing all that the body has to offer, Jeff is at the very top of the game.

OUTSIDE THE WEIGHT ROOM WALLS

Outside the gym, Cavaliere is an accomplished author having penned both the Major League Insider Training Manual (a strength and conditioning must for all professional baseball players and aspiring pros alike) and the Teen Sports Nutrition Blueprint (an insightful look at the worrying state of youth nutrition and childhood obesity…and more importantly…solutions to change this!)

Amongst his peers, Jeff is recognized as a respected authority who never lets ego stand in the way of education and continued learning which helps him to stay on the cutting edge of his field of expertise.

ATHLEAN IN EVERYONE

Cavaliere realizes that not everyone that steps into a gym has athletic aspirations, but finds that there isn’t a guy around that wouldn’t want to have a ripped, athletic body. Taking the exact methods and techniques used to forge some of the greatest, most explosive and strongest physiques in pro sports and now applying it to you…Jeff has now made it possible for everyone to look like athletes with his complete ATHLEAN-X Training System. If you want to unleash your inner athlete, build sculpted muscle head to toe, and finally get that shredded core…then it’s time to join the rest of TEAM ATHLEAN and get started today.

See full profile