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Transcript

Quick Wits: Best Exercises for the Chest (Lifting for Muscle Series) · Wits & Weights | Strength & Fat Loss Over 40

• 0:00
  Philip Pape: Are you ready to build a chest that commands attention?
• 0:03
  Philip Pape: In today's episode, I'm revealing my four go-to exercises for a sculpted, powerful chest.
• 0:09
  Philip Pape: This is part of our Lifting for Muscle series on QuickWits.
• 0:13
  Philip Pape: Welcome to the Whits and Weights podcast.
• 0:19
  Philip Pape: I'm your host, phillip Pape, and this twice a week podcast is dedicated to helping you achieve physical self-mastery by getting stronger, optimizing your nutrition and upgrading your body composition.
• 0:30
  Philip Pape: We'll uncover science-backed strategies for movement, metabolism, muscle and mindset, with a skeptical eye on the fitness industry, so you can look and feel your absolute best.
• 0:40
  Philip Pape: Let's dive right in.
• 0:42
  Philip Pape: Today, we are talking all about the chest a symbol of strength for especially lots of guys, but an important part of our anatomy and a key element of aesthetic development, and I'm going to share my top four exercises to build both a strong chest but also one that is more visually impressive, if that's what you're going for.
• 1:05
  Philip Pape: First up, of course, we always have the classic barbell bench press.
• 1:09
  Philip Pape: This is the foundational lift that targets your entire chest, with an emphasis on the middle to lower pecs.
• 1:17
  Philip Pape: And, as always, the key is proper form, a controlled descent, the slight arch in your back, nice strong shoulders and butt on the bench, your feet, driving into the ground, driving through your feet and letting the bar just gently tap off your chest.
• 1:34
  Philip Pape: I like to look at a fixed spot on the ceiling when doing the bench press and the bar path is not exactly vertical.
• 1:41
  Philip Pape: It's the only big lift where that's the case.
• 1:43
  Philip Pape: It's slightly diagonal.
• 1:44
  Philip Pape: From bottom to top it goes slightly back just a tad.
• 1:48
  Philip Pape: You can try different grips narrow, wide grip.
• 1:52
  Philip Pape: You can even try a multi grip, neutral grip bar, a camber bar.
• 1:57
  Philip Pape: There's all sorts of things you can do with a classic barbell bench and also, of course, the incline variation of the bench press is going to hit different parts of the chest, ensuring overall balance in your development.
• 2:09
  Philip Pape: So barbell is always number one for me.
• 2:11
  Philip Pape: Number two is going to be all the different dumbbell bench variations and, by the way, with these quick wits I'm throwing in a lot of movements.
• 2:18
  Philip Pape: I realize that I'm not telling you one specific dumbbell variation.
• 2:21
  Philip Pape: My point here is to suggest that you should experiment, see what feels good, see what hits you and develops you.
• 2:27
  Philip Pape: The best Dumbbells allow for a little bit more range of motion down at the bottom and you can hit the chest from all different angles flat, decline, incline.
• 2:37
  Philip Pape: Each one emphasizes different parts of the chest and different fibers, making them indispensable in your routine.
• 2:43
  Philip Pape: Number three we have dips.
• 2:45
  Philip Pape: Some people just don't even do dips.
• 2:47
  Philip Pape: I don't understand it.
• 2:48
  Philip Pape: They're often overlooked and they're very incredibly effective for the lower chest, but they also engage your triceps and your shoulders.
• 2:56
  Philip Pape: Now if you have quote, unquote bad shoulders you know I had shoulder surgery myself then it can definitely be more difficult and it may not be for you, but they are a great compound movement.
• 3:05
  Philip Pape: You can weight them with a dip belt.
• 3:07
  Philip Pape: You can lean forward slightly to target the pecs or you can go a little more vertical to target the triceps and, as always, use a controlled descent and a nice strong push up out of the movement.
• 3:20
  Philip Pape: All right, the last one is going to be flies Different types of flies.
• 3:24
  Philip Pape: You want to experiment with this?
• 3:26
  Philip Pape: The classic dumbbell fly.
• 3:27
  Philip Pape: It's hard for a lot of people to get to really feel the mind-muscle connection there because of the range of motion.
• 3:33
  Philip Pape: Part of the motion is not loaded at all, whereas if you can use a pec deck machine, for example, or even try the flies on the floor, do it in a way that actually gets you what you want.
• 3:46
  Philip Pape: You're eliminating the tricep involvement, so you're squeezing the chest and you've got that really nice pull inward and you can really feel it when you're fully extended on a pec deck machine and then pull that in.
• 3:59
  Philip Pape: One variation of this is going to be the cable fly either one arm or two arms.
• 4:02
  Philip Pape: If you have a two arm cable fly machine, like in a commercial gym, that is awesome.
• 4:07
  Philip Pape: So, combining these exercises the barbell bench, dumbbell bench, dips and flies you're going to get a pretty comprehensive development of your chest both power and both definition, and it's not just lifting heavy right, but also the variety and the technique here.
• 4:20
  Philip Pape: So there you have it, my top four exercises for building a chest that's not just strong but also aesthetically pleasing.
• 4:27
  Philip Pape: Remember, it's about the journey, not just the destination.
• 4:30
  Philip Pape: So you're going to want to keep pushing, keep challenging yourself, and then the results will follow.
• 4:35
  Philip Pape: Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Wits and Weights.
• 4:42
  Philip Pape: If you found value in today's episode and know someone else who's looking to level up their wits or weights, please take a moment to share this episode with them and make sure to hit the follow button in your podcast platform right now to catch the next episode.
• 4:56
  Philip Pape: Until then, stay strong.