The following details my primary chest, shoulder and triceps workout from last night at Kirkland Gold’s Gym. I trained with Christina and had my friend Phil jump in on inclines. The workout itself was programmed by my coach, John Meadows. Here is the workout…
Flat Dumbbell Twist Press
This is one of my favorite movements, particularly when performed as 1.5’s on a secondary/pump day with lighter weight – FYI.
Set 1 x 10 reps with 40lbs (warm-up)
Set 2 x 10 reps with 60lbs (warm-up)
Set 3 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 4 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 5 x 10 reps with 80lbs
*The key here is to arch your back and lift your chest at the bottom to get a good stretch and then twist the dumbbells as you press up. Turn your pinkies in as you squeeze at the top. This provides a great contraction but you won’t be able to go as heavy as you would with regular dumbbell presses.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4fYZhpXyj0]
Barbell Incline
Set 1 x 10 reps with 135lbs (feeder set)
Set 2 x 8 reps with 225lbs
Set 3 x 8 reps with 245lbs
Set 4 x 8 reps with 265lbs
Set 5 x 7 reps with 285lbs
*I bring the bar to just above my chin and then drive to ¾ lock out on this exercise for continuous tension. Jump up in weight as you progress until you cannot get 8 reps. 4 working sets.
Stretch Pushups w/Chains
These are the chains I used: https://www.elitefts.com/eliteftstm-pair-of-5-8-chains.html. This is my other favorite chest exercise for finishing off the pecs - FYI.
Set 1 x 17 reps with 2 chains
Set 2 x 12 reps with 2 chains -> drop chains x 3 reps + mid-rep isohold
Set 3 x 10 reps with 2 chains -> drop chains x 3 reps + mid-rep isohold
*Set this up so you perform your reps between two benches with your feet elevated if you don’t have the adjustable dip bar as I’m using in the video below. Sink down and stretch your chest at the bottom on each rep and go to failure. On the final two sets I dropped the chains once I hit failure and extended the set with more reps and a final isohold.
Here is a video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tHb7Bzy7TM]
Dumbbell Rear Laterals
Set 1 x 20 reps with 35lbs
Set 2 x 20 reps with 35lbs
Set 3 x 20 reps with 35lbs
*I prefer to lay face down on an incline bench due to my lower back issues. Also, I feel I can focus more on hitting the rear delts laying on a bench. Use full range reps here for 3 working sets.
Barbell Front Raise
Set 1 x 12 reps with 40lbs
Set 2 x 12 reps with 40lbs
Set 3 x 12 reps with 40lbs
*I’m not a huge fan of front raises, but these were awesome and burned like crazy. Take a wider than shoulder width grip, allow the bar to rest on your thighs at the bottom before extending your arms out and up until the bar is directly over your head. Really focus on contracting your delts at the top.
Seated Dumbbell Side Lateral Swings
Set 1 x 30 reps with 40lbs
Set 2 x 30 reps with 40lbs
Set 3 x 30 reps with 40lbs
*These are partial reps. Simply straighten your arms and swing them out to the side as far as you can before coming back down and reversing the movement. Think along the lines of continuous tension and high reps for a massive pump.
Rope Pushdowns -> Dips Between Benches Superset
Rope Pushdown x 12 reps with 110lbs
Immediately followed by …
Dips Between Benches x 8-12 reps (failure) with bodyweight only
*Hold the contraction for a 1 second count at the bottom of the rope pushdowns and go immediately to dips between benches for as many reps as you can before hitting failure. Perform the superset for 3 rounds.
Seated Overhead EZ Bar Extensions
Set 1 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 2 x 10 reps with 80lbs
Set 3 x 10 reps with 80lbs
*The key here is to grip the bar as hard as possible and pause at the bottom of each rep for a massive stretch. Only extend up to about ¾ lock out to avoid overly stressing the elbow joints.
That concluded this chest, shoulder and triceps workout.
Train hard!
Mark