Chest generally be..
some kinda of incline cable or machine fly to start. Focusing on squeezing contraction hard and getting a good stretch at bottom end. Few sets to get muscles primed for next movement..
next would generally incline barbell press. 3-4 warm up sets (starting with 135lbs for 6-8 reps and working up in either increments of 45lbs per side, or if I’m feeling stiff and not quite warmed up I’ll work up in 25lb per side increments) sets are still 6-8 reps, not working sets still warm up. Generally get to working weight of 365-405 (or heavier in offseason) for 7-12 reps and will bring this set till absolute failure with a spotter, then utilize either rest pause or drop sets (or sometimes a rest pause followed by a drop set).
next would be some kind of flat press. Recently I’ve been doing banded hammer press (putting the band on one handle, then behind the seat and then connect to other side handle). I find this give you a great contraction. I focus on being super explosive to get into the band tension, and try and hold contraction for a long 1 count, the. 3-4 second eccentric. Same principles apply as incline press in reference to warm up sets and top end set.
After this I will generally do a cluster set I think it’s called? Got this from Matt a few years back. I’ll do a flat fly, either pec-dec or dumbbell (7-12 reps) then wait about 45-60 seconds and do dips. So it’s not directly following like a ‘superset’. For the dips I’m focusing on keeping body leaned forward and keeping elbows flared to keep tension across chest and minimizing tricep involvement. Generally will do 3-4 sets here
this will generally be a full workout. As of late I’ve also been throwing in some decline press or decline dumbbell flies to finish. I find when I do overhead poses (mainly front double) my chest flattens out, even though there is a lot of tissue there. So I’ve been trying to add a little more depth and thickness to lower peck to give a little more pop to it on those poses. I generally work up then do 2 max sets of 10-12 reps.
That was longer than I anticipated so I’ll write shoulders later lol.
