Copyright Notice

No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic or
mechanical including photocopying or recording or by any informational storage or system
without expressed written, dated and signed permission from the author. All copyrights are
reserved.

Disclaimer and legal notices

The information provided in this book is for educational purposes only. I am not a doctor and
this is not meant to be taken as medical advice. The information provided in this eBook is based
on my experience and my interpretation of current studies available on training and nutrition.

The advice and tips provided in this eBook are primarily for healthy individuals. You should
consult your physician before applying any of the tips provided here and ensure they suit your

current physical health and individual state.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………...​4
CHEST ANATOMY………………………………………………………………………………​5
MECHANICAL ROLE OF CHEST MUSCLES ………………………………………………​7
MUSCLE FIBERS DISTRIBUTION ……………………………………………………………​8
CHEST ACTIVATION AND EXERCISE SELECTION …………………………………….​9
HOW TO TRAIN CHEST ……………………………………………………………………...​18
KRYPTONIAN CHEST TRAINING PROTOCOL …………………………………………..​29
BALANCED CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE…………………………………………….​32
LOWER CHEST DOMINANT CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE ………………………...​33
UPPER CHEST DOMINANT CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE …………………………​33
KRYPTONIAN CHEST SPECIALIZATION PROGRAM ………………………………​35
BONUS CHEST SPECIALIZATION PROTOCOL ……………………………………..​43
FINAL WORDS ……………………………………………………………………………....​45

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 INTRODUCTION

I still remember when I was watching Dragon Ball GT in my late teens (yeah I’m a late bloomer)
and saw Goku powering up to his Super Saiyan 4 form. Thing that blew my mind was the chest
development that was popping right out of screen and that same scene stuck with me until this
day.

Back then I realized that I’ll need a set of developed and striated pecs to get that “ideal”
physique I had in my mind and while I don’t expect everyone to relate to my geeky anime
backstory I’m pretty sure you’re reading this guide because you want the same. A head turning,
developed and well rounded chest.

That’s exactly why I’m delivering this guide to you!

All the tips, cues, ideas and suggestions you’ll find within these pages are based on my
knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics, my own interpretation of available scientific research
and my experience as a trainer and I’ve put all this on paper with a simple goal of helping you
develop an impressive set of pecs.

Whether you’re just starting your lifting journey or maybe you’re a seasoned lifter who wants to
expand his knowledge and bring up his chest development this guide delivers something for
everyone.

This guide gives you what, how and why to increase your chest training efficiency and maximize
your overall chest development!

4
 CHEST ANATOMY

Before you’re able to properly stimulate the muscle it’s important that you first understand basic
anatomy and mechanical action of that muscle.

Chest musculature consists of pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. Pectoralis major consists
of two separate insertion points/muscle heads: sternal (lower) head and clavicular (upper) head.

Pectoralis Major

Pectoralis major is the “large” chest plate that’s clearly visible when fully developed.

Clavicular head​ of the pectoralis major originates at the medial half of the clavicle.

Sternal head​ of pectoralis major originates at the superior six costal cartilages, aponeurosis of
the external oblique muscle and of course sternum.

Both the clavicular and sternal head insert into the lateral lip of the bicipital groove of the
humerus.

Pectoralis Minor

Pectoralis minor is a small triangular muscle placed under pectoralis major and it’s not
superficially visible. It originates from 3rd, 4th and 5th rib, crosses intercostalis and inserts into
the coracoid process of the scapula.

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Chest anatomy delusion

Lifters are often mistakenly using terms “pectoralis minor” and “upper chest” interchangeably
like they’re the same thing which from a visual standpoint is not correct since pectoralis minor is
placed under pectoralis major and it’s not visible.

What we usually mean when we say “upper chest” is actually the clavicular head of the
pectoralis major. “Lower” and “middle” chest are both just the sternocostal head of the pectoralis
major.

Some people are even claiming that there’s no such thing as an “upper” and “lower” chest and
technically they’re not wrong because we’re talking about separate insertion points/muscle
heads of the same muscle!

6
 MECHANICAL ROLE OF CHEST MUSCLES

Pectoralis Major

Primary mechanical roles of ​sternocostal head​ are horizontal and vertical adduction (aka.
transverse shoulder adduction), extension, internal rotation of the humerus and even scapula
depression and abduction.

Clavicular head​ performs humerus/shoulder flexion but it also assists pectoralis major during
horizontal adduction.

Horizontal adduction Shoulder flexion

Pectoralis Minor

Primary mechanical role of pectoralis minor is scapular stabilization. It draws scapula inferiorly
and anteriorly against the thoracic wall and simultaneously elevates the rib cage.

Considering the mechanical role and the fact pectoralis major is much bigger and visible part of
the “pectoralis family” we’ll focus mostly on the sternal and clavicular head of pectoralis major
for maximizing chest development.

7
 MUSCLE FIBERS DISTRIBUTION

Based on the research pectoralis major average muscle fibers distribution is roughly 60/40 of
fast (type II) to slow (type I) twitch which makes chest fast twitch dominant muscle.

That would seemingly mean that the chest reacts better to heavier weights and lower reps (aka.
higher intensity) but after working with so many clients I can tell you that this is definitely not
something applied to everyone since muscle fibers distribution varies a lot on an individual level.
Also the fact chest covers a relatively large cross-sectional area which means that in order to
optimally stimulate all pectoralis muscle fibers you should train the chest in multiple rep ranges
(low, moderate and high).

You can always spend some time experimenting with different rep ranges and observe which
one works and delivers best progress for you but I found that combination of rep ranges will
ensure you’re stimulating your chest through all mechanical hypertrophy triggers.

Also the fact that pectoralis minor is actually slow-twitch dominant muscle and although it’s not
visible when developed it can still push the clavicular head of pectoralis major out and add to
overall “thickness”.

That’s just another verdict for training chest in multiple rep ranges! Don’t limit yourself to a single
rep range (if we’re being honest that is applied to basically every single muscle).

8
 CHEST ACTIVATION AND EXERCISE SELECTION

When it comes to chest activation and EMG analysis results are all over the place primarily
because research set up always had certain flaws or inconsistencies which we just can’t ignore.

Bench press vs chest hypertrophy debate

While older EMG results make flat barbell bench press seem like one above all because all
tests used bench press as a standard and completely ignored overloading capacity of each
individual exercise (EMG activity goes up proportionally with the load/resistance), more recent
EMG analysis puts flat barbell BP really low on the list. Actually it puts it so low that we could
almost say it’s not even a good chest exercise.

A lot of people told me they heard for the first time ever from me that bench press is a poor
chest builder and I can completely understand this can cause confusion considering that bench
press is a standard for "dick measurement" among meatheads and there is actually “scientific
literature” supporting it as a good chest builder.

Flat barbell BP is undoubtedly still one of the best upper body pressing exercises in existence.
Primarily because it has the highest overload capacity out of all upper body presses and it
includes a necessary amount of functionality.

On the other hand as previously mentioned flat barbell BP most likely isn’t the best first option if
the goal is chest growth.

Even if we ignore EMG analysis there is a pretty good explanation on a biomechanical level.

Flat barbell BP achieves only up to 60 degree of medial rotation (dumbbell variation achieves 90
degree approximately for a comparison).

At the both ends of the range of motion flat BP doesn't allow for stretched contraction (bottom)
nor full squeezed contraction (top) which basically means you won’t achieve maximal peak
contraction which is essential for maximizing hypertrophy response.

While building a decent strength base with flat barbell BP is smart and even necessary; your
overall chest development will depend much more on other chest exercises with significantly
higher muscle fibers recruitment.

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How to increase chest activation on flat barbell bench press

Major reason why flat barbell bench press sucks when it comes to chest activation is because
commonly recommended technique cues are intended for maximizing force output and
protecting the shoulder joints.

Unfortunately considering the mechanical role of pectoralis muscle those cues are literally
counterintuitive for stimulating pectoralis muscle fibers.

I had my fair share of "hardcore bench pressers" for clients with subpar chest development and
this is how they finally improved their chest engagement and contraction on bench press:

● Grip the barbell slightly wider than the shoulder width (each hand should be an inch
away from the shoulder line)
● Pull the shoulder blades back and down (retraction/depression) and drive the upper
traps into pad. This will create a natural thoracic and lumbar spine arch but more
important is that it'll push your chest out closer to the resistance line.
● Flare out your elbows so they're approximately at 70-80 degrees compared to torso and
keep the elbow flared out throughout the full range of motion.
● During eccentric action (negative) lower the barbell under control approximately 1cm
above your nipples (regular cue is under) and instead of squeezing lats resist the weight
by intentional chest contraction.
● During concentric action explode up but control the weight and push the weight through
elbows (imagine you're trying to bring elbows to the ceiling but also toward the midline of
your torso).
● Bar path isn't vertical but diagonal (less compared to conventional barbell press though).
This means you should press the barbell back toward the clavicle line during concentric
action.
.
Remember!

● Keep the elbow flared out throughout the full range of motion
● Maintain antagonistic setup (scapulas are locked down/back and traps are driven into
pad)

If strength is your primary goal stick with regular bench pressing technique but if you already
built a decent strength base and you want to get the most out of barbell press in terms of chest
activation try previously mentioned cues (keep in mind that this form drastically limits the
amount of weight you’ll be able to use).

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The takeaway is that if we’re going to use EMG analysis as an indicator on which exercises are
good for targeting the chest we’ll have to do extensive meta-analysis of all available studies and
selectively discard the ones which don’t meet certain criteria.

No worries! I won’t bore you with every individual research. I’ll just share the results of my years
long analysis and combine it with my personal experience and thoughts.

If we summarize the most recent and “least flawed” EMG tests then it’s safe to say that the real
“pressing powerhouse” is actually weighted dips.
Weighted dips has the highest measured lower pecs mean activation and one of the highest
measured lower pecs peak activations.

If that wasn’t enough then how about the fact that on some EMG tests dip had higher measured
upper chest mean activation than incline barbell bench press and comparable upper chest peak
activation. Yeah you read that right! Dips is actually pretty good upper chest exercise too.

*Mean activation = average muscle activity through full range of motion

*Peak activation = muscle activation at the point of highest resistance

Although not relevant for our goal here dips also has one of the highest measured triceps mean
activations so yeah there’s that too.

Whether you like it or not weighted dips is easily the best upper body pressing and overall chest
exercise in existence and even if we ignore all scientific evidence you got plenty of real world
evidence and guys who built impressive chest and pressing strength relying strictly on weighted
dips to confirm that.

When it comes to the sternal head/lower chest one exercise that ranks very high on the list is
none other than Vince Gironda’s Guillotine Press. It's an unconventional pressing variation
where you’re bringing a barbell toward your neck instead of lower chest and therefore you’re
forced to flare out your elbows (from a mechanical standpoint the fact that flaring out elbows
increases chest activation makes perfect sense since flaring out elbows is basically the picture
perfect example of transverse shoulder adduction).

Guillotine press has the highest measured lower chest peak activation and one of the highest
measured lower chest mean activations. Now for another shocker; guillotine press also has one
the highest measured upper chest peak activations.

Not surprisingly flat dumbbell bench press is very high on the list when it comes to overall
sternal head activation and incline dumbbell press has the highest measured upper chest peak
activation.

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The reason why dumbbell pressing variations have higher activation compared to barbell is
probably due to increased active range of motion, free elbow movement and therefore
increased medial rotation.

Another “compound” exercise which deserves a mention is resistance band push up which has
pretty high both upper and lower pec mean activation.

Now something that a lot of people realized intuitively but cable fly variations also have high
pectoralis activation and considering constant tension through full range of motion and the fact
that it’s easy to control elbow angle and intentional contraction that is no surprise.

What is the best cable fly variation?

First important thing to consider is the main goal of the particular variation you're using!
Depending on variation and angle you can either put more focus on lower or upper pecs.

Of course unless you think flyes are biceps exercises!

Although EMG studies are giving us hints on what variation has the highest activation, I found
that your structure, postural alignment and ability to engage particular pectoralis head
differentiates on individual level.

In a perfect world "high to low" flyes would create a perfect angle to maximize lower chest
activation according to the muscle fibers angle and "low to high" would be ideal for the upper
chest but we're not living in a perfect world aren't we?

I'll use myself as an example!

If I use "low to high" variation due to my abnormally long arms even if I try to maintain just a
slight elbow bend my lever is still too long and it literally forces my front delts (and even biceps)
to take over great deal of resistance and it leaves my upper pecs understimulated.

After experimenting with a few angles and variations I found if I place pulley attachment in the
middle (just right under my shoulder height) I'm able to decrease the lever length just enough (I
bend elbows at approximately 75 degree angle) to minimize front delts involvement and
maximize upper chest contraction. I usually finish the movement (hands touching) at the
shoulder height.

Most people tend to bring the cables in front on "high to low" variation but I found leaning
forward and bringing cables very low (almost down to a pelvis) works for my lower chest better.

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If you want to reap all the benefits of the flyes I suggest you spend some time experimenting
with different angles and variations and find which one allows you to get the best contraction in
the targeted muscle.

Dumbbell vs Cable flyes

While I don't think dumbbell flyes are a bad exercise, from a biomechanical standpoint they're
redundant considering their mechanics is virtually the same as regular dumbbell press.

Both dumbbell press and dumbbell flys are based on horizontal adduction and peak contraction
occurs when upper arms are approximately at 90 degree angle compared to torso. On top of
that; dumbbell press brings a resistance line closer to the torso where your triceps and front
delts can assist the pressing motion. This results in significantly higher overloading capacity.

On the other hand if you compare dumbbell flys and cable flys it's obvious their mechanics is
different and the primary difference is in loading resistance line/vector.

Dumbbell flyes reach peak resistance at the bottom but the resistance decreases as you bring
hands/dumbbells above the shoulders/torso (there is virtually no resistance at the top).

Cables create "constant tension" throughout the full range of motion because primary resistance
comes from the cable machine itself (45 degree force vector).

Resistance is roughly the same in both variations in bottom position (when humerus is at 90
degree angle) but cable flyes maintain the resistance at the top of the movement too where
hands are above shoulders.

Cables provide resistance through full range of motion which automatically results in greater
hypertrophy stimulus.

So if you do a lot of horizontal pressing and combine it with cable flys variations, dumbbell flyes
are basically redundant.

13
What about decline pressing for the lower chest?

Go back to the anatomy chapter of this ebook and just observe the angle of the pectoralis
sternal head muscle fibers on picture 1. They're angled almost perfectly horizontal.

If EMG analysis taught us anything it's that maximal muscle fibers activation occurs if the
resistance line is aligned with the muscle fibers insertion angle.

Some flat pressing variations (push ups, guillotine press, dumbbell press...) with elbow flare
create ideal horizontal adduction.

If you create the decline angle you basically push the resistance line backwards which forces
the upper chest (good thing) and front delts (bad thing) more into play.

Decline angle pretty much makes it much harder to achieve a solid horizontal adduction line
which means muscle fibers won't be stimulated through their natural angle.

If we're talking about decline barbell press it gets even worse because range of motion is
significantly reduced and this can reduce overall hypertrophy stimulus even further.

In a previous chapter I explained why flat barbell bench press falls low on the list as a chest
builder and although some older EMG tests show that decline pressing has high lower chest
activation, more recent EMG analysis with better methodological set up also puts decline press
low on the list.

Overall chest activation is virtually the same during flat and decline press which makes decline
press basically redundant.

Why do some people swear on decline pressing then?

I believe the first person that comes to our minds is Dorian Yates.
Well first of all Dorian Yates never said decline press is the best overall chest exercise. He said
it's great upper chest exercise and it's funny because it's true that decline press brings shoulder
flexion into play which increases upper chest activation compared to flat press.

Based on my experience people with specific clavicle/sternum structure and arm length can
actually engage the chest quite well from a decline angle but they're a minority really.

Decline press might work for some but for the majority people with "average bone structure"
decline pressing is far from being the most efficient option for targeting lower chest.

14
How and why you should increase active range of motion on chest exercises

It's important to understand that active range of motion of the muscle fibers isn't always linked to
surrounding joints/pivot points.

Take sit ups for example!

Active range of motion for rectus abdominis ends at the top of the crunch but once you elevate
the lower back of the ground hip flexors are the ones doing the work and your abs activation
actually decreases!

In case of horizontal presses and fly variations; pressing your shoulder blades forward at the top
of the range of motion will just put your front delts closer to the resistance line and they'll take
over a significant amount of the resistance.

I see people doing it all the time because they assume they'll get better pecs contraction if they
"push" shoulders forward but in reality your activation will decrease since this increases the
distance between chest (targeted muscle) and the resistance line.

Maintaining scapular retraction throughout full range of motion will do a few things:

● It'll push your pecs out and put them closest to the resistance line! This way they'll take
over most of the load.
● It’ll put front delts at a mechanical disadvantage!
● It’ll provide stable antagonistic support and reduce the friction in the shoulder joint!
.
Active range of motion of your pecs is actually increased this way because pectoralis insertion
points are literally stretched under contraction in this position. This is applied to both ends of
range of motion.

Retract/depress your scapulas! > Lock them in that position! > Push the chest out!

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How to maximize chest activation?

Push the chest out

First thing you have to keep in mind is that your chest is in mechanical advantage when it's
closest to the resistance line.

That means you need to push the chest out and this requires proper scapular retraction and
depression (aka. arch). This is applied to both horizontal presses and flyes.

Opt in for movements which combine “stretched” and “peak” contraction

In order to put pectoralis muscle fibers through full active range of motion you need movements
which will allow you to achieve full "stretched" and "peak" contraction.

Stretched contraction is when pectoralis muscle fibers are fully stretched (lengthened) under
contraction (ex. bottom portion of dips, flyes, guillotine press...).
Peak contraction is the point of highest contraction when muscle fibers are fully shortened (ex.
when your hands are together during cable flyes).

Selecting movements which combine both stretched and peak contraction can make a major
difference on overall hypertrophy stimulus.

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Flare out your elbows on pressing movements

One of the easiest ways to increase chest fibers activation is to flare out your elbows during
presses. Flaring out elbows aligns the resistance line with pectoralis muscle fibers insertion
angle and even scientific evidence indicates that this simple cue increases chest activation.

Prioritize dumbbells over barbell

Another easy way to increase pectoralis stimulus is to prioritize dumbbells over barbells on
horizontal presses.

Dumbbells allow for free joint/elbow movement and it's easier to achieve greater ROM therefore
increase medial rotation.

Use explosive chest work as a “pre activation”

Based on a few studies subjects who added explosive chest work (clapping push ups, plyo push
ups etc.) to their routine achieved more chest growth in the same time period.
Most subjects added explosive push ups as a "pre-activation" prior to heavy compound presses.
Consider adding explosive chest work to your routine but only if you’re a bit more
advanced/experienced lifter with a solid strength base.

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 HOW TO TRAIN CHEST

The answer to this question will largely depend on your training experience, current level of
strength and chest development but here is what I would advise based on my experience and
available scientific research.

Chest training frequency

Let’s first analyze things from a scientific perspective!

A few recent studies were analyzing the correlation between different training frequency/volume
and chest hypertrophy and strength.

Based on those studies increasing training frequency beyond 2 weekly sessions for chest didn't
result in greater growth response even if total weekly volume went up.

Those studies indicate that a "sweet spot" for training the chest would be hitting them 2x per
week with "higher" volume per individual session (15-20 sets throughout the week in total).

Training chest 3x per week brought similar results but strength on pressing compounds (bench
press, incline press...) actually increased to greater extent in the same time period if frequency
was only 2x per week.

It's absolutely important to mention that training chest 2x per week resulted in more strength and
muscle gains than training chest only once per week though.

Major difference was found between the controlled group where subjects trained chest 2x per
week and subjects who performed a "specialization routine" which required them to train chest
4-5x per week where overall volume per session was decreased but total weekly volume was
matched between groups.

“Specialization group” actually achieved less growth in the same time period compared to
subjects who trained chest only 2x per week with a higher volume per individual session.

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What does that mean?

Well for starters it means that whoever conducted a research literally doesn’t know anything
about training structure, volume manipulation and how a specialization protocol is supposed to
work (specialization routine simply needs increased volume to lead to overreaching state in
relatively short amount of time).

It also indicates that pectoralis muscles have slightly worse recovery capacity compared to
some other muscle groups and their adaptation process lasts longer.

I know there are some athletes and lifters who perform presses more frequently and it obviously
works for them but keep in mind that “individual factor” determines what works for you and those
studies just indicate that the majority of recreational lifters would still benefit more from hitting
their chest only 2x per week with "higher" volume.

At the end of the day you'll have to find what works for you but we can use those studies to
make the "searching" process "less messy”.

I’m aware that there are a lot of guys with solid or even great chest development who are
training their chest directly only once a week through some variation of a bro split but you have
to understand that most of those guys built their base in terms of muscular development by
doing something else entirely than what they’re showing on social media.

Also the fact that a large number of them are genetically gifted and on steroids which completely
changes the game in terms of muscle protein synthesis (MPS), muscle satellite cells
responsiveness and overall recovery. Not to mention you can’t compare yourself to someone
who’s training for years or even decades.

The truth is that if you’re a natural lifter you basically depend on frequency to maximize training
induced muscle protein synthesis throughout the week. MPS peaks 24h after training the
muscle and lasts roughly 48h after which you can train the muscle again but the key is
achieving positive net balance between muscle protein synthesis and muscle protein breakdown
to make that “48h recovery” effective as possible and that will come down to total weekly
volume and splitting the same accordingly across 2 (or more) weekly sessions.

Why am I mentioning all this? Well basically I’m giving you a mathematical blueprint for optimal
chest training frequency.

If we consider that pecs are a relatively large muscle group that can handle and use a bit more
volume per individual session which directly extends recovery time then it’s safe to say that for
most lifters training chest 2x per week with the total weekly volume adapted to individual needs
and recovery capacity is optimal.

19
While scientific literature always has its limitations and flaws these study results are actually well
within the lines of what I’ve learned and experienced over the years.

While beginners respond to pretty much anything (due to increased responsiveness to external
stimulus aka. “Newbie gains”) considering they’re forced to train at a lower intensity, I’d say they
can actually handle a bit more frequency and maximize growth response.

If you’re a beginner you should focus on getting stronger on basic compound movements
anyway and relevant to the topic here that includes push ups, dips and later on once you’ve
mastered your own bodyweight that will include bench press variations (flat, incline, barbell,
dumbbells…).

The point is that the body will adapt your recovery capacity according to demand and previously
mentioned bodyweight movements are less taxing on CNS and connective tissue so if
performing push ups and dips even more than just 2x per week helps you improve those faster
well I don’t see why not.

Improve push up and dip numbers, get stronger on bench press variations and your chest will
grow. In that initial stage you owe it to yourself to build a decent strength base and foundation
for future progress. These pressing compound exercises especially dips and push ups are also
one of the best chest exercises you can do anyway.

On the other hand most intermediate and advanced lifters should’ve already built a decent
strength base which means they need more variation and specific exercise selection to
maximize chest development.

That can very well be accomplished with 2 properly structured weekly sessions and based on
my experience most people will respond really well to direct chest training performed 2x per
week.

I’m not saying this is an absolute rule because factors such as muscle fiber distribution,
anatomical structure, MSC responsiveness, recovery capacity.., will all dictate how your chest
responds to specific frequency and volume.

Ideal frequency will only be found through trial&error and years of experience but as previously
mentioned training chest 2x per week will be a good starting point for most people.

20
Chest training intensity

We already established that pectoralis major is fast twitch dominant muscle but does that mean
you should train it only in low and moderate rep range?! Absolutely not!

60/40 ratio of fast (type II) to slow (type I) twitch still means there’s quite a bit of slow twitch
fibers there and in order to maximize the development of the muscle you should stimulate every
single muscle fiber.

Not to mention the fact that we all have slightly different muscle fiber distribution and muscle
satellite cells responsiveness so “optimal” intensity will be different for everyone.

There’s a simple way to trigger maximal hypertrophy response and that’s to train chest in
multiple rep ranges.

Train your chest in multiple rep ranges:

3-5
6-8
8-12
12-15+

Doing heavy presses in lower (3-5) rep ranges will build a strength foundation and increase
overloading potential in higher rep ranges. Increased overloading capacity means increased
potential for increasing volume and gradual increase in volume is one of primary drivers of
muscle growth. Also you’ll achieve high levels of mechanical tension (primary hypertrophy
trigger) in lower rep range.

While moderate rep ranges (6-8, 8-12) are self explanatory, training chest in higher rep ranges
(12-15+) will maximize metabolic stress and ensure you’re stimulating those slow twitch fibers.

21
Chest training volume

So how much volume do you need on a weekly and daily basis to maximize chest growth
response without running into recovery issues? Million dollar question ay?!

We’d all like the definitive answer but considering significant differences in individual muscle
responsiveness and recovery capacity unfortunately we all need different amounts of volume to
maximize chest growth response.

Based on the available scientific research it’s almost safe to say that doing more than 20
working sets for the chest on a weekly basis won’t additionally increase growth response.

“But what about all those pro bodybuilders who are doing 30-40+ sets per week and have
massive chest bruh?”

Do I really need to address the fact that all of them are on substantial amounts of gear (yeah
steroids) and most of them have above average genetics?! As already this completely changes
the game in terms of recovery capacity and MSC responsiveness.

Interestingly enough there are multiple studies which actually observed growth response in
enhanced lifters and not a single found that doing anything above 20 intense working sets for
chest led to more growth or increased growth rate.

My experience and observation once again go hand in hand with “scientific guidelines”. I worked
with enough people to confidently say that no one thus far needed more than 20 working sets
per week performed at a necessary intensity to maximize chest hypertrophy response. (Yeah I
worked with enhanced lifters too).

Here is what I would advise but I want you to keep in mind that this is not a rule or applied to
everyone. It’s a suggested starting point from which you can build up (or down) in terms of
volume and adjust it according to your own muscle responsiveness after sufficient
experimentation.

I would say most beginners will need anywhere from 9 to 15 working sets per week. The bulk of
that volume should be focused on heavy pressing compound lifts such as bench press, incline
press, dumbbell press, dips and push ups.

Early and late intermediate lifters will need anywhere from 12-18 intense working sets
throughout the week. This is the stage where lifters can and should use more variation to
address “weak points” so the amount of heavy compound pressing vs chest isolation will
depend on your strength level, genetic response and goal.

22
Advanced lifters will need 12-20+ sets per week but at this stage you should already know
exactly how much volume you need on a weekly/daily basis and what works for your chest. The
reason why I’ve put 20+ is because I don’t want to eliminate the fact that some individuals have
greater recovery capacity and their chest might need a lot of direct stimulus to progress further
from this point. On the other hand depending on genetic response some individuals will need
low(er) amounts of volume to trigger growth that is why the lower end of the spectrum is the
same as for intermediate lifters (tbh some genetic freaks won’t even need 12 sets per week to
trigger chest growth due to way above average levels of MSC and androgen receptor
responsiveness but usually those guys don’t read this type of guides).

At the end of the day only way to find the right amount volume for your chest is through
experience and years long “trial&error” process so use this as a starting point/guideline but don’t
forget to observe the response and adjust the volume according to your individual need.

How to train lower chest

Although most people have a hard time bringing up the upper chest, lagging lower chest is
becoming a more common thing and the reason is most likely all the recent "upper chest
emphasis" on social media.

Genetics aside, underdeveloped lower chest is an obvious sign of lack of basics and no matter
how developed your upper portion of the chest is it still won't look impressive without developed
lower chest considering sternal head fibers cover much greater cross-sectional area.

Once again I'll mix up my own experience with a bit of science!

As already mentioned based on EMG analysis, exercises with the highest lower chest activation
are weighted dips, guillotine press, dumbbell bench press, resistance band push ups and high
to low cable flyes.

What do all those exercises have in common?

Well for starters they allow for full active range of motion in the sternal head (particularly in the
bottom portion of the movement aka. medial rotation).

It's also easier to manipulate elbow angle and they usually involve greater degree of elbow flare
(as already mentioned EMG analysis found that flaring out the elbows increases sternal head
fibers activation since it engages them through their natural muscle fibers insertion angle).

23
Here is what I suggest:

● Weighted dips and flat dumbbell bench presses are absolute powerhouses when it
comes to sternal head activation. They have the highest overloading capacity among
previously mentioned exercises so these are perfect candidates for applying overload
and going heavy. Don't be afraid to go really heavy (3-8 rep range) on those.

● Although pectoralis major is a fast-twitch dominant muscle I found that combination of

low rep work and high rep work works the best considering the cross-sectional area the
muscle covers. I would suggest you go heavy on dips and presses and focus more on
metabolic stress/high rep type of work on flyes and more compromising moves such as
guillotine press.

● Cable flyes are an absolute bomb for overall chest development considering they
provide constant tension throughout the full ROM and option to manipulate the angle
based on individual need. High to low flys are the best variation for targeting lower pecs
in my opinion but I suggest you experiment with angle and technique.

● Prioritize dumbbells over barbells!!

I know that’s blasphemy but beside the obvious difference in overloading capacity,
dumbbells are superior when it comes to chest activation. Plain and simple!
Dumbbells allow you to achieve greater range of motion (greater range of motion means
greater total workload, not to mention stimulating muscle fibers through full active range
of motion results in increased hypertrophy stimulus).
It's also way easier to manipulate the elbow angle with dumbbells and flaring out the
elbows to engage sternal head fibers through their natural angle can be a game
changer. Barbell path is limited by torso (at the bottom) and fixed hand position (at the
top) but dumbbells will allow you to get that deep "stretched contraction" at the bottom
and maximal "peak contraction" at the top.

● Add explosive lower chest dominant "pre-activation" movement before a heavy press!
Although I already mentioned it, this tip is specific for lower chest activation.
Based on multiple studies, subjects who performed explosive movement prior to their
heavy pressing sets; achieved significantly more chest growth compared to subjects who
went with “heavy press only” conventional approach in the same time period.
Thesis is that due to fast-twitch fibers dominance; pectoralis major activation skyrockets
during explosive movements and immediately after. It also primes those muscle fibers
for the subsequent heavy work. Under condition you perform explosive movement such
as clapping push ups, plyo push ups.., right before heavy pressing but not to contractile
failure but just as a "pre-activation" method (2-3 sets of 8-10 easy reps performed
explosively as possible) there is a chance you’ll increase chest activation during the
subsequent heavy press and perhaps even during rest of your training.

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 ● If you’re a beginner forget about barbells and dumbbells and work your way up to 50
consecutive strict push ups and 30-40 consecutive bodyweight dips before you ever
touch the barbell, dumbbell or fly machine! I’ll explain why in the next chapter!

Why you should master basic push ups first

For some reason most gym goers think they're above basic push ups but mastering push ups as
a movement will build strength, endurance and functionality which will in return become a solid
base for all upper body pressing compounds.

Push ups are perfect "preparation" and movement to master before you finally lay under the bar
and here's why!

Push ups are similar (not the same) horizontal press to bench press with similar resistance line
and pressing line path (yep it's also diagonal not vertical).

Push ups are targeting pretty much the same pressing muscles (chest, triceps, front delts) but
they also engage your core as a whole which has a carryover to general core bracing and ability
to create intra-abdominal pressure.

Push ups will actively engage antagonistic muscles like lats, mid traps and rhomboids and they
require a high degree of scapular stabilization. This will strengthen your serratus and ability to
engage scapula (important for almost every upper body compound move).

During push ups your feet are a pivot point around which lever (your body) is moving so factors
such as height (lever length), arm position (pressing line compared to the pivot point) and your
body weight will dictate what percentage of your bodyweight you're going to move during push
ups.
(Taller people usually move 65-80% of their bodyweight while shorter people move 40-60% of
their bodyweight but tbh I think arm placement plays a greater role than height itself).

If you're a newbie focusing on mastering full ROM strict push ups (chest to the ground + full
elbow lockout at the top) and getting to 30-40+ easy reps should be your primary focus! By the
time you're able to do that and you decide you're ready to join the "big balls" crew, chances are
you'll have more than 135lbs on the bar already (depending on your own body weight, levers
etc.)

Considering bench is quite technically demanding I would still advise you start with the bar and
work your way up slowly (even if you can easily handle the weight) but please master those
push ups first!

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And yes! Your chest and triceps will grow from push ups too if you push sets close to muscular
failure (or to complete failure).

How to train upper chest

As already mentioned pectoralis minor is placed under the visual portion of the pectoralis
"plate"(aka. pectoralis major) and in reality what most people are trying to develop is the
clavicular head of pectoralis major.

Developing pectoralis minor will indeed add to overall upper chest development since it's placed
right under the clavicular head of pectoralis major and it will push it out but fortunately for us
both pectoralis minor and clavicular head of pectoralis major assist in humerus/shoulder flexion.

First thing I'd like you to remember is that based on the available research pectoralis minor is
slow-twitch dominant muscle while on the other hand clavicular head is just a portion of
pectoralis major which is fast-twitch dominant muscle.

That once again means you shouldn’t limit yourself to a single rep range!

● Train your upper chest with low, moderate and high reps.

What’s the best pressing angle for targeting the upper chest?

Although "ideal" angle on incline press can differentiate on individual level due to anatomical
differences and ability to engage and contract the muscle from a specific position, here is what
studies have found.

Studies comparing EMG muscle activity found that clavicular head activation increases
proportionally with angle.

For example; upper chest activation was higher at 45 degree incline angle compared to 15 and
30 degree angle.

Upper chest activation even increases as the angle increases (45 degrees and above).

There is a catch though!

As the angle increases front delts activation also goes up but to the extent where it takes over
most of the resistance.

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Increase in incline angle also results in decreased sternal head (lower chest) activation.

So based on EMG increasing incline angle has the potential to increase the upper chest
activation but it comes alongside proportional increase in front delts activation and decrease in
lower chest activation.

This makes perfect sense from a biomechanical standpoint considering upper chest also assists
during shoulder flexion.

Increasing the incline angle increases the degree of shoulder flexion involved.

So which angle should you go with?

Although some claim 30 degree angle is ideal in order to avoid excessive front delts
involvement I believe 45 degree angle is better.

There are plenty of exercises already hitting the sternal head but also the fact that the sternal
head is significantly bigger and stronger muscle group and it can easily take over most of the
resistance which can result in poor upper chest stimulation if the angle isn't inclined enough.

On the other hand the clavicular head supposed to assist during shoulder flexion and front delts
activation is already quite high irrelevant of the angle (even during flat press).

If you ask me, a 45 degree angle will be better for hitting the upper chest in most cases but I'd
still advise you to experiment with different angles and see which one allows you to get the best
contraction in the targeted area.

Close grip pressing for increased upper chest activation

What if I tell you there is one super simple cue to maximize upper chest engagement during
pressing movements?!

As previously mentioned 2 primary mechanical roles of your clavicular head are horizontal
shoulder adduction and shoulder flexion. This means upper chest also assists front delts during
shoulder flexion action.

Finding the balance between shoulder flexion and shoulder (horizontal) adduction is the key for
maximizing upper chest activation and there is a simple "trick" to transfer more resistance to the
upper chest during horizontal pressing and that’s using a close grip!

27
Based on EMG analysis; close grip bench press has significantly higher upper chest activation
than regular and wide pressing and the reason is a simple fact that the closer your grip is the
greater the degree of shoulder flexion is.

But what if we take this a step further and combine close grip and incline angle?

Although I don't have any scientific evidence to back up my claim but biomechanical logic tells
me that combining incline angle to put the resistance line directly above your upper chest and
using a narrow grip gets you a bomb upper chest movement.
.
Here are few cool ideas:

● Incline Close Grip Bench Press (don't go too narrow though to avoid putting too much
stress on your wrists, shoulder width grip will suffice)
● Incline Dumbbell Hex Press (just squeeze 2 dumbbells together and focus on "squeezed
contraction", especially at the top)
● Reverse Bench Press (Although it has a limited overloading capacity based on EMG
data reverse grip BP has high upper chest activation)

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 KRYPTONIAN CHEST TRAINING PROTOCOL

Now it’s time to combine everything you’ve learned so far and put it into practice.

I immediately want to emphasize the importance of “individual factor”. An optimal amount of

volume and frequency will vary on an individual level so everything you see in the upcoming
examples can and should be customized to individual needs.

Beginners and chest growth

If you’re a beginner you should forget about “chest” as a muscle and focus on essential
movement patterns. As a newbie you owe it to yourself to build a solid strength foundation and
you’re going to build most of the muscle by simple overload and following a structured
progression model anyway.

Get stronger on compound pressing lifts and muscle gain will follow.

I usually advise anyone to first master his own bodyweight. I don’t care what you think you know
or what you think your goal is. If you don’t have any training experience whatsoever focus on
increasing your bodyweight push ups and dips numbers.

While this is absolutely subjective, maybe even biased, I believe everyone should be able to
crank out 30-40+ full ROM push ups and 20-30+ dips with ease before ever laying down under
the bar.

This will not just build solid strength and endurance foundation in pressing muscle groups
(including chest of course) but most people will already build a decent amount of muscle just by
chasing those 2 goals.

I can almost guarantee you that if you focus on reaching those 2 goals before adopting a
conventional lifting routine you’ll already have decent chest development and probably pretty
decent pressing strength foundation.

It's not just my personal experience, I also worked with a lot of clients who were complete
beginners in the lifting game and I made them adopt this unconventional approach. Literally
every single one of them gained more than a decent amount of muscle in their chest and triceps
and the first time they laid on the bench they were already able to rep out 135+ pounds with
ease (even super short/light guys).

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This is of course not a rule but it is my warm suggestion based on experience I accumulated
through years of working with clients.

Whether you adopt or skip previously mentioned part of the process, as a beginner you should
still focus on heavy compound lifts and progressing with a balanced training volume. Muscle
growth is a systematic process and that is even more true for beginners.

You’re not at the stage where you train long enough to have lagging body parts. Your whole
body is lagging and you should focus on building a solid strength foundation for subsequent
“goal specific work”.

To repeat myself; focus on getting stronger on compound pressing lifts: dips, push ups, flat
barbell and dumbbell bench press, incline press… your chest will grow I guarantee you that.

Leave flyes, pec deck and other fancy hypertrophy methods for later.

Intermediate lifters and chest growth

Something you don’t want to hear is that even as an early intermediate you should probably still
focus mostly on heavy compound lifts and systematic growth through balanced training volume.
First 2-3 years of training should be all about getting stronger and gaining proportional amounts
of muscle throughout the whole body.

But this is the ebook about chest growth right?! Okay let’s skip the “master the basics” rant and
focus on chest training and how to maximize its effectiveness.

Let’s assume you’ve built a solid foundation and now you’re trying to focus on maximizing chest
development.

If you are in that intermediate phase then I hope you’re still having somewhat balanced training
volume and that usually means you’ll be running one of those conventional training splits. I’m
talking about upper/lower, push/pull/legs, pull/push, full body…

Whatever training split you’re running I would advise you train your chest at least 2x per week
with properly distributed volume.

Why 2x per week? It’s simple! You want to stimulate the muscle at least 2x per week throughout
the week to take advantage of “muscle protein synthesis curve” and the fact that muscle doesn’t
need more than 48-72h to fully recover which means training it 2x per week is almost ideal.

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2nd thing you want to make sure is that you train your chest with both compound and isolation
movements in multiple rep ranges. This way you’ll maximize hypertrophy stimulus by utilizing
multiple hypertrophy triggers and stimulating maximal number of muscle fibers.

I advise you have at least 1 heavy compound horizontal press per chest training day and
perform it in low to moderate rep range (3-8 reps). Mechanical tension is the only mandatory
hypertrophy trigger and getting stronger and applying overload will positively reflect on the
overloading capacity of every other chest exercise in your routine.
This can be flat dumbbell bench press, incline dumbbell/barbell press, weighted dips, weighted
push ups and yeah it can also be flat barbell bench press.

Rest of the exercise selection should be “goal specific” which means it’ll depend on your
individual responsiveness and current need/goal.

Go with 2, 3 exercises max per day. Anything above that will just take away from the quality of
the sets on those exercises. Pour all your focus and energy into sets of those 2 or 3 exercises
and I guarantee you’ll get more than enough stimulus to force your pecs into growth.

If your whole chest is visually lagging then I would advise a simple balance between “lower
chest dominant” and “upper chest dominant” movements. For example if you’re going to do 6
exercises for chest throughout the week (3 exercises per day) aim for 3 lower chest exercises
and 3 upper chest exercises. In this case I would also advise you to prioritize compound
presses over isolation.

Let’s say your upper chest is lagging which is a pretty common thing among lifters (especially
natural lifters). In this case you could go with 4 upper chest dominant and 2 lower chest
dominant exercises. In case you’re a bit more advanced and your lower chest is seriously
overpowering your upper chest then you could even go with 5 upper chest dominant exercises
per week.

Obviously you could do the opposite in case your lower chest is lagging and yeah you’d be
surprised but that happens too. It usually just indicates that someone has skipped the “building
solid pressing foundation” part.

Okay let’s see how all this looks like in an actual example.

Let’s assume for the sake of example and simplicity that you need 18 working sets on a weekly
basis to maximize chest growth response.

You also decide to split those 18 working sets across 2 weekly chest training sessions.

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BALANCED CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE

CHEST DAY 1 (Lower chest dominant) CHEST DAY 2 (Upper chest dominant)

A1. Weighted dips 3 sets of 4-6 A1. Incline barbell press 3 sets of 6-8
B1. Incline dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10 B1. Flat bench dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10
C1. Cable flyes (mid pulley) 3 sets of 10-12 C1. Incline bench cable flyes 3 sets of 12-15

In this example you’re basically relying on compound presses to stimulate the chest as a whole
in each individual session but individual sessions are slightly more lower or upper chest
dominant based on the simple exercise selection.

This could be even taken a step further by dedicating one entire session to lower chest and 2nd
session to upper chest:

CHEST DAY 1 (Lower chest dominant) CHEST DAY 2 (Upper chest dominant)

A1. Weighted dips 3 sets of 4-6 A1. Incline barbell press 3 sets of 6-8
B1. Flat bench dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10 B1. Incline dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10
C1. Cable flyes (high to low) 3 sets of 10-12 C1. Cable flyes (low to high) 3 sets of 12-15

Although the 2nd example is a viable option I would still consider the 1st one more logical from
a “stimulus” and movement pattern selection standpoint. You would definitely induce more
localized metabolic stress by targeting both pectoralis heads in the same session not to mention
that you can’t really “isolate” the lower or upper chest entirely.

“Can I instead do more exercises and perform less exercises per each?”

Yeah you can but doing just 2 sets per exercise is in my opinion suboptimal from an activation
standpoint. You’ll often need 1 or 2 sets to really find a comfortable position/optimal technique
through which you’re able to establish good mind to muscle connection and contract muscle
fibers to their maximal capacity while true hypertrophy stimulus will be achieved by the last 1 or
2 sets.

Another reason why I consider this to be suboptimal is the fact that intermediate lifters still don’t
need gazillion different variations to maximize hypertrophy stimulus so using more than 2 or 3
exercises for muscle group per training session will most likely just take away from quality of
those sets (directly linked to the first reason I mentioned).

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LOWER CHEST DOMINANT CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE

CHEST DAY 1 CHEST DAY 2

A1. Weighted dips 3 sets of 4-6 A1. Flat bench dumbbell press 3 sets of 6-8
B1. Cable flyes (high to low) 3 sets of 10-12 B1. Flat bench cable flyes 3 sets of 10-12
C1. Incline dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10 C1. Incline bench cable flyes 3 sets of 12-15

Although lagging lower chest shouldn’t be happening, considering a lot of newbies are skipping
the “build the foundation” part it’s becoming a common occurrence among lifters. Anyways
above you can see the example of lower chest dominant 2x per week chest routine.

Once again both days involve heavy compound lifts in the early phase of the session and
gradually progressing toward high rep range and more “isolated” type of stimulus.

This example includes 4 “lower chest dominant” movements and 2 “upper chest dominant”
exercises at the end. The important thing to pay attention to is the exercise order because you
want to perform movements which are targeting the lagging pectoralis head first while you’re
fresh.

UPPER CHEST DOMINANT CHEST ROUTINE EXAMPLE

CHEST DAY 1 CHEST DAY 2

A1. Incline barbell bench press 3 sets of 6-8 A1. Incline dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10
B1. Cable flyes (low to high) 3 sets of 10-12 B1. Incline bench cable flyes 3 sets of 10-12
C1. Flat bench dumbbell press 3 sets of 8-10 C1. Weighted push ups 3 sets of 12-15

Above you can see a more common case and example of routine for targeting lagging upper
chest. You have 4 “upper chest dominant” and 2 “lower chest dominant” exercises at the end for
ensuring you’re still getting a somewhat balanced stimulus.

This example also includes heavy compound lifts at the beginning of the session but this time
those compound presses are aimed toward targeting the upper chest more.

33
Remember! Those are just examples of what I consider to be “optimal” but you can and you
should customize the routine you’re going to try to your own needs and according to your own
muscle responsiveness. Whether that’s using less (or more) volume (sets), using different
exercise selection, different intensity (rep range), doing more exercises for less sets or even
having a different weekly training frequency, make sure you customize the routine according to
your own goal and needs.

This wouldn’t be “Kryptonian chest guide” without some type of unique specialization routine for
chest right?! Okay, let’s get fancy!

First thing I wanna clear out is that this type of specialization routine is designed for advanced
lifters with years of consistent training under their belt. Yes, late intermediate lifters might benefit
from it too but if you’re a beginner or early intermediate there’s absolutely no reason to
“specialize” muscle groups or run any type of specialization split. You should still focus on
systematic growth through balanced training volume for all muscle groups.

With that being said let’s get to it!

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 KRYPTONIAN CHEST SPECIALIZATION PROGRAM

While there are a bunch of different specialization programs and ways to create one, this one I
personally tested and used with my clients so I can vouch for its effectiveness. Of course under
condition you’re sticking with the program outline to a T without unnecessary improvisation.

When you’re specializing a muscle group you should do 2 things:

● Increase training volume for the muscle you’re trying to emphasize in order to achieve
intentional overreaching in a short time period.
● Decrease training volume for other muscle groups just enough to maintain them aka.
“Minimal effective volume”.

On this exact specialization protocol you’ll train 5 days per week.

Exact split will look like:

MONDAY: Chest (strength focused)

TUESDAY: Legs
WEDNESDAY: Chest (hypertrophy/upper chest focused)
THURSDAY: Upper body (back, shoulders…)
FRIDAY: Rest
SATURDAY: Chest (hypertrophy/lower chest focused)
SUNDAY: Rest

So as you can see you’ll have 3 chest focused days throughout the week.

1st chest day is strength focused primarily because you absolutely want to hit the chest in lower
rep range to maximally stimulate fast twitch fibers, trigger mechanical tension (primary
hypertrophy trigger) and also increase overloading potential on the subsequent 2 “hypertrophy
focused” days.
You’ll notice that this day consists primarily of heavy compound horizontal presses and some
abs and calves work at the end.

35
The 2nd chest day is performed in a more conventional “hypertrophy style” with emphasis on
muscle damage and increased levels of localized metabolic stress. You’re going to utilize
intensity techniques such as drop sets and burnout finishers but also compound sets (basically
a superset in which both exercises are targeting the same muscle group) to really exhaust chest
muscle fibers.
On the 2nd day you’ll put more emphasis on the upper portion of the chest.

3rd chest day has the same purpose as day 2 except this day you’ll put more emphasis on the
lower chest.

Maintenance days (legs and upper day) revolve around basic compound movements, providing
just enough volume to ensure muscle retention in other muscle groups beside the chest and
that is exactly how it is supposed to be. Muscle growth in general is a systematic process but
when you’re trying to specialize a muscle group you want to decrease stimulus for other muscle
groups just enough to maintain them.

There is no direct triceps work or vertical pressing (front delts dominant exercises) primarily
because you don’t want to exhaust those muscle groups to the point where it affects
performance on your chest days. Also you have a lot of horizontal pressing included and you’ll
get plenty of stimulus for those muscle groups anyway (don’t be surprised if you find that your
front delts and triceps got bigger too after completion of the program).

CHEST day 1 (strength focused)

A1. Weighted dips

3 sets of 4-6

B1. Incline barbell bench press

3 sets of 6-8

C1. Flat dumbbell bench press

3 sets of 8-10

D1. Hanging leg raises

3 sets of 10-12

E1. Leg press calf raises

3 sets of 10-12

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LEGS day 2

A1. Back squat

3 sets of 6-8

B1. Romanian deadlift

3 sets of 8-10

C1. Bulgarian split squat

3 sets of 8-10

D1. Seated leg curls

3 sets of 10-12

E1. Leg extensions

2 sets of 12-15

E1. Barbell Hip Thrust

3 sets of 8-10

CHEST day 3 (hypertrophy/upper chest focused)

A1. Incline dumbbell press

3 sets of 8-10
/triple drop set after the last working set

B1. Reverse grip bench press

3 sets of 10-12
/burnout finisher after the last working set

SUPERSET:

C1. Incline bench cable flyes 12-15 reps

C2. Cable flyes (low to high) 12-15 reps

x2 rounds
/bring last set on both exercises to complete contractile failure

D1. Regular push ups

3 sets to failure

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UPPER day 4

A1. Weighted chin ups

3 sets of 6-8

B1. Pendlay row

3 sets of 8-10

C1. Side lateral raises

3 sets of 12-15

D1. Rope face pulls

3 sets of 15-20

E1. Barbell curls

2 sets of 8-10

F1. Dumbbell hammer curls

2 sets of 10-12

SUPERSET:

G1. Cable crunches

3 sets of 12-15

G2. Seated calf raises

3 sets of 15-20

CHEST day 5 (hypertrophy/lower chest focused)

A1. Flat dumbbell bench press

3 sets of 8-10
/triple drop set after the last working set

B1. Weighted dips

3 sets of 10-12
/burnout finisher after the last working set (bodyweight only)

SUPERSET:

C1. Cable flyes (mid pulley) 12-15 reps

C2. Cable flyes (high to low) 12-15 reps

x2 rounds
/bring last set on both exercises to complete contractile failure

D1. Decline diamond push ups

3 sets to failure

38
Rest periods guidelines

I usually prefer a fixed “rest period range” based on the intensity level but you can still rely on
partial autoregulation of course inside that time range.

REST PERIODS CHART:

● 3-8 reps/3-5 minutes rest

● 8-12 reps/90-120 seconds rest
● 12-20 reps/60-90 seconds rest
● 20+ reps/45-60 seconds rest
● Only rest between superset exercises is the time you need to change the exercise/setup
but you should rest 45-60 seconds between rounds of superset

Intensity techniques guidelines

Although there are plenty of good intensity techniques out there in this specialization program
you’re going to use only 2 because they work well with this exact training structure and in my
opinion they’re most effective.

Triple drop set is a pretty common and conventional intensity technique. Immediately after your
last working set you drop the weight by 10-15% and do the set to failure. Repeat that 2 more
times!

ex.

A1. Incline dumbbell press

3 sets of 8-10
/triple drop set after the last working set

Working set 1: 60kg - 10 reps

Working set 2: 60kg - 10 reps
Working set 3: 60kg - 9 reps
/immediately after the last working set you drop the weight and go into your first drop set
Drop set 1: set to failure with 50kg
Drop set 2: set to failure with 40kg
Drop set 3: set to failure with 30kg

39
Burnout finisher is very similar to a drop set but you’re going to have only one drop and you’re
going to reduce weight by 50% and do 1 set to complete failure.

ex.

B1. Reverse grip bench press

3 sets of 10-12
/burnout finisher after the last working set

Working set 1: 80kg - 12 reps

Working set 2: 80kg - 11 reps
Working set 3: 80kg - 10 reps
/immediately after the last working set you drop the weight by 50% and do your burnout finisher
set
Burnout finisher set: set to failure with 40kg

Warm up guidelines

Do 2-3 lighter sets of the first 1-2 exercises you’ll do on the particular day! That’s it!

Keep the loads light, reps high and aim to drive a decent amount of blood in the working
muscles and around surrounding connective tissue. Stay far away from failure!

Leave stretching, mobility work and cardio for after training session or ideally do that separately
from the lifting session because you don’t want any type of recovery or performance
interference especially when we’re talking about “specialization splits” when the goal is to build
as much muscle as possible in the shortest amount of time possible.

How long should I run this program?

You should run this program for 4 weeks straight and then after the 4th week you should go
back to a regular training routine with a balanced volume on the 5th week.

It’s extremely important you take a full week off from direct chest training on that 5th week. This
includes any chest exercise or horizontal pressing variation.

You can gradually reintroduce chest training into your program starting from the 6th week.

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Overreaching and supercompensation phase

First thing you’ll notice is that the amount of direct training volume for the chest is very high 30+
sets per week) and not without a good reason. The whole point of those 4 weeks is to push your
chest into “overreaching phase”. This means your muscle will get fatigued to the point where
performance will suffer (most likely around the 4th week). You should notice that the
progression has hit a plateau and some lifts might even regress at the end but that’s perfectly
normal and expected.

Still the whole point of “intentional overreaching” is to force your muscle to adapt to drastic
increase in training volume, frequency and intensity and you want to achieve that in the shortest
amount of time possible.

Overreaching will be simply achieved by running this program for 4 weeks straight, pushing
yourself close to failure (or to complete failure where it’s needed) on all sets and of course
aiming to apply overload (whenever you hit upper number of the targeted rep range on all sets
add 2.5/5kg next week).

The 2nd part of the equation is “supercompensation phase”. In this phase your muscle, central
nervous system and connective tissue are recovering from previous overreaching state. In this
phase muscle fibers will regenerate and adapt which means they’ll get bigger and stronger.

Supercompensation will be achieved only if you allow your muscle to recover and that will be
achieved by taking a full week off from any direct chest training (5th week).

Customization guidelines

While in most cases I preach about individual needs and provide customization guidelines, this
is a rare exception where the program intentionally includes imbalanced volume and very high
intensity to lead to overreaching state fast.

I used this exact program outline with multiple clients and results were in most cases even
better than I expected. For that exact reason I advise to keep customization and improvisation in
terms of program structure to a minimum.

If you don’t have access to a certain equipment or you think there are movements where you’ll
be able to achieve better chest contraction then feel free to use an appropriate alternative but
make sure exercise is using the same mechanics and same plane of motion (ex. Dumbbell flyes
vs cable flyes or Weighted decline push ups vs incline barbell press).

While I strongly advise you stick with this exact number of sets, you can go with slightly lower
volume but don’t go with more. I worked with enough people to know that there’s a certain
volume threshold and going beyond it will drastically take away from the quality of the sets. The
whole point of the program is to perform all sets with “all out” intensity and you won’t be able to
achieve that with an excessive number of sets (and most likely the majority of those sets will be
half-assed which is just a waste of time).

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I especially advise to stick with the exact intensity technique guidelines because those are
essential for overall intensity of the program.

I could name every training variable but the point is that you should aim to stick with this exact
program outline as much as possible otherwise it won’t be the same program anymore and I
can’t guarantee you results.

Get enough calories and protein to support muscle growth

If you want to maximize results in terms of hypertrophy you should aim for a moderate caloric
surplus (300-500 calories above maintenance). Whether you like it or not, a caloric surplus
supports muscle protein synthesis process therefore provides an optimal environment for
muscle growth.

And yes! You should eat the same amount on rest days too because most of the adaptation
(recovery and repair) process occurs in a resting state after all.

Protein is a building block for muscle cells so if you want to build muscle make sure you’re
getting enough protein on a daily basis. I don’t care what you’ve read and what most recent
scientific literature says (I know exactly what it says) but get at least 2g of protein per kg/1g per
lbs.

Yeah, yeah I know scientific literature indicates that we can achieve maximal muscle protein
synthesis with less but considering protein brings other benefits to the table such as increased
expenditure due to high thermic effect and high satiety factor I would still say benefits of high
protein intake outweigh the downsides (which is there is none really).

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BONUS CHEST SPECIALIZATION PROTOCOL

Before you finish reading this guide I just couldn’t resist but to give you what is most likely the
simplest “specialization protocol” ever.

It’s something I used at first with my less experienced clients primarily to help them increase
their push up numbers and build a solid pressing strength and endurance foundation but it
turned out to be an extremely efficient way to significantly improve chest development in a
relatively short amount of time.

I actually tested this same routine with some of my more experienced clients and considering
the time period required results were impressive to say the least.

So here it goes:

Every morning after you wake up do double the amount of push ups from your single set max.

So for example if your maximum in a single unbroken set is 40 reps then you should do 80 reps
in total.

● You should aim to get this total number in as little sets as possible with minimal rest
periods in between (rest 30-45 seconds between sets max).

● Every set should be pushed close to failure (1-2 reps shy of failure).
Pushing sets to failure is okay too just keep in mind that if you push to failure too early
you’ll probably get fatigued to the point where you’ll be forced to do sets of 1-5 reps.

● You should do this every day first thing in the morning for 4 weeks straight on top of your
regular training routine. This little specialization protocol has nothing to do with your
regular training so you should still follow a regular lifting program just keep in mind that
your pressing performance might suffer a bit during the 1st one or two weeks on this
push up routine but your body will adapt really fast to meet the recovery capacity
demand.

● After the 4th week you should ditch morning push ups for at least a full week and ideally
you’ll do a deload week for heavy pressing movements and chest exercises to allow your
chest to supercompensate.

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Ex.

For the sake of example let’s assume you’re going to do 100 push ups every morning.

Numbers with minimal rest periods in between sets would most likely look something like this:

48, 21,14,10,7 (100 reps in total)

Keep in mind performance will fluctuate a lot due to fatigue, fluctuations in general recovery.., so
some days numbers will be higher while the other days your numbers might drop and you’ll be
forced to do more sets to reach the total number. That is perfectly fine and expected!

Reps can be fast and explosive but they should be strict which means: chest to the ground, full
elbow extension at the top and core straight and stable.

I advise you slightly flare out the elbows on those push ups to make them more chest dominant.

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 FINAL WORDS

If you’re reading this I assume you now understand basic chest anatomy, understand its
mechanical role but most important of all you know exactly how to tweak your approach to chest
training to maximize its effectiveness and get the maximal results.

Still only way all this knowledge will pay off is if you put it to work. If you want results I’m talking
about in this guide then it’s time for the next step: application of what you just read!

Get to work!

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I really appreciate you investing in this guide and I can’t wait to see your progress in the future!

Feel free to contact me anytime if you have some questions related to this ebook or need advice
on my email: ​[email protected]​ or you can contact me on one of my social media accounts
anytime.

Danijel Lizačić

@lizokryptonian
@kryptonianarmy
kryptonianarmy.com

“THERE IS ALWAYS A WAY”

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