It seems like nowadays everybody is a guru on the internet and knows exactly what is best for everyone. A lot of trainers will say stuff like: “Your chest isn’t growing? get your flat bench press to 275×5” or something like that. In the past I may have agreed and I still do to a certain extent but in most cases you can’t just give everybody the same advice.
I have seen many lifters who can bench 315lb and have poor chest development so what does that tell you?
If you aren’t getting any more muscular in certain areas of your body, then chances are that you haven’t cracked the code yet. What does cracking the code mean? Well when you crack the code it basically means that you have found out what kind of training makes you grow best. Obviously this takes time because you can’t just do a program for a week and say that it doesn’t work. I would try a program for at least a few months to judge the effectiveness of it.
I’ve had programs that I have done in the past where my chest was growing at a very steady rate and I have had others where the progress was so slow that it didn’t even grow half an inch in months which sucks!
Let me give you an example:
When I first started training I was following many bodybuilding principles and I was training my chest with bodybuilding parameters such as 4×8, 3×10 and stuff of that nature and it was working for me as far as hypertrophy was concerned. About 2 years later I started doing some low rep/powerlifting kind of training where I would do 3-5 repetitions and while it was true that I was getting stronger, my chest didn’t grow in at least a year and it never got sore. Most people will say that soreness isn’t an indicator of anything but I have noticed that when my chest would be sore it would grow at a faster rate than if it wasn’t and that’s a fact.
Then when I switched back to the bodybuilding style of training where I was doing higher reps (8-12), my chest started growing again, coincidence or not? I think not.
This basically means that my chest generally grows better from higher repetitions. Is my chest getting stronger from higher reps? No, but I can for damn sure say that its working from a hypertrophy standpoint.
Once you find what works for you then it makes it a lot easier to make progress but it is important that you go through trial and error first just to see what works and what doesn’t. Sometimes it only takes some minor tweaks to crack the code too. Sometimes it may be something as small as pausing for a second at the bottom of your bench press or just changing the grip placement up a bit.
Also just because you think that you cracked the code it doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement and that you won’t find a better method for yourself in the future.
Here are examples of the rep ranges that help me grow the fastest:
• Neck: 15-30 reps (Band neck work)
• Traps: 3-6 reps (Snatch Grip High Pulls)
• Upper Back: 5-12 (Rowing Variations)
• Shoulders: 10-15 on compound movements and 15-30 on isolation work
• Chest: 8-12 reps on compounds, 12-20 on isolation work
• Lats: 8-12 on compounds, 12-20 on isolation work
• Biceps: 8-15 repetitions
• Triceps: 8-15 repetitions
• Quads: 10-30 repetitions
• Hamstrings: 6-20 on Compounds, 15-20 reps on isolation
• Glutes: 6-20 on compounds
• Calves: 15-30 repetitions
Other important methods that I grow from besides progressive overload are:
• Constant tension on most exercises
• Drop sets for stubborn body parts
• Pause reps on certain exercises
• Lower rest periods for isolation work (30-45 seconds)
Common questions:
I have “cracked the code” to get my triceps to start growing. My triceps seem to respond very well to overhead tricep extensions with a heavy dumbbell for sets of 8 and while they are growing at a fast rate, I am experiencing a lot of elbow pain. What do I do?
You will notice that sometimes you may be able to crack the code for certain muscle groups, but if those exercises are giving you pain then they won’t work for the long haul which is bad because if you get injured then your progress will seriously be stalled and you won’t be able to hit the desired muscles for an extended period of time.
The best alternative is to find a way to crack the code with exercises that you can do PAIN FREE. If you find that overhead extensions for sets of 8-12 make your triceps grow but they are hurting, you then try out the same exercise but with bands. Bands are a lot more elbow friendly and they will deliver great results nonetheless!
If cleans are hurting your wrists and you want them to build your traps, then try snatch grip high pulls because they are easier on the wrists but they still deliver great results!
How do I change things up every now and then while still making progress?
Well as far as hypertrophy is concerned, you can just do a different variation of the exercise. An example would be if you did flat barbell bench press for 10 reps for a several months then maybe in the next program you can do incline presses for 8 reps or something like that.
CONCLUSION:
To conclude this article, it’s not rocket science, if its working then continue but if its isn’t then something must be changed. I guarantee you that once you find what works for you and you then you will be happy because it sucks when you are trying to crack the code but it’s all a learning process. You learn things along the way, it’s not a race it’s a marathon.