If you want to avoid having injuries take you out, take the following advice.

The chest is an interesting set of muscles.  The chest is made up of the upper and lower regions.  Both regions together comprise what is known as your pecs.  Getting this area to grow is usually a challenge for most people.  However, with the right training and the right attitude, growth is definitely possible.

The bench press is one of the key movements for adding mass to your chest.  It is the primary upper body exercise.  If you use the right form on a bench press you are going to see the results.  For a good bench press, one that will spur chest growth, keep your shoulders flat on the bench, your elbows back and your chest should be stuck out.  Make a conscious effort to feel the exercise in the chest.  If you fail to feel it in the chest muscles you are likely not using correct form.  The proper way to fix this is to go back and use a lighter weight and work on your form until you feel it in your chest muscles.  Only then should you begin to increase the weights you are using.

There are numerous variations of the bench press including incline, decline, flat, dumbbell presses and various machine presses.  They all do wonders for your chest and all require that you feel the work happening in the chest muscles themselves.

I am probably going to surprise some of you with my next statement.  If you want chest growth you need to do heavy leg work.  Deadlifts and the Quad Blaster will contribute to your chest growth.  Go as heavy as you can go with this leg work and you will start to see changes in your chest.  It sounds weird until you see it in action.

A great place for working on your bench press is Critical Bench. They have programs for increasing how much you bench and for shaping your body as well.  Check them out and see what they have that interests you.  Just know that unless you are really looking for a way to increase the amount of weight you lift on your bench press, most of what they offer can be found through other tips on the internet.

Chest tips sites

M6 : D59 (D537) 10 Great Training Tips + 3

Bodybuilding.com – Chest Exercises, Anatomy and Tips!

Bodybuilding Chest Training Tips

Bodybuilding Training Tips for a Thick Lower Chest

1.  Intensity.  You need to lift with intensity if you expect to make gains.  Simply showing up at the gym and throwing weights around isn’t going to do it for you.  You have to push yourself to the limit.

2.  Consistency.  You can workout with all the intensity you have, but if you only hit the gym once a month, you aren’t going to see any gains at all.  Consistency is the key ingredient here.  You must get into the gym on a regular basis and be compliant with your schedule of workouts.

3.  Observation.  Be observant to how your body reacts under certain training conditions and then leverage what you learn to make awesome gains.  Know your body and you will make a connection between the weights and your muscles that you never thought was possible.

The irony of this situation is that just the night before I was speaking to Carlos DeJesus on the telephone about this very thing.  Read on and you will understand.

It was a typical workout morning.  I hit the gym alone because Matty was sick.  I got in and did my leg extensions, leg curls and calf raises.  I was ready for my squats.  I was not yet ready to up the weight, so I loaded a relatively light 210 lbs. onto the bar, got under it and unracked the weight.  I went down for repetition number one and paid extra attention to my form.  Things looked good.  The bar was lower on my back like it should be for proper alignment and my depth was excellent.  I came back up using hip drive just like Coach Rippetoe teaches.  I went down for repetition number two and came back up. I went down for repetition number three and came back up.  I was being careful not to bounce or get out of alignment.  I went down for repetition number four and came back up.  I went down for repetition number five and upon hitting the halfway point I felt a twinge in the right side of my lower back.  I immediately came up (carefully) and racked the weight.  It wasn’t much of a twinge, just very slight.

I stretched my back and felt pretty good.  I managed to continue with my workout and didn’t feel any pain at all.  When I got to the deadlifts I realized that I should skip them. From past experience, the deadlifts really tax my back.  As any smart person would do, I skipped that exercise and moved on to the treadmill.  My idea was to walk slowly for a little while to warm up the muscles even more before stretching some more.  Everything seemed fine.

When I got home Matty ran an electric massager over my lower back.  I felt good.  About 2 hours later my back was in full spasm mode.  I was having a major muscle spasm and could barely stand up straight!  I knew right then that I should have just ended the workout the moment I felt the twinge.

I spent the rest of today taking care of my back.  It is sore and stiff, but it seems to be getting better.  I know this is going to throw off my training this week and that upsets me.  I hate injuries!

By testing things out, over time you will see what works for you and your body type.  Everyone is different.  You wouldn’t dream of wearing my custom made shoes, so why expect to be given the exact program that will work for you?  You can be taught principles and guidelines, but it is up to you to find out what works the best for you.  At that point, you have to work with the things that have done the best for you and leave behind those things that haven’t worked for you.  It is really a simple process.

I measure my body fat and body weight weekly.  I have a chart that shows my fluctuations for the past 535 days.  I have also mapped to that what I was doing at the time.  Using that chart I can make decisions very easily about which principles I should apply to my training and nutrition and which principles won’t work for me.  The specifics of setting up a good plan then become extremely easy for me.