The Ultimate Chest Workout For Size and Strength

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A bigger, stronger chest, complete with thick and chiseled upper pecs. Sound appealing to you? Good. Because that’s what you’ll be working toward right out of the gate with my Xtreme Shredded 8 (XS8) training program.

Workout #1 in all eight weeks of XS8 starts with a compound set of barbell bench press and reverse-grip bench press . Compound sets , a type of superset where two exercises for the same muscle group are performed back-to-back without resting, are great for building muscle in a given body part. In this case, we’re talking about getting a more jacked chest, and there’s no better pair of exercises to do it with than these two multijoint moves.

Chest-Building Compound Set

Here’s why these two exercises are so effective for building a better chest from top to bottom:

Bench Press

This is the classic exercise for gaining pure upper body strength and a thicker chest. Benching will also beef up your shoulders and triceps, as these two “push” muscles are intimately involved in the pressing motion. When you do the bench press correctly, even the legs participate in the movement to help you move heavier weights for a bigger one-rep max (1RM).

Learn to bench press the right way with my Bench Press 5 Points of Contact article.   

Reverse-Grip Bench Press

The upper chest is a trouble spot for many people (men and women). Creating thick lower pecs is relatively easy, leaving the upper portion looking scrawny and underdeveloped. Most people will tell you just to do more incline presses, but here’s a better solution to the problem: reverse-grip bench press. Research shows that an underhand (reverse) grip increases upper pec activity by 30% versus an overhand grip. This holds even when doing the exercise on a flat bench; doing a standard incline press only increases upper pec involvement by 5% to 10%. Bottom line: If you want a bigger upper chest, you need to do the reverse-grip bench press!

Perfect your form on this exercise with my Reverse-Grip Bench Press Master Class .

This compound set is one of many in the XS8 program that will have you packing on size and getting stronger in all muscle groups. You’ll do multiple compound sets for every body part, utilizing both compound and isolation exercises. At the end of eight weeks, you’ll be bigger, stronger, and leaner than ever!

Get Better Results with JYM Supplement Stacks

Training is just one piece of the puzzle. Diet and supplements also play a major role in your results. Follow the SS8 Diet while doing the XS8 workouts to maximize fat loss as well as muscle building. For even better effects, add JYM supplements to the mix. The two stacks I recommend are:

JYM System Stack (3 products): Pre JYM, Post JYM BCAAs+ Recovery Matrix, Post JYM. This covers all your basics around workouts and is a great place to start for lifters of all levels.

JYM Xtreme Stack (5 products): Pre JYM X, Post JYM BCAAs+ Recovery Matrix, Post JYM Fast Carbs, Pro JYM, SS8 Advanced Fat Burner. This is a more advanced-level stack for those seeking the best possible results in fat loss, muscle size, and strength.

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