Chest Ladder Workout

If you're looking for the standard heavy barbell and dumbbell chest routine with heavy weights and ample rest periods, you've come to the wrong place. But if you're looking to build a bigger, more chiseled set of pecs from top to bottom, you'll love this ladder workout I'm about to walk you through via exclusive video shot at The JYM, my own personal training studio.

This workout consists of exactly one piece of equipment (a cable crossover station) and only two exercises (cable presses and cable crossovers). It may sound simple, but it's intense, very intense. My popular ladder routines focus on a single muscle group (in this case chest, but you may be familiar with my biceps and triceps ladders as well) by way of grueling extended sets.

The basic premise of the workout is this: The ladder/extended set starts with the most difficult version of a movement and gradually makes it easier as the set progresses. The benefit of this is that it allows you to continue the set past failure without resting (as with rest-pauses) and without lightening the weight (as with drop sets). The result? Intensity is pushed to the maximum and the target muscles get a heavy dose of shock treatment, thus setting the stage for new gains in size and even strength.

With this particular ladder, the most difficult version of both exercises (cable presses and cable crossovers) is when the cable pulleys are at the lowest settings and your upper pecs are taking the brunt of the movement. In the early stages of both ladders, you're at a biomechanical disadvantage. As the pulleys move up the columns, you're placed in a more biomechanically advantageous position. So while

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