Machine Flies
4 sets 15 reps
I always start my chest days with a machine fly. I like to do this to not only warm the chest muscles up, but also warm my joints, tendons and shoulders up as well for the rest of the workout. Our objective here is to get a strong contraction in the chest and a nice stretch. On the contraction your objective should be to straighten arms fully at peak contraction. This will allow a much greater squeeze. On the way down we want a 3 second count. I set the seat up so my elbows are lower than my shoulders.
Incline Smith Machine Bench Press
2 warm up sets 10 reps
2 top sets 6-8 reps
Next up I do incline bench using a smith machine. The smith machine allows me to control the weight more and not have to worry about stabilizing other muscles like my arms or shoulders. I typically will do 2-3 warm up sets before getting to my heavy top sets. I like to set the incline up to about 45 degrees. This allows all the tension to be placed on my upper chest and not my shoulders. On your set up make sure your shoulder blades are pinched back, and your chest is above your front delts. When we bring the bar down, we want to make sure our elbows are tucked and not flared. I like to stop 2 inches above the chest to keep the tension of the weight on the muscle.
Flat Machine Press
4 sets 10-12 reps increasing weight each set
Next up, flat machine press. I like to move to a machine after the heavy bar pressing. This allows us constant tension while giving the joints a break. I also really like using this machine as it allows me to stay locked into perfect form throughout the entire set. I like to set the bar handles around mid-chest level.
Seated Cable Fly superset with Pushups
3 sets each exercise —flys do 15 reps and pushups do 10-15 reps
I like to finish off chest with a seated cable fly. I do them seated to make sure the exercise is isolated with no cheating. On each same as you come up you want to get your arms straight for a maximum contraction. After my set I do a set of pushups. This just allows us to bring the chest past failure and finish the muscle off with a great pump.
