Let’s talk about everyone’s favorite show muscle today; the pecs.
You can’t train them like every other muscle group.
The reason being that they’re made up of predominantly fast twitch fibers. Fast twitch fibers have the greatest potential for growth, but also fatigue quickly. They respond best to lower duration sets with heavy weights. They thrive on explosive contractions. They can’t handle as much volume and need more rest.
They’re “performance muscles.”
Not every muscle group is like that. Some are slow twitch, meaning you train them in the complete opposite fashion. The soleus, for example.
But to build some big chesticles you have to press heavy weights for low-ish reps.
You can’t just pile plates on a bar every time you train chest, though. That can cause too much stress on the joints and lead to injury.
There has to be proper sequencing including prehab, dynamic, and primer movements.
There’s another reason I prefer predominantly lower rep chest work. Too many high rep presses and flyes can lead to tight pecs and internally rotated shoulders. That often leads to rotator cuff issues.
Yes, there is some benefit to bumping up the reps a bit here and there. But to fully stimulate the fast twitch fibers the majority of your chest work has to be heavy.
Heavy but safe. Smart, scientifically sound, battle-tested training.
That’s what the Renegade Method is all about. Getting you the best gains of your life:
To smarter training,
Jay Ferruggia
