Chest and SMith Machine

[Lugar]

I am currently working chest 2x a week and delts once.  Chest is m and thursday (today) and delts were yesterday......wondering if today I should give the aux tendons a break and use the smith.....work the same principle?  I've always shyed away, but muscle growth is due to stimulation and nitrition right?  Then it shouldnt matter.....correct?

Smith INCLINEdbell   
145x10   
150x10   
155x8   
170x5   
180x4   
175x5   
155x8   
   
FLAT DBELL (startHERE)   
30x6   40x6
40x6   50x6
50x6   60x6
80x5   85x5
75x6   75x6
70x6   70x6
65x8    65x8
   
   
   
PECK DECKS   
135x12   
135+x10   
135+x10   
150x9   DROP
135x6   
125x6   
   
flt fly   
45x12   
45x12   
50x10   
50x10   
   
DECLINE BURNOUT   
160x8   
170x6   
175x6   
185x5   
160x6   

[NoCalBbEr]

dont train chest after shoulders. your shoulders will mostly lifely give out before your chest does. i dont do anything on the smith machine. remember its still a machine.. and it'll take out the secondary muscle. the muscles that helps balance the barbell... i made the same mistake a year ago and i was terrible when i got back to free weights

[Lugar]

I think and others have responded that the Smith gets a bad rap.........bodybuilders dont win shows cause they have big stabilizers.....HOWEVER, I will stick with free weights for the most part........once a week, the second chest day I think would be perfect for the smith....after heavy dbells......

[pumpster]

Forget the rhetoric about machines; experiment and use them on any exercise where the're as good or better than free weights. This will vary by exercise.

The criticisms of machines rarely if ever include balanced more objective appraisals, the truth of which is that there are pros and cons of every method including free weights. Oliva believed that Nautilus machines were more effective than free weights, and Yates uses Smith for squats and machines for other exercises to the extent that they named a machine after him. Disregard all the rhetoric to be found on every bodybuilding site about machines and free weights, and go with what works best for you, after trying each.

Agreed on chest/delt sequence, do chest first not delts.

[Lugar]

THANKS BOTH OF YOU.....everyone has their own style........much appreciated.

[pobrecito]

My opinion of machines has changed slightly due to a renovation at my gym which got all new Nautilis machines. These blow away any machine I have used before, I particularly like their calf machine, pullover, incline and vertical press, as well as the shoulder press. I wouldn't use these as my main exercises but I like them a lot towards the end of the workout as you can really push yourself and don't have to worry about getting stuck with bars on your chest ,etc.

[Fury]

Way too much volume for my tastes. I'd be burnt out after 2 exercises.

[pumpster]

you can really push yourself and don't have to worry about getting stuck with bars on your chest ,etc.

One of the biggest (and least discussed) advantages with machines besides their effectiveness, is the ability to push into failure possibly more effectively, because of the lower risk threshold-less chance of getting stuck, of worrying about balance, etc. These two factors-effectiveness and ability to trainer further into the pain barrier-are easily comparable or more important IMO than any disadvantages claimed with machines, or advantages with free weights.

Nautilus good, so are some of the other current brands including Hammer, run by Arthur Jones' son.

[Cold]

Nothing is perfect. Free weight involves more stabilizer muscles, true. But the Smith allows you to use more weight and target a specific muscle better. Pros and cons.

[thewickedtruth]

Way too much volume for my tastes. I'd be burnt out after 2 exercises.

Yep. Cut those sets down to HALF and spend more effort in pushing more weight. You're just spinning your wheels with that workout man.

[JackCheze]

did I read that right?

You're doing 36 sets for chest TWICE a week?

[Lugar]

how would u cut it down?

[robcguns]

36 sets for chest twice a week is crazy bro,like the other guy said cut it down big time,to around 12 sets twice a week or like 20 sets once a week is plenty,because if your doing 36 sets for chest your are not doing them hard enough you should be burnt by around 12-15 sets if done with high intensity.i used to do 24 sets for chest and then dropped to doing 12 sets for chest once a week and my chest grew from 52" to almost 54".also the smith machine is good for chest training because you keep the movement strict and dont have to worry about balancing it constantly but i would still do free weight just alternate between the two.good luck.

[Lugar]

well, I got to train in 1 hour...with my numbers, what would be a good routine?

[robcguns]

if you are going for size i would do 4 sets of incline,decline and flat bench in any order and use the smith machine because if you dont have a spotter you can go to failure on every set.but if you are after shape,mass and definition,i would hit flat,incline,decline,flys and pec decks for 3 sets each to failure after warm ups.decide what part of your chest needs the most work and go by that if its upper then hit incline bench,incline flys then flats and declines,and so on but for all out thickness nothing beats the incline,flat and decline presses.

[Lugar]

Today (btw I am pure mass).........I am going to go regular flat bench because I need to get my numbers up...shit I used to bench 350, and I cant get 200 now.......so, 2 warm-ups, then 4 sets in the 6-8 range.......like I have outlined, 50, 60, 70% etc of my 5 rep max.....

Then 4 sets of lighter dumbell incline, but higher rep....10-12 range on each set..........

4 sets of decline medium, 10,8,8,6,5 (first being warm)

2 incline and 2 flat flys......goood?

[robcguns]

that sounds better.good luck.

[Necrosis]

Today (btw I am pure mass).........I am going to go regular flat bench because I need to get my numbers up...shit I used to bench 350, and I cant get 200 now.......so, 2 warm-ups, then 4 sets in the 6-8 range.......like I have outlined, 50, 60, 70% etc of my 5 rep max.....

Then 4 sets of lighter dumbell incline, but higher rep....10-12 range on each set..........

4 sets of decline medium, 10,8,8,6,5 (first being warm)

2 incline and 2 flat flys......goood?

why can you only bench 200. no matter how much time i took off, 200 is light for a grown man that used to bench 300+. not buying it.

what is pure mass?

[Lugar]

cuff surgery plus ed disorder