Week 10 Day 2 - Pectoral Punishment

02/06/15 Day 64 – Chest & Triceps

Feeling still shaky after yesterday's leg session it was time to draw my focus in on the next task, which came in the form of chest and triceps, looking at the session I knew it was going to be just as tough as yesterdays session, again looking at big volume, big weights and lots of work. So here is what the session looked like:

Incline Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Flat Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Decline Dumbbell Flyes – 12 Sets, 30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Incline Dumbbell Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Rope Tricep Extension – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Close Grip Press Ups – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Bench Dips – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

With some much needed rotator cuff work being done and a certain buzz about me I started the session with the Incline Barbell Bench Press. Here my focus was to stretch out the chest at the bottom of the movement and squeeze the pecks together as I exploded out of the bottom of the movement. My first few sets were incredible, as if I had found a power within me that changed the whole dynamic of the exercise, but as quickly as it came it was gone, hitting set four I smashed into a mental wall, the pecks were now struggling to contract properly and I found myself fighting every single rep. Finally I finished the first exercise, swelling nicely I moved on to the Flat Barbell Bench Press for the DTP drop set to follow. With lots of smaller plates on the bar the intension was to complete the reps stated then strip a few plates, go for the reps again and continue the pattern until the sets were complete. Now on paper this seems fine, but after seriously pre fatiguing the chest this became very hard, very quickly. Pushing up through the palm of my hands I made it a game of quits, I wouldn't put the bar down till I finished, that meant I either crushed myself under the bar, or I pushed my limits out of the way and finished the set.

Now came the pain train. Working through 12 set on Decline Dumbbell Flyes was no walk in the park, as I was working with both maximal strength and endurance I had to really concentrate on the motion, I could have easily injured my self If I wasn't so switched on. Feeling for the tension through the pecs with every rep meant I could be as effective as possible during the workout. With only a few weeks left of this programme it is all about being as effective and efficient as possible to gain the best results I can for my body. With the final sets draining my energy like a punctured tire I was so happy with my determination to keep on pushing, always looking forward to the future and thinking about the body I am building is the motivation I need to carry on and this is exactly what allowed me to excel in this workout.

Onto the final exercise for the chest, the Incline Dumbbell Flyes, this was simply a burn out exercise. By pushing through heavy reps with a low set range meant I was able to go a lot heavier than the previous exercise, this meant more muscle fibre tears and promoting more HGH (human growth hormone) to be distributed into the muscles. Boy did I have an all mighty pump by the end of this exercise!

With the chest cooked to pieces it was time to turn the heat up a bit more and get my triceps sizzling away and what better way to do so than the Rope Tricep Extension! One of my go to exercises during my past training routines, I was no stranger to the burn I was about to feel. The great feeling of my triceps growing throughout the sets kept me focused on the work at hand, keeping the elbows tight allowed me to keep the focus on the triceps purely. When raising to the top of the motion I made sure I was incredibly slow and controlled, this meant I could put the triceps under tension for a longer period of time and thus allow the muscles to be worked more effectively.

I then found myself facing a new challenge in the form of the Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions. This is a completely new exercise for me and with the added factor of burnt out triceps that I was meant to be burning out even more its needless to say this SUCKED (but was also awesome). Getting an insane contraction through the whole length of tricep meant this is a new exercise that will be put straight into my top 10 favourites for triceps!

By this time I couldn't fully lift my arms up, my chest was swollen and my triceps were burnt to pieces. I took myself to the matted area to finish off my session with Close Grip Press Ups & Bench Dips. The press ups were impossible to complete fully, so I went to my knees and even on the knees I couldn't fully support my body weight, which only proved that I had worked my triceps to their breaking point. The bench dips also had to be performed in a reduced range, with my feet on the floor I tried to keep the focus solely on my triceps, but when they wanted to give up I had to introduce a bit of force with the legs to just keep pushing myself through the final sets. The rest period between the sets were equal to the number of reps performed, much like the principles of previous DTP Extreme weeks.

Well it fair to say I am looking forward to tomorrow's rest day, I will be preforming some light abdominal work to keep ticking over as well as some light cardio to keep the metabolism up, but I will be checking in with you beautiful people on Thursday/Friday!

Happy Lifting,

Matt