Heya!

Are the bench press and cable stations at your gym almost always taken?

Mine are.

Now, I don’t terribly mind camping out for an occupied bench press … if I have time. But I don’t fare so well with cable machines. Something about a never-ending carousel of guys itching to ruthlessly yank their way through chest flyes, surrounded by 12 other people furiously tricep-extending, lat-pulling, etc. … is a tad off-putting to me.

I thought you might like to know a succinct, killer chest-growth workout … that avoids barbells and cables.

This routine smokes my inner … outer … upper … mid … and lower pecs. It also has helped improve my chest symmetry.

MY FAVORITE CHEST WORKOUT — NO BARBELL BENCHING OR CABLES REQUIRED!

There are two distinct supersets to this workout. (A superset simply refers to two-three exercises placed back to back, to be performed in a row, and then repeated after a break.)

When I’m short on time, I skip straight ahead to Superset #2.

Whenever I try a new exercise, I start with a light, warm up set, where I introduce my body to the demands and mechanics. I count my initial warm up set, if applicable, as a working set. I’ve learned the hard way that I can pull muscles when I have no patience for warming up.

I perform 10-14 reps of every exercise per set. I move as swiftly *as safely possible* into the next exercise. Upon completion of each superset, I rest for one minute before repeating the same superset.

I try not to take more than 90 seconds while I transition from Superset #1 to Superset #2. It really helps me to write down how much weight / how many reps I did for each set, so that I have a goal to beat for next time.

I’m merely sharing my experience with you. If you decide to go the extra step and try this for yourself, you do so completely at your own risk. 🙂

SUPERSET #1 — to be performed 3-4 times through

A. Incline dumbbell flyes (upper chest)

No Break, immediately into

B. The perfect pushup (whole chest)

SUPERSET #2 — to be performed 3 times through

A. Dip, or jump dip if dip is too difficult (Lower chest)

No Break, immediately into

B. Incline close grip dumbbell press (upper & inner chest)

No Break, immediately into

C. Single-arm slider pushups (chest symmetry)

(A flat paper bag on a smooth-ish surface — like a big stretching matt — works as a substitute when I don’t have my slider handy.)