Q&A with Mike Furci

The first thing you need to do is drop the bench press from your exercise selection. The bench press is highly overrated as a chest developer. Most of the great benchers of the world have large triceps and front delt development. Are you interested in increasing your bench or your chest size?

The second thing you need to do is stop doing so many sets. You are definitely over training. 23 total sets is way too many for a chest workout. The most number of sets I ever do for my chest including warm-up sets is 14.

The third thing you need to change, or at least I'm willing to bet you need to change, is the way you perform pressing movements. I can say with almost 100% certainty that you are probably a shoulder presser. People who have a hard time building their chest usually have weak chest muscles. To compensate for this weakness, people will use more shoulder and more tricep during chest exercises. This will only make matters worse because the chest doesn't receive the amount of tension required to stimulate growth.

So what can you do? First of all cut all your weight by at least 40% and start from scratch. Second, start using perfect form while performing your chest movements. When performing pressing movements like dumbbell presses use the following guidelines.

Start position:

• Lie face up on bench with feet flat on the floor.
• Hold dumbbells with arms completely extended.
• Expand rib cage.
• Lower the dumbbells in a controlled manner until they are just above chest level. This next step is imperative for you.
• While keeping your shoulders back, press the dumbbells back to the start position.

The last step is where many people fail. Instead of keeping their shoulders back while pressing, they tend to round them forward. This engages the deltoid to a greater extent and lessens the tension on the chest.

Below you'll find the chest workout you asked for.

Rest intervals between sets should be 2.5 minutes.

Mike,

I want huge arms! My arms actually aren't bad, they measure just barely over seventeen inches. I've tried lots of different workouts and I can't seem to get past seventeen. I'm 28 years old and have 10% body fat. I know I'll never have the 21 inch guns the pro's have, but 18 inches some day would be nice. Could you please send me your favorite arm routine.

Response

Chris,

You are not alone in your quest for bigger arms. Big muscular arms more than any other body part represent great strength. Where do you think the Hulkster would be if he didn't have those 22 inch pythons. Do you think Arnold Shwarzenegger would have become the box office sensation he is without his bulging biceps? Can you imagine Arnolds' body with arms that were 4 inches smaller? I can't.