Tip: The Hybrid Chest Press for Hypertrophy

If you want a huge chest, you need to know a little about the primary and secondary actions of the pectoralis major, which is the chest muscle with the most potential for growth.

The pec major is a big muscle that attaches broadly against the sternum, collar bone, and rib cage on the front side of the body. Because of the multiple attachment points, the fiber orientation of the pecs are diverse and aligned in multiple directions, all leading towards the attachment to the inside of the humerus.

Why is that good to know? Because it takes multiple angles, positions, and types of contractions to activate and fatigue all the fibers to initiate growth.

The pecs are notoriously overtrained in the horizontal pressing plane (flat bench press). But many times, secondary actions of the pecs like horizontal adduction (flyes) and internal rotation are overlooked. But what if one exercise could tackle all of these actions and train the pecs through a full range of motion? This one will do it:

Manual-Resisted Hybrid Dumbbell Flye with Iso-hold

This is a combination of a neutral-grip press, a flye action, and added resistance from a partner at the top of the range of motion.

The old school flye is great for training out of the stretch, but at the top of the motion it's harder to keep tension through the pecs. Here your partner will manually resist you during the raising portion of the lift, but he or she shouldn't force you into a bottom stretch, or resist at all during the lowering portion of the lift.

Add a 30 second hold in the stretched position on your last rep. This will expedite blood flow to the area and increase tension without adding more reps.