Bodybuilder Regan Grimes may be a giant, but he certainly isn't gentle with the iron when he storms the gym to train. When asked to name his favorite aspect of training, Grimes has stated: "The pump! Throwing my headphones in and crushing heavy-ass weight!"
Apparently that's what it takes to build pectorals of the sort that require their own ZIP code. So when Grimes visited Bodybuilding.com's gym recently, the first order of business was to record workout videos of Grimes training various body parts, including his back workout and arm workout. Now we present his favorite chest workout.
Grimes loves to mix it up, we discovered. This workout includes cables, a machine, barbells, and dumbbells; different angles; and isolation and compound movements alike. Give it a shot—and let us know what you think in the comments below.
Training Techniques
3-Way Standing Cable Fly: 3 sets of 12 reps
This movement is intended to hit your pecs from three angles—low, mid, and upper—as a pre-exhaustion exercise. You don't want to use heavy weight here; your focus is simply to get blood into your muscles.
Keep in mind, hitting the low, mid, and high on each set counts for one rep, so technically, you'll be doing 36 total flyes.
Machine Chest Press: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
Grimes says it doesn't matter what the chest press machine looks like, so long as it has an option for the hammer, or neutral, grip, with your palms facing inward.
Tuck your chin into your chest and "scoop," as he describes, meaning that your elbows will drop slightly inward toward your torso as you press upward. The deep contraction at the top is most important, so hold it for a solid second before controlling the weight back down to the starting position.
Grimes says tucking your chin into your chest helps you to remember that squeeze, so you want to feel like you're squeezing your chest up into your jaw.
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 8-10 reps
The first set is always a "feeler" set for Grimes, meaning he starts with a light weight to make sure his muscles are primed and determine how heavy he wants to go for his working sets.
After you find your working weight, perform three more sets with great form, keeping your shoulder blades pulled back and down into the pad, setting your feet, and maintaining a tight core as you do every rep.
You can also do a flat bench press instead of an incline if you like—whatever hits your pecs more. Grimes says his personal preference is the incline, but you must find the one that gives you your best chest!
30-Degree Incline Dumbbell Press: 4 sets of 8-10 reps (superset with dumbbell pull-over)
This exercise is part of a superset with dumbbell pull-overs. Set your bench at a slight incline and perform the basic dumbbell bench press. Remember to keep your elbows in line with your wrists as you press and keep your upper back tight to provide a stable base. With both the dumbbell and barbell incline press variations, you also work your anterior deltoids and triceps.
Dumbbell Pull-over: 4 sets of 8-10 reps (superset with 30-degree incline dumbbell press)
As you can see in the video, you want to hold the end of the dumbbell with one hand overlapping the other on pull-overs. The goal is to get a good stretch going through your pectoral muscles—and you'll definitely feel it in your triceps, too. Grimes points out how many bodybuilders he sees who are hunched over (likely from all the pressing movements), and dumbbell pull-overs can help counteract that.
Ready to take your chest training to the next level? Check out 30-Day Chest with Abel Albonetti in BodyFit by Bodybuilding.com!