bench press not necessary
Everyone blabs about how the bench press is the god of chest exercises, but there are so many other ways to build an impressive chest.
I happen to prefer 2 exercises over bench press. Those that have been here a while may have heard me mention the first one, DEEP PUSHUPS, quite a few times.
The second is a press/fly hybrid exercise I created that’s performed on the cables. I call it
THE DOUBLE EYE PUNCH!
It is similar to using free weights in that there is no predetermined path, so your range of motion is completely unrestricted. This means that you use your stabilizer muscles just like you do with free weights. The difference is that you won’t kill yourself with cables. Although I bet some of us may find a way.
You stand with the cables at shoulder height, and if you can control the width like you can with the incredibly awesome Freemotion Cable machines, set it so that they are kind of wide, like 10 inches outside of your shoulders. Keep your elbows close to your body to prevent the very common shoulder strain or injuries.
Bring the cables forward by pushing just like you would with any of the chest press exercises, but at the same time, ADDUCT your arms, meaning; bring them in toward your center so they meet and greet each other. “Hello, left.” “Hello, right.”
Your thumbs should be pointed toward the floor as if your are double-punching someone in both of his eyes. Your arms will be almost fully extended at the elbow, with only a slight bend. You don’t need to lock them in place because there is no point to that unless you’re interested in fugging up your joints.
Now comes the beauty of my madness. Once they meet each other in front of you, and after the proper formalities have been exchanged, take a deep breath and then as you exhale, ROTATE THE BAD BOYS outward so that your thumbs end up on the outside, fingers up. REALLY CRUNCH THAT SHIT!
Again, exhale as you are crunching and be sure you are not lowering your arms. Keep them at face level. Remember, you’re punching someone on both of his eyes and it would be wrong if that person was smaller than you.
Hold it for 2 seconds as you exhale and keep them TOUCHING. Now, un-rotate as you return them to the start position while inhaling.
Keep these pretty heavy so that you fail at 6-8. This way, you can build a chest that will scare the children or turn the girls on, depending on where you like to walk around shirtless. Three to four sets should suffice.
