Double Chest Shock

Question: I was thinking about training my chest twice a day to see if it would help to get me bigger and stronger more quickly. By hitting chest two times in one day and then resting it until a week later I hope to stimulate more growth. Does that plan have any potential or am I wasting my time and energy?

Answer: Well, it sounds like you've been reading Arnold's book, "Education of a Bodybuilder," in which he describes how he and his buddies would go out to the lake and train for hours doing simple compound exercises over and over until they were exhausted. Then for the next four days they could barely move. They were young and recuperated quickly and were able to grow from that shock to their systems. Training a single body part twice a day should be an occasional training experience, not something that should be a regular part of your training.

Since you're young and determined to go this route, here's your plan. Go in for your early morning training. The three exercises you'll do in the morning are Incline Dumbbell Press, Low Incline Dumbbell Flyes and a Machine Bench Press. For the Incline Dumbbell Press do a couple of warm-up sets and get to business. You'll do 4 or 5 working sets with 4 to 8 reps per set. On the last heavy set do 4 reps and drop 30% of the weight and do another 4 to 6 reps. For the next exercise lower the incline to about 15 degrees and begin a light set of Low Incline Dumbbell Flyes to get your joints ready for work with a different range-of-motion. Increase the weight to a moderate amount for a second set of 8 to 10 reps. Now you're ready for a couple of heavy sets of 8 reps. On the last set finish with a drop set by doing 7 to 8 reps, decrease the weight by 25% and doing another 7 to 8 reps. For the final exercise you will be tired which is why you're using a machine press like a Vertical Bench Press. This insures that if you are fatigued you can't get stuck under a bar like you could on a bench press. You are certainly warmed up at this point and your triceps should be rested since they are not directly involved in your previous exercise. Do a set with a moderate weight to get your body ready for the exercise. On the second set go to work with the heaviest weight you can handle for a set of 8 reps. On the third set increase the weight to complete a set of 6 reps and on the last set add weight again to what you can do for 4 reps. This is your final drop set so decrease the weight one more time by 30% and do another 4 to 6 reps.

After all that work, you have to refuel and rest. Get your protein and carbs into your system. In the evening your workout will consist of two exercises, Cable Crossovers and Dips. Begin with the crossovers doing 3 sets of 10 reps. This is a light workout but those reps should be all that you are capable of doing. After crossovers do dips for three sets of 10 reps. If you have chains or a dip belt add weight and make the sets difficult. You should be sore and fatigued for the next 4 days so don't do chest in that time. Return to your standard training for at least the next three weeks after which you can repeat this workout.

Doubling up on a chest workout should be one that will shock your system to grow only if you recuperate and refuel.

Daryl Laws

Personal Training and Sports Performance Excellence Blog

Double Chest Shock