Mondays with Thibs: The Holistic Chest Blast
by Christian Thibaudeau


Call me a sadistic SOB because I'm always glad to bring more
pain your way. This time the red glow of my laser sight is dancing
around your chest and I'm ready to pull the trigger.
This freshly unwrapped chest program takes a holistic approach
that focuses on developing several physical capacities at the same
time. If you've been stuck at the same level of pectoral
development for what seems like forever, this program, which will
be a drastic change of pace, is sure to spark some new growth
ASAP.



The Framework
The program is based on several types of exercises:
Heavy lifting: Simply put, I've yet to see someone with a Kate
Moss-like chest bench 400 pounds raw. While strength isn't always
linearly correlated with size, getting stronger is sure to help you
pack on slabs of beef.
High rep work: While the amount of tension
produced by the contraction of the muscle (more force being produced
= more tension) is a determining factor in stimulating growth, time under
tension (the length of time that a muscle stays contracted during a
set) is also very important in making your muscles bigger.
Work done in the time under tension (TUT) zone of 40 to 60
seconds is very effective at making your muscles grow like
weeds.
Unstable training: Yeah, I know what you're thinking: Unstable
training is for dorks. Sure, overused and wrongfully applied
unstable training is for dorks, but if used in moderation
and for a specific purpose (which we'll see in a moment) it can be
useful.
The following is from my book, High-Threshold Muscle
Building:

Another controversial topic when it comes to building muscle
is the use of unstable exercises; movements performed where the
base of support is unstable would theoretically have the potential
to increase muscle activation in an attempt to achieve proper joint
and movement stability (Lehman et al. 2006).

So, in theory, it would seem that unstable training could
increase muscle activation due to an increased demand on the
neuromuscular system in order to stabilize the articulation joints
rendered unstable by the surface used as a base of support. Still,
in theory, that could mean that unstable exercise could improve the
capacity of the nervous system to activate certain
muscles.

Performing a push-up movement with the hands on a Swiss ball
increases triceps activation significantly compared to a regular
push-up (22% activation for stable, 43% for unstable). Changes in
pectoral activation were positive with the unstable push-up, but
didn't reach statistical significance (21% activation for stable,
26.6% for unstable). This still shows a tendency towards greater
activation of the pectorals with this exercise (Lehman et al.
2006).

However, when the push-ups were performed with the feet on
the ball instead of the hands, there was no difference in muscle
activation. This would seem to indicate that to increase upper body
muscle activation the unstable surface should be under the hands
and not the feet. It would also seem that the closer a muscle is to
the source of instability, the more activation potentiation there
is, while muscles far away from the source of instability aren't
affected as much.


It's even more awful than you previously
thought.

However, an argument against the use of unstable movements is
that force production during these exercises is lower compared to
similar exercises performed on a stable surface (Anderson and Behm,
2001). As we saw earlier, force production is one of the most
important factors governing the recruitment of the HTMUs. So it's
possible that a technique leading to lesser force production could
decrease the efficiency of an exercise.

Unstable training has been widely used for rehabilitation and
injury prevention purposes with a considerable amount of success.
Naughton et al. (2005) found unstable upper body exercise effective
at improving proprioception at the shoulder joint. However, the
application of this type of training isn't well understood when it
comes to mass building purposes.

There seems to be two distinct camps in the regard to
unstable exercises utilization: those who do almost everything on
an unstable surface and those who never use this method. Very few
are in the middle, and even fewer make a logical utilisation of
this technique.
Okay, back to our article!
I'll be clear right away: Unstable strength exercise can't and
won't lead to the stimulation of as much muscle growth as stable
variations of the movements. The decrease in force production will
prevent maximum motor unit recruitment. As a result, using unstable
variations of weightlifting exercise makes very little
sense.



The main use of unstable training is to increase CNS activity;
to "wake up" the nervous system, so to speak. The nervous system
will have to work harder to maintain proper stability during the
movement. So, when you perform an unstable movement, it potentiates
the CNS, leading to greater motor unit activation during the
subsequent lifting drills.
As such, it should be performed before a stable exercise with
the same movement structure or muscle involvement (e.g. push-ups
with the hands on a Swiss ball before moving on to dumbbell bench
press).
This can be done as a superset (one set of an unstable exercise,
no rest, one set of a stable exercise), in an alternate fashion
(one set of an unstable exercise, brief rest period, one set of a
stable exercise), or as a separate drill within a
workout.
In the later case, the unstable exercise should be used at the
beginning of the workout. However, the best options for maximum
muscle growth are to either superset or alternate both types of
exercises.
Maximum muscle tension exercises: When doing isolation
exercises, the goal should be to maximize the amount of work
actually being performed by the muscle.
Force can be produced by three factors:

1. The actual contraction of the muscle
2. The stretch reflex
3. The elastic component of the muscle and tendon
To maximize muscle tension, we must minimize the contribution of
the stretch reflex and the elastic component of the muscle. As we
saw last week,
lifts from the floor do this nicely.
The stretch reflex is activated when there's a rapid change in
the length of the muscle. When you're starting with the dumbbells
on the floor, even if the muscle is stretched, there's no rapid
change in length (you're starting from a static position), so the
muscle must contract harder to lift the load.


The Holistic Chest Blast Program

A1) Main pressing exercise

Week 1: Bench press (medium grip)
7/5/3/7/5/3


Week 2: Floor press
6/4/2/6/4/2


Week 3: Bench press (medium grip)
5/3/1/5/3/1

Week 4: Bench press (wide grip)
10/10/8/8
Take 90 to 120 seconds of rest between A1 and A2.
Note: The remaining exercises are static; that is,
they're to be performed as described throughout the program.
The first exercise — the bench press — is the only one
where the rep scheme varies.

A2) Pull-ups
4-6 reps

Add weight if you can do more than 6 reps; do negative reps if
you're stuck below 4.
In this program, the pull-up isn't used to build the back, and
it certainly doesn't count as a back training session. Rather, the
objective is to take advantage of antagonistic training because
alternating two antagonist exercises increases the strength of the
first.
Take 45 to 60 seconds of rest between A2 and A3.

A3) Upper back stretch
30-45 seconds




The goal of the stretch is to inhibit the back muscles. Static
stretching reduces the force capacity of a muscle, and reducing the
strength of the back will facilitate the action of the pressing
muscles when you get back to A1.
After A3, take 90 to 120 seconds of rest before returning to
A1.

B) Multi-angle dumbbell press
4 x 8-10/max/max
75-90 seconds rest
Perform 8 to 10 reps of the high-incline dumbbell press. Don't
take any rest, and lower the bench to a low incline and perform as
many reps as you can with the same weight. Again, without any rest,
lower the bench to the flat position, and continue to perform as
many reps as you can with the same weight.
C1) Blast strap push-ups
3 x max reps
30 seconds rest

Note: Blast straps can be purchased through EliteFTS.com.

C2) Swiss ball push-ups
3 x max reps
30 seconds rest


C3) Push-ups
3 x max reps
120 seconds rest

Note: You can use push-up stands to decrease wrist
pain.

D1) Blast strap flies
3 x max reps
No rest


D2) Floor flies
3 x 8-10 reps
90-120 seconds rest



Huge and Hurtin'
Give this program a try if you've been stuck in a canyon-sized
rut for a while. Soreness and growth guaranteed!



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