Jim Stoppani is well known for bringing a scientific approach to his training and in this ‘shred’ workout he shows how you can create amazing definition and shreds with a fast and highly efficient workout. This routine uses a smart approach that gets amazing results with the minimum amount of time and effort.
In this workout, you will be training in the 9-11 rep range. That’s slightly higher than many workouts designed around bulking and should help you to develop better definition by increasing your metabolism.
The exercises have been chosen to target every area of the chest specifically. That means you’ll have exercises hitting the upper, lower, inner and outer pecs. Is it a myth that you can train the individual aspects of your chest like this? According to some armchair athletes perhaps, but almost any bodybuilder will tell you that focused training produces focused pump and focused growth. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to hit the muscle from multiple angles. To create definition and separation in the muscles you need to hit them individually and separately.
The workout also includes cardio acceleration. What this means is that in between each set, you’ll be using about a minute of cardio at relatively high intensity. This will keep your heartrate and metabolism up all the way through the workout and really help you to strip away any remaining fat.
So that’s the theory. How about the moves?
Here they are:
Bench Press
Start with the classic compound chest movement to encourage maximum hypertrophy and to flood the body with anabolic hormones.
Incline Dumbbell Press
Pressing with dumbbells encourages you to train the stabilizing muscles in the shoulder which increases strength in all your other chest movements and thus enables you to lift heavier before failure. It also encourages symmetry while the incline will hit the upper pec (the upper and lower pec are actually separate muscle heads).
Decline Smith Machine Press
The machine now stabilizes the weight allowing you to add more on while the decline nature hits the lower pecs.
Dips
Dips are an excellent bodyweight move for pecs, shoulders, triceps and the core. They also require tons of stability and are very explosive.
Close-Grip Bench Press
A close grip bench press hits the inner pec as well as the triceps and is an excellent move to just mix things up.
Jim Stoppani always tends to end his workouts with some core movements for encouraging a ripped mid section and great stability in all movements. To round off your workout then add:
Cable Crunch
A great exercise for the rectus abdominis that maintains resistance throughout the movement and allows you to train the abs with some actual weight.
Smith Machine Hip Thrust
A unique and often-overlooked move that’s again great for adding more weight to your ab workout.
And there you have it! Follow this workout and you will hit your pecs from every possible angle while maintaining high intensity and cardio throughout the entire routine for incredible detail and cuts.
