An Intensive Chest and Biceps Workout from Dorian Yates

Dorian Yates is a six times Mr Olympia, owner of his own nutrition company and a master of high intensity training. In other words, he knows his stuff and he knows how to make you grow. With this workout he hits two muscle groups that aren’t normally paired together to help you grow your pecs and biceps for a truly huge profile.

 

 

 

Here’s how you do it…

Rotator Cuff Warm Up: 2 Sets of 12 Reps

The workout begins with a warm up for the rotator cuffs to prevent injury. Use a preacher bench, but stand next to it with your elbow resting on it as you might use an arm rest. Holding a light dumbbell with a supinated grip, you’re now going to pivot at the elbow to slowly raise and lower the weight. Dorian says this is something he wish he knew when he started out – listen to the man!

 

Decline Bench Press: 2 Warm Up Sets, 1 Working Set

Many people believe that the decline bench press is an exercise that’s just for the lower pec, but Dorian believes it’s one of the best moves there is for the entire pec. That’s because it allows you to bring your arms further back for a greater range of motion, without placing too much strain on the tendons at either side which often get injured.

Control the negative portion of the movement, then explode upwards. 10-12 reps to failure on the warm ups, and 8-10 on the working set. You will be taking a one minute rest between each exercise.

 

Incline Dumbbell Press: 1 Warm Up Set, 1 Working Set

Mixing things up, the workout now switches to an incline movement. Using dumbbells will allow you to train each side of the body equally and to avoid a lack of symmetry. Use a spotter to really squeeze every last bit of power out of the pecs. 10-12 reps, and then 6-8.

 

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flye: 1 Warm Up Set, 1 Working Set

Now you’ll end with dumbbell flies on a flat bench. Dumbbell flies will force you to use the entire pec and the whole range of motion, and will allow you to develop shape and definition in your chest that you wouldn’t be able to accomplish with just a bench press or other exercises that don’t train the entire ROM. Having this at the end of the pecs portion of the workout allows you to use a lighter weight and thus avoid injuring your ligaments.

 

Now rest five minutes before hitting the biceps.

 

Dumbbell Concentration Curl: 1 Warm Up, 1 Working Set

Concentration sets involve hanging the dumbbell between your legs and using your knee/thigh to isolate the lower arm. This allow you to really focus all the effort on the biceps.

 

Straight Bar Curl: 6-8 Reps to Failure

There’s no need for warming up at this point – you’ll just be using the last ounce of strength from your biceps after the concentration curl. Go straight into this movement and use a spotter and you’ll really feel the biceps burning.

 

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