Tales from the bench: switch out your normal chest routine with one of these hardcore options from four top-level competitors

Muscle & Fitness/Hers, July, 2003 by Kathleen Engel

Anna Level

Fully Vested

Always looking for new ways to challenge my body, I decided to start training with a weighted vest. I began with a lighter one and worked my way up to the seven-pound vest. I now use it on both my chest workout days--strength day and plyometric day. It's by far one of the toughest ways to train!

My pecs were very sore after this routine. It's a different soreness, though. The recovery time was a lot quicker than with regular strength training because the emphasis was more on endurance than building. I think this type of workout gets your body a lot tighter than a traditional weight-training routine.

Exercise                                   Sets   Reps

Push-Up With Vest superset with            3      12
  Push-Up Without Vest                     3      to failure
Decline Push-Up (feet on bench, no vest)   3      12-15
Medicine-Ball Chest Toss                   3      15
Medicine-Ball Push-Up                      2*     12-15
  (one hand on ball, one on floor)

*One set for each side.

Lisa Reed

Pump & Circumstance

When I was at the University of Florida, it was great because I trained with the other strength coaches. You not only challenge yourself, but you have another strength coach right there on top of you, pushing you to the limit. That's where I did this workout, which is one of my favorites.

At the end, I felt awesome, but chest is always my favorite muscle group to work. The delayed-onset muscle soreness was rough, but this workout totally gave me a huge pump in my chest and triceps.

Exercise                               Sets  Reps

Flat-Bench Press (warm-up)             1     15
Flat-Bench Press                       3     10, 8, 6
Flat-Bench Press with light weight     1     to failure
Incline Dumbbell Press superset with   3      8-12
  Clap Push-Up                         3     10
Cable Crossover                        2     12-15
Dip                                    1     to failure

Stacy Hylton

Fast & Furious

I started this heavy-lifting workout back in '98. I had been working out with a friend at the time, Sean Hylton, who's now my husband. When I decided I wanted to start competing in fitness, we hit it very hard in the gym. It got to the point where he was just spotting and coaching me--we tried to keep things moving so I couldn't rest at all during the workout. I might have even been overdoing it a little bit, but hey, I was motivated and it seemed to work.

I'd already been working out as a college cheerleader and gymnast, so I was really strong for my size. I always loved to bench press, and I just kept going heavier and heavier. This workout was a long one, with no rest. I always felt really sore the next day or two after workouts like this. It put a lot of muscle on me and helped with shoulders and arms, too. It boosted me really quickly.

Exercise                           Sets  Reps

Flat-Bench Press                    5*   15*, 8-10
Cable Flye tri-set with             3-4  15
  Incline Dumbbell Press            3-4  15
  Push-Up                           3-4  15
Chest-Press Machine tri-set with    3-4  12-15
  Machine Flye or Cable Crossover   3-4  12-15
  Push-Up                           3-4  12-15
Dip, superset with                 10    10 down to 1**
  Push-Up ([dagger])               10    10 down to 1**

* First set is a warm-up set.
**Do 10 dips followed by 10 push-ups, then 9 dips followed by 9
push-ups, and so on, down to 1 and 1.
([dagger])Sometimes this superset is done twice.

Elaine Goodlad

Powerlifted Pecs

This workout takes me back to my powerlifting days, about 10 years ago when I started training with my husband, Terry, who was a competitive powerlifter at the time.

It was fun because, as a woman, walking in there and picking up 50-pound dumbbells and banging out six solid reps made me feel really powerful. If I walked up kind of flimsily to the dumbbells and just kind of grabbed them, they'd feel really, really heavy. But when I flexed every fiber in my body and took those things, they were all mine. I'd psyche myself up for this workout for about two weeks before, because I knew I wasn't going to train like that every day. I enjoyed the heavy training at the time, but I'm certainly over it.

Exercise                    Sets  Reps

Flat-Bench Press (warm-up)  2     15
Flat-Bench Press            4      5-6
Flat Dumbbell Press         4-5    6
Incline Flye                3      8

the key to heavy benching

Wanna bench big? Follow these tips from Elaine Goodlad:

* See yourself in your mind's eye doing the weight, and nothing can stop you. You will do that weight. Think of nothing but every single rep.

* Close your eyes and visualize your reps. Take a few deep breaths and think about how strong you are.

* Lie back on the bench, get a good arch in your back and grab onto that bar like it's the last time you'll ever hold it in your hands.

* Plant your shoulder blades deeply onto the bench, so you feel like you're a part of it. Because you're pushing some really heavy weight, you want every part of your body to be prepared.