Tighter pecs?

[Dashaansafin]

Does anyone know any excersies to obtain tighter pecs? I used to be a national swimmer so my body is built up from all those years of training. I have a slim build, however my pecs are pretty big (muscle not fat). Id like to make them smaller so wearing tighter clothes wont show 2 mammary glands hanging out.

Any excersises? All I got from online was incline bench

I want to make my pecs smaller, not bigger...

 

[thekunk07]

lose some fat

 

[whacked]

If you're already lean, losing weight (which seems to be the only way to achieve what you described) just to fit into tighter clothes is a bad, bad idea.

 

[Dashaansafin]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

lose some fat

I cant. I already have a size 28 waist and my girlfriend and friends are raggin' on me because I'm falling into "*****" status in terms of weight.

 

[Eason]

Try picking up a circuit routine, especially ones with clean and jerks, dips and pullups. That helped me tighten up my upper body a lot, other than muay thai.

 

[Dashaansafin]

Originally Posted by Eason

Try picking up a circuit routine, especially ones with clean and jerks, dips and pullups. That helped me tighten up my upper body a lot, other than muay thai.

I agree, I think ill be doing less heavy weights like bench. What routine do you suggest? Pushups and pullups and dips? How many?

Thanks!

 

[Eason]

Yes, avoid the super heavy bench lifts. My heavy benches got me big, but not toned like I would have liked. Here's what I do:

15 minutes running for a warmup (I do this to get to my gym, as well as 15 minutes running home)
Clean & Jerk x 10
Pullups x 10
Dips x 15
Deadlifts x 10

1 minute rest

repeat 2 more times

Use weights that would normally be your 12RM, not your 10. It's a circuit and it will hurt.

 

[wiscogooner]

Originally Posted by thekunk07

lose some fat

+1 for this. usually you won't look like you have man-boobs unless you've got some fat up there on top of the muscle. are your legs pretty built too? if not I'd get to work on those (squats, deads, etc), eat clean, and work do cardio on your non-lifting days.

good upper body stuff to work on would be pull-ups, overhead press, and inverted rows. Primarily those because they work the muscles connected to your pecs and will help to lengthen your chest muscles.

 

[brandall10]

Dashaansafin,

I would suggest going for a hydrostatic dunk test to find out your true body fat. I looked pretty lean overall, a little bit of a six pack, but had the same problem as you... coupled with a bit of a ghetto booty. Caliper testing can be off by some 4-5%, esp. if your body stores fat in odd ways.

The lady that administered my dunk guessed I would come out to abouit 12% based on seeing me in nothing in my underwear. Once we got going she had to run extra tests to confirm the results she was seeing, which came out to 17.5%. Her conclusion was that I had to harbor excess localized fat deposits. So now I'm down to 10% in 5 mos time (I weigh the same, but have gained considerable lean muscle). While I'm leaner all over, alot of vascularity etc, the only areas I actually _lost_ size is in my chest and ass, visibly, but even more dramatically in the way clothes fit. Even if you appear tight in a body part, if it's not rock hard, you definitely have some fat/water retention in that area. It can be leaner.

With your diet dialed you can lose about 1 lb of fat a week, and gain about .5 in lean muscle per week (and you sorta have to pick one - if you gear your diet/routine toward gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time things will move slower and/or you may hit a wall in development). If you're very lean already, or rather lacking lean mass, it would probably be best to go on a bulking routine for a month, gain a few lbs. of muscle, then spend the next month losing 5-6 lbs. of fat. After that you should see a very visible difference.

FWIW, the biggest problem for me probably was psychological - in wrestling in highschool I got caliper tested to 5% body fat and was a real hard gainer in the gym. I got the idea that I could eat anything and my crazy metabolism would keep me lean. But very slowly over the years, while I still looked in good shape overall, my body became a bit disproportionate and I didn't realize how much my metabolism changed, and how important diet is to me now at 32. 6-7 means a day, very little in the way of sweets/soft drinks, minimal processed carbs, lotsa protein thru the way of lean meats and protein shakes. Basically a 180.

 

[Dashaansafin]

Originally Posted by brandall10

Dashaansafin,

I would suggest going for a hydrostatic dunk test to find out your true body fat. I looked pretty lean overall, a little bit of a six pack, but had the same problem as you... coupled with a bit of a ghetto booty. Caliper testing can be off by some 4-5%, esp. if your body stores fat in odd ways.

The lady that ran the testing center I went to get the dunk guessed I would come out to abouit 12% based on seeing me in nothing in my underwear. Once we got going she had to run extra tests to confirm the results she was seeing, which came out to 17.5%. Her conclusion was that I had to harbor excess localized fat deposits. So now I'm down to 10% in 5 mos time (I weigh the same, but have gained considerable lean muscle). While I'm leaner all over, alot of vascularity etc, the only areas I actually _lost_ size is in my chest and ass, visibly, but even more dramatically in the way clothes fit.

You can only lose about 1 lb of fat a week, and gain about .5 in lean muscle per week (and you sorta have to pick one - if you gear your diet/routine toward gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time things will move slower and/or you may hit a wall in development). If you're very lean already, or rather lacking lean mass, it would probably be best to go on a bulking routine for a month, gain a few lbs. of muscle, then spend the next month losing 5-6 lbs. of fat. After that you should see a very visible difference.

Where can I get a body fat test? I think you may be right in that my pecs store all my fat...not my belly. I dont have moobs or anything, however, there may be some fat. What excersises did you do to lose the fat on your chest?

 

[brandall10]

Originally Posted by Dashaansafin

Where can I get a body fat test? I think you may be right in that my pecs store all my fat...not my belly. I dont have moobs or anything, however, there may be some fat. What excersises did you do to lose the fat on your chest?
Google something like "body fat test <zip code>" and some testing centers should pop up. San Diego only has two, so one locally may be hard to find. Universities sometimes have them, gyms. Anyway, it's not about doing exercises per se, it's about hitting X% body fat.. and the fact that most likely like me, that as you lean down your chest is one of the last places to lose fat, and one of the first to store it as you gain fat. You can all do the toning/shaping exercises you want, but unless you change your diet/routine to bring your overall fat level down, your chest will never get to that tightness you're looking for with a layer of fat over it. BTW, even at where I'm at, there's still considerable way to go. I can see striations/vascularity in my upper pecs but my lower have some work... figure I'll have to get down to 7%. Alot of guys have a similar problem with their abs - their uppers are easy define, but getting the fat off the lower abs is a major b*tch.

 

[James Bond]

Originally Posted by Eason

Yes, avoid the super heavy bench lifts. My heavy benches got me big, but not toned like I would have liked. Here's what I do:

15 minutes running for a warmup (I do this to get to my gym, as well as 15 minutes running home)
Clean & Jerk x 10
Pullups x 10
Dips x 15
Deadlifts x 10

1 minute rest

repeat 2 more times

Use weights that would normally be your 12RM, not your 10. It's a circuit and it will hurt.

That's a good circuit. I also like complexes like this:

Bent Row x 5
Romanian Deadlift x 5
Hang Clean x 5
Front Squat x 5
Push Press x 5
Back Squat x 5

Without setting the bar down. Rest a minute, and repeat 4x. At first you'll want to start with something like 95 pounds as it will kick your ass.