When
it comes to building muscle,
achieving maximum TENSION
is huge...especially continuous
tension.
And
that's where this Hybrid exercise
combination for your chest
comes in. You'll be combining
two forms of resistance into
one exercise in order to keep
FULL tension on the pecs from
start to finish and all the
way through.
It's
an incredibly effective way
to train because your muscles
literally get NO break all
the way through.
The
two exercises we'll be combining
for chest are Dumbell Bench
Press and Cable Flyes.
The
"money" part of
the dumbell bench press is
from the bottom to just about
halfway up. Once you get the
dumbells past this point,
the tension tends to drop
off and once you get to the
top, it's almost nothing.
With
the cable flye, it's the opposite...you
have very little resistance
in the bottom half of the
movement. Once you pass the
halfway point, THEN the resistance
kicks in and hits maximum
when your hands are coming
together above you.
So
you can see where I'm going
with this...
By
combining the two exercises,
you're putting tension on
the pecs from start to finish
and all point in between.
It is ridiculously effective
(and brutal!).
Here's how to set it up and
do Cable-Dumbell Bench Press...
I
recommend using a couple of
ankle harnesses for this,
if you've got them. You can
attach them to the low pulleys
and just slip your hands through.
This will attach the cables
directly to your arms.
If
you don't have harnesses,
you can also loop the cable
directly around the dumbell
handle and clip it back onto
itself or you can hold both
the cable handle and the dumbell
handle in your hand at the
same time (that's the toughest
way to go and not recommended
for use with heavy weight).
You
can also use a couple of bands
instead of pulleys, if you
don't have a cable cross-over
machine at your disposal.
Just hitch the bands out wide
to either side of the bench
hold the ends in your hands
(or looped around your wrists).
Set
the bench up in between the
cable stacks and set the dumbells
on the floor in front. I normally
recommend going fairly moderate
in weight with the dumbells,
however in this session, I
decided to go heavy and focus
on power.
The
nice about this setup is,
even when you DO go heavy,
because of the setup with
the cables, the tension stays
on even when you go heavy
and try to press fast...it
just makes the exercise that
much harder and more effective
to do. I'm using a couple
of 105 lb dumbells here, with
about 40 lbs on the cable
stacks.
So
first, put your wrist through
the left loop.
Then
step over and get your other
wrist through the right loop.
Sit
on the end of the bench and
grab the dumbells.
Pick
them up and rest them on your
thighs.
Now
lay back on the bench, bringing
the dumbells with you.
The
dumbells are now in the bottom
position of the bench press...this
is the maximum tension position
for the dumbell press and
the minimum tension for the
cable flyes (though they are
still exerting some degree
of outward pull that you have
to counteract, so it's not
totally zero).
Now
press up with POWER. You'll
notice as you press to the
top, it actually gets harder,
instead of easier (which is
normally what happens with
a dumbell press as you come
to the top).
The
cables add a lot more tension
to the exercise as you press
up and bring the dumbells
together over you...and they
don't stop.
Your
pecs will get NO rest and
the continuous tension will
absolutely light them up.
Now,
with this particular exercise,
you can also do a literal
drop set with the dumbells,
setting them down and continuing
on with just the cable flyes
to really max out the exercise.
I
would recommend doing this
only on the last set of the
exercise that you're going
to do for the day because
of how challenging this will
be to the pecs. Think of it
as a built-in finisher.
I
would definitely recommend
you give this one a try on
your next chest day...you
will only need to do 2 to
4 sets of this, depending
on how much weight you use.
When
you're doing it for the first
time, go a lot lighter than
this but as you figure the
exercise out, don't be afraid
to try going heavy. It's an
eye-opener and it will blast
your chest like nothing you've
ever felt before.
If
you're interested in more
combined-resistance exercises
like this for the rest of
your body, check out my book
"Hybrid
Training."
It'll
really help you take your
training to a whole new level,
using multiple forms of resistance
to better adapt to the strength
curves of exercises and change
the direction of resistance
to better apply tension to
the target muscles. It's amazingly
powerful stuff.