Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I’m seriously trying to break out of a plateau on chest and can’t seem to gain any mass at this point. I need a program. Any help would be great!

Plateaus come and go according to a body’s readiness to grow. Any thoughtful change in routine and its consistent application will work for you.

Take this time when nothing is working and you have nothing to lose to practice a change in bench grip — moving the hands in or out– to engage different pec and triceps muscles, and therefore muscular load and growth. This is a helpful change for the head and body and discipline and will only help your bench when you return to your favorite grip.

Or go to dumbbells in place of bench pressing for a month or so. They are a better pec muscle builder, a safer and wiser choice.

Dumbbell inclines at 30, 45, 60 degrees are fantastic for pecs and deltoids.

Try my favorite superset, DB inclines supersetted with stiffarm DB pullover; 4-5 sets of inclines x 12, 10, 8, 6, 6 (progressive weight) and the pullovers at 8-10 with a moderate+ weight.

Cable cross overs, 4×10 -12, with maximum intensity, are great for finishing.

On those days you do tris, add regular or machine dips as an exercise and lean forward for further pec involvement — focus on pecs and tris — 4 x 10 -12 tough reps.

Train the muscle group twice a week.

Feed yourself pre- and post-workout protein shakes and don’t miss meals.

God’s speed… DD