Chest Obliteration – Mountain Dog Style

by John Meadows on November 22, 2010

Chest training has always been a challenge for me.

It’s not because my genetics sucked (as with back), or because of the pain involved (as with leg training). For me, the hardest thing about chest training was simply staying healthy: I’ve had so many pec strains over the years that were a breath away from being tears, and so many beat up rotator cuffs requiring hours of treatment that I was finally forced to examine my style and creatively adapt to keep growing – or simply keep plowing forward like an idiot and suffer a severe injury.

Interestingly enough, training a bit “scared” eventually lead me to what works best for me in terms of muscle growth, with the added bonus of no more strains and irritated rotator cuffs. It’s been said before, but it’s worth repeating: the pursuit of putting on muscle is a marathon, not a sprint.

So why was I suffering strain after strain? By being a dedicated pupil of the bodybuilding magazines and performing the classic routine of barbell bench press, followed by incline press, and then dumbbell flyes.