5 reasons your chest isn’t growing, according to an exercise scientist

So, you want a powerful-looking chest that makes your t-shirt look tight? You’re not alone.

As with any muscle group, consistency and time are required to fully reap the rewards. However, there’s nothing more disheartening than still seeing no progress, despite giving your chest endless amounts of attention on the gym floor.

Some comforting news for you: the chest, aka the pecs, are a hard muscle group to grow. However, there’s a chance you may also be making some avoidable mistakes that are holding back your progress.

In a recent YouTube video, Exercise Scientists, Dr Mike Israetel and Dr Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis (aka Dr Pak) joined forces to reveal five common training mistakes which could be stopping you from building those superhero-sized pecs you dream of. And, more importantly, how you can fix them. Listen up...

1. You're not training with enough volume

While studies have shown that you can still build muscle in the lower rep ranges, if you’ve been struggling to see results, it could be time to switch things up. “Low volume protocols work fine, but if your chest isn’t growing, hitting it with more training volume is the way to go,” says Dr Pak. Dr Mike even adds that they’ve carried out studies showing that those who don’t respond well to low reps, often respond better to higher rep ranges. They advise dedicating 20 to 30 sets to your chest per week, split over two to three sessions. Obviously if low reps are working for you – great – but if not, then you’ve got nothing to lose by mixing it up.

2. Focusing on just compound exercises

Compound exercises – like the bench press and dumbbell press – are excellent for building strength and muscle and deliver a lot of bang for your buck, as they hit multiple muscle groups at once. However, if your chest is lagging, Dr Pak says your best bet is to focus 50-60% of your time on isolation exercises. “Things like dumbbell flyes, cable flyes, machine flyes, any exercise that isolates the chest, so you can make sure it’s getting as much stimulus as possible.” By all means, still continue with your compound exercises, but these alone probably aren't enough to get by when looking to supersize your chest.

3. You’re not lifting heavy enough

If the goal is to build a chest like Arnie or The Rock, let’s keep it real, you need to train your muscles hard. “Don’t be afraid to do a heavy set of five on a traditional chest exercise,” Dr Pak says, especially on machine-based exercises that you can fail safely on. “No, it’s not going to primarily target strength or make you a powerlifter or anything like that, it will be as hypertrophic as a set of 12 or 15.”

4. Leaving out bodyweight exercises

When you’ve got access to gym machines, dumbbells and barbells, you may be wondering why on earth you’d even opt for bodyweight exercises. But, Dr Pak says dips and push-ups are “golden”. “Barely any warm-up required, super easy to progress, even if you’re an advanced lifter and, in general, easy exercises that you can sprinkle on top of other sessions to get more volume in.” They’re also ideal if you have access to no home gym equipment, or when you’re off on your holibobs.

5. Not getting a deep enough ‘stretch’

By ‘stretch’, Dr Pak and Dr Israetel are referring to the part of an exercise where the muscle is in its fully lengthened position – think the hinge of a Romanian deadlift or the bar on your chest in a bench press. But why? Well, a pre-print study has shown that training in a more stretched position can lead to significantly more muscle growth (43.3% to be precise). “Do your best to pause in the stretch,” Dr Pak adds – he says this will make the exercise even more challenging, as well as improve form and control.