How To Get A Wider Chest

How To Get A Wider Chest

When I first starting lifting weights, I had no idea how to get a wider chest, I thought the only thing that mattered was the size of my muscles, but how wrong I was.

I later discovered the classic era of bodybuilding, where bodybuilders focused less on muscle size (like the freakish steroid-pumped bodybuilders of today), and focused more on proportions.

These guys were the true experts on how to get a wider chest, and in this article I'll be drawing lessons from the greatest classic bodybuilders, who built some jaw-dropping physiques, with wide chests and narrow waists, and all without ever touching steroids.

Steve Reeves, arguably the greatest classic bodybuilder there was. You'd be hard pressed to find a modern bodybuilder with such a wide chest and impressive overall physique.

So What's The Big Deal With A Wide Chest Anyway?

I'm sure you'll agree when I say that a wide chest is maybe the single most prevailing mark of power and masculinity in a man.

If you look at a Roman suit of armor, you'll see that it has that V-taper with a wide chest and slim mid-line. This makes anyone wearing that suit of armor project a masculine power that instills fear in his enemies on the battlefield.

Wide Chest
A wide chest is a mark of masculinity and power

When you build a solid chest, it will make you stand out of the group when you hang out with your buddies, it will automatically fill you with confidence. Just having that V-tapered frame will force people to take you seriously, and will make women go weak at the knees.

As a benefit on the side, if you have man boobs, making your chest wider will force that breast fat to be spread over a greater surface, so your chest looks flatter.

“But Isn't My Chest Width Determined By My Genes?”

You may have heard some people say that the width of your chest is determined by your genes and there's nothing you can do about it. This is true, but only after a certain level of muscular development.

See, you may never be able to develop world-class width in your chest, your chest may never be as wide as Arnold Schwarzenegger's for example, but…

…the good news is, you can sure as hell expand your chest and upper body far more than what it is now.

Because the muscles in your upper body are not fully developed, you have not yet reached your genetic potential of upper body width. So stop letting these people with their stories of genetic limitations hold you back.

Like my good ol' bodybuilder friend Mike always says,

“If you're not at an advanced level, you have no idea what your chest shape is…”

The 3 Keys To A Wider Chest

Unfortunately, most guys have no idea how to get a wider chest with excellent proportions and good width.

I see guys getting it wrong at the gym all the time. Most guys doing chest exercises aren't able to grow any muscle at all, and those that do grow some muscle, do it all wrong so they end up with thick chest muscles with no width.

When it comes to building good chest width, there are three important keys you need to keep in mind…

Key #1: Do Chest Exercises With A Full Range Of Motion, Being Sure To Stretch The Pecs As Much As Possible At The Bottom Of The Movement

Let's take the regular barbell bench press as an example.

When you use a wide grip and let the bar go right down to the point where it's almost touching your chest, you will feel a stretch in your pecs that lets you know you are working the outer portion of your pecs.

Outer vs Inner Pecs
O=Outer Pecs, I=Inner Pecs
You train the outer portion of your pecs when you get a full stretch at the bottom of the movement. Training the outer pecs is important for developing maximum chest width.

If you want to increase the width of your chest, then you have to work the outer portion of your pecs by letting the bar go down as low as you can.

Where working the outer portion of your pecs increases chest width, working the inner portion of your pecs (near the midline of your chest) increases chest thickness.

What I see a lot of guys doing wrong at the gym, is they keep the bar a good few inches away from their chest at the bottom of the movement, simply because it allows them to lift a heavier weight.

By doing this they are working mostly the inner fibers of the pecs, so they are building mostly thickness and no width.

When you work only on chest thickness and neglect width, that's when your chest sticks out and you can look like you have man boobs even if you don't have any excess chest fat. And if you already have man boobs, it'll make your man boobs look bigger.

This applies regardless of what type of chest exercise you are doing – pushups, dumbbell flys, bench press, guillotine press, or dips.

(And just on the side, if you have man boobs, when you combine this method of increasing chest width with the methods I discuss in this video, you'll be surprised at how quickly your chest will start to flatten out.)

With benching movements, using a barbell can limit your range of motion, because you can't take the weight any lower than when the bar hits your chest. This is yet another reason why I prefer using dumbbells, because you can get a far better stretch at the bottom of the movement.

If you are doing pushups, you can use pushup bars or two stacks of books to raise the level of your hands, so you can go deeper at the bottom.

So my advice here is this: leave your ego at the door, pick up a lighter weight, and work those chest muscles through a full range of motion.

By using a full range of motion on the right exercises, guys who go through my Chest Sculpting training, not only end up with bigger muscles than most other guys who lift weights, they also end up with better shaped bodies — with a wider chest and narrow waist for that V-taper, and better shaped muscles — with good thick muscular development from origin to insertion, rather than just a fat round muscle belly.

Key #2: Train The Antagonist Muscles

We've all seen that huge muscular guy walking around in a tight t-shirt, with his arms held bent at almost 90 degrees.

The truth is that these big muscular guys don't keep their arms bent that way to show off or to try and look more muscular. Their arms have become fixed in this position, and they can't straighten their arms even when they try.

Why does this happen?

Well, it's because these guys train their biceps more than they train their triceps.

The biceps and triceps are “antagonizing” muscles to each other, which means that they act against one another and have opposing effects on the joint they control – where the biceps bend the arm, the triceps straighten the arm.

When you train your biceps to be bigger and stronger than your triceps, then your arms will be held bent at rest.

But How Does This Apply To The Chest?

Too many guys are obsessed with training the muscles on the front of the body – not just the biceps, but also the abs and the chest – because these are the muscles most of us want to show off with at the beach.

But you train only the chest muscles without training the antagonizing upper back muscles, your shoulders are going to be permanently hunched forward – just like your arms are held bent when you train only your biceps and neglect your triceps.

This is because the main chest muscle, the pectoralis major, attaches from the breast bone in the middle of the chest to the shoulder on either side.

With your shoulders held forward, the width of your chest area becomes smaller.

A combination of big chest muscles with a narrow chest is a huge recipe for bigger man boobs.

This is yet another reason a lot of people tell you not to do chest exercises because they'll make your man boobs bigger.

These people are totally right, but only if you are doing chest exercises the wrong way, by ONLY doing chest exercises while ignoring the opposing, antagonizing back muscles.

What ARE The Antagonizing Muscles Of The Chest?

The opposing muscles of your chest are your upper back muscles, of which there are many, including the latissimus dorsi (lats), trapezius (traps), rhomboids, teres major, teres minor, supraspinatus and infraspinatus.

Where the pectoralis major of the chest pulls your shoulders forward, your upper back muscles, including the rear deltoids of your shoulders, pull your shoulders back.

upper back muscles
There are many different upper back muscles that oppose your chest and help keep your shoulders from hunching forwards.
Wide Chest
A wide upper body not just makes you look more manly, it will also help to flatten out those man boobs.

Perhaps the most important secret when it comes to learning how to get a wider chest, is growing your upper back muscles just as much as you grow your chest muscles.

With large and strong pecs and back muscles, your shoulders will be held back in a neutral position, and your chest and whole upper body will get wider.

The Importance Of Good Back Development For Building A Wider Chest

If you're looking to get that wide, herculean, V-shaped upper body, then a powerful back is a crucial piece of the puzzle.

Despite being located on your back, your back muscles affect the way you look from the front, more than your pecs do.

See, the muscles on your back are postural muscles, and they play a more important role than your chest muscles in determining the overall frame of your body.

Your back muscles hold your skeletal structure up in an erect posture, and give you that manly look without you having to take your shirt off.

A guy with powerful back muscles will look good in anything he wears, whether he's wearing a thick sweater, or walking around topless on the beach.

If on the other hand you have strong pecs and abs on the front, but weak back muscles, your body will be permanently hunched forward, and the only way anyone would ever know you have any muscle, is when you take your top off. But even then it won't look too impressive.

Well-developed back muscles are the true mark of an unstoppable man. Wide lats and big back muscles in general are what make women weak at the knees, and other guys nervous in your presence.

And they don't have to look at your back to appreciate your training, the results of your back training will be evident when people look at you from the front.

I could go on describing the importance of good back development all day, but they say a picture speaks a thousand words. Here's a picture of Steve Reeves that says it all.

Steve Reeves Back Development
Steve Reeves: Note his wide lat and upper back development. This is a true mark of a powerful man. With good back development, you will look good regardless of what you are wearing.

I remember being at the gym some years ago when I saw this really skinny, shriveled, weak-looking guy wearing a hoodie.

I felt sorry for him because he looked just like the kind of guy who gets pushed around everywhere he goes because he just looks so weak.

But then, just before he started his workout, he took his top off, and to my surprise this guy was actually impressively muscular! He had big chest muscles, a solid set of six-pack abs (yes, all six), and big thick arms!

I realized though that he had very little back development. As a result, his posture was slumped forward, and the only time anyone would ever know he had a great physique, was when he was topless.

When you train the right way, with equal chest and back development, you will look good in anything you wear…

…you won't have to take your top off to show people you've got some muscle. 

With well developed back muscles, your whole body will be shaped differently, and this is something no clothing can hide.

With great back development, your manly muscular stature will shine through even the thickest of woolly winter jackets.

Key #3: Develop Those Lateral Deltoids

A thick, wide, and well-developed set of shoulders will add to the perceived width of your chest.

The deltoid muscles in your shoulders have 3 heads, referred to as the front, lateral, and rear deltoids.

Deltoid Anatomy
The deltoids have 3 heads. Guys with the most impressive shoulders have well-developed lateral deltoids.

Anyone doing chest and back exercises will have well-developed front and rear deltoids, but few people have well-developed lateral deltoids.

The lateral deltoids are not only the most impressive to look at, but unlike the other deltoid heads, the lateral deltoids also add to the width of your upper body.

The reason most people don't have well-developed lateral deltoids, is because the standard gamut of weight training exercises most people do, just don't target this portion of the deltoids very well.

The shoulder press, and even the standard lateral raise mostly target the front deltoids.

To target the lateral deltoids, you shoulders have to be rotated at the correct angle.

This rotational angle is one that's achieved when you are throwing a punch, which is why boxers generally have very well-developed lateral deltoids.

The perfect example is Apollo Creed from the old Rocky movies:

Apollo Creed's awesome lateral deltoids

I've always been amazed by Apollo Creed's shoulders. Apollo was always way more trim and cut than Rocky, and his shoulders made Rocky look like a frail old man.

Did you know that Apollo Creed was trained by no other than the legendary Vince Gironda?

Apollo's shoulders were partly the result of his boxing training for the Rocky movies, but also because of a special exercise designed by Vince to target the lateral deltoids: the “Gironda lateral raise“.

Here's a video of how to do this exercise:

Take note of the part about holding the dumbbells like you're pouring water from a cup. This is important because it puts your shoulders in just the right ROTATIONAL position to target the lateral deltoids.

Summary

A wide chest is a hallmark of masculinity, but there's more to getting a wide chest than just doing chest exercises.

There are 3 key factors for increasing chest width:

  1. using a full range of motion in your chest exercises;
  2. training the antagonizing muscles of the chest, i.e. the upper back muscles;
  3. and training the lateral deltoids.

The upper back is probably the most important body area to work on if you want to look good regardless of what you are wearing – whether you are topless, wearing a t- shirt, full shirt, hoodie or jacket.

If you only work on your chest and abs like most guys do, then the only way people will ever notice the fruits of your labor is if you take your top off – try doing that at the workplace.

If you want to impress that cute girl at work, then make like Steve Reeves, and work both your chest and back, and also your shoulders.

How Can Making Your Chest Wider Help You Lose Man Boobs?

If you have man boobs, then getting a wide chest is an excellent way to improve the way your chest looks.

By increasing the width of your chest, you force the fat on your chest to spread over a bigger area, making your man boobs less noticeable.

But a wide chest is just one piece of the puzzle.

To actually lose your man boobs, you've got to lose the fat on your chest. To do this, you have to use these little-known man boob busting tactics, which I reveal here:

Click here to discover how to lose man boobs naturally

84 thoughts on “How To Get A Wider Chest”

  1. i hav great prob in chest width.. to increse the width i ll start follow ur advice.. i need to kno that i should follow diet or working fr chest properly is enough???

    Reply
  2. Hi,

    I need some clarification.

    1. Doing chest exercise daily is correct one or not?

    2. To expand the chest, weekly how many times have to do the chest exercise?

    3. How long it will take to expand the chest?

    Kindly suggest me.

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Hi Siva

      1. No. I advise doing whole-body weight training ever OTHER day, generally 3 days a week. If you don’t do whole-body training, you shouldn’t train the same body part every day, as you need to allow more time for your muscles to heal, recover, and grow.

      2. 3 non-consecutive days a week.

      3. Depends on your own unique circumstances – your genes, how well you train, your diet, etc. Don’t expect results in the first 2 weeks. I’d give it 4-5 weeks at LEAST for the first signs of expansion.

      Reply
  3. Hi Garry,

    Just need to know how to how can I feel power and energetic after cut out carbohydrates and sugar , as I stopped them completely and I feel no power in training and can’t focus in work .

    Also I will start week 11 in chest blue print program and I lifting 35.5k flat bench press & 31kg for shoulder press how would I know the weights shall Should I lift in Latrell raise and incline and decline bench press’s ? Thx

    Reply
    • Hi Muostafa, thanks for your questions.

      If you stick to a low carb diet for long enough, your body goes into a state of ketosis, where it burns fat for energy, and uses ketones (a byproduct of fat metabolism) for energy instead of carbs. When your body switches to ketosis, you will get your energy back.

      If you need extra energy for your weight training workouts, it’s OK to have a good non-grain carb-source before, during, and just after a workout. Bananas are a good one.

      To know the weight you need to lift, you’ll have to use some trial and error at first. If you’re on 35.5kg for flat bench press, then you’ll likely need less for the incline press, and more for the decline press, and MUCH less for the lateral raise.

      Reply
    • Sorry Garry , just need to confirm does ketosis healthy or not as I experience noticeable hair loss also I read on internet that’s it may cause kindeny damage and death , and can I have my hair back or not?

      Also can I take 1boiled potato every day as non grain carbohydrates as working out 5-6 days a week ?

      Reply
      • Hi Moustafa

        Try to stick to 50-100 grams of carbs a day most of the time, being sure to get most if not all of your carbs from good veggies and some fruit. This will make sure you get enough micronutrients to keep you healthy and prevent you from suffering the side-effects of any nutritional deficiencies.

        You can do 50 grams of carbs per day or less for extreme weight loss, but I wouldn’t advise staying in that range too long, due to nutritional deficiencies that can result in hair loss and other problems.

        And for the potatoes, it totally depends on how your own body responds to them, and how physically active you are. Have the one boiled potato a day, and do everything else right. If you still have difficulty losing weight or losing man boobs, then let the potato go and see how you do. Some people respond better to starches than others, so if you really want that potato, then it’s up to you to find out how you respond to it.

        Reply
  4. Hi Garry,
    My favourite exercise for the upper body is the
    Renegade Rows using 20kg Kettlebells. Done properly
    i.e slowly and pulling your belly button towards your
    spine as you lift, really is the only exercise you need
    to have a strong core/abs.

    Reply
    • Hey Jim

      Renegade rows are an excellent multi-joint exercise, it targets your back, biceps, and core very well. You COULD develop a strong core from the exercise, but there are plenty of other exercises you can do for a strong core. I would argue that planks and weighted planks are better, since with this exercise you are focusing entirely on the core, and doing without the distraction of lifting dumbbells to target your back.

      Reply
    • Hey Santy. Chinups, pullups, and bent over barbell rows. There are many other great upper back exercises, but those are the ones I am using now. Unless you are an advanced trainee, at any one time I would suggest you stick to doing just ONE exercise for the upper back. I would suggest doing wide-grip pullups, as this gets you the best wide lat development.

      Reply
      • Hi garry
        sorry if this question is too long but ill really appreciate it if you can answer this question
        isnt the opposite true wide grip pullups/ rows hit the mid back and inner back whereas the close grip pullups/rows build width. I was reading the wild physique of gironda (recommended by lee heyward) and in their it says the closer the grip the more the lats stretch and the more the range of motion. There was an exercise called lat pulls which was a combination of close grip pulldown/seated row and according to gironda works the long lat sweep. And it also says that for lats arching your back (not leaning your back) is a must for full contraction of the lats. What exercises would you recommend for the chest if i already do reverse grip dips and guillotine press? I dont want to do incline.dumbell press because after 4 sets of dips and guillotine press i cant do any more presses so what about incline dumbell flies? Also how can i bring up the long head of the triceps so i can really thicken up the upper arms? Can you suggest a few exercises? for biceps are preacher curls and spider curls better than drag curls?

        Reply
  5. itz a great HIT! to stumble upon diz oustanding piece….av got a problem, wether itz from birth or during my growth span, i don’t know. My right chest section looks very thin and unequal compared to d left chest which looks cool,wider nd fuller. So i wud lyk to knw what d problem/cause is & d solution i.e what to do to develop/outgrow it cuz it really irritates me having an unequal chest width. I’m fairly past SLIM in appearance nd 19yrs old. pleasssszzz d remedy b4 i lose my mind. Thanks a million

    Reply
  6. Hi Garry,

    Am in week 14 in chest blue print and my chest starts to flat out but I think I did mistake by sticking Between 1500 -1200 colories(100 gram intake carbs) , so I want your advise on needed coloris per day noting that I workout 5-6 times a week 3 cardio and 3 weight lifting.

    Also I start seeing overtraining symptoms ( low blood pressure- lack on energy) so do u want me to take 1 week off or not ? As I don’t want to stop now as I start seeing results for first time .

    Reply
    • Hi Moustafa. The legendary Vince Gironda once said, don’t count calories, count grams of carbohydrate. I would add, let your appetite do the rest. If you want to reduce body fat in a healthy way, keep your carbs to 50 to 100 grams per day. If you want to reduce body fat quickly in the short-term, eat 0-50 grams of carbs a day.

      If you feel you are overtraining, you can try taking a week off. The other thing you can do is cut back on the cardio, and focus more on the whole body weight training.

      Good to hear your chest is flattening out by the way. If anyone else reading this wants a flat chest using the method Moustafa is using, then check out the Chest Sculpting Blueprint here:

      https://chestsculpting.com/how-to-lose-chest-fat

      Reply
      • Thanks Garry, but I have lost 15 kilo this year and for sure lost lot of minerals and vitamin noting that I haven’t take any supplement or vitamin over the past year and no preworkout or post workout as I want to do everything natural , is this right or wrong also need to know is vitamin gsn mega for men sport dietary supplement is good vitamin to take or not ?

        Regarding the training regimen do I have to continue on compound exec rices or can I change the regimen to something else targeting more chest as start to feel boring

        Reply
        • Hey Moustafa

          Congratulations on your weight loss. As long as you eat a good grain-free diet, eating lots of veggies, then there should be no need for supplementation.

          I recommend doing only compound exercises while you’re in the beginner/intermediate stages. You can get a great body doing only compound exercises, with isolation exercises only being necessary if you want to become an advanced bodybuilder and really bring out certain muscle groups. If you are getting bored of just doing one exercise, then you can always throw in some periodization and do a different exercise that hits the muscle in a different way.

          If you are bored of dips for example, you can switch up and do the guillotine press. If you are bored of the bent over barbell row, you can change and start doing pullups.

          For more info on different exercises you can use to help get rid of man boobs, take a look at the Chest Sculpting Blueprint:

          https://chestsculpting.com/how-to-lose-chest-fat

          Reply
          • Ok Garry, can I replace the decline bench press in blue print with dips if yes , tell me please the ratio of dips to dcline as I lifting now 45 kilo decline bench also for the pull-up as I lifting 41 kilo bent over Rows

          • Hey Moustafa.

            Of course you can. I mention in the program that you can use any compound chest exercise, I only use the bench press as an example. Same for the back, you don’t have to do bent over barbell rows, you can do pullups or chinups if you like, or use a cable pulley machine. You don’t have to worry about the ratio of dips vs bench press. The idea is to do around 3 sets of 10 reps.

            If you can’t do 3 sets of 10 dips, then do what you can, and aim to bring yourself up to that level. If you are too far off, say you can only dip for 3 sets of 3 reps, then know that this will reduce your progress a little. You’d get faster results in terms of physique changes, if you did 3 sets of 10 reps on the bench press. This is because low volume training doesn’t give you much in the way of hormonal changes or muscle growth compared to higher volume training.

            Despite that, doing dips and pullups is a better long-term decision, because once you ARE able to do more reps, you’ll get far better physique changes from doing these exercises than you would from doing the bench press or bent over barbell row.

          • Hi Garry , need to know please what’s the optimum plan to switch the training regimen to body weigh as I start feel that injuries coming from weigh lifting and I don’t want to lose the results I got it do u have any plan on mind to build and resume the blue print with normal body weight training .

            Also do u have any videos for warm up before exercise and stretching , as I start feel pain in shoulder from decline bench also the weigh is too heavy for squats

          • Hi Garry , I really need your opinion as am in week 17 in blue print and my chest is 80 %flatten out so I can ware thin v tshirt however still have excess fat in lower chest when topless, I started program 85 kilo and now I stuck on 81 kilo over than 2 month . And my legs went bigger at the beginning then shrinking out while increasing the weigh!!

            The question is after sticking to 100 carbs intake and letting rest food to my appetite I feel am not growing muscles anymore and can’t handle more weight even with progressive resistance as weights became too heavy ( avg 50 kilo for all excerises and 8 kilo later raise) can I switch the training to modern bodybuilding where train 2 muscles groups per day . And which weights most people can handle in blue print program or where can they switch program actually am confused about my next steps?

          • Hi Moustafa

            I have an advanced Chest Sculpting series, that will show you what to do next, you can learn about it here:

            https://chestsculpting.com/how-to-shape-your-chest-flat/

            It looks like you need to periodize. First off, take a break for a week, and let your muscles relax. Then, consider doing strength training for a few weeks, using say a 5×5 protocol. Once you are lifting far heavier than what you are now, try switching back to your current regimen and see if you can’t lift heavier.

            If you feel the total work done is too much, then sure, give split training a go and see how you get on. Start by splitting upper body from lower body, training every other day rather than 3 days a week. So say Monday – upper body, Wednesday – lower body, Friday – upper body, Sunday – lower body, Tuesday – upper body, and so on.

  7. Hi Garry! I hope you answer my queries!
    Im 16 years old! I started going to the gym 4-5 months back! My height is about 5’8 and a half and my weight is about 62 kgs!
    My trainer told me to do one body part a day.. To gain weight and muscle mass.. Is that right?
    One more thing.. Im just a little obsessed about chest! My chest is pretty nice ive noticed a slight slight hunch on my back.. Will working out my upper back muscles do? (Yes i do back excersices once a week) and what are the best excersices for back?
    Thanks alot!

    Reply
    • Hey Shiven.

      One body part a day is BAD ADVICE. I see personal trainers handing out crappy advice like this all the time. If you want to gain mass, you need to do whole body training, like I discuss in the Chest Sculpting Blueprint.

      Regarding your back, it totally depends on the nature of this “hunch”. I advise you see a chiropractor in case this is a medical deformity that needs correcting. If it’s just a muscle imbalance, then I would suggest correcting it by strengthening the weaker areas. So if you’ve been training your upper back less than you’ve been training your chest, then you might need to up the training of your upper back to get things in balance.

      Reply
  8. Hey Garry,
    Awesome article, I think you hit some key points that a lot of guys need to read. I find myself hitting chest much harder and more often than back and have started to see some of these problems occurring in myself. My chest can carry alot of weight but it isn’t wide enough and I’ve found my shoulders seem to be pulling in more lately. After reading this and another article I decided to give it a go. I’ve started training upper back and traps harder and can already see improvements in my posture. I do have some extra fat on my chest that I’m working on eliminating but it’s a process. But for guys like me this seems to bethe solution to improving the chest, posture and confidence overall. Just wanna say thanks for the advice

    Reply
  9. Hey Garry, I wanted to ask if I could increase my carb intake a little, because I literally have no energy to do anything, not even for my workouts, so I was wondering if on days where i don’t train I go Low carb ,high fat ,but on days where I do train I increase my carb but lower my fat. Will this hinder my weight loss because since I have cut carbs I feel like I have no energy.

    Reply
    • Hi Mathew, you most certainly can widen your chest using body weight only. However, after a certain level of muscle growth, the only way to grow more muscle would be to add on more weight.

      Reply
  10. I take it that chins are the best for upper bacl and lats.

    Is it advisable to do chins everyday or even twice a day if our chin numbers are less than 5 per set?

    Reply
    • Hey Al

      Chin-ups are great for developing upper and mid back thickness, while pullups are better for developing a wide upper/mid back.

      If your numbers are still low, then it’s defo better to do them every day! As you start to do more numbers, listen to your body, it will tell you when training daily starts to be too much, in which case you would start training every other day.

      Reply
      • Thanks a ton Garry I was thinking the same.

        just curious, Have u ever done them on a door, i dont mean bar between doorway but to actually do it on the door (place a towel on top of door and pull urself up).

        When I do on bar let’s say my numbers are 10, when i do it on door it is less than 5 reps!!! Is this bcus door makes it harder somehow?

        Reply
        • Hey Al

          I would only advise you do pullups on a door like that if the door is a particularly sturdy one with extra strong hinges with freakishly long screws going through a ridiculously dense wooden door frame. Even then I suggest putting a wedge between the door and the floor to prevent the hinges from giving way.

          If you’re finding it more difficult on a door, my thought would be it’s because the door itself obstructs you from taking on a natural angle with your body during the movement. Also, there’ll be friction between the door and your body, which will increase the resistance.

          I highly recommend, if you can, to get a pullup bar.

          Reply
          • Hi Garry, I already have one. But when I watched video of someone doing it they fell down and hurt themselves very badly.

            So I haven’t used the bar yet, I am too frightened. But the door is sturdy and some people say even doing few on the door is more valuable because it is much tougher than regular pullups. What do u think?

          • My opinion is if you’re bad at DIY, get someone who’s good at DIY to fit your pull-up bar for you. If you do a good job, there’s no reason for it to give way.

            The door might be more difficult, but there are certain measures of increasing difficulty that don’t lead to any valuable gain, and this is one of them. As a more extreme example, you could make doing squats more difficult by doing them while standing on a stability ball. If your goal is to increase your squatting weight and grow bigger leg muscles, then by doing squats on a stability ball, you are wasting your time, even though the stability ball makes the exercise more difficult.

            The added friction from the door may be adding a little more resistance, but the door being in the way of your lower body messes with the dynamics of the exercise. If you want more difficult pull-ups, you would be better off doing pullups on a bar with added weight, say using a dipping belt or weighted vest.

  11. Hey Garry,I am 67….(I don’t care)..and my body responds well to exercise.
    I like my spring chest pull for my upper back. It feels good. My upper back feels muscular. I do variations with it. The lats aren’t as good as I might like though I pull low and try and flex them. Slow progress.
    But my query is….your opinion of the spring chest pull and upper/mid back usefulness.

    Thanks,
    Steve

    Reply
    • Hey Steve

      I love that device! In many places it’s called a “chest expander”, even though it has nothing to do with working the chest. My dad always had one of these, along with a bar bender, and I grew up having access to nothing but these and two 10 lb dumbbells.

      You can build some serious mid/upper back muscles with a “chest expander”, though it does have two limitations:

      1. Though you can change the resistance by changing how many springs are hooked on, you don’t get the same flexibility with changing the resistance as you do with weights. The increments are quite large. The way to work around this is to, for example, work on getting to 3 sets of 12 reps with one spring, then when you can do this, load on 2 springs and try to do 3 sets of 8 reps until you get to 3 sets of 12 reps, then move onto 3 springs doing 3 sets of 8 reps and so on.

      2. It’s an isolation exercise where you are only working your mid/upper back and not working your biceps. If you were doing dumbbell rows, barbell rows, pull-ups, chin-ups, or lat-pulldowns, you’d be working both your biceps and your mid/upper back muscles. This makes the “chest expander” less functional, it’s only useful for building muscle, and doesn’t make you much better at doing stuff in everyday life.

      Regardless of the above limitations, if you enjoy using this piece of equipment, then do carry on with it. The muscle you build with it will certainly help boost both your appearance and your health.

      Reply
  12. Hey Garry, i am 16,my problem is that my hips are more wider than my chest.Without expanding, my chest is 36 inches but my hip region is 38 inches. Will you please help me to get v taper body like Steeve Reeves as shown above?

    Thanks,
    Sahil

    Reply
  13. Hello author….I m 18… I came to know now that i am exercising in wrong way since last 5 months……. There is no v-shape in my body it is straight from chest to the pelvic region and i even have man boobs…… Exercising in wrong way make my shoulders hunched a little forward and i must tell u that i have a little apple shaped body……. I want my body to look muscular, v-shaped with broad chest and cure my hunched shoulders… I looks like because of these hunched shoulders i m not getting shape in chest and loose fat from my chest….. Could u please help…

    Reply

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