Developing The Chest - Roger Eells ( 1937)

It has been written that "There is nothing new under the sun" and while it would prove extremely difficult to disprove that proverb it is my intention to release to you information that will aid the seeker of increased chest development. This information, if followed to the exact letter of instruction, will assure you of several inches increase in your normal chest girth, new found power, stamina and vitality. Definite statements will be made, listing rules, DO'S and DON'TS. Follow the instructions given to you, they will be clear and should offer no trouble whatever. If if has been your experience to fail to receive added chest growth via other methods then prepare yourself for added inches. When you begin this program of specialization you will experience, what we will call for lack of a better term, Growing Pains. It is nothing to be alarmed about as it is caused by nothing more than rapid growth, the spreading of your chest wall and shoulders. You will actually grow so fast that you will feel the growth. Three full inches increase in normal chest measurement is not the exception but the rule. Even the man who considers himself an advanced student and has not registered a gain in chest girth for months, or even years for that matter, can prepare himself for the pleasant surprise awaiting him upon realization that he is growing rapidly and actually attaining the goal in chest size that he had set for himself when first he began bar bell training. An inch a month is not the most you should expect but the least. Three to four inches the first month has been registered by many who have followed this program. Some of them were beginners while others were advanced bar bell men. It is a specialization program but not for one specific class but for all bar bell men who desire increased chest size.

If, after you have read this article through, you decide to follow the program as outlined, there is just one suggestion I would like to have you consider: Should you not believe in some of the principles given and have trained along entirely different lines but still intend to give the method a trial, then please do so with an open mind. Let the results convince you of its merits. Do not let, under any condition, convictions that you might have concerning chest development interfere with your training along these lines until you have applied yourself for a period of four to six weeks. If you are unwilling to follow instructions as given here, completely, and prefer to remain as you are, then please do not follow them in part expecting that you will get results. While you probably would notice some improvement you would naturally not receive the results one would who followed the program to the letter. So . . . either decide that you will accept the suggestions made as truths and follow them carefully or not try the method at all, thereby giving it an unfair trial.

It may surprise you to learn that the exercises used are standard ones. It is the WAY they are performed that gives the results! It is NOT the weight but HOW it is used. There is a right way and a wrong way to breathe when exercising to build the chest. If you are one of those confirmed nostril breathers under all conditions, then you must give way to mouth breathing while exercising, if you desire to succeed in developing a large, shapely chest.

Just one more thing before I go into the details of the exercises. It must be remembered that what is gained through the exercises must be retained through the effort of the WILL to carry the chest UP, not thrown out with the shoulders strongly back . . . rather, an effort should be made to make oneself as broad as possible, comfortably. Remember, chest UP!

The exercises are three in number. They are quite likely already a part of your training program, but form this moment on (providing you have decided to follow the suggestions) they are to become the most important ones of your schedule. The exercising procedure is designed to increase the depth and breadth of the rib box. Any increase in the muscles observed is incidental. for muscular development in conjunction with this program a description of a pulley machine will be described that gives excellent results.

The three exercises are: the deep knee bend or squat, as some prefer to call it . . . the two arm pullover and the straight legged deadlift. If the thought, "Old Stuff" has entered into your mind, dismiss it immediately. This is not "old stuff" but NEW! The principle has been used before by most every one of the outstanding examples of chest development but they used it unconsciously perhaps. It is from this point of view that I draw the conclusion that it is NEW because it has not been advocated in this fashion previously.

Before going further it would be well to mention for the benefit of new enlistments to the rapidly growing army of "bar pole" lifters that chest growth (rib box) is nearly entirely dependent upon exercises of strength. An increase in the size of the lungs is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the size of the chest. The enlargement of the lungs is accomplished most readily by leg and back exercises and when performed in a certain manner leads to rapid growth. Now that may not sound logical to you new fellows but it is necessary that you accept it as a fact as do all others who have studied and experimented. It will save you a great deal of time by so doing, I assure you. If you think the way to build a large chest is through arm exercises and intend to prove it to the world, be prepared for a sad and disillusioning journey.

Quite likely at intervals during your exercising experience you have used what is considered "low repetitions" and "high repetitions" in your program. In the deep knee bend you may have used five repetitions with all the weight you could handle on the bar while at another time you may have used a lighter weight and repeated the movement twenty times. When you used the heavy weight you no doubt managed it on the "grunt and groan" style. When you used the lighter weight and twenty repetitions you likely accomplished them in what is called "machine gun" fashion. Repeating the twenty squats as rapidly as possible just tot get them over, taking one breath to a squat and that most likely a very shallow one. Using five reps the rib box increases very little, it at all, after the first few weeks of exercise. Using twenty squats with one breath to the squat in rapid style, you build strength and endurance. Your chest will even grow a little more than when using the low number of repetitions with a heavy weight but let me ask you - where is the logic of using twenty or more repetitions in the deep knee bend unless they are performed in such a fashion as to assure you of real and deserving benefit from them?

To attain chest growth (real chest growth that is both rapid and far surpassing what is generally considered good) breathlessness must be created. This is best accomplished by deep knee bends while using a weight that is easy for you to handle. If you are not already using bodyweight in your squats it is to your advantage to reach that poundage as quickly as possible. More than bodyweight is hardly necessary for rapid chest growth PROVIDING the squats are performed in the proper manner as you will be advised shortly.

One more example should not be amiss before we proceed. Should you weigh i the neighborhood of 150 to 170 pounds and have been accustomed to doing squats with 200-250 pounds ten times, drop the weight 50 to 70 pounds and squat no less than twenty repetitions. There are a great many men who can but don't for no other reason than laziness. Don't develop this trait in your bar bell exercise and you will before long have reason to be proud of a great chest.

It must be fully understood that you are exercising on lung power. With this firmly in mind take the bar loaded to the weight that you have found from experimentation will permit you to squat 20 times and take three deep breaths through your MOUTH. Suck in he air until you feel the pressure in your chest and then squat on full lungs rising, immediately expelling the breath on the way up. Take THREE more deep breaths and squat again on FULL lungs, rise and repeat 20 times, remembering to take three deep breaths between each squat and going down on full lungs.

Three very deep breaths between squats and hitting bottom on full lungs is a very important part of the exercise so keep that in mind while performing it. If you experience a slight dizziness from the deep breathing disregard it for the first three exercise periods. If it persists it is a sign that you are not using enough weight. Do not, however, thing that the heavier the weight ou use the more rapid results you will obtain. It is NOT THE AMOUNT OF WEIGHT you use but HOW you use it that encourages chest growth. Experiment until you find the poundage that results in a feeling of fullness in the chest at the end of 20 repetitions. When you have finished the squats you should be gasping for breath; don't make any attempt to get your "wind" back but continue the deep breathing as long as possible. Make an effort to retain the FULL chest you will experience from breathing squat throughout the day, making an effort to keep your chest in the position it assumes from deep knee bends.

The second exercise is the two arm pullover and it, too, is to be performed in a special manner. This exercise, if persisted in, alone will lead to a deeper chest but when employed in conjunction with the preceding exercise the results are startling! Lie prone upon he floor and place at arms length behind your head a bar bell of such weight that it will permit you to complete the movement to be described 20 repetitions. Raise the bell to a position directly over your chest, take a very deep breath, spreading your ribs as much as possible and at the same time making an effort to deepen the rib box. The weight should not be so heavy that it becomes necessary to arch the back. A weight of this poundage destroys the exercise in its entirety. Now lower the bell from the position over the chest, keeping the elbows locked and extending the arms as far as possible until the bell touches the floor. Immediately return the weight to the original position, expelling the air from the lungs. Inhale a deep breath, exhale it, inhale again and repeat the pullover movement, continuing the exercise as described until you have accomplished 20 repetitions. Because of its chest deepening qualities and because it does not consume a great deal of energy one can repeat this exercise daily throughout the chest specialization program. Even twice a day in some cases will not be excessive. This refers only to the pullover exercise, however.

The next in order is the straight legged dead lift exercise. While this is primarily a power exercise it has chest deepening qualities that can not be attained by other movements. The chest receives its benefit from the breathlessness created because of he strenuous exertion of the large back, hip and thigh muscles working in unison to overcome the resistance of the weight used and from the completion of the exercise where the shoulders are pulled strongly back after coming to the erect position; however, the weight used should never be over 150 pounds.

The rowing exercise, snatches, cleans, deadlifts, etc., all reach the latissimus muscles. However, a valuable addition to your apparatus can be made cheaply and to your decided advantage in the form of a pulley machine. You will find after a few weeks with this simple apparatus that not only has your latissimus shown great improvement but that your triceps are fuller, deltoids taking on a more rounded appearance, your pectorals are becoming heavier and the muscles sloping from your neck to your shoulders are decidedly more in evidence. If you do not have facilities for constructing this apparatus a strong cable exerciser will do.

The special apparatus is not difficult to construct. Arrange a strong pulley, securely fastened, overhead. A chest expander handle makes a good grip and on the other end of the rope attach a hook for hanging weights of various poundage in order to make it convenient for progression. In executing the exercise use a weight that you can handle correctly twenty repetitions. Stand facing the pulley, take the handle in your right hand, then turn until you are facing the wall to your left. This places you in a position such that your right arm and shoulder are toward the pulley. Grip the handle, KEEPING THE ELBOW LOCKED, pull down letting the hand travel past your back five repetitions. Immediately following this perform five additional repetitions, the only difference being that the arm travels in front of your body this time instead of behind it. Extend the hand as far across the body as you can, flexing the right pectoral strongly. The next ten repetitions are performed while facing the machine. Using the overhand grip, pull down keeping the elbow locked throughout throughout the movement until the arm travels well to the rear, flexing the triceps. Repeat this five times. Maintaining the same position in reference to the pulley, change your overgrip on the handle to the undergrip and pull down (the arm may be bent at the elbow) and as the fist reaches a point near your right pectoral begin straightening your arm, finishing the movement with your arm locked at the elbow, triceps flexed and your fist well to the rear. Repeat these movements with your left arm.

The prone crucifix with dumbells of moderate weight while lying on a high stool will tend to spread and deepen the chest. The pectorals receive direct benefit from these movements and they should be a part of your chest program.

The exercises described herein are to be a part of your regular program and are not to be considered as a complete schedule in itself, although it could readily be converted into a weight gaining program that would be complete so far as reaching all of the muscles is concerned by merely adding a curling movement, press on back and press behind neck. If it is added bodyweight that you want and want in a hurry the above gives you a complete schedule that will assure you of added pounds and strength increase so rapidly that you will be amazed.

Just as a means of collecting the important points in as few words as possible I am going to list for your convenience and guide a few of the things that you should NOT do and a few that you should DO with CONCENTRATION!

DON'T

1.) Squat on empty lungs.
2.) Breathe through your nose while exercising.
3.) Slouch throughout the day expecting a full chest to grow overnight like a mushroom.
4.) Use too heavy a weight in the pullover.
5.) Crowd your squat poundage. The weight you use is NOT all important. It is the WAY you breathe . . . so do that correctly.

DO

1.) Take three deep breaths between each squat.
2.) Open your mouth and suck in as much air as you possibly can. If you breathe through your nose you breathe mostly upper chest. If you open your mouth and breathe while doing your exercises you will not only fill the upper chest but the lower chest as well.
3.) Squat on full lungs.
4.) Extend your ribs and keep your hips on the floor while performing the pullover.
5.) Continue deep breathing long after the squats. (Don't try to see how quickly you can get your breath back, rather try to maintain breathlessness. It means added inches on your chest.
6.) DEMAND breathlessness from your squats.
7.) Carry yourself erect at all times.