Nitor Fitness: Chest and Triceps Workout Challenge!

This chest and triceps routine was made to introduce some beneficial ideas that can spice up anyone's weightlifting routine. We will provide you with a basic workout as well as the theory behind each exercise to help you establish a thorough understanding of what you will be accomplishing with each exercise.

Overall, this workout is similar to a typical strength/hypertrophy workout that targets the chest and triceps. I wanted to put something together that was made up of exercises that seem relatively familiar if you frequent the gym or scroll through the internet for workout routines.

Side note: Don’t forget to warm up before starting your workout!

Try (one of my favorites) 5 to 10 minutes on the stair stepper. A good indication that you are warmed up is when you feel physically warmer and/or have broken a light sweat. The goal of a warmup is to increase your core body temperature and prime your body for movement!

Workout:

	Exercise	Repetitions	Sets	Notes
1st	Flat Barbell Bench Press	5	5	Using 85% of 1 Rep Max (1RM) for weight 90-120 seconds of rest between sets
2nd	Incline Dumbbell Bench Press	8-10	4	Using 75-80% of 1RM for weight 60-90 seconds of rest between sets
3rd	EZ Barbell Skull Crushers on Bench	8-10	3	Using 75-80% of 1RM for weight 60-90 seconds of rest between sets
4th	Standing Cable Tricep Extensions with rope attachment	10-12	3	Using 70-75% of 1RM for weight 60-90 seconds of rest between sets
5th	Close Grip push-ups on Bosu Ball	10-15	3	Using your body weight 60 seconds of rest between sets

Breaking Down the WHY Behind the Workout:

You’ll notice that the first exercise in the workout, the classic flat barbell bench press, has a goal of 5 sets, each one of those sets being 5 repetitions. These were put into the workout based on the 5x5 (“5-by-5”) workout concept. Using the 5x5 method is a great way to develop strength and build muscle. When doing 5x5s, you will want to use around 85% of your 1RM to best implement the method for what it was designed for. Doing this at the beginning of the workout will ensure you are able to give it your all as you power through the heavy lifts.

Note: If you are new to lifting, I suggest not starting off with the 5x5 method until you have developed a greater awareness of your strength level, as well as learning the correct way to perform basic gym lifts. Try doing 3 to 4 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions until you feel comfortable with the weight and movement. Also, keep in mind that using the 1RM concept to figure out what weight you should be lifting at a particular repetition range is not something that is set in stone. It is great for gaining a rough idea of what will challenge you, then experiment from there to see what works best for you.

The second workout provides an opportunity to push yourself with another staple chest exercise—the incline dumbbell bench press. Using the dumbbells will challenge your stabilizer muscles while you work your upper chest, anterior delts, and triceps. Since we are shooting for a goal of 8 to 10 repetitions per set, the goal is to use 75 to 80% of your 1RM.

Why challenge your stabilizers? Well, although they aren’t muscles that necessarily provide a great physic, they are foundational for developing and supporting one. These muscles support your joints and posture. If you find yourself falling behind with either of these, especially while pushing yourself with heavier weights, you will open yourself up to greater possibilities of injury.

We are going back to using a barbell (more specifically the EZ barbell) for the third workout. Similar to the first exercise, we use a barbell to load up weight onto our triceps and feel out where they are after the first two exercises. Similar to the previous exercise, the goal is to use 75 to 80% of your 1RM.

Moving on to tricep extensions with the rope attachment, we want to burn out the triceps here. The max repetition range was increased to 15 to encourage you to hit your triceps at a lighter weight. This is a personal favorite of mine because when this exercise is done standing, it forces you to use the entire body to complete the movement. Your core, grip, and body positioning will be put to the test as you push body awareness.

The final workout emphasizes balance. The close-grip push-up on a bosu ball (similar to the previous exercise) will heighten your physical awareness as you utilize your core/stabilizer muscles. Regardless of how adept you are at bodyweight exercises, at this point in the workout, your chest and arms will be taxed heavily as you wobble through each repetition.

Reach out to us with your experience with the workout on one of our socal media accounts or feel free to post your workout with the hashtag “#nitorfitfam”! Good luck!

Last Updated: 03/10/2022