When it comes to your physique, there’s nothing quite like a monstrous chest. We can all think of those mind-blowing side chest shots where there’s a glass of water sitting securely on huge upper pecs. Rich Piana had an enormous chest, and his focus wasn’t merely flat bench presses. He did a lot of incline work to target the upper chest the most. That’s because size with balance is what it’s all about, goddammit! Not to mention, he was a fan of machines, and there are good reasons for that. One significant reason is the fact you can change the pin and drop weight quickly, opening up the use of intensity techniques. And that, friends, is what this workout is all about - the super intense, Kill Your Chest, Goddammit workout! So grab your 5% Nutrition pre-workout and let’s hit the gym!

Chest Anatomy

Before we do anything, let’s take a moment and understand the muscles we are about to work. The chest is a major part of the “pushing muscles” of the upper body. The chest anatomy includes the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and the serratus anterior. 

The pectoralis major is a large fan-shaped muscle that makes up most of the chest mass. This muscle originates at your clavicle, ribs, and sternum. It inserts into the upper portion of your humerus (upper arm bone from elbow to shoulder). This muscle helps flex the shoulder joint and moves your arm toward and across your chest.⁽¹⁾

The pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular muscle that’s underneath the pectoralis major. This muscle attaches at the 3rd, 4th, and 5th rib, and reaches to the scapula (shoulder blade). This muscle helps pull the shoulder forward and down.⁽¹⁾

The serratus anterior is not really a part of the chest anatomy. However, it is usually grouped with the chest muscle group because it attaches near the pectorals on the ribs. Its functions are to move the scapula forward and upward.⁽¹⁾

The Kill Your Chest, Godammit! Workout

This workout will use drop sets. You will do 4 total exercises. Here’s how the first 3 exercises will look:

Using a weight you would normally fail at 8-10 reps with. Perform your first 10 reps, drop the weight by 10%, and immediately knock down another 10 reps. Drop another 10% and knock out 10 more reps. This is all 1 set, you’re doing 3 total sets. Since you’re using a machine, you can easily and quickly drop weight by changing the pin. At no time should you rest any longer than it takes to change weight. Limit rest between sets to 30 seconds.

Machine Incline Bench Press

Warm-up - 3 sets x 20, 18, 15 reps. 

3 working sets performed as described. 

Machine Bench Press

The same working sets as you did for Machine Inclines.

Pec Dec

The same working sets you did for Machine Inclines. Use a machine with a pin to change the weight. 

Dips

3 sets x 12, 10, 8 reps

These are done using normal, strict reps, no drop sets here. If you reach a rep goal and can keep going, then keep going until you fail.  

Performance Notes 

As noted, the beauty of machines is you can quickly and easily use the pin to drop weight, thereby keeping rest time to a minimum. That makes machines ideal for intensity techniques, especially drop sets. The main thing to remember is to make each set count. Don’t try to save energy for your last drop, push hard right from your first working set.

Tempo - 3 seconds up, pause and squeeze at the top for a 2-count, 3 seconds down, like a piston but under complete control with no momentum. Use a challenging weight. As noted, you should fail at the rep goal for each drop. Do not hold back early to try and save energy for later. Push hard on every rep of every set. If you go through one series and could knock out another 4, 5, or 6 reps, you aren’t training hard enough. Add 10-20% more weight.

Here’s How To Work This Into Your Routine

This workout assumes you use a split routine. You can start Push Day with this workout. If you plan to follow this routine with shoulders and triceps, take a little breather and enjoy some All Day You May, which you should be using as an intra-workout. If you do chest by itself, rest your other pushing muscles (shoulders, triceps) by working legs or pulling muscles on your next scheduled training day. A rest day in between wouldn’t hurt either.

For the sake of progression, alternate this workout. You may want to switch it over to a free weight only workout. You can also use dumbbells, and change techniques (for example, supersets), or simply add weight and drop reps, like Rich used to do.

5% Nutrition Supplement Suggestions

Kill It RTD is the perfect pre-workout for this routine. With 10g glycerine (glycerol), 4g citrulline, 2g taurine, and 750mg nitrosigine, you can expect some serious pumps. Plus, with the addition of beta-alanine, you’ll have the endurance you need to power through these drops. If you’re looking for super-sized pumps, add Full As F*ck. From there, round out your pumps with Core Creatine Monohydrate, the original cell volumizer (or, water-based pumps). Once you’ve finished your last set, take a tip from Rich and drink a Real Carbs shake. Rich added egg whites, but now we have Shake Time. This will help push you right into recovery and growth.

Recap

When you’ve gotten to a place where you can’t add any more weight but still need progression, manipulating intensity through extended set techniques, time, and variety is one way to go. If you want the biggest possible chest, drink your Kill It RTD and destroy the gym with the Kill Your Chest, Goddammit! Workout!

References:

1. Muscles of the Pectoral Region - Major - Minor - TeachMeAnatomy