Antoine Vaillant went on the HD Muscle Youtube channel to give his five best training tips for getting the most out of your chest workout. Vaillant revealed he's been going through some health issues over the past few months so we were happy to see him back in the gym sharing some gems on how to grow your chest.
Who is Antoine Vaillant?
Antoine is a professional bodybuilder, fitness model, and Youtube influencer that was born on July 28, 1987. He was able to earn his IFBB Pro card in 2012, after finishing first at the CBBF Canadian Nationals in his weight class and in overalls. Antoine is also a trainer where he aids athletes prepping for competitions and individuals looking for a professional coach’s programming.
Antoine Vaillant's 5 Best Chest Training Tips
CHEST TRAINING TIP #1:
Antoine immediately starts the video off by saying his first tip was to always pre-exhaust the chest muscles at the beginning of the workout. Super-setting exercises and doing burnouts are great ways to put more blood in the muscles and get a killer pump at the beginning of your workout.
Antoine recommends starting with pec decks and avoiding bench press at the beginning of your chest day if you’re trying to get more into bodybuilding. One of the benefits of pre-exhausting the muscles is that you won’t need as much weight once you get to bigger exercises like the bench press. Another one is that the more warmed up you are, the less likely you will get injured.
CHEST TRAINING TIP #2:
Antoine’s second tip is to focus on contracting the muscle, without having to move the weight. When it comes to bodybuilding it is imperative to focus on the muscles you’re trying to target during your workout. So each rep, make sure to focus on the stretch throughout the muscle and then at the top of the movement, focusing on contracting.
Antoine recommends using pyramids sets and dropsets to get the most out of each set. You can see in the video that he uses a decline machine press, as he is trying to avoid putting more pressure on his shoulders.
CHEST TRAINING TIP #3:
As a bodybuilder, there isn’t any reason to do less than six reps in any set. Antoine recommends focusing on the pump and having serious contractions with each rep. So if you’re unable to do six reps, you should decrease the weight.
CHEST TRAINING TIP #4:
Focus on keeping your rib cage up (open), and not letting it concave as you start to struggle during the set. According to Antoine if you let your chest concave forward then you won’t be able to get the full stretch and put more of the weight on your shoulders.
CHEST TRAINING TIP #5:
This last tip is something that can be easily overlooked if you aren’t paying attention to the way you program your workouts. Make sure to program your workouts in a way that you don’t work your shoulders or triceps the day before your chest workout. Antoine says that making sure your delts and triceps are fresh is important in making sure that you can fully activate your chest.
If your muscles are exhausted before a chest workout, then you won’t be able to lift the kinds of weight necessary to get a good pump and risk injuring yourself.
Sample Antoine Vaillant Chest Workout
Check out this sample chest workout based on what Antoine was doing in the video.
- Pec Deck Flys: 3 sets x 15,15, burnout
- Machine Decline Chest Press: 4 sets x 10 reps
- Dumbbell Chest Press: 4 sets x 10 reps
- Machine Incline Press: 3 sets x 10-15 reps
Note: keep rests between sets 45-90 seconds.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Keep Antoine’s tips in mind while working out and we're sure you’ll start seeing more results in your chest. Make sure to let us know in the comments below what you think of this workout!
Here are a few more IFBB Pros with amazing chest workouts to follow:
Andrew Lenau
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