Build A Bigger Chest! Anton Antipov's Striated Chest Workout

We recently had the privilege of catching up with Team Nutrex athlete and IFBB pro Anton Antipov.

While visiting the Muscle & Strength HQ, we got a lot of great nutrition and training tips from him.

We also had him take us through one of his favorite chest workouts.

So, he showed us this high volume chest workout that he likes to perform during his off season.

Exercise 1: Smith Machine Bench Press

The first exercise Anton does is the Smith Machine Bench Press. To keep his chest slightly up during this movement, Anton places a small pad on top of the bench.

Anton prefers utilizing a suicide grip, especially on the Smith Machine since it is a little safer than doing so with free weights, to put more emphasis on the chest muscles.

Anton normally performs 16-20 reps on the first set, 12-15 reps on the second set, and 6-8 reps on his third and final set.

Despite its bad rap, Anton really likes using the Smith Machine, because it allows him to focus on maximizing the contraction of his targeted muscle group during his lift.

Exercise 2: Neutral Grip Chest Press/Fly Combo

After finishing up with the Smith Machine, Anton moves on to the dumbbell section to perform a neutral grip chest press and fly combination.

Anton uses a moderate weight with this combo. On the dumbbell fly, you want to make sure to go just far enough to get a good stretch.

One fly and one press equals one rep with this movement. On the last couple of reps, Anton likes to slow down the rep tempo and focus on contracting the muscle as much as possible.

Anton likes to perform 3 sets of 12-15 reps with this combination.

Superset 1: Incline Static Press and Flat Unilateral Machine Press

For his next movement, Anton heads over to the hammer strength chest press machines for an intense superset.

The first exercise of this superset is the incline static press, which is followed by a flat unilateral machine press.

The first portion of the superset Anton focuses on the concentric portion of the rep, and on the second exercise he focuses on the eccentric or lowering portion of the movement.

Exercise 5: Cable Fly

Anton then moves on to the cable machines to do some cable flys. Since he has focused primarily on his mid and upper chest with all of the previous movements, he uses this exercise to target his lower chest.

Anton makes a great point in suggesting to viewers that it is important to find what works for you. Everyone is different and prefers different exercises. Test out exercises, find which ones work for you, and be sure to do those exercises.

Exercise 6: Cable Pullover

For his last exercise, Anton ends with cable pullovers.

You could attach a bar to the cable if you prefer, but Anton likes to do these with just the cable. When you do this exercise, really try to focus on using your pecs and not allowing your lats to take over the exercise.