If you’re trying to build a larger breast, especially the pectoralis major, just look for a guillotine press. Guillotine press is a means to achieve lightweight and serious upper chest development. There are some risks and challenges to this exercise. So keep reading or learn more about the benefits, risks, and whether it’s the best option for chest training.
The guillotine press is similar to a bench press and can be done on a barbell or smith machine.Unlike the standard flat bench press, the guillotine press has you Press the barbell against the collarbone instead of the chest, Significantly increases the tension on your pectoral muscles.
In this article, you’ll learn everything about how to properly perform a guillotine press and build a larger upper pectoral muscle.
How to do a guillotine press
Guillotine pressing can be done on a barbell or Smith machine and is usually done on a flat bench. This exercise should be performed with slow eccentric movements and should be as low as possible without pain or discomfort.
It should be mentioned that the guillotine press is not for everyone. If exercise causes stress or pain in your shoulders, lose weight immediately. If you continue to feel uncomfortable, consider choosing another method of training your upper breast. Guillotine presses are equivalent parts, effective and demanding.
Step 1—Set up
Start by setting yourself up like a barbell bench press. The feet should be planted on the floor, but you can also do this exercise with the feet up and a minimal back arch to further isolate the upper body. Grab a bar that is wider than normal and make sure the scapula is properly retracted.
Coach Tips: The wide grip helps to flare your elbows.
Step 2-Remove the rack and lower
After losing weight, make sure your elbows are spread out toward your sides (not your body). This can put extra strain on your shoulders in some cases, so lighten it in this case or choose another method if you feel uncomfortable.
Coach Tips: For this movement, proceed slowly and use zero momentum or bounce. Stick to the starting weight of about 30% of the maximum weight of the bench press.
Step 3 — Pause and then press
Keep the barbell as low as possible while keeping your upper pectoral muscles straight. You should feel a stretch in the middle of the upper chest. If you feel stretching or discomfort in front of your shoulders, spread your elbows and retract your shoulder blades. If you still don’t feel any stretch, slowly lose weight and make sure you’re paused.
When you reach the bottom of the movement, push it upwards with your elbows open.
Coach Tips: The key here is to do a lot of stretching under load and maximize time under tension. This reduces the weight that can be used.
Benefits of Guillotine Press
Guillotine Press is an excellent upper chest developer that can be done without heavy load. All you need is a barbell, weights and focus. This exercise is quite specific to targeting the upper chest and is not necessarily surprising to improve strength and bench press performance.
That said, it’s important not to participate in this exercise with the idea of progressing under heavy load or driving into failure. Ideally, this movement is done with low load, medium to high iterations, and very slow eccentricity.
Target the upper pectoral muscle
The guillotine press targets the upper pectoral muscle as the bar is carried to the collarbone. The elbows need to remain flared as they hit the height of the torso. By doing so, you place a large stretch on the upper pectoral muscles. This depth of lowering the bar should only be taken to the extent you can control it and should not lose muscle tension.
Many people try to shorten the range of motion and make it heavier, but the load is not the most effective in this movement.When targeting the upper peck with a guillotine press, first Unlocks the entire range of motion with an eccentric phase of 3-4 seconds and a pause at the bottom, Then add the load.
Alternative to tilted benching
In some cases, you may not have access to a sloping bench for performing upper chest work. In such cases, a guillotine press can be used to help develop the pectoralis major muscle fibers. Do not lift heavy weights with a guillotine press, unlike a sloping bench press. You may hit your shoulder or get injured.
Muscles working by guillotine press
The guillotine press primarily trains the pectoralis major, but it also provides some stimulation to your anterior deltoid muscles. This movement should always be performed in a slow descent and without momentum. The following details the muscles used during the guillotine press.
Pectoral muscle
The pectoralis major, or pectoralis minor, is the main muscle targeted during the guillotine press. It is important to focus on the slow eccentric phase and control and move the barbell to keep the upper pectoral muscles tense.
Anterior deltoid
The front deltoid muscle is used in most press movements, regardless of angle. During the guillotine press, sloppy techniques can mean stimulating the deltoid muscles instead of your chest. The important thing is to prevent the anterior deltoid muscle from taking over the movement. That is, it uses a lighter load, increases range of motion, and avoids momentum during lift.
Who should do the guillotine press
As long as it is applicable to different populations, most exercises should create a suitable case. However, it should be emphasized that the guillotine press is used strictly to increase hypertrophy of the upper chest.
Guillotine presses have little potential for strengthening and can put unnecessary stress on the shoulders for some weightlifters, powerlifters, or individuals who already suspect shoulder integrity.
Guillotine press is very effective if you can prioritize the growth of the upper chest, keep your shoulders healthy and put your ego aside. However, if you can’t fit the guillotine to your body, it’s much better to hold back for a tilt press, wide grip push-ups, or various flies.
Guillotine press set and person in charge
If you are considering incorporating a guillotine press into your training program, it is important to understand the purpose of the movement. It’s about increasing the size of your breasts. You need to follow the programming accordingly. In addition, you should always use a spotter for your safety.
Below are the programming guidelines that are best suited for guillotine presses.
To increase muscle mass
Guillotine presses can be programmed in a very similar way to other isolation movements and require training in both high and medium repeat ranges to gain muscle mass. The key to this movement is to focus on the slow eccentric phase (often 3-5 seconds), with a slight pause at the bottom of the movement before pushing upwards without popping or gaining momentum on the bar. Is to do.
Start with programming 3-5 sets of 10-15 iterations Mild to moderate load (20-40% of maximum bench press) or 2-4 sets of 15-25 repetitionsMaintain a break of 45-90 seconds.
Guillotine press variation
The guillotine press is a good upper peck developer and is often done with barbells, but it can also be done with a Smith machine or dumbbells. If you don’t have a barbell, or if you want to add different variations to your workout program, you can use these variations in the same way.
Smith Machine Guillotine Press
The Smith Machine’s Guillotine Press runs just like the standard barbell version. The only difference is that Smithbar’s fixed path can help with stability and technique. If you can find the right angle, this may probably mean a better contraction of your chest.
Dumbbell guillotine press
If barbells and Smith machines are not available, dumbbells are a good tool for guillotine presses. If the shoulders are not perfectly symmetrical, dumbbells may be more suitable, but the barbell does not have the exact loading capacity.
Guillotine press alternative
Guillotine presses may not work for your body shape or training style. In that case, these alternatives help develop the upper chest without the need for excessive shoulder mobility. As a secondary advantage, some of these lifts allow you to work with heavier weights.
Inclined bench press
The Barbell Inclined Bench Press is an excellent chest builder and strength movement. The slope is intended for the upper chest rather than the flat bench press. Using a wider grip on the tilted bench press and a medium to high tilt allows you to highly target the upper peck without the risk of additional injury to the guillotine press.
Wide grip incline push-up
Wide grip push-ups already place more stretch on the chest fibers than standard push-ups, and throwing a tilt helps to further enhance this advantage. Like the guillotine press, wide-grip push-ups can target the pectoralis major muscles and further flare the elbows to further isolate the pectoralis major muscle fibers.
Incline fly
Tilt dumbbells or cable flies are excellent chest isolation exercises that can be performed to promote the development of the upper chest without putting significant risk or stress on the shoulders. Like the guillotine press, tilted flies should be done with light to moderate loads, a slow eccentric phase, and a large lower stretch to maximize muscle growth.
The last word
Some exercises are suitable for all athletes — some take a little elaboration to make good use of them. If you want to increase the size and width of your upper pectoral muscles, the guillotine press can be very helpful. However, if you have existing problems or want to do heavy exercise in the gym, you probably have a better option.
Part of being a mature gymnast is identifying what works and what doesn’t for you. If the exercise doesn’t work, don’t force the problem when including the exercise. That said, the Guillotine Press has earned a reputation for building truly impressive peck shelves.
Frequently Asked Questions
In a concrete exercise like the Guillotine Press, there are definitely some annoying questions. Let’s look at two common ones.
Who should do the guillotine press?
If you have had a shoulder injury in the past, or if you have limited shoulder flexibility (especially if you have less internal rotation), the guillotine press is not suitable. Before moving to the lift itself, it may be wise to learn some of the guillotine press alternatives.
How Heavy Do You Need to Train the Guillotine Press?
The guillotine press should be run with a lighter load. The exact amount of load varies, but generally speaking, this movement should be performed below 40% of the maximum bench press, and is often even lighter. Muscle damage and stress should result from increased time under tension (decreased repetition rate), prolonged eccentric phase, increased range of motion, and increased repetition.
Featured Image: Jasminko Ibrakovic / Shutterstock
