Ryan Terry shared a video titled “How to improve your chest day,” but instead of the traditional bench press, he showed a different machine.

Terry started by lying down on the chest press machine.

“This is something you can go off plan with, because you are still hitting the chest. But if you feel like you want to mix it up, or you want to add a bit more intensity to it, or a bit more advanced movements, we can go unilateral.”

While both the unilateral chest press and the bench press focus on the upper chest to make it fuller, the free weight in the bench press requires more stabilization, which results in greater triceps and shoulder recruitment. 

On the other hand, machine-based unilateral lifting requires little balance and follows a certain path, which is why it focuses on chest isolation.

“So, I typically have quite a few problems with my left side,” which hinders his shoulder mobility and leads him to switch to this variation. 

This allows him to train and activate his muscles unilaterally without the risk of injury. But it doesn't really mean you avoid the bench press. It strengthens the shoulder. It is important to understand when to use a unilateral training approach and when to use free weights.

Some more tips to follow in the gym by Rayn Terry

Ryan Terry shared his experience with cardio and stated, “I was obsessed with cardio, I wanted to be lean and I thought cardio was the answer to that, and it's not."

"It just restricted my growth massively. I just couldn't put the mass on because I was always in a deficit due to the amount of cardio I was doing.”

Training in the gym needs to be an all-round workout, not just focusing on one aspect of the body or exercise.

Written by

Supradeep Dutta

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar