SAMSON DAUDA’S SECRETS TO BUILDING A BIG CHEST

Arnold Classic Champion IFBB Pro Samson Dauda takes us through his chest and calves workout at 5 weeks into his post-show recovery phase. After another 2 to 3 weeks, he will move into his official offseason. On his bigger training days, such as chest, Samson uses his favorite intra-workout drink mix of INTRA[R3] intra-workout in Watermelon and one scoop of BLOODSHOT non stim pre-workout pump product in Sour Peach. By drinking this during the workout, BLOODSHOT kicks in following his warm-up, keeping the pump strong throughout the whole workout.

Samson Dauda's Chest & Calves Workout

Seated Calf Raises Superset Standing Calf Raises

Before starting his chest workout, Samson includes two calf exercises to make sure the muscle group gets hit each week. The calves are a muscle group that is used a lot throughout the day, so training needs to be meticulous and focused. Avoid bouncing through the movement to make sure the calves are really getting worked. Samson uses controlled, slow tempos and a hard squeeze at the top to fully tax the muscle. Keep the weight in the front of your foot, pressing up onto your toes for 10 – 12 reps on each machine, for 3 sets. On the final set of seated calf raises, Samson drops the weight twice before finishing with a straight set of standing raises.

Bench Press Machine

Samson moves to a plate-loaded bench press machine for his first chest exercise. The bench is set at a slight incline to help target his upper chest. He starts light and builds up in weight each set to max out with a final set of 10 reps. Make sure to control each phase of the rep, getting a full stretch through the chest at the bottom, keeping the work loaded in the pecs and not putting strain on the front deltoid muscle.

Incline Chest Press Superset Lower Chest Flyes

Samson uses a combination of an incline press and chest flyes to hit both the upper and lower pec muscles to finish his workout. He builds up the weight each set, always focusing on using a full range of movement with a deep stretch at the bottom of every press. On the chest flyes, he leans slightly forward and uses the chest to pull the hands together, with a hard squeeze at the bottom. To make sure the chest is exhausted, Samson does 4 sets of 10 – 12 reps on each machine.

Samson points out that his workout may seem short, with only 3 chest exercises, but his focus is on training efficiently with basic, compound exercises. He pushes each exercise to failure using controlled tempos and full ranges of movement which put the muscle under more tension. The chest is exhausted and then allowed to recover and grow.