Tip: Corrective Complex, Pecs

Sequence these corrective drills in this order before your next chest day and get a better workout.

Sequencing is important when it comes to corrective drills. It's no different from any other aspect of training: everything has a point and purpose. It's like being told to include power cleans, lunges, and snatches in your program but having no clue where to put them to get the greatest benefit.

Corrective complexes are pre-workout drills performed together to achieve maximum benefit in a short period of time. This sequencing increases the effectiveness by producing a synergistic effect. The three components should:

  • Address soft tissue quality
  • Mobilize and lengthen that soft tissue
  • Activate the antagonist muscle

After the restrictions have been reduced with the soft tissue work, the muscles will be more responsive to the range of motion drills. Immediately following the rolling of a particular muscle group, we take advantage of its newfound flexibility by taking it through specific mobility exercises. The final component takes advantage of the law of reciprocal inhibition: as a muscle contracts on one side of a joint, its antagonist must relax.

In the video you'll see a sample sequence for pecs:

  • A. Foam roll pec major and minor for 30 seconds
  • B. Split stance shoulder mobility, 10 per side
  • C. Anterior pull-apart, 12 reps