Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel continues to find new innovative ways to maximize training results. On February 18, 2025, he broke down his 30-minute full workout for ‘chest destruction,’ imparting tips and form cues along the way.
Dr. Mike Israetel is a competitive bodybuilder and one of the most prolific voices in the fitness community. He blends science-based research with exercise into easy-to-process packages for his viewers. From intensity and technique to workout splits, he lays out thought-provoking concepts all while helping you reach a new level of gains inside the gym.
“30-minute full chest workout,” he shared. “Let’s find out how to train yourself into chest destruction in a very short time with only one machine.”
Exercise Scientist Shares Full ‘Destruction’ Chest Workout
These are the exercise selections he discussed in a recent YouTube video:
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- Standard Cable Fly
- Incline Fly
- Cable Chest Press
Standard Cable Fly
While performing standard cable flyes, he recommended lifters bring their arms across their chests, not down or up.
“We are going to do normal angle flat cable flyes. Here you want to bring your arm completely across your chest, not down, not up, completely across,” explains Israetel.
“Big cues here are to keep that chest big and open, to go super deep for that stretch, and to come all the way up for a gentle touch at the top.”
By adjusting the pulleys, he emphasizes that lifters can hit the upper or lower chest more effectively.
“We can put them up significantly, and all of a sudden, the same machine, and we have the ability to hit the lower chest. This isn’t so much a variation that’s minor, this is a major variation,” he said. “You go all the way much lower and all of a sudden you can do upper pecs by coming up like this and holding at the top.”
Incline Flye
His advice on the incline flye? Start somewhere low, come up high, pause for a second, stick your chest out, and focus on the stretch.
“We’re going to be moving up. Now, how low is good enough? Anything sort of below this angle is totally fine, you want to make sure to start from somewhere low and come from somewhere high, pause for a quick second, stick your chest out and really let that stretch take hold. It’s going to hit your upper pecs a little bit more.”
Cable Chest Press
He implemented cable chest presses for the third exercise, underlining that they can be performed standing up with a staggered stance. Otherwise, he said to position an incline bench, which can offer more stability.
“Third and final exercise, three sets of also myo-rep match on the flat cable press. You can absolutely do these standing up with a staggered stance no problem. But if you manage to squiggle in an incline bench, put it completely vertically, it’s going to give you that stability.”
During the cable chest press, he urged lifters to bring their arms inward, again, focusing on a deep stretch.
“If you’re going to try to do presses, I recommend bringing the arms in,” he adds. “Start with the grips much closer this time, push forward, one leg in front of the other, deep stretch back here, press all the way up, and press.”
For extra gains and added tension, he suggested an extended eccentric phase.
“Do an extended eccentric phase, something like two to four seconds. Come up athletically in the concentric, and slowly push your chest out and milk that deep stretch when you get down there and come back up.”
This wasn’t Israetel’s first time offering guidance for those seeking chest improvements. He recently shared six tips for ‘exploding chest gains,’ some of which included slower eccentrics, lengthened partials, and arching the back during presses.
With over 3.1 million YouTube subscribers, Dr. Israetel’s advice is highly sought after. Feel free to give his cable-only 30-minute workout a try the next time you hit chest day.
RELATED: Exercise Scientist Shares His Top 5 Movements For Chest Growth, Provides ‘Form Cue’ Tips
Watch the full video from the Renaissance Periodization YouTube channel below:
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