Shadowing Practice: You Hate Your Saggy Chest (HERE'S HOW TO FIX IT!) - Learn English Speaking with Video
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So you're having trouble and your chest just won't grow.
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Well, I can relate, because actually, I never really had the greatest chest, and even to this day, it's not the best, but it certainly has come a long way.
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And the reason why is because I figured out what I was doing wrong, and I want to share that reason with you here today.
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But I do have to ask you a couple questions.
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And the first one is, are you even bench pressing?
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You see, this foundational exercise has to be a part of your program
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if you want to give it a fair shot and give your chest the best chance to grow.
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And if you haven't done the exercise consistently for at least the last year and a half, you really can't answer that question just yet.
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But if you have and you're still not where you want to be, well then we need to ask the next question.
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And that is, are you supplementing?
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And I'm not talking about what you're putting in your body.
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I'm talking about what else you're doing in your chest workout.
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Because obviously the bench press alone is not cutting it.
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And when you're struggling to build bigger pecs, it's because you just don't have good activation capabilities of your chest.
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Oftentimes it's the delts that dominate the movements you're doing.
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So what I encourage you to do is find exercises that can actually help you to adduct the arm across the chest.
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Because when we can train the chest to become more active, to engage it on all the exercises we do, well, that's when the growth starts to happen.
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If we don't have access to a cable machine, then we would do something like a floor fly with dumbbells.
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Again, I like the floor fly
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because we don't run into the same vulnerability to the shoulder that we do with the unsupported bench fly.
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But if you're doing some version of these adduction exercises and your chest still won't grow, well, at that time, we've got to look in the mirror.
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What's wrong, Jesse?
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I'm looking in the mirror and I don't really like what I see.
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Don't be hard on yourself.
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Look, you're getting some gains there.
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But he can actually help us explain what's going on.
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When you're talking about the inability to grow a bigger chest, at some point, you have to look at your genetics.
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Now, before you go and start hating on mom and dad, hear me out.
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What we're talking about is just simply how much chest muscle can you grow?
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Because no matter how much Jesse tries or myself, we're never going to look like Larry Wheels.
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Come to think of it, not many people will look like Larry Wheels.
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But we have to look at the skeleton to understand why that is.
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Different skeletons are going to have different genetic potential to add muscle.
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If your clavicles are only this long, you're not going to find this type of skeleton in a guy like Larry Wheels
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because his are likely to be a lot broader, a lot longer.
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And as they get longer, you have a lot more room for chest muscle to attach to.
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So, when you have a smaller frame and a smaller skeleton, you're genetically going to be limited to the overall size of your chest.
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But before you use that as an excuse, understand that every single chest can look good if properly trained.
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Now, granted, it may not be as ridiculously full as Larry's, but you can still optimize what you have.
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A good lower pec line, good middle chest definition, and of course, that upper chest ridge.
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But in order to do this, we're going to have some things that you're going to want to make sure you're definitely doing in your workouts.
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And it starts just simply accepting the fact that, yeah, maybe you have a little bit of genetically compromised pecs here, but it doesn't mean there's nothing that you can do.
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As a matter of fact, if you learn to compartmentalize your training, well, that's where the gains come true, because you can look back at that bench press and just let it be a strength exercise.
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All right, we talked about how maybe the delts were helping you to push
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that bar off your chest and gave you good strength hurdles, but it still wasn't growing your chest.
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So instead, what I want you to do is simply change what you do.
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Lighten the weights, slow down the pace, and learn to let the muscle you're actually trying to grow do the work.
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And one of my favorite ways to do that is right here at a bench press.
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If I just activate the chest at the beginning of every repetition, it makes a difference.
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Instead of just having the goal of being to get the dumbbells out over my chest, I want to make sure my chest is what initiates the upper portion of the rep every single time.
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You can see that by pausing at the bottom of the rep, it gives me that opportunity to focus just a little bit on the chest, initiating the rep and keeping those shoulders back.
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I could do the same thing with a dip.
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We know the dip's a great lower chest builder, but how are you pushing up?
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Are you rounding your shoulders on every rep?
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Not only is that dangerous, but it's actually, again, letting the shoulders do all the work.
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Instead, remember here, the goal is making the chest do all the work.
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And we do that by slowing down the pace
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and initiating with the chest out of the bottom of every single rep of the dip.
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And one of my favorite ways to make the pecs take over if you have access is with a cable bench press.
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Again, you're not forgoing the regular bench press.
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That's a solid staple of your workout because you're using it to build your strength.
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But this exercise is being used to activate the pecs.
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And this is amazing at doing that because it changes the angle of push.
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Instead of pushing straight up and down as you would with either a barbell or dumbbells, that slight outward orientation of the cables forces your pecs to activate more again towards
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that adduction line of resistance that makes this much more effective at instantly engaging that muscle that you can't grow right now.
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And then finally, if you have no access to equipment, you still want to see the benefits here, a push-up.
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And the best way to do this, guys, again, slow down the cadence.
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I can cut down whatever rep count you're doing right now by simply making you go slower.
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But the real key lies in getting that sternum up on every repetition.
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Feel as
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if you're lifting it up as you squeeze your body off the floor rather than just simply pushing yourself off the floor.
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When you change the way you do the exercises you're you're doing, guys, the effect is entirely different.
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And when the effect is changed and the activation of the pecs is increased, that's where the real gains start.
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Now, if it's your lower chest that's giving you a problem, you know, some of that sagginess, you're going to want to make sure you watch this video here, our lower chest solution.
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And if it's your upper chest that just won't stand at attention, you're going to want to watch the upper chest solution here.
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You're looking for a full program, guys.
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They're all available at athleanx.com.
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If you haven't done so, make sure you click subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss a new video when we put one out.
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See you soon.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “You Hate Your Saggy Chest”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: chest, exercise, pec, bench, grow. This video has 79 sentences and 1316 words to shadow. The speech runs for 5:14. The speaker talks fast, about 251 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| pec noun | The pectoralis major muscle. | |
| skeleton noun | /ˈskɛlətən/ | The system that provides support to an organism, where in vertebrates it is internal and consists of bones and cartilage, and external in some other animals. |
| initiate verb | /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/ | To begin; to start. |
| activate verb | /ˈæktɪˌveɪt/ | To encourage development or induce increased activity; to stimulate. |
| workout noun | /ˈwɝk.aʊ̯t/ | An exercise session; a period of physical exercise. |
| adduction noun | /əˈdʌk.ʃn̩/ | The act of adducing or bringing forward. |
| repetition noun | /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/ | The act or an instance of repeating or being repeated. |
| genetically adverb | /d͡ʒəˈneɾɪkli/ | In a manner relating to genes or genetics. |
| activation noun | /ˌæktəˈveɪʃən/ | Making active and effective; bringing into a state of activity. |
| adduct noun | /ˈæ.dʌkt/ | The product of an addition reaction. |
| barbell noun | /ˈbɑɹˌbɛl/ | A wide steel bar with premeasured weights counterpoised at either end, with the central span open for the hands of the weightlifter. |
| cadence noun | /ˈkeɪ̯dəns/ | The act or state of declining or sinking. |
| clavicle noun | /ˈklæv.ɪk.əl/ | The collarbone; the prominent bone at the top of the chest between the shoulder and the neck connecting the shoulder and the breastbone. |
| compartmentalize verb | /kəmˌpɑɹtˈmɛntəlˌaɪz/ | To separate something into different categories, or compartments. |
| foundational adjective | /faʊnˈdeɪ.ʃə.nəl/ | Of or relating to a foundation or foundations. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| slow down verb | To decelerate. |
| push up verb | To make (something) higher; to increase. |
| cut down verb | To cut downward. |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. |
| take over verb | To assume control of something, such as a business or enterprise, and sometimes by force. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- Look, you're getting some gains there.
- Are you rounding your shoulders on every rep?
- You're looking for a full program, guys.
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 45 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, don't, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: initiate /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, adduction /əˈdʌk.ʃn̩/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, activation /ˌæktəˈveɪʃən/, foundational /faʊnˈdeɪ.ʃə.nəl/
- Long words — get the stress right: initiate /ɪˈnɪʃ.i.eɪt/, repetition /ˌɹɛp.əˈtɪʃ.ən/, genetically /d͡ʒəˈneɾɪkli/, activation /ˌæktəˈveɪʃən/, compartmentalize /kəmˌpɑɹtˈmɛntəlˌaɪz/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like pec, skeleton, initiate.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.