The pecs are made up of the sternal, clavicular and costal heads Many people who work out regularly prioritize developing their chest muscles. This can be accomplished by performing various exercises that put a significant amount of strain on the chest muscles, resulting in increased size and strength. To get the most out of chest-strengthening exercises, it's important to do ones that place a good amount of tension on all the muscles in the chest. The three main muscle groups in the chest are the sternal, clavicular, and costal heads.
The pecs are the muscles in the chest. There are four muscles that make up the pecs, and they control movement around the shoulder. The two biggest pec muscles are the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pectoralis major muscle starts at the sternum (front of the ribcage) and the clavicle (collarbone), and it attaches to the humerus (upper arm bone). The pectoralis major's job is to make the humerus move up and down, and also to rotate it. The pectoralis minor muscle is underneath the pectoralis major. It starts at the ribs and attaches to the scapula (shoulder blade). The pectoralis minor's job is to keep the scapula stable.
If we want to add mass to the chest, we should focus on exercises that target the pectoral major muscle, since it is the biggest muscle in the chest and has the most potential for growth. However, if we want a more complete chest development, we should also select exercises that target the smaller pectoral muscles.
The exercises that have been selected target the muscles of the pectorals effectively and contribute to overall chest growth.
The Best Mass Building Chest Exercises
The following 10 chest building exercises have similarities and trends. Many of the exercises replicate the same or similar movement patterns. However, different equipment or a change in the angle of application (i.e adding an incline) is used to effectively load the pectorals.
You will find that most of the exercises are compound or exercises that work multiple joints. since the goal is to gain mass, it would be appropriate to perform a number of compound lifts. There are a number of isolation or single-joint exercises that can help with the compound exercises and work out any weaknesses.
The piece of equipment that is being used will have an effect on the pectorals and how they are challenged.
1. Barbell Bench Press
The barbell bench press is the best exercise for building chest muscles for a number of reasons. With free weight barbell exercises, you will be able to lift the heaviest loads, which means you can expect to lift a substantial amount of weight with the barbell bench press. By lifting heavy weights, we increase the amount of mechanical load that the muscles are exposed to, which leads to muscular growth.
bench press, you should lie down on the bench with your eyes aligned with the barbell. Your feet should be flat on the floor and under your hips, with a slight arch in your lower back. You should grip the bar slightly wider than shoulder width to place maximal demand on your pecs. If you have a narrower grip, it will involve your triceps more heavily, taking some demand away from your pecs. You should drive hard through your heels and brace your core muscles before removing the bar from the rack and bringing it over your chest. You should then drop the bar down until it makes contact with your chest and drive upward to return to the starting position. It is essential to ensure that your elbows are slightly down from the line of your shoulders throughout the duration of the movement to reduce any risk of shoulder impingement or injury.
If you are new to bench pressing, it is always best to start with a light weight and to focus on form. As you become more experienced, you can begin to increase the amount of weight you lift. However, regardless of your level of experience, safety should always be a priority when using a barbell. This means setting up the rack so that it will catch the bar in case of failure, or using a spotter to prevent becoming trapped under the bar.
2. Incline Barbell Bench Press
The flat bench press puts your body in a position where it's parallel to the floor. With the incline bench press, this angle is changed so that your body is at an incline angle (usually anywhere between 15 and 50 degrees). The purpose of this is to shift the demand to the upper part of the pectoralis major, but be aware that if the angle is too steep, you'll start involving the deltoids (shoulders) more than the pecs (3). Therefore, it would be wise to keep the bench at a low angle so you hit the upper chest most effectively.
To perform the incline press, start by setting an incline bench to around 30-45 degrees. Sit down on the bench and plant your feet firmly on the ground. Make sure that your back is pressed firmly against the bench and that your shoulder blades are squeezed together. Take a deep breath in and hold it before beginning the press. The incline press is performed with the same form as the flat press, but the bench is set at a 30-45 degree angle. Because this exercise only works the upper portion of the pec muscle, it is more challenging than the flat press.
If you regularly switch up the order of your chest workout, you will be able to better perform both the flat bench and incline press. Doing one after the other while already in a fatigue state will reduce the amount of weight you can lift.
3. Dumbbell Bench Press
If you find yourself no longer making progress on your bench press, switching to dumbbells may help. The dumbbell bench press provides a different stimulus to the pectorals which can help you recommence progress.
One of dumbbell's key benefits is that it forces both sides to work independently, which challenges joint stability to a large degree. As a result of this instability, a number of stabilizing muscles are recruited in order to control the movement. Another advantage with the dumbbell press is that range of motion is increased. With the barbell press, as soon as the bar touches the chest you must drive back up—there is no physical way to drop any further. With dumbbells, however, there is no restriction stopping you from dropping the weights down to the side of the body, thus increasing the distance the weight travels and engaging the muscle to an even greater extent.
If you're a beginner or worried about failing while benching with a barbell, the dumbbell bench press is a good option. With dumbbells, you don't have to worry about being trapped under the bar if you fail, because you can just drop them on the floor. You also don't need a spotter or rack.
4. Incline Dumbbell Press
The dumbbell press can also be done on an incline bench. You can try different angles of the bench to target the muscle from different angles and get more comprehensive development.
One advantage of using dumbbells rather than barbells is that you can rotate your arms while you are working out. This is not possible with a barbell, since it is attached to a fixed bar. However, the individual dumbbells allow for a medial rotation of the humerus, which causes considerable activation in the pectoralis major.
5. Incline Dumbbell Pullover
The dumbbell pullover is a great way to develop your pecs, as well as activating a number of other upper body muscles such as the lats and delts. The goal with the pullover is to extend your arms as far as possible over your head, while keeping them straight, which requires a lot of stabilization, control, and power from your pectorals.
To complete the pullover, set a bench up with a slight incline, lie down, start with the dumbbell above the chest and gradually drop the dumbbell over the top of the head without bending at the elbows before returning to the starting position. Remember, this is a single-joint exercise which should be treated as accessory work and therefore be performed towards the end of your session.
6. Machine Chest Press
The chest press machine is beneficial because it doesn't require the muscles to stabilize. The machine does all the work, so the muscles don't have to. This makes it easier to build muscle.
7. Machine Decline Press
This exercise targets the lower portion of the pecs by slightly angling the back support backward, placing the upper body in a decline position.
8. Machine Pec Deck
Pec deck machines have the primary benefit of removing the need for muscular stabilization, as the machine only follows one path. To use the machine, start with the handles out to the side of your body. Grasp the handles with straight arms, and powerfully contract your pecs to drive the arms together until they are approximately in line with your shoulders. Although the movement patterns are different, studies have suggested similar muscular activation of the pectorals with both the bench press and pec deck.
9. Incline Cable Fly
The cable fly is the next stage up from the pec deck machine. The chest fly is one of best single-joint exercises for isolating the muscles of the chest. The benefits of using cables for the fly is the fact that, unlike with free weights, the cable maintains tension on the pectorals throughout the entirety of the movement. This will apply a large amount of stress to the muscle and enhance muscle growth.
10. Chest Dips
The only bodyweight exercise that is good for the chest is the chest dip. This exercise can be performed on the ground or in the air; having the feet on the ground makes the exercise easier while holding the entire body off the ground makes it more difficult. To target the chest muscles, use a wide grip instead of a narrow grip. Narrow grip places too much stress on the triceps instead of the chest. To do the exercise, flex at the elbow and drop the body down towards the floor until the upper arm is parallel with the floor. Then, the chest and triceps must powerfully contract to drive the body back up to the starting position.
5 Tips to Get the Most Out of These Chest Workouts
here are some tips to help you get the most out of your chest training
1. Use compound exercises to train your chest muscles.
You should focus on lifting heavy weights and progressively increasing the weight you lift in order to make the most gains in your chest muscles.
The best way to achieve the desired results is to do compound exercises like barbell and dumbbell bench press, flat and incline bench press, and dips.
The main focus of your workout should be heavy pressing, with machine, cable, and dumbbell flyes as supplementary exercises.
2. Use heavy weights.
Your number one goal as a natural weightlifter should be to get stronger.
As long as you focus on training your chest, you will have no trouble increasing muscle mass.
What’s the best way to get stronger?
Lift heavy.
The text is talking about working with weights that are 75-85% of your one-rep max, or 8-10 (~75%) to 4-6 (~85%) reps.
Training in high-rep ranges should take up the majority of your time.
3. Increase your weights over time.
If you're not constantly increasing your strength, you will not continue to grow larger.
This means that you must constantly be striving to increase the amount of weight you are lifting, the number of repetitions you are performing, or the number of sets you are completing. Progressive overload is the key focus of your training, which means constantly increasing the amount of weight you lift, the number of repetitions, or the number of sets you complete.
No matter how many different types of training you do, you will have a hard time gaining muscle if you don't gradually increase the amount of weight you're lifting.
4. Train both the upper and lower portions of your chest.
If you want to build a powerful and proportionate pair of pecs, you need to target both the lower and upper chest.
While all exercises that involve the chest muscles also use the shoulder muscles to some degree, research shows that the incline and reverse-grip bench press are especially good exercises for working the upper part of the chest, whereas the flat bench press and dip are better for targeting the middle and lower parts.
5. Make sure you’re eating enough calories and protein.
You will gain the most muscle and strength by eating more calories than you are burning.
If you want to maintain your weight, you need to eat at least 100% of your total daily energy expenditure.
A calorie surplus means eating more calories than your body burns in a day. This optimizes your body's ability to build muscle and recover from training.
In addition to eating enough calories, you need to consume enough protein to support muscle recovery, repair, and growth.
