In this article, we are going to cover the best chest workout that will help you build a thick, strong set of pecs while also increasing your strength & power.
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
The incline bench press is a great exercise to work the upper chest. With secondary stress placed on the shoulders and triceps. For this exercise set the incline of the bench between a 30 to 45 degree angle. The higher the angle of the bench the more difficult the exercise will be because it uses more of the shoulders and less of the chest.
When using dumbbells for this exercise you get more muscle stimulation compared to using a barbell, because you have to balance and support 2 weights. Dumbbells force both the left and right sides to handle an equal workload.
This is can help create balance and proportion, especially for people who have one side bigger or stronger than the other. It’s actually quite common to be more developed and stronger on your dominant side, so including dumbbell exercises in your workouts can help balance this out overtime.
When To Use This Exercise in Chest Workout Routine:
If you have a symmetry imbalance between your left and right pecs you should use dumbbell bench press variations instead of barbell or machine bench presses.
If your upper chest is a weak area, you should do more incline bench work to target your upper pecs. So if your current chest routine has you doing flat bench press, adding incline dumbbell bench presses instead will help spur on some new growth in your upper chest.
Since this is a power building chest move, you can push yourself and train heavy.I recommend doing sets of 8-10 reps and strive to up the weights when ever possible.
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
You’ll feel stronger benching in the flat position compared to benching on an incline because you’ll bring more of the pec muscles into play and less of the shoulders. It also uses a shorter range of motion to bench flat compared to benching on an incline.
The center of the chest is much thicker than the top of the chest, so you won’t have to bring the dumbbells down quite as far. When using dumbbells for benching you get more muscle stimulation compared to using a barbell, because you have to balance and support 2 weights.
Dumbbells force both the left and right sides to handle an equal workload. This is can help create balance and proportion, especially for
people who have one side bigger or stronger than the other. It’s actually quite common to be more developed and stronger on your dominant side, so including dumbbell exercises in your workouts can help balance this out overtime.
people who have one side bigger or stronger than the other. It’s actually quite common to be more developed and stronger on your dominant side, so including dumbbell exercises in your workouts can help balance this out overtime.
When To Use This Exercise in Chest Workout Routine:
If you have a symmetry imbalance between your left and right pecs you should use dumbbell bench press variations instead of barbell or machine bench presses. Flat dumbbell bench is great for building thickness in the center chest.
Including dumbbell bench presses in your workouts helps to increase your barbell bench press strength as well because dumbbells utilize more stabilizer and supporting muscle groups. If you are stuck in a plateau with your regular barbell bench press, than changing to dumbbell bench for a few weeks can help you get past that training plateau
Incline Dumbbell Fly
The incline dumbbell fly is a good isolation exercise that works the chest in a fully stretched position. The majority of the stress on your pecs is right at the bottom when your arms are extended out to the sides and your chest is fully stretched in chest workout routine.
It’s always good to perform stretching exercises like this after the muscles are already pumped up with a mid range power exercise,
such as the bench press. Including a fully stretched exercise like this is great for aiding with muscle growth because they use Stretch Overload Training, also known as “Stretching With Weights”.
such as the bench press. Including a fully stretched exercise like this is great for aiding with muscle growth because they use Stretch Overload Training, also known as “Stretching With Weights”.
This is something that will enhance muscle growth from hyperplasia (i.e. muscle-fiber splitting). This expands the connective tissue and fascia, which surrounds the muscles, and there by enable the muscles to grow bigger and stronger.
When To Use This Exercise in Chest Workout Routine:
I always recommend including stretch exercises in your chest workout routine especially when trying to bring up stubborn muscle groups. Most people never focus on training the muscles in the fully stretched position, so once you start doing it on a regular basis it usually helps spur on new muscle growth.
I personally find that doing the incline dumbbell fly provides more muscle stimulation and a better pump in the pecs than the flat dumbbell fly. It also places less stress on the shoulder joint as well. So if the upper chest is an area you want to improve make sure to include this one as a regular in your chest workout routine.
Pec Deck Fly
The pec deck is a good isolation exercise that works the chest in a peaked contraction position. This is the opposite of a dumbbell fly, which works the chest in the fully stretched position. With pec deck flyes the majority of the stress on your chest is right at the top when your arms are together and your chest is fully contracted.
This move is great for getting a pump in your chest workout routine because there is constant tension throughout the entire exercise. You can’t lock it out at the top and get a little break like you can with free weight bench presses and flyes.
When To Use This Exercise in Chest Workout Routine:
This is a great finishing exercise to do after your chest workout routine, especially right after you do a fully stretched exercise like the dumbbell fly. When specializing stubborn muscle groups you should always do a mid-range power exercise (i.e. bench press), fully stretched exercise (i.e. dumbbell fly), and a peaked contraction exercise (i.e. pec deck fly). This will hit the muscles from all ranges of motion and ensure maximum muscular development.
Because this is an isolation exercise keep the reps higher, say in the 10-15 rep range and focus mainly on feeling the muscles working and going for the burn. This is NOT a heavy power move.
Push Ups
Push ups are one of my all time favorite in chest workout routine. Before I got involved with serious weight training I participated in martial arts and did lots of body weight exercises such as push ups.
Most people feel stronger in this position and are able to perform a few addition reps, compared to having their hands flat on the floor.
When To Use This Exercise in Chest Workout Routine:
Push ups are a killer finishing exercise to do after your chest workout Routine. I often finish off my chest workouts with several sets of push ups, I usually strive for 100 total reps. You can also squeeze in extra push ups in between exercises (regardless if it’s a chest workout or not).
You can also do them in your spare time at home. In fact a super simple way to specialize your chest is to simply do daily push ups.
If you did 2-3 sets of push ups in your spare time at home this will help spur on new muscle growth. Regularly exercising and pumping blood and nutrients into your muscles is a great way to speed up growth.
If you did 2-3 sets of push ups in your spare time at home this will help spur on new muscle growth. Regularly exercising and pumping blood and nutrients into your muscles is a great way to speed up growth.