Chest workouts don’t always have to feel like a tedious task. For most gym-goers, chest training just comprises of three exercises, bench press, barbell, and press-ups (more on the bench press anyway). There is no doubt that these workouts might give you the desired results, but you need to expand your chest workout repertoire.
If you indeed are in search of a pecs-tacular chest, then you would need to do more, and liven up your routine. Although the above-mentioned workouts are pretty much all that needs to be done, it doesn’t have to be that boring. In fact, there are countless chest workouts for bigger gains, from press-ups, to twist on dumbbell classics down to cable machine workouts. Yes, you read all that right; you can have fun while building a pair of pecs.
What we are trying to say is that you should do better than the press-ups and bench press. You may be asking why you need to expand your chest workout repertoire, and we understand. But, do you know that exercising your chest from more angles other than the bench press would give you a more prominent and broader chest? What’s more, you would have a larger torso and become more skillful in lifting heavy objects – from barbells to broken down vehicles, sounds interesting?
However, chest workouts aren’t just about strength, and it would also help you achieve better postures and make you appear taller than you are by adding extra height to your chest area.
With a bigger chest, you would be sure to impress the ladies as well, and not just yourself. A study published in Plos One stated that from women as well as men’s point of view, the ideal look of a male should include a broad and muscular chest, which forms a V-shaped torso.
If you want to achieve a bigger chest, you would need to exercise all the chest muscles directly, but to do that, you need to know where they are located, right? Correct.
Here is a brief guide to show you where your major chest muscles are located so that you can be on the right track.
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Serratus Anterior:
It is located just at the side of the chest wall, still confused? When you flex your muscles by lifting weights overhead, the muscle that moves in action is the serratus anterior.
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Pectoralis Major:
This muscle makes up for more than half of your chest muscle. It is very large and has a fan shape, and it is made up of a clavicular and sterna head.
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Pectoralis Minor:
It lies below the pectoralis major, and its primary task is to push the shoulder in a forward and downward movement.
Now, that you have known the right muscles, there is another secret we need to let you on, before introducing effective chest workouts for you. Let’s briefly talk about why your chest isn’t growing, regardless of the bench press and push up exercises you do daily.
Why your chest Isn’t Growing
If you are not maintaining the correct posture or pose for a particular workout or you aren’t warming up correctly, it may prove quite difficult to achieve some chest gain.
You may also struggle to gain weight on your muscle because you aren’t using the right techniques. You may feel that fast pumping out reps is providing your chest with the trigger it needs to build muscles, but it isn’t. Research has shown that slow and coordinated lifts carried out to fatigue offers a faster rate of growth than when you do an identical movement, but rapidly.
Another study published by the British Journal of Sports proved that heavy loaded dynamic warm-ups helped in boosting and performance and strength because warm muscles have more flexibly and are set to create explosive power.
How can you trigger your Chest Muscles?
Aside from alternating your rep ranges, switching your lifting tempo, and working on different parts of your chests, it would be best if you also took warm-ups before exercises very serious. Before your go-to-chest workout, you need to warm up, so, you can prevent your body from injury. Warm-ups, helps your body become more mobile and stable so, you can raise lifts with ease and perform safer workouts.
Vigorous workouts are considered to be the most effective approach to pre-workout preparation. That’s because it consists of movement that involves a range of progressive motion, and this imitates the workout you are about to do—doing this would prep your muscles for lengthy sessions and train it to work under weighty loads. And not only that, doing warm-ups would help in reducing the soreness you would feel the next day, and best believe chest DOMS isn’t a joke.
Now, let’s get to the part you have been anticipating.
Best Chest Workouts
Because we are confident that there is more to bench press and lift-ups for chest workouts, we have come up with the best chest exercises, that would give help you in building chest muscles.
It’s okay not to implement all, but you should pick at least two or three and rotate them every fortnight to get maximum results.
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Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
Why you should do it: The bench press is the apparent key to building chest muscles, and it is the chest bulking staple, plus it offers you various variants that would help you achieve a wider and bigger chest. When you use two separate weights on each hand, it will help you have a better range of motion and activate the necessary muscles needed for more stability. To get faster results, you should take the entire weight all the way up before lowering it to the other side of your chest to keep them under tension non-stop.
How: Lie on a comfortable bench and set it to a 45° angle. Gradually lift the weight across your chest with your palms away from you. Slowly bring one weight down and push it back to the top, while squeezing your chest at the top. Repeat this same process with the other hand.
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Dumbbell Squeeze Press
Why you should do it: Squeezing the dumbbell when doing a chest press movement focuses on building your pecs directly. How this happens is pretty simple, this easy tweak engages your chest non-stop throughout the entire workout, and this is important in maximizing muscle gain.
How: Lie on a bench and place one dumbbell each in both hands. Maintain a relaxed grip and keep your hands straight and above you. Slowly bend your arms and lower them to the sides of our body so the dumbbell can lie just over your chest. Pause for about three seconds and repeat the process by lifting your arms again. It’s essential to stay focused when doing this, so you don’t let go of the dumbbells and cause damage to yourself.
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Decline Press Up
Why you should do it: This particular workout emphasizes your lower pectorals and helps you build a well rounded and more pronounced chest. There is no reason why the decline press up shouldn’t have a significant spot in your chest workouts for bigger gains because that’s just what it does best.
How: Put your feet on a bench, while placing your hands on the floor in front of you. Lower your body low, until it almost touches the floor. Push your body back to the beginning position while compressing your chest. Halt for about 3 seconds at the top before starting all over again.
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Decline Barbell Bench Press
Why you should do it: Using a decline bench would help focus directly on your lower chest, and this would help in achieving serious gains on your chest.
How: Place your hands shoulder-width apart, while holding the barbell, and put your hands to face your feet. Lie on a bench with your back to a decline setting and begin by fully extending your hands over your chest. Lower the bar gently and slowly until it glides the center of your chest. Place the barbell back to the starting point explosively while you breathe out, and repeat the process.
How to Get the Best Results from these Workouts
The work doesn’t just end in performing the right exercises for chest muscle building; you have your work cut out for you in the kitchen as well. Even if you nail every one of these exercises and you don’t fuel your body in the right way, you won’t get the results you want.
You should ensure that you feed your body with enough protein, as it helps to rebuild your muscles after an intense workout. It’s important to get your protein from your daily diet, and this would help guarantee that you eat healthily. However, some people do prefer to get their proteins from supplements, and that’s okay too. Aside from protein, you must maintain nourishing diets in general and make sure your energy reserves are improved by eating adequate carbohydrates, so you can maximize the fiber you get from your food.
