Reprinted Articles

You wouldn’t believe how many questions I get each and every week about chest exercises. Everyone wants to build a bigger chest… and many trainees put in the hard work at the gym… but just aren’t seeing the results they REALLY want. So if you’re not satisified with this area of your anatomy (and for everyone who wants to know “what’s your secret, Caleb?”) I’m going to provide a little useful, yet easily digestible and actionable information with this article. With that said, here are a few of my favorite chest exercises.

First, for the newbies out there (hello and welcome!) I’d like to share a little general information. The familiar term “pecs” is short for what consists of the Pectoralis major and minor muscles. The Pectoralis major attaches to the arms and clavicles; the minor is a thinner, roughly triangular shaped muscle which is beneath the Pectoralis major.

With that said why don’t we work our way down the body, starting with the upper chest muscles, sound good? Push-ups and flyes are old favorites for the upper chest, because they are super effective for building this part of your chest. Without anymore foreplay:

Inclined Dumbbell Flyes - Lie flat on your back on an incline bench. Take two dumbbells, one for each hand (if you have a spotter, have them hand those to you). Grip one in each hand (your palms should be facing each other) and raise the dumbbells up towards each other, meeting over your head. Squeeze your pecs for a one count while the dumbbells are at their peak. Lower slowly and repeat as many times as you can.

Declined Push-Ups - Your feet will be elevated by resting on a low bench; otherwise this movement is the exact same exercise as a regular pushup. Keep in mind, that with push-ups, you always want to keep your back as straight as possible. Also, be sure to vary your hand widths for the best possible results. Now for the middle of your chest - there’s a lot of different exercises for the middle chest, but here’s my favorite because it’s good for bodybuilding newcomers and pros alike.

Dips: these are the absolute best for building the mid-chest. Using a set of dip bars (any two parallel surfaces off the ground and parallel to it will do as well), position yourself with knees bent and legs crossed at the ankle (over time you can hold a dumbbell with your ankles to add resistance). Slowly lower yourself until your chest touches the bar and then return to your starting position. Repeat as many times as you can.

Last, but by no means the least (if you want a truly impressive, chiseled chest) - the lower chest. This is a variation on EVERY bodybuilders favorite (or at least it seems like it)… the bench press… but this type of bench is going to be better for your lower chest!

Declined Barbell Bench Press - Pretty much it’s like any bench press - except you want to grip a little wider than the width of your shoulders, lower slowly and carefully. One more poitn about this one: It’s OK to touch the bar to your chest when doing a bench press in this position - but of course as with any bench press exercise, make sure you have a spotter at all times. You’re going to repeat for your prescribed rep and set scheme for this workout.

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Tags: Exercise and Fitness