There are just too many ways on how to build chest muscles. You must be wondering what possibly could be the best chest workout out there? Before wondering that It’s really vital that you know how your body parts function before you start with your body building programs. Your chest is composed of two muscle groups. They are the pectoralis major and minor.
The pectoralis major is the largest muscle group in the upper body. The chest muscles are large slabs spread across the upper torso, so the best chest workout is achieved by using heavy weights in a number of exercises that focus on the upper, lower, inner and outer pecs.
The pecs are “pushing” muscles that tie in closely with your arms and shoulders. When you work your chest, your triceps and deltoids also get some work. The size, spread and depth of your pecs is directly related to the weights used in your training regimen.
Below I’ve listed the best chest exercises that can be used to develop the pecs. If you want to have great perfect chest muscles just like Arnie’s, the following workout regimes are great foundations.
The Bench Press
Building chest muscles always involves heavy weights. Where handling heavyweights are concerned there is always room for injuries. So please do practice caution when you do bench presses.
Make sure you have a trained partner by your side especially when lifting heavy barbells. One of the common ailments when doing bench press is severe shoulder pain.
When the chest is the topic of conversation and evaluation, the bench press is the first exercise considered. This exercise may be performed in a variety of ways and using different benches, grips, angles and weights. Here is the rule of the thumb.
Make sure that you always tuck your elbows by your side and keep your back arched. By doing this, unnecessary pressure will be taken off your shoulders and get your triceps more involved instead.
The commonly used equipment is the Olympic bar and the plates are the only commonalities in the types of bench presses.
A wide-grip on the bar while using a flat bench is the basic bench press. The wider the grip the more exertion will be on the outer pecs. Whether the bar is lowered to the neck or to the chest will determine whether the upper or middle of the pecs is worked.
When the bar is lowered to the middle of the chest and the elbows are kept at the lifter’s sides, the triceps are involved in moving the weight. When the bar is lowered to the neck and the elbows are splayed widely, the frontal deltoids are involved with the pecs.
To workout the upper pecs, the bench press is performed on an incline board and the bar lowered to the neck. As for the lower pecs, do it on the decline board.
After all, action speaks louder than words isn’t it? Why not watch a video that shows a good bench press workout. I’m sure you have heard of Mike Chang. Watch and learn the 3 must-know techniques for bench pressing!
Parallel Bar Dips
This workout basically involves getting your body up between two parallel beams with your arms locked as starting position.
Begin by flexing your elbows lowering your body till it hits 90 degrees or even below for more exertion and pressure. Avoid swinging your body and maintain good posture throughout the descent.
Then you reverse the motion back to your starting position. Repeat at a desired number of repetitions. To get more effective results, do it at a slow pace and maintain good breathing.
These are very good for working the inner and upper pecs when the lifter’s hands are at shoulder width. Placed wider, the outer pecs and delt-pec tie-in are involved.
This form of bodybuilding chest workout can actually target many parts of your upper torso. You can do it for your triceps and shoulders. So how exactly should you target your chest only?
Its practically the same movement of your body. Begin at the starting position as mentioned above. Also make sure your legs are raised hanging in the air to avoid contact on the ground.
Then while breathing in lower down your body slowly with your torso leaning forward less than 45 degrees. Your elbows should flare out slightly till you feel a slight stretch on to your chest.
Once you feel the stretch use your chest to bring your body back up to the starting position while breathing out. Also remember to squeeze your chest at the top of the movement to get the maximum benefits of this exercise.
Dumbbells
Dumbbells can be used for almost an infinite number of exercises and is very versatile unlike the Olympic bar. It can be primarily used for a number of bench exercises that closely approximate the Olympic bar lifts.
They may also be used to perform flies on a flat, incline or decline bench. These are good for stretching the pecs and ripping them up.
The routine is very easy to follow. You can start with a dumbbell in each hand while lying on a bench. Make sure that you have a good grip of the dumbbells with your palms facing in. Its best that you start off with lower weights as a warmup.
Next press the dumbbells in front of your chest. Once your arms are fully extended, push the inside part of the dumbbells together. Now you lower both dumbbells to your chest and press back up again. While you are doing this, always squeeze the dumbbells together throughout the entire process.
Cable-And-Pulley Machine
This device is very good for chest finishing exercises like the two-handed crunch, where the exercise starts with arms spread wide and then the handles are brought together in front of the chest, with the arms slightly bent at the elbow.
Never lock your elbows when you bring the handles in front of your chest. At the starting point, keep your elbows to about 90 degrees.
While pressing the handles forward, keep your shoulder blades retracted. You may start with lighter weights and once you have warmed up and if your shoulders don’t have any discomfort, begin with heavier weights as you progress. The entire movement should be executed slowly for maximum results.
Bent-Arm-Pullover
This workout can be performed with both barbell and a dumbbell. If you were to use a dumbbell, you only use one of them to grip with both hands with the face of the dumbbell facing your chest.
As for now, we’ll be using the more commonly used barbell method instead. This move is performed on a flat bench with the weight on the floor.
The lifter assumes a supine position keeping your arms bent no more than 80 degrees and reaches the back over his head and below for the barbell. This will be a massive stretch. Keeping his arms bent, the weight is brought to the chest in a circular motion.
A compound exercise is performed when the weight is then pressed from the chest as a close-grip bench press. The return is back to the chest and then lowered to the floor in a circular motion.
Easier said than done? Why not watch this workout in action instead.
On a final note, the best chest workout is to begin with the heavier weight exercises like the bench press and move “down the ladder” through the barbell exercises to the dumbbells and finally to the bodyweight resistance exercises to finish off the pecs.
If you were to follow just any one of this 5 best chest workouts at least once a week for over eight weeks in a row, you can build your chest muscles really fast with immense results! Bring on an attitude and go for it!
