Top 3 Chest Exercises

Chest day—the day in which crowds of people fight over benches so they can push and press their pectorals into muscle-building growth. While the exercise selection is not necessarily as important as the overall periodization, frequency, and volume of hypertrophy training, there are definitely going to be some exercises that give you the most bang for your buck and will help build the most mass in the chest. Here are the top three exercises for bigger pectorals.

Barbell Bench Press

The barbell bench press is as ancient as bodybuilding and weightlifting and for good reason—it is simply effective. The barbell bench allows you to generate more force, and move the most weight, which inherently increases the overall volume and work placed on the pectorals.

There are various styles of flat bench pressing and the style that you take on will be highly dependent on your overall goals. If you are a powerlifter, then the technique utilized for your bench press will vary drastically from an individual who is training for muscular hypertrophy.

If your goal is to simply to gain muscle, then perform the bench press at the beginning of your workout and aim to achieve 2-5 sets of 8-15 repetitions with a moderate-intensity resistance, employing a full range of motion.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The Incline Dumbbell Bench Press places a higher emphasis on the clavicular head of the pectoral (upper chest), which is very important to achieving a rounded aesthetic chest.

The unilateral nature of the dumbbells incorporates much more balance into the lift and allows for increased adduction and internal rotation of the humerus, which can activate the pectoral much more efficiently than can many machines and fixed hand position pressing movements.

Incorporate the incline dumbbell bench press as the second or third exercise in your chest workout and aim to achieve 2-5 sets of 8-15 repetitions with a moderate-intensity resistance, employing a full range of motion.

Incline Bench Cable Fly

Normally I would not put a single-joint isolation movement on a top list for muscle building, yet the nature of the incline bench cable fly allows for a maximal muscle activation of the pectoral and creates a constant tension throughout the full range of motion.

The incline adduction pattern of the fly places the load more so onto the clavicular head of the pectoral and also allows the individual to see themselves in the mirror while performing the exercise. Being able to see yourself during this isolation movement may enhance the motivation of the exerciser, which could illicit a positive response in the effort and number of repetitions achieved.

The incline bench cable fly is a finishing movement to be down at the end of one’s workout. Perform 2-4 sets at a moderate intensity for 10-15 repetitions for maximum muscular hypertrophy benefits.