Chest Exercise and Workout Guide
Table of Contents
Chest Workout
Chest day is often a staple for many gym-goers. A big, strong, toned chest is something many individuals strive for. Not only is a strong chest aesthetically pleasing, but a strong chest can also help to improve posture and make pushing movements easier.
There are many different chest exercises that you can perform. Many chest workouts will feature a variety of inclines and declines to ensure that you target each muscle in the chest. Chest workouts can be completed using barbells, dumbbells, cable machines and resistance bands. Even the Push-up, a bodyweight exercise will engage the chest!
Chest Exercises for Men
First, both men and women can do any chest exercise. What can differentiate chest exercises to be for men or women is the area of the chest that they target, as men and women can have different aesthetic and training goals.
Some of the most popular chest exercises for men include:
Remember that each chest exercise can have multiple variations. For instance, the Chest Press has incline and decline variations, as well as single-arm variations. This will help to provide variety in your chest exercise routine.
Chest Exercises for Women
Again, both men and women can perform any type of chest exercise, so feel free to pick your favourites from each list. Some suggested chest exercises for women include,
Shoulder taps
Decline Push-ups
Stability Ball Chest Press or Dumbbell Chest Press
Many of the chest exercises for women include the use of dumbbells instead of barbells. If you are a male who is looking to increase muscular size and strength, perform the barbell variation instead.
Best Chest Workout
The best chest workout is one that is in alignment with your goals. If you are looking to increase muscular size or strength, you are going to use a different load and amount of reps and sets compared to someone who is looking to increase muscular endurance, or simply maintain strength in the chest. First, identify your goal and then create your chest workout. Remember to include exercises that you enjoy in your chest workout and to try different variations in order to create variety in your chest workouts!
Chest Workout for Mass
Most people desire to have a large chest but struggle to get there. A common problem is that many individuals only engage the middle section of the Pectoralis Major. To achieve the appearance of a fuller chest, you need to strengthen the upper, middle and lower portions of the Pectoralis Major. This is very easy to do, and usually just requires a different hand position or angle for the exercises that you are currently performing.
To achieve increased mass in the chest, you will need to progressively overload the muscles. This means that you need to perform 3-8 reps at a very heavy weight for about 4 sets. Some of the best exercises to build mass in the chest include the Bench Press, which can be performed at an incline and at 0 degrees. The Dumbbell Bench Press can also be performed at an incline and at 0 degrees and will recruit more stabilizing muscles than the Barbell Bench Press
Chest Workout for Tone
Similar to our explanation above, the main reason why people do not achieve their desired tone in the chest is because they do not target all 3 sections of the Pectoralis Major. A simple exercise you can perform to target each section of the Pectoralis Major is the Cable Crossover. The Cable Crossover has variations that will target the upper, middle and lower pecs, allowing the user to complete a true chest workout that will tone the entire muscle.
For instance, a Low Pulley Cable Crossover will target the upper-mid chest and deltoids. A High Pulley setup will work the mid-lower chest.
Exercise for Bigger Chest
Exercising for a Bigger Chest is only effective if you are programming correctly and consistently performing chest exercises that target the entire muscle. As well, proper nutrition is essential for allowing the muscle to grow in size and mass. If you are unsure how to program your exercises for a bigger chest, talk to an exercise professional who can guide you through the proper reps, sets and load that you shoulder be using to achieve your goals.
Best Chest Exercises
There are many effective chest exercises out there that you can perform to get a bigger chest. Here are some of the best chest exercises:
Bench Press (Dumbbell and Barbell)
Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell and Barbell)
Cable Crossover
Triceps Dips (For the chest)
Pec Deck
Chest Press
Dumbbell Pullover
Push Up
