The new age lifestyle doesn’t allow chest muscles any movement. People look embarrassingly weak because of un-exercised muscles on the bench press. Guys dream of broad, wide and muscular chest whereas, gals wish to develop strong chest muscles. Well, Rome was not built in a day and so won’t be your chest. You need not do difficult and heavy exercises but more focused and engaging ones. Most common training mistake when you start building up your body is that you end up with mass on lower and outer portions of the pecs and almost none in the inner or upper parts of it. Although your whole body would have been responding well to all the efforts you have put in, chest muscles need special attention for overall development. The good news is that despite being ill-trained, you can retrain to get those perfect pecs and even if you are a beginner the goal is pretty much achievable. You just have to follow a training plan which contains a variety of chest exercises done with precision involvement of both the chest muscles – pectoralis minor which is located just under pectoralis major. These two big muscles bind end to end from sternum to humerous (armpits) and meet at the clavicle.
There are many chest exercises listed on the net, boasting of giving your mammoth muscles. They might work for you only when you choose the right ones and workout regularly, sometimes, swapping similar ones so that you don’t get bored of doing the same ones daily. The key is to be regular, stay disciplined and not to lose your focus. I, Kirat Lakhyan, prefer doing five workouts in my regular chest routine with a mix of exercises.
Gear up to build massive chest with these workouts
To build a bigger and stronger chest, I along with bodyandstrength.com have made it a little easier for you to choose an effective, all encompassing workout plan because dreams alone don’t give results but of course, ‘workout’ does! So, here we go – do 4 sets of 12 to 15 reps of each exercise.
Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline bench is home to all effective chest exercises. I insist on keeping your posture aligned and focus on the movement. Adjust incline on about 30 – 45 degrees. Lie on your back and hold a couple of dumbbells directly above your shoulders with your arms fully extended. Pull your shoulder blades together and slightly stick out your chest. Lower both the dumbbells to the sides of your chest. Pause and then push the dumbbells back to the starting position. This exercises stretches your chest muscles on the sides. You are advised to maintain a neutral long spine and do not extend your neck. Lower the dumbbells till they come to the level of your chest.
Incline Dumbbell Fly
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie on an incline bench with 30 degree angle. Extend your arms above you with a little bend at the elbows. Further rotate the wrists so that the palms of your hands are facing you. This is where you start. Inhaling, start to slowly lower the arms to the side while keeping the arms extended and while rotating the wrists until the palms of the hands are facing each other. Now exhale and bring the dumbbells back up to the starting position by reversing the motion and rotating the hands so that the little fingers are next to each other again. You are required to move only your shoulder joint and the wrist. Do not move your elbows. Repeat.
Flat Bench Press
Lie back on a flat bench, use a medium width grip and lift the bar from the rack, holding right over your body with arms locked. This is the starting position. While breathing in lower your hands slowly until the bar touches your middle chest. Take brief pause and then push the bar back to the starting position while exhaling. You have to push the bar up using your chest muscles. Lock your arms up and keep the chest in the contracted position, squeezing the chest muscles for a while. Make sure that lowering the weights take double the time of pushing them up. Do not bounce the weights off your chest, always be in control of the barbell in your hands.
Cable Cross Over
Get yourself to the starting position by placing the pulleys on a high position above your head, select the resistance to be used and hold the pulleys in each hand. Step forward in straight line between both pulleys while pulling your arms together in front of you. Your torso should have a little forward bend from the waist. Now, with a slight bend on your elbows in order to prevent stress at the biceps tendon, extend your arms to the side on both sides in a wide arc until you feel the stretch on your chest. Inhale as you perform this movement. Do not move your arms and torso at all. Return your arms back to the starting position as you breathe out. Hold for a second at the starting position and then repeat the movement.
Parallel Dips 
Dips are like vertical bench press for shoulders and chest. Grab the parallel bars and jump up, straighten your arms and stick your chest out. Lower your body by bending your arms while leaning forward. Dip down until your shoulders are below your elbows. Lift your body up by straightening your arms and lock your elbows at the top. Repeat.
| NAME |
SETS |
REPS |
| Incline Dumbbell Press |
4 |
12 |
| Incline Dumbbell Fly |
4 |
15 |
| Flat Bench Press |
4 |
12 |
| Cable Cross Over |
4 |
15 |
| Parallel Dips |
4 |
12 |
About The Author
He is Chandigarh based Bodybuilder with 8 years of experience in bodybuilding and owner of Iron House gym in Mohali.
Achievements
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE