Get Pumping! 10 Best Chest Exercises for Men

How to Build Chest Muscles 

We are here to give you a pump by providing you with some of the best chest exercises for men. Strong pectorals win every argument. Because you have access to these chest workouts, you won’t have to wait long for your pectoral muscles to become larger and rigid. 

Even if you are performing chest exercises intending to gain muscle, you should ensure not to lift too much weight at once.

What Are Chest Muscles Used for?

The pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor are the muscles that make up the chest. The pectoralis major is on top of the pectoralis minor. We refer to the two muscles as the “pecs” when considered together. 

The pectoralis major is the larger muscle. It has two parts: the clavicular head, which is the upper portion, and the pectoral head, which is the lower portion. The pectoralis minor is a smaller muscle that acts with the larger pectoralis major.

The chest muscles are responsible for various actions, including flexion, adduction, and rotation, as well as moving the arms across the body and up and down. Additionally, they are essential for moving the arms across the body. Most chest workouts involve pushing the arms or the body away from the chest in the opposite direction.

What are the advantages of putting effort into developing your chest muscles? Pecs training will help you become stronger in activities that involve pressing strength, such as pushing your body weight off the floor, a set of dumbbells, or even a heavy door. These are all examples of pressing, and they all require pressing strength.

With the chest muscles, you’ll become stronger at what you’re doing and observe incremental gains in how much weight you can lift or push. Muscular pecs can aid you with lower-body workouts such as goblet squats and front squats. This is because the pecs help you hold items before your body. 

This is especially important if your upper body was the limiting factor in these exercises, such as if your legs felt like they could rep out a few more goblet squats. Your ability to lift heavy objects, such as a box or your child, will benefit significantly from the strength in your pectoral muscles, which you will develop during your workouts.

You should note that your pecs contribute to the stabilization of your shoulder and shoulder blade, which in turn helps protect you from injury. In addition, the pecs contribute to the posture that you present. Your pecs will become tighter if you spend a significant amount of time in a flexed posture, like looking down at your phone or hunching over a laptop.

Many therapists say tight pecs can pull your shoulder and shoulder blades forward. This can further contribute to your hunched-over posture and reduce your range of motion when pushing weights above your head. According to them, if your pecs are tight, it forces your other muscles, such as your traps, to work harder.

When your pecs are functioning properly, they are not overly tight. They can move smoothly through their range of motion. Therefore, it is essential to include exercises that stretch and strengthen your pecs as part of your workout program.

How to Train Your Chest Muscles

You can train your chest at home or when you’re in a pinch with bodyweight moves like pushup variations. To spread the workload, you can also include chest-centric movements in broader full-body workouts. 

Finally, if you’re falling behind, you can even ramp up the volume beyond the Monday standard by devoting multiple weekly sessions to working on your chest. Discovering the best workouts and exercises to “blast the chest” will help you sculpt your pecs and take your upper body workouts to the next level. 

A treasure trove full of workouts and exercises is waiting for you to discover them. Keep in mind that if you want to increase the size of your chest muscles, you should focus on working out according to the correct hypertrophy protocols, which include the most effective rep schemes and rest times. 

If you want to put muscle, you must watch what you consume. The following are some of the most effective chest workouts to accomplish that. Choose two or three exercises to incorporate into your regimen. For the greatest outcomes, switch up your program so that you perform new activities every three to four weeks. 

Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with using a large bench for your chest exercises as long as the bench is not the exclusive focus of your workout.

The 10 Best Chest Exercises for Men

When it comes to effective chest workouts for men, there is a propensity to push your body to its boundaries. This is because pushing your chest to its limits helps build muscle. 

While you are not going about this the wrong way, several fitness professionals will tell you that you should stop just short of extremes while working out your chest, particularly with barbells or dumbbells, to prevent injury. 

This is a critical distinction to make since it can ultimately determine whether or not your chest muscles remain healthy or whether or not they are severely injured. 

Even if you are trying to pack on more power, it is still important to perform chest exercises in a manner that is strategic and well-balanced. Keeping this in mind, the following are the ten chest workouts for men:

Barbell Bench Press

While some research suggests that incline chest lifts are superior to barbell bench presses, you shouldn’t let that discourage you from using barbell bench presses. Many consider this to be the most effective chest exercise for building muscle. 

If you don’t perform it too often, this exercise will continue to lead to strong and healthy pectoral muscles. It is a true mainstay in gyms worldwide (or underdo it, for that matter). When practicing this chest workout, you should always have a spotter nearby if you need assistance. 

You should avoid arching your back and moving your chest during each repetition. First, assume a prone position on the bench, with your feet planted firmly on the ground and your eyes aligned with the vertical bar. Grab the bar with an overhand hold while maintaining your arms a little bit further than shoulder-width apart from one another. 

Next, bring the bar up to your chest while fully extending your arms and remove it from the rack so that it hovers immediately above you. As you lower the bar, keep your elbows in toward your sides. 

Stop lowering the bar when it touches the top of your chest (also known as your nipples), and then pause for one second. Now, with a significant amount of force, press the bar back up until your arms are in the starting position. Repeat.

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, delts.

Equipment needed: Barbell, bench.

Level of difficulty: Advanced.

Bench Press workout

Bench Press with Dumbbells Performed at an Incline

Chest workouts and dumbbells go together like peanut butter and jelly, as any regular gym goer can tell you. However, did you know that practicing bench presses at an inclination supposedly maximizes upper pec activation during contraction? 

To accomplish this, adjust the incline bench to be between 30 and 45 degrees, take two dumbbells with an overhand grip, and sit as far back as possible on the bench. Lift the dumbbells above your head while extending your arms and keeping your feet planted firmly on the ground. 

The next step is to bring the dumbbells down toward the middle of your chest on each side, then lift them back up while bringing them closer to one another as you do so. Repeat.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps.

Equipment needed: Dumbells, inclined bench.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate.

Cable Cross-Over

This chest exercise is a frequent practice for guys at the gym, and you can do it either from low to high or high to low. A cable pulley machine is necessary for both options to perform a low-to-high, lower the device to its most down position, attach a D-handle to either side of the machine, and grasp each handle with your hands facing upward. 

Your feet should be about the width of your shoulders, your back should be straight, you should lift your chest, and your arms should be at your sides and slightly bent. After that, bring both handles forward and upward until they are at eye level, then slowly return them to their original position. 

Continue working out with lighter weights and fewer repetitions. To move from high to low:

  1. Adjust the cable pulley machine to its most elevated position and grab each handle with an overhand grip. This will allow you to move from high to low.
  2. Maintaining a shoulder-width distance between your feet, make a T-shape by extending each arm to the side in front of you while keeping your elbows slightly bent.
  3. At this point, move both handles toward your stomach until they meet in front of your hips.

Before carefully raising the handles back up to shoulder level, give your pecs a slight squeeze and tense your core to increase the intensity of the exercise. Repeat.

Muscles worked: Sternal heads of pectoralis muscles.

Equipment needed: Cable crossover machine.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate.

Close-Grip Bench Press

Although traditional bench presses are as efficient as they are widespread, some fitness gurus believe that a close-grip exercise variation is preferable for your shoulders. The movements are more or less the same with one significant difference: your hands and arms are closer to the middle of the bar. 

However, they are still slightly outside of shoulder width. From that point on, you raise, lower, lower, hold, raise, lower, and lower.

Muscles worked: Chest, triceps, delts.

Equipment needed: Barbell, bench.

Level of difficulty: Advanced.

Dip

When you incorporate a tremendous dip practice into your chest workout regimen, you will know that you are progressing in your training. When ready, head to the dip machine or the parallel bars and position yourself to stand precisely in the middle of both bars. 

Lift yourself off the floor by placing one hand on each bar, then lean forward until your chest is at a slight downward angle. This is one rep. The next step is to bend your arms and lower yourself while keeping the lean you just established. 

After that, straighten your arms and lift yourself back to the beginning position. You are not only developing your triceps and shoulder muscles when you perform this exercise, but you are also exercising your pectoralis major.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, arms, and back.

Equipment needed: Dip bar.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate.

Plate Press-Out

To get started with this workout, pick up a plate that’s between 10 and 45 pounds (4.5 and 20.4 kilograms). While maintaining a hip-width distance between your feet, grasp the plate firmly with both hands and bring your arms in front of your body. 

To obtain the plate closer to your chest, maintain a straight back and arms while contracting your abdominal muscles and squeezing your shoulders. 

You should extend it back again when you have it as close as possible. Repeat. After you have completed 10 to 15 repetitions of plate press-outs in a horizontal method, you may switch things up by executing the same exercise in an overhead (or vertical) fashion.

Muscles worked: Pectorals, triceps, anterior deltoid.

Equipment needed: Plates.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate.

Push-Ups

It may be hard to believe, but push-ups are one of the most effective chest exercises for guys. It is fantastic news given that you can perform them pretty much anywhere. Our explanation will not assume your intelligence on how to perform a push-up. 

The distance between your hands should equal the width of your shoulders, and the distance between your legs should equal the width of your hips. 

When completing a push-up, you should position your elbows to form a perfect 90-degree angle. You are not doing it correctly. This is the last and most crucial point.

Muscles worked: Pectorals, deltoids, triceps, abdominals, serratus anterior.

Equipment needed: No equipment.

Level of difficulty: Beginner to advanced.

Push-Ups

Resistance Band Pull-Apart

A terrific move for either warming up or cooling down, the resistance band pull-apart is a time-honored classic that you can find in many fitness routines. Holding a resistance band with an overhand grip while maintaining a level stance with your feet, shoulders, and arms requires a complete extension of all three. 

Next, bring your shoulder blades together while you stretch the band out and widen your arms as you repeat the previous step. After stretching the band until it was touching your chest, slowly return it to its original position. Repeat.

Muscles worked: Upper back, shoulders.

Equipment needed: Exercise band.

Level of difficulty: Beginner.

Suspended Push-Up

You’ve got the hang of the regular push-up, but how well can you perform the suspended variety? If you want to give it a shot, you will need TRX straps, which suspend both your hands and your torso in an unstable position. 

Grab the handles, keep your feet shoulder-width apart, stretch your arms in front of your chest, and angle your body so that it is between 45 and 90 degrees to the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles as you lower your body toward the floor and cease lowering yourself when your hands are slightly outside your shoulders. 

Restore your previous state and try it once more. Your elbows and head should remain unchanged during the entire movement.

Muscles worked: Chest, delts, pecs, shoulders, triceps

Equipment needed: Pull-up bar, TRX

Level of difficulty: Intermediate

Seated Pec Deck Machine 

Here’s another tried-and-true chest move that consistently delivers the goods regarding fitness gains. Place your forearms on the vertical pads, elbows at a right angle to your sides, and your hands in an overhand grip on the pec deck machine’s handles. 

Pull the handles backward until you feel a stretch in your chest while maintaining the angle of your elbows at 90 degrees. Repeat the process when you have returned to the starting location. When executing this exercise, you should not rely on the momentum from your hands; instead, the energy should be coming from your chest and forearms.

Muscles worked: Pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior.

Equipment needed: Pec deck machine.

Level of difficulty: Intermediate.

Man on a Pec Deck Machine

What is the Best Male Chest Workout?

According to chest workout therapists, you should try incorporating workouts into your routine that target your pecs in slightly different ways and from various angles. Their favorite exercises are the chest press, which you can perform on a bench or the floor; the standing cable chest press, which you can also perform with a resistance band; and the push-up. 

Being upright is more applicable to everyday function because now you have to use your core and legs to stabilize. Some recommend attempting a modified push-up with your hands elevated rather than dropping to your knees if you cannot perform a full push-up from the ground.

When you drop to your knees, you are breaking at the knees and not maintaining good overall body tension and core stability. Because of this, it may become more challenging to get to full-body tension push-ups in the long run. 

In addition, if you perform the exercise using a modified version, you have the flexibility to select the height that is most appropriate for you. Whether that be a box, a table, or even the wall, if you are just getting started, progress the exercise as your strength increases. The greater the angle at which you raise your hands, the less complicated it will be.

As for how you should incorporate these chest exercises into your program, what should you do? You don’t need to dedicate a specific day to chest workouts unless your objective is to gain the most muscle possible on your chest (for example, if you are bodybuilding). 

Instead, you should make it a goal to include pec exercises and pushing movements as part of your regular training routine. If you are doing strength training three times a week, you should try incorporating one to three pushing exercises into each workout.

The incline barbell press is the most effective exercise for giving the appearance that your pectoral muscles are more developed. On the other hand, this does not imply that performing the incline bench press on its own will be sufficient to develop your chest. 

Because once you’ve reached a plateau in your chest development, this is the movement you should focus on to continue development, which is why it’s number one on the list.

This exercise is typically the first movement in the routines of many professional bodybuilders. 

If you examine the routines of many professional bodybuilders, you will see that this is the case. On the other hand, this does not necessarily imply that the incline bench press is the best starting exercise for building a great chest. 

Some bodybuilders still feel that one should concentrate on the chest as a whole rather than dividing it into distinct regions while performing a routine, even though genetics significantly influence the development of different muscle groups.

How Often Should I Perform Chest Workouts?

You should limit your chest workouts to three consecutive days per week. If, on the other hand, you are lifting weights that are so heavy that you can only finish six to eight repetitions, then you will need at least two to three days of recovery before you can resume the exercises. 

Because of this, you should probably only exercise your chest once or twice a week. If you want to define your muscles, you should limit your workouts to one to three sets of 12 to 16 repetitions each and take a break of at least one day between sessions in which you execute the same exercises.

My! What Big…Pecs You Have!

This chest-expanding workout and accompanying guide are appropriate for any man who wants to develop a larger upper body. However, it will be most beneficial to men who are already at an intermediate level of training and who have previously performed exercises such as cable machines, bench presses, and supersets throughout their routine. 

The “progressive overload” method, which involves increasing the number of reps performed throughout each training cycle to speed up strength gain, will also be excellent. This method entails increasing the weight that you lift during each training cycle. 

In the same vein, if you aren’t satisfied with the results of your present workout, you should give the moves described below a shot. If you want to train the muscle group thoroughly, you will need to try additional exercises using a variety of instruments and approaches. Exerting your chest in several methods will be an essential aspect of growth. 

This is because variation is one of the primary factors in muscular adaptation. You can use certain workouts to build new strategies while increasing muscle growth and enhancing strength. Understanding the muscle group you will work on before picking up weights is essential.

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