10 Best Chest Exercises for Building Huge Pecs

You probably do not need a lot of motivation if it comes to chest training. At least if you are a guy. The chest has always been one of the favorite muscle groups to train and the bench press will remain the all-time favorite chest exercise.

Chest development depends on your genetics, and if you are lucky, you can achieve tremendous progress by simply focusing on a single chest exercise – the standard bench press.

The bench press targets the complete pectoralis major. Perfect to build a strong foundation and the single best chest exercise out there.

Let us have a look at the chest muscle and all the chest exercises that will make sure you develop the massive and well-proportioned upper body everyone dreams about.

Related Article: How to Build Muscle: 5 Tips for Serious Mass

Muscles of the Chest

The chest can be separated into different muscle groups. The biggest ones are the pectorals, which have an upper and lower part. Another muscle, which is admittedly quite small, is the serratus slightly below the chest on the side.

Pectorals

This is the most important chest muscle and also the biggest one. The chest also consists of the front deltoid, which is involved heavily in all variations of the bench press. The pectorals can be divided into the upper pectoral muscle and the lower pectoral muscle, as well as the inside pectorals and the outside pectorals. This means that a chest program will gradually incorporate more than just the bench press in order to fully target every part of the chest. In particular, the upper chest will look more impressive when it is strongly developed. The incline bench press puts more emphasis on the upper pectorals and is a quite popular exercise. Dips, on the other hand, put more emphasis on the lower chest but are considered as the perfect upper body mass builder, while also helping with triceps development.

Side Note – Serratus

Almost nobody knows this muscle group, but it is actually visible once you reach a low body fat percentage. I mention side note, because it is not trained by doing standard chest exercises. If you start to drop body fat, the serratus tends to show up earlier than the abs. One advice I will never forget is the following. I think it was from T-Nation: “As for the midsection, you should always be able to see at least an outline of your abdominals (no great detail, just a general outline) and also have visible serratus.” Keep this in mind and you will always remember this muscle group. It shows up kind of at the same time as the upper abdominal muscles and gives a nice ripped look. It is automatically trained during chin-ups and close grip pull-downs, which should be enough for our purposes.

10 Best Chest Exercises

The following chest exercisese are perfectly sufficient to develop well-defined pectorals. 

• Barbell Bench Press: It is the most famous exercise out there, which will forever remain the champion for building the chest. The bench press builds the pectorals, the front deltoids, and the triceps and is a perfect upper body mass builder. It will remain in your routine from the day you start till you retire. Depending on your genetics, it might even be possible to achieve a comprehensive chest development by doing only the bench press. As one of the primary exercises for powerlifting competitions, the bench press is perfect for doing a proper program with tracked progressive overload and getting stronger.
• Inclined Bench Press: This is the first natural addition to the chest program. By using an incline version of the bench press, it is possible to mainly target the upper pectorals and the front deltoids. If this is your weak point, make sure to include the incline version of the bench press in your training.
• Dip: One of my all-time favorite exercises. If you can do them weighted, it is an awesome upper body mass builder. If you want to train the chest, make sure to lean forward a bit. Otherwise, your triceps will do most of the work. You can easily add them at the end of your workout to finish off your triceps or chest. Dips are extremely good for lower chest development assuming this is a weak point of yours.
• Dumbbell Bench Press: If you prefer using dumbbells instead of the barbell, this exercise is for you. It is also useful if you are in need of a little variety. Otherwise, there are no significant differences between muscle activation, so no need to do both of them during the same workout.
• Incline Dumbbell Press: Similar logic as for the dumbbell bench press.
• Dumbbell Flys: This exercise is a nice addition because of its stretch effect on the pectorals. No other exercise is able to stretch the chest muscle in this way. It will help you to get the blood flowing. Also, a greater range of motion will increase the contraction of the muscle during the exercise, which helps to trigger muscle growth.
• Machine Flys: A nice exercise at the end of your workout to increase volume. It is similar to the dumbbell fly (not as good, but close). It has quite a good range of motion and it also comes with a nice stretch effect. Make sure to adjust the machine in a way that allows for the best stretch possible.
• Machine Press: Usually, I am always preaching the superiority of free weights, but not this time. Compared to the heavy barbell version, it is way easier to do this exercise slowly and focus on the concentric and eccentric phases. If you are interested in doing a drop set, the machine will allow you to do so a lot easier. Also, since the bench press is obviously a dangerous exercise without a spotter, it has the unique benefit of not being concerned about finding a friend or somebody else to help you out. Also, since there is no need for stabilization, you can perfectly focus on finishing off your pecs.
• Standing Cable Crossover: This is an interesting chest exercise. I see it all the time, but usually only by advanced bodybuilders. It mainly targets the inner chest muscle similar to narrow bench presses. It has also a quite good range of motion and a slight stretch effect. One advantage I see is the pure focus on the chest muscle without the assistance of the triceps.
• Push-ups: The good old push-ups. You are probably wondering why it is included, but let’s face it. The push up can be done everywhere. No need for additional equipment. And it can serve as a final finisher after you are done with the dips.

Ok, the chest exercises have been covered. Read ahead for some quick training tips to get the most out of your chest exercises and overall workout.

General Training Advice for the Chest

Overall, there are only two kinds of exercises for the chest—pressing movements and flies. If we could choose only a single chest exercise, it would be the bench press.

The bench press is a comprehensive chest mass builder and should be the foundation of your program. Best overall chest exercise out there.

Get consistently stronger at the bench press and you will see significant results. Since the chest muscle can be divided into an upper and lower part, as well as an inner and outer part, it makes sense to add exercises for those parts as well.

Upper and Lower Chest

The first go-to chest exercise next to the standard version is the incline bench press, which is perfect, as it specifically targets the upper chest and the front deltoids. The next chest exercise you should include in your workout are dips. Dips are an awesome finisher at the end of your workout to get a tremendous pump. They target specifically the lower area of the chest muscle and contribute to triceps development. If you are able to put on additional weights (chains, weight-belt, etc.), dips are an astonishing chest exercise for mass development that rivals the bench press. See Dwayne Jonson’s Youtube workouts. He seems to love weighted dips.

Inner and Outer Chest

Good chest exercises for the inner part of the pectorals are cable crossovers and a narrow grip for the bench press. The outer chest is basically trained with all the other exercises and does not need special attention. As a general rule, the wider the grip width for the bench press, the focus will be on the outer chest area. Try a grip as wide as possible and you will also get a nice stretch in your chest muscle during the bench press movement.

The chest is quite a strong muscle group, and if you want to trigger fast mass-gain as well as perfect proportions, it makes sense to train with most of the chest exercises mentioned above. Of course, only in addition to the bench press, which will remain the foundation. This will increase the overall volume significantly during your workout and definitely lead to muscle growth.

Summary

It is not really surprising that everyone seems to like chest day. Chest training is neither the most difficult nor the most demanding workout. Also, it is, for most people, probably possible to develop an acceptable chest size by simply using the bench press. If you get bored or are striving for a perfectly shaped chest try to use different bench press versions by adjusting the grip width and angle. If you are desperately in need for more volume to achieve a pure mass workout, just go ahead and do all those chest exercises mentioned above and you will be fine.

Recommended further reading: V-Shape: Ultimate Guide to the Perfect Upper Body

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