The Best Workout for Your Chest
Are you looking for a workout to strengthen and tone your chest? You’re in luck! This article provides the perfect routine to help you achieve your goals. Get ready to build a pecs that’ll turn some heads!
Quick facts: Best Workout For The Chest
Warm-up
Warming up your chest muscles before a workout is essential to avoid any injuries. It helps prepare your muscles, joints, and tendons for the workout and increases the range of motion and flexibility. Additionally, warm-up exercises help reduce muscle tension and fatigue, and increase the circulation of blood to your muscle cells.
With that being said, let’s look at some of the best warm-up exercises for your chest:
Dynamic stretching
Dynamic stretching is a type of stretching which involves moving parts of your body and gradually increasing reach, speed of movement and stride. This warm-up technique helps to prepare joints, muscles and tendons for the activity ahead by providing them with increased bloodflow and a greater range of motion. It is important to utilize dynamic stretching before chest workouts as it can help reduce risk for injury.
Common forms of dynamic stretching for the chest include:
- Arm circles
- Chest openers
- Lunges with twist
- Torso twists
When performing these movements, keep the reps low (2-3 sets) and movements slow in order to optimize their benefits. Dynamic stretching should always be followed up by static stretches which are held in a stationary position; this helps to lengthen the muscle post-workout session.
Cardio
Cardio exercises are essential for any effective chest workout routine as they help to warm up your muscles and prepare them for more strenuous exercises. In addition to being an effective warm up, cardio also helps to burn calories and fat, leading to a leaner physique when combined with muscle-strengthening exercises.
Before performing any of your chest exercises, it’s recommended that you warm up your body with at least 5 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio, such as jogging or using the elliptical machine. After completing your cardio session, perform dynamic stretching exercises—such as
- arm circles
- trunk rotations
—to further improve the flexibility of your muscles and joints before beginning a strength training program.
Chest Exercises
When it comes to chest exercises, there are a variety of different options available to you. The best workout for your chest will depend on your goals and the equipment available to you. In general, the most effective chest exercises involve compound movements that incorporate multiple muscle groups.
Let’s explore some of the best chest exercises:
Bench press
The Bench Press is a great chest exercise because it primarily targets the pectoralis major and works the triceps, anterior deltoids, and even the lats to some extent. It’s an excellent choice for those trying to build a strong, muscular chest.
Performing the Bench Press involves lying on your back on a flat bench, with your feet flat on the ground. You grab the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and lift it above your face, locking out at full arm extension. From there, you slowly lower the bar towards your mid-chest with control before pushing back up to full arm extension.
Varying the height of your grip (closer together or farther apart) will target different areas of your chest. For example, a wide grip puts more emphasis on your outer pecs while close grip will better target your inner pecs.
Incline press
An incline press is a chest exercise that can be performed on a standard or adjustable flat bench or even using a decline setup. An incline press targets the upper part of your chest, making it an important part of your overall chest workout. The incline press also works your shoulders, triceps and core to some degree.
To perform an incline press:
- Lie back on the bench with your feet flat on the floor and grasp the barbell with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Keeping your back and neck in line, slowly press up until your arms are almost fully extended, but don’t lock them out entirely.
- Lower the barbell smoothly back down to starting position and repeat for reps as desired.
- Make sure you maintain good form throughout the motion and focus on keeping tension in your chest muscles at all times for best results.
Decline press
The decline press is one of the most effective chest exercises out there. It works all your major chest muscles, including your pectoralis major and minor, triceps, and anterior deltoids. Unlike incline presses, the decline press targets the lower part of your chest more intensely.
To perform a decline press, begin by lying on a flat bench with a weight in each hand and start with your arms extended up over your chest. Lower the weights down to your sides as you take a deep breath in, and then exhale as you push them back up over your chest. Make sure to keep your elbows slightly bent so that you don’t strain yourself when lifting the weights above your head. This exercise is great for both beginner and experienced lifters who want to increase strength in their chest muscles quickly and safely.
Push-ups
Push-ups are one of the most effective chest exercises that you can do anywhere. They are an essential part of any workout routine because they target and strengthen both the chest and triceps muscles, as well as the core.
To properly perform a push-up, start in a High Plank position with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart and your feet hip-distance apart. Then lower yourself down until your chest almost touches the ground, then push back up to your starting position. Pushups should be performed in slow and controlled movements for best results.
Additionally, you can increase the intensity of your pushups by performing them on uneven surfaces such as an exercise ball or an unstable surface. By doing so, you’ll force your muscles to work even harder to compensate—which will lead to greater gains in strength and endurance.
Chest flies
Chest flies, also known as flyes, are a great exercise for toning and strengthening your chest muscles. This exercise requires a pair of dumbbells and can be done standing or seated, depending on your level of fitness.
To perform a chest fly properly, begin by holding one dumbbell in each hand with your arms fully extended out to the sides and palms facing up. Keeping your elbows slightly bent, inhale and slowly bring the dumbbells toward each other until they meet in front of your chest. As you exhale, open up the arms again to return them to the starting position. Aim for 10-15 reps with 1-3 sets depending on how intense you want the workout to be.
Cool-down
Cool-down is an important part of any chest workout routine. It helps to relax the muscles and prevents you from feeling sore the next day. Cool-down typically includes stretching and light cardio exercises to help you recover.
Let’s take a look at some of the best cool-down exercises for your chest:
Static stretching
Static stretching is a type of stretching that involves holding the stretch in a comfortable position for 20 seconds or more. This type of cool-down routine should follow any intense chest workout to help increase flexibility, improve range of motion and reduce the risk of injury. Static stretches should always be done gradually and held in a gentle, pain-free position.
Some common static chest stretches include standing chest stretches and pec stretch. Standing chest stretches involve standing with your feet hip width apart, arms extended out in front, palms up, and pushing your palms away from your body as if you are being pulled outward by a rubber band. To perform the pec stretch, lie on one side with one arm outstretched above you. With your other hand, pull the elbow toward you and hold for 15 to 20 seconds before repeating on the other side.
Foam rolling
Foam rolling is an important part of the cool-down process after a chest workout. After completing your chest exercises, use a foam roller to help soothe tight muscles, reduce stiffness and improve range of motion.
Start by lying on the foam roller with your chest facing down. Slowly roll up and down between your shoulders blades, focusing on any sore or tender spots you find. Then, roll each side separately all the way from the top of your shoulder to the bottom of your rib cage. This will help to relax overworked muscles and decrease stress in areas that have been targeted during workout.
You can also place the foam roller under your lats and arms for a gentle massage along the sides of your ribcage to release tension in these regions as well. Regular use of a foam roller promotes improved muscle recovery and flexibility for better results from any chest workout routine.
FAQs about: Best Workout For The Chest
Q: What is the best workout for the chest?
A: To build the chest muscles, you should do a combination of compound exercises such as bench press, push-ups, dips, and pull-ups. In addition, you should also include isolation exercises such as chest flys, cable crossovers, and chest press.
Q: How many chest exercises should I do?
A: The amount of chest exercises you should do depends on your fitness level and goals. Generally, for a full chest workout, you should do 2-4 exercises for 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.
Q: How often should I do chest exercises?
A: The frequency of your chest workouts will depend on your goals and fitness level. If you are trying to build muscle, you should aim to do chest exercises 2-3 times per week, allowing for at least 48 hours of rest in between workouts.
