Are you struggling to build a nice pectoral? We’ve all been through this, and, let’s face it, it’s incredibly frustrating when you put a lot of effort into something and you can’t see results. That’s why today, we will share 6 good exercises to build a strong chest!
We’ll briefly explain muscle anatomy, as well as some basic exercises that will help you build a stronger pectoral.
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Understanding The Muscle Fibres
Before going into practice, you must understand the anatomy of the muscle you’re working on – and you should try to learn a bit about all muscle groups.
By understanding how muscle fibres are arranged, it’s so much easier to understand which movements you should make to hit specific muscles and, consequently, boost your workout and your results.
Remember, by working out, you are damaging your muscle fibres, and that’s precisely what you need to build muscle mass.
Understanding The Chest Anatomy
The pectoral region contains four muscles: the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, serratus anterior, and subclavius. To make it simpler, let’s divide the chest into three regions: upper chest, middle chest, and lower chest.
This means that to build muscle and have a strong chest as a whole, you will need to work on different exercises or variations of the same movement with different grips and inclines. You don’t need to do 50 different sets a day. You need to have a clear strategy to get all these muscles right during your workout.
6 Good Exercises To Build A Strong Chest!
Before we go for the exercises, here are some recommendations. First, try to understand how you activate each of these regions. You can watch several videos on YouTube, but it will also work if you have a mirror at home.
Simulate the movement you would make on a bench press with one arm while touching your pecs with the other hand. You will notice that by changing the inclination of the movement or the grip, you will activate different regions of your muscle (upper, middle, and lower chest).
The second tip is that you should always warm up the rotator cuff before doing any upper body exercises. The rotator cuff is responsible for stabilizing the shoulder joint, so by warming it up, you ensure that both your chest and your shoulder are ready to be exercised.
Also remember that if you’ve never done any of these moves, you should definitely look for a personal trainer to teach you so that you don’t get hurt. Now, let’s go to the 6 good exercises to build a strong chest!
Upper Chest
1. Incline Cable Fly
You can isolate and work the upper chest region with much more intensity by working out with inclination. Sit comfortably on the bench, place both feet on the floor, and pay close attention to your posture. You must not be relaxed while performing the exercise. Your chest should be puffed out, and you should maintain a tight core.
Many people have one side of their body stronger than the other, so do the exercise in front of a mirror to ensure that both sides can fully execute the movement. If the right part of your chest fails, for example, lower the load and make sure both sides do the exercise correctly.
Always remember to have full motion of range. The greater the range of motion, the greater the difficulty and, consequently, the gains.
Tip: Although you can use a dumbbell, I feel a better activation when using the cable machine. The cables ensure endurance during the whole movement, giving you a nice pump and killing your upper chest.
2. Incline Bench Press (Dumbbell)
I try to add a second upper chest exercise to all my workouts for the simple fact that most people – including myself – have an upper chest that is less bulky than the rest of the chest region. Take a close look, and you may come to the same conclusion.
We all know that the bench press is one of the foundations of any chest workout, so don’t miss this exercise. By having a solid bench press, you will perform any other chest exercise much more easily. The key, again, is to puff up your chest and keep your core tight so that you maintain the natural curvature of your spine. Never lie flat on the bench!
Tip: I like doing this exercise better with dumbells, for the simple fact that I have a greater range of motion than with the barbell – but that’s up to you.
Middle Chest
3. Bench Press
Not much of a secret here, guys. The bench press is definitely a must to build a nice middle chest. In addition to increasing upper body strength, it’s an exercise that will give you the foundation to keep evolving your chest workout.
The key to performing the bench press correctly is to grab the bar with the hands slightly wider than the shoulder width, placing your feet firmly into the ground, lowering your elbows until they are just below the bench.
Remember – again – keep your core tight and your spine’s natural curve. Do not lie flat on the bench. Puff your chest and focus on the range of motion. Both arms should support the load simultaneously, so if you feel more difficult on one side, lighten it until you can perform the exercise correctly.
Tip: As I don’t particularly feel much of a difference between the barbell and the dumbbell, I try to vary between the two. You can do the same to understand what works best for you!
4. Push-Ups
One of the best exercises to build a strong chest is definitely the push-ups. The push-ups helped me improve my chest workout considerably during the pandemic. To be honest, I feel my strength and muscle mass have increased more by doing different push-ups than working out at the gym.
The key is, again, to focus on the full range of motion. Forget about those 50 short push-ups and concentrate on doing as much as you can correctly. Keep your core and glutes tight, and maintain a good posture throughout the exercise. The wonder of push-ups is that if you change the grip, you can target all the chest regions.
It is possible to do a complete chest workout (upper, middle, and lower) with push-ups only – so there are no excuses. As a compound exercise, push-ups can also work your triceps, shoulders and core, helping to improve your posture and strength for upper body exercises.
Lower Chest
5. Decline Cable Fly
Here we are with Fly again. Of all the exercises I’ve tried to hit the lower chest, this one remains one of the best – for my body. This exercise is essential to build strength and muscle mass, but many people do it wrong.
It is pretty difficult to execute this move properly, so I strongly recommend you to watch some YouTube videos to understand this exercise. This is the chest exercise where I feel the most significant contraction of the lower chest, so it’s easy to identify if you’re doing it right or not.
This exercise totally isolates the lower chest, so if you feel a huge pump in another region of your chest, you’re probably doing it wrong. The key is to control the movement from start to finish, giving each rep a nice squeeze in the lower chest.
Tip: I did this exercise wrongly for months simply because I didn’t have a strong lower chest to control the movement. If you are starting a workout, I recommend that you master this exercise with dumbells first, then go to the cable.
6. Dips
If you don’t do dips yet, you should start training to perform them. This is not a beginner’s exercise, so if you are at the beginning of your fitness journey, stick to a decline bench press, and it will help you a lot.
Being a compound exercise, dips work at the same time chest, shoulder, triceps and core. The lower chest will be hit with great intensity, so the key is the range of motion. Forget short reps and train to perform the entire movement.
This exercise will bring more volume and definition to your muscles, and, as a bonus, you’ll build a stronger core. Again, we recommend watching videos on YouTube to understand the mechanics behind this exercise. This movement is complex, so you must do it correctly to avoid getting hurt.
Tip: Perform the movement slowly so that you can control the move from start to finish. It is better to do 2 reps well done than 10 shot reps.
Founder and Editor of TheLifesty. Passionate about Health & Fitness and enthusiast about changes. Interested in everything that improves the quality of life.