1. The barbell bench press
The barbell bench press is a classic and popular exercise in any gym where people lift weights. This exercise increases strength, improves endurance, and tones the upper body's muscles. When executed right and with a wide grip on the barbell, the bench press exercise will target your chest most of all other muscles engaged in the motion. These are the variations of exercises that will target mainly the pectoralis muscles: flat bench press, incline bench press, and decline bench press.
Barbell flat bench press exercise, video demonstration on how to do it right and stay injury-free:
Video demonstration on barbell incline bench press exercise
Video demonstration of how to do a decline bench press exercise with the barbell correctly
2. Chest press machine
The chest press machine can provide numerous benefits for your workout routine:
- It is not as complex an exercise as the bench press. It's a pretty straightforward exercise. All you have to do is adjust the chair properly, grab the handles, and you're good to go;
- Is more appropriate for older people or those with larger bodies;
- If you have suffered injuries that might be incompatible with free-weight exercises or you're dealing with pain, the chest press machine might be a better option, yet it will still help you get a bigger and stronger chest.
Chest press machine workout video demonstration:
3. Cable crossover exercise for a chest workout
The cables provide smooth and consistent resistance, which makes this exercise an excellent movement to stretch your chest muscles, increase the range of motion, and develop chest muscles. Also, the cable crossover exercise does not stress the joints as the bench press. This makes it an ideal exercise for those with joint pain or injuries. Even so, it's recommended to choose the right weight for you. A weight that you can control throughout the entire movement. This way you will avoid injury.
Cable crossover exercise chest workout video demonstration:
4. Bodyweight dips
If you want to increase the size and definition of the muscles in the chest, triceps, and shoulders, you must introduce bodyweight dips in your workout routine. Also, dips allow you to add extra weight to the exercise if your body weight is too light (too many reps in one set). Chest dips (and triceps dips) will help you gain muscle mass and strength in the upper body and increase your flexibility, especially in the shoulders and wrists, at the same time.
Bodyweight chest dips video demonstration:
5. Incline dumbbell chest fly (not recommended for everyone, especially if you are a beginner)
This exercise will help you build muscle mass and improve chest flexibility and scapular retraction. And because it is an isolation exercise, the incline dumbbell chest fly targets the upper chest muscles in a way that can't be achieved by using only a flat bench. Other benefits of the dumbbell chest fly exercise are:
- it will limit the stress on the joints, and this can make a big difference in your workout routine when you experience discomfort in your joints during the bench press;
- it strengthens chest muscles and improves performance;
- it's a "chest opener" that can help you reduce upper back pain and reduce tightness in the upper body and also help you to improve your posture.
Incline dumbbell chest fly video demonstration:
Incline dumbbell chest fly is not recommended for everyone, especially if you are a beginner. I like its benefits, so I don't want to ditch it yet. But as a safer alternative for beginners, use cables workout like you can see in this video:
Is good to have a diverse chest workout by mixing up exercises to avoid overuse injuries and imbalances, and to get a better overall development. Depending on your fitness, you can combine these exercises for a complete chest workout routine:
- The barbell bench press 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Bodyweight dips 3 sets of 10-12 reps
- Cable crossover exercise for a chest workout 3 sets of 10-12 reps.
After a couple of weeks, you can change these exercises with new ones and give your pectoralis a new routine to deal with.
