Chest exercisers review, types, best exercises and reviews

July 27, 2019
Workouts in the gym
Nikita Novikov

What are the most effective chest exercises in the gym? This question is asked by all visitors to fitness centers who have only recently embarked on the path to a healthy lifestyle. And this is not surprising, because, unlike home or street conditions, the gym has a huge selection of various equipment, thanks to which you can properly pump up the pectoral muscles and other muscle groups of our body. How to pump up your chest in the gym? How to avoid getting injured during training? How many chest exercises should you do in one workout? You can find answers to these questions in this article!

Anatomy

If you are interested in pumping up the pectoral muscles in the gym, then you should definitely know the anatomy of this muscle group.

The chest muscles can be divided into three sections:

Large chest muscle. It is the main visually significant part of this part of the body. The pectoralis major muscle brings the arm to the body, turns it inward and helps in breathing processes.
Pectoralis minor muscle. It is not visually visible because it is located under the pectoralis major muscle. It pulls the scapula forward and down and also helps with breathing.
Serratus anterior muscle. Located on the surface of the chest, on the side.

Also, many experts in the field of fitness and bodybuilding divide the pectoral muscle mass into three bundles: upper, middle and lower. Remember this information, because we will return to it several times today.

Everything is clear with anatomy, now let's take a look at the best exercises for the pectoral muscles in the gym. We'll start with the horizontal barbell press.

Triceps

Close grip bench press 4 sets of 8-12 reps

French bench press 4 sets of 8-12 reps

Triceps on the block 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps

After completing exercises for the pectoral muscles, rest for 4-5 minutes, then begin training the triceps. While resting, try not to let your muscles cool down. You don’t need to sit on a bench like a grandfather on a pile. Walk around and do breathing exercises. Massage your triceps and forearms.

Training chest and triceps on the same day is a better option than training these muscle groups on different days. If in your split these muscle groups are trained on different days, it is necessary that there be a gap of at least two days between these workouts.

When you pump up your pectoral muscles, and the next day you train your triceps, the triceps, tired from training your pectoral muscles, will not be able to perform work with the required weights. The result is a drop in working weights and poor quality training.

Bench press

The bench press is a basic compound exercise used to develop the muscles of the upper body. During its execution, the following muscles work:

The pectoralis major muscle.
Pectoralis minor muscle.
Front delts.
Serrated muscles.
Coracobrachial muscles.
Long and medial heads of triceps.

The muscles of the back, legs and abs receive indirect load.

The exercise is performed as follows:

Sit on a bench. With the help of a partner, remove the barbell from the racks and lift it above you. The grip should not be too narrow, since in this position the load will shift from the chest to the triceps. Your arms should be at right angles to your shoulders. This is your starting position.
As you inhale, slowly lower the bar until it touches the middle of your chest. At the lowest point, take a short break.
As you exhale, press the barbell up with a powerful movement, returning it to its starting position.
Do the required number of repetitions.

Exercises with available equipment

To thoroughly pump up the serratus and minor muscles, we place 2 stacks of 8 medium-thick books under both hands and perform push-ups as if on stops.

Slowly lower the body, hover above the floor for a few seconds, and return to the starting position.
During the process, we feel a deep stretch of the thoracic region (10 times in 4 sets).

We train the deltoid and pectoral muscles.

We place 2 chairs with their backs at a distance of about 50 cm.
Leaning on our backs, we stand upright while lying down. If your biceps are strong, the task can be made more difficult. Instead of lower support, we place our legs on the sofa.
With bent elbows, we try to go as low as possible to the floor.
At the bottom point, pause for 3 seconds and return to the starting position (7 repetitions of 3 sets).

Sliding your hands strengthens the thoracic region.

We throw 2 towels on the floor.
We stand in a basic stance, placing our palms on the canvas.
We move and move them apart (12 times, 3 approaches).

Bench press at an angle

This chest exercise in the gym is used to work the upper bundle of the pectoral muscles. As a rule, it is he who “lags behind” for many athletes. In addition to the chest, this movement indirectly targets the anterior deltoids and triceps brachii.

Technique:

Sit on a bench with an angle of 30-45 degrees. Grasp the barbell with a grip similar to a classic bench press. Remove the projectile from the stand, then lift it above you. This is your starting position.
As you inhale, lower the barbell slowly and under control until it touches your chest. At the lowest point, pause for a second, feeling the work of the pectoral muscles as much as possible.
As you exhale, return the bar to its original position.
Fix your arms, maintaining tension in the chest muscles, and then slowly lower the projectile down. During execution, it must move strictly along a vertical trajectory.
Repeat the movement as many times as necessary.

Negative Incline Bench Press

As a rule, this movement is used by athletes whose lower bundle of pectoral muscles lags behind. We would like to say right away that during this exercise your blood pressure can rise significantly, so if you have certain problems with this, we strongly recommend that you do not add it to your training program.

This chest exercise is performed in the gym as follows:

Lie on a negative incline bench with your feet under the bolsters. Take the projectile with a straight, wide grip and remove it from the rack. This is your starting position.
While inhaling, slowly lower the barbell to your lower sternum. While in this position, hold for no more than a second.
As you exhale, return the projectile to the starting position. At the top point, contract your chest muscles, and then slowly begin to lower it again.
Do as many repetitions as you need.

Recommendations for implementation:

Be sure to use the help of an insurer, especially if you are new. If there is no one in the gym, choose a light working weight.
Don't throw the projectile too far forward.
Don't swing the barbell and do all repetitions under control.

The main exercises for the pectoral muscles

classic bench press;
incline barbell presses;
lying dumbbell flyes at different angles;
bringing your hands together in a crossover in different positions;
bringing your arms together in the simulator;
dips;
bench push-ups;
pullover

This is not a complete list, as you can use a rubber band, expander, or something else to pump up your torso. There is no need for this in the fitness room, because you already have a sufficient number of exercises at your disposal to build up your muscles.

All of the exercises listed are suitable for both girls and men.

Bench press for chest development

To properly pump the pectoral muscle with a barbell while lying down, you need to do this using a special technique:

At the beginning of your workout, do not forget to warm up and stretch properly. If you have a bench press in your program today, do it first. This is a very heavy base. And the base is always done at the beginning of training. In the end, there is no point, since you will not have the strength to pump up your chest.
We set the height of the racks for the bar correctly so that from a lying position it is just below your wrists. When you pick it up, your arms should be bent so that you can easily remove it from the stands. Typically, the elbow flexion angle is 15–25 degrees. There is no need to lower the racks too low, otherwise removing the barbell will be equivalent to repeating the exercise.
We take the bar with a straight ring grip (4 fingers grasp the bar on one side, and the thumb on the other). To position your hands at the correct width, use the marks on the bar as a guide. The index or middle finger should be on the inner edge of the outer mark. This corresponds to placing your hands slightly wider than your shoulders. You need to focus on the length of your arms. If pressing is uncomfortable, place your hands even wider or narrower (you should find the best option for you).
When you lie under the barbell, it should be in front of your eyes. Lift her up and bring her into a position so that she is between your neck and chest.
Slowly lower the barbell to where your collarbones begin (just below your Adam's apple). This trajectory allows you to load the pectoral muscles, reducing the load on the triceps.
Do 15–20 warm-up reps. At the same time, you will practice your technique. Then increase the weights as you approach the worker. Perform 8–10 reps in 3–4 sets.

Attention! The weight in this version of the press is less than in the classic bench press. Therefore, do not press as much as you did before when you lowered the bar to the middle or bottom of your chest. Especially if you did bridge bench presses.

To do everything right, pay attention to the following notes:

Do not lift your pelvis off the bench.
Your legs are positioned so that you are lying stable.
You need to slightly arch your lower back, leaving a natural arch there. There is no need to bend any further, much less make a bridge.
It’s better for a girl to start with fitness bars. Since a weight of 20 kg will be too heavy for the first training.

Bench press with light weights is also suitable for girls.

Bench presses at angles

You need to move to an incline bench. Set the bench angle to 30 degrees; 45 degrees is best used for dumbbell raises. Although, if the racks are high enough, you can try doing this with a barbell. The correct technique is:

Lie under the barbell so that it is at neck level. The legs are set wide for greater stability.
Use the same grip as when doing a bench press. The weights here will be less than in the previous case.
You remove the bar yourself or with the help of a partner. Lower it to the top of your chest. Do 8-10 repetitions in 3-4 approaches.

It is correct if such a press comes after the bench press. Still, we recommend doing a warm-up repetition with an empty bar (at least 10–15 times) to warm up the muscles.

You can give the load in Smith. It's even more convenient because you don't need a partner, and you only work on the chest, partially affecting the triceps and shoulders. For girls, again, the option with a lightweight fitness bar is better suited.

Dumbbell press

The press can be performed at different angles to pump all the muscles of the chest. This variation of the exercise follows the bench press. Can be done upside down to pump the lower chest (30-45 degrees down so that your legs are higher than your head).

The dumbbell press is good for women who are afraid to pump up their pectoral muscles too much.

Additionally, the dumbbell press can be done at a 60-degree angle to hit the very top of the chest, which often lags behind with horizontal and low-incline presses.

Reverse grip barbell press

The press option is very dangerous for the shoulder muscles. You can pump up the upper chest with this press, but we do not recommend doing it. It is better to replace it with more gentle exercises.

Close grip press

In this variation of the press, your elbows go out to the sides 180 degrees. This movement allows you to pump the inner part of the chest. Performed in 10–12 repetitions in 3–4 approaches with light weights.

Try to hold the bar so that the bar does not dangle, otherwise you will not be able to pump anything up.

Nuances when training the chest using a barbell

A little more about the barbell:

You should not combine shoulder impact with barbell presses. You are overloading the front and middle deltoids. The shoulder muscles are not very well located for this, which is why they most often suffer, becoming inflamed from friction.
If you decide to train your triceps on this day, limit yourself to bench presses and flyes. There is no need to do bench presses at angles - your triceps will get tired. Therefore, we recommend training the pectoral muscle separately from the triceps.

If you have too much energy, you can pump everything up according to the classical scheme. Most often people get tired.

Lying dumbbell flyes

For women - just right to pump up the pectoral muscle. By doing the wiring at different angles, you can pump up everything in the gym well. Different variations of the exercise help to load the entire area of the pectoral muscles.

If a girl needs to develop strength, she needs to bench press the barbell - make a base. If she wants relief and elasticity of the muscles, the bench press can be eliminated, leaving the raise and dumbbell press.

Dumbbell flyes are performed lying down at angles of 30 and 45 degrees. Technique:

Set the desired angle. Lie down on the bench. Your legs are positioned so that you are stable on the bench.
We take dumbbells from the floor. When we lie down, they are pressed against the body. Then we lift them parallel to each other. Hands are turned with palms inward.
We spread our arms, slightly bent at the elbows, all the way, elbows pointing down. We do 10-12 repetitions in 3-4 approaches.

At an angle, everything is done exactly the same, the elbows always look down.

You can make 2 serious mistakes: bend your elbows too much, and turn your elbows away from the floor. In such cases, the effectiveness of the exercise is lost. If your arms bend on their own, the dumbbell is too heavy.

If you, for example, use an incline abdominal bench, you can simulate a crossover curl, only with dumbbells. But this is unnecessary. If there is a block power frame, why not make a crossover in it?

Bringing hands together in crossover

We set the warm-up weight (no weight for women and 5–10 kg for men):

We take hold of the pre-installed handles. Palms face forward.
With slightly bent arms, we bring the arms together at the level of the stomach. In this position, we turn our elbows up. This will be the starting position.
Throughout the entire exercise, the elbows look up.
Look straight ahead. It is best to perform mixing in front of a mirror - you will clearly see all your mistakes and correct them in time.

Warm up - 10-15 times, then hang the working weight and do 10-12 repetitions in 3-4 approaches. The lower you bring your arms, the more the lower chest will be loaded.

Classic exercise machine for bringing your arms to your chest

Today you won’t find such a useful exercise machine in every gym. It allows you to pump the chest muscles in isolation without affecting any other muscles. The simulator is convenient because it is easy to set the weight. If it exists, let's work on it:

Sit correctly so that your back (along with your pelvis) is completely pressed against the backrest. Secure your legs if possible.
Place your hands in support. Begin to bring your elbows together using your pectoral muscles.
We bring it together as we exhale, and we bring it apart as we inhale. We do it smoothly and slowly.
We perform 10–12 repetitions and 3–4 approaches.

There is no need to pump the muscle exclusively here. Even for women, this exercise alone will not be enough.

Other machines that can work your chest

There are different versions of the Hummer trainer. It works the upper chest and front deltoids, triceps. A very convenient exercise machine to properly pump the pectoral muscle.

If you have sore shoulders, we do not recommend hanging heavy weights.

It is very convenient to do exercises in it - just sit there, grab the handles with your hands, press your pelvis and back against the back. Simply lift and lower the weight. The trainer will not let you do the exercise incorrectly.

Push-ups on parallel bars and benches

If you can do dips properly, you can do this with weights after bench presses. Dips for the pectoral muscles involve a slight tilt of the body forward, placing your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.

As a warm-up, you need to do push-ups without weight 5-10 times. It all depends on your physical condition. Then we hang pancakes on a special belt and do 6 repetitions in 3-4 approaches. It is advisable to work with such a weight that these 6 repetitions are very difficult for you. Then there will be progress.

Bench push-ups with a wide stance (feet on the floor) are good for warming up before parallel bars. As a way to pump up the pectoral muscle in a fitness club, it is better not to use this method - it’s a waste of time.

Although for women whose muscles are not yet strong enough, this is a normal option for the first few months.

Pullover

The pullover will help properly stretch the chest and pectoral muscles. You should not lift heavy weights, it is dangerous. We do a pullover lying down with dumbbells, which we move behind the head on half-bent arms.

10–12 repetitions in 3 sets is the best option. This is a very good option for women and their muscles.

Hammer press

You already know all the types of bench presses in a horizontal position, now let's look at chest exercises on machines. We'll start with the Hummer press, which, in addition to the pectoral muscles, indirectly loads the triceps and anterior deltoids.

Technique:

Set the working weight and select the desired seat angle. In the starting position, your hands should be at the lower part of the sternum. Sit in the simulator, bring your shoulder blades together. The head and chest should be directed forward. This is your starting position.
As you exhale, press the weight forward, straightening your arms.
Take a short pause, then, while inhaling, return to the original position. To keep your chest muscles engaged at all times, do not lower the weight completely.
Do the required number of repetitions.

Reduction of arms in the butterfly simulator

Another chest exercise in the gym, aimed at isolated chest work.

It is performed as follows:

Adjust the machine so that your shoulders are parallel to the floor during the working set. Select the required working weight. Sit on the machine with your elbows on its flat back. This is your starting position.
As you exhale, slowly bring the handles of the exercise machine towards each other, feeling the tension in your chest as much as possible. Stop for a second.
As you inhale, return to the starting position, fully stretching your pectoral muscles.
Repeat the movement as many times as necessary.

Bringing hands together in crossover

A powerful isolation chest exercise in the gym, typically used at the end of a workout.

Technique:

Adjust the working weight, secure the tensioned cables above your head. Stand between the crossover struts and grab a cable handle in each hand. Clasp your palms in front of you and lean forward slightly. To avoid straining your biceps again, bend your elbows slightly. This is your starting position.
As you inhale, begin to extend your arms on either side of your body until your palms are level with your shoulders. While working, you should feel the stretch in your pectoral muscles as strongly as possible. While in this position, pause for one second.
As you exhale, return to the starting position.
Do as many repetitions as you need.

Recommendations:

During work, only the muscles of the shoulder girdle should tense, and the arms and torso should be kept motionless.
The cables must always move along a given path.

Dumbbell Bench Press

When it comes to the best chest exercises in the gym, you can't help but pay attention to equipment like dumbbells. The beauty of this equipment is that you can train with it both in a fitness center and at home. Let's look at the most effective exercises for growing chest muscles. We'll start with the dumbbell bench press.

This exercise is performed as follows:

Take the apparatus in your hands, lie with your back on the bench, rest your feet on the floor. Hold dumbbells to the sides of your chest. Shoulders and forearms should be bent at right angles. This is your starting position.
As you exhale, press the dumbbells up, straightening your arms in the top position. Take a short break.
While inhaling, slowly lower the dumbbells to their original position. Make sure to control the position of the dumbbells throughout the exercise.
Do the required number of repetitions.

The main work is performed by the muscles of the chest, anterior deltoids and triceps. The muscles of the shoulder, back, gluteal, and abs help them with this.

Recommendations:

After completing the exercise, lift your knees bent from the floor. Turn your wrists with the insides facing each other, then place the weights on your upper thighs and lift your body into a sitting position. Only then carefully place the dumbbells on the floor.
As with the barbell, you can perform the dumbbell press at different angles, thus shifting the load from one section of the pectoral muscles to another.
Once you have completed this strength movement, do not hold the dumbbells above you, as this is dangerous for your shoulder joints.

Developing chest muscles in the gym[edit | edit code]

You can change the feel of many chest development exercises by adjusting the angle of the weight bench you use. For example, when exercising on a flat horizontal bench, tense the muscles in the central part of your chest. When the bench is slightly raised, forming a slope of several degrees, the main load shifts to the muscles of the upper chest and shoulders. By doing the opposite - lowering the bench slightly - you concentrate the load on the muscles of the lower chest. By the way, in the latter case, the exercises bring perhaps the least benefit, since they develop a relatively small area of the pectoral muscles.

Personally, we do not recommend training on one fairly popular chest machine. Perhaps he is already familiar to you. They sit on it with their arms spread wide apart, each of them bent at the elbow and placed on a special pillow. You need to push the pillows towards each other, as if about to pat them in slow motion. We believe that this exercise machine is simply harmful to the chest muscles, and even more so to the shoulder muscles. The fact is that it places too much stress on the shoulder joint and rotator cuff muscles, often leading to injury. Moreover, the chest muscles for which this machine is intended are poorly developed. A much safer and more effective alternative, in our opinion, is dumbbell raises.

Because the pecs are some of the largest muscles in the upper body, we suggest doing more sets for them than for the arms.

Do 3 to 12 approaches per workout to develop your pectoral muscles.

Of course, those new to strength training should start with one set.

By the way, when we talk about 12 sets, we don't mean that they all have to include the same exercise. You can (and even should) use three, four, or even more different exercises. In addition, if you have a sedentary job, then you need to do the same number of approaches for the back muscles.

Start each exercise with a warm-up approach.
Even experienced weightlifters who can easily bench press 250 kg often warm up and warm up their muscles with a 20 kg barbell.

What exercise is best to start with in the gym? Experts cannot agree on this issue, so it is better to be guided by your own feelings and preferences. We can recommend the following.

Do exercises with free weights before you get tired. The fact is that these exercises require more concentration, strength and self-control.

Work out first on a flat bench and only then move on to an elevated or lowered one. Experiment with the order of exercises for a couple of weeks until you work out one that suits you completely.

Change the sequence of exercises from time to time. This will help target the muscles differently. If you always do flyes before dumbbell presses and nothing else, then you will never have enough strength to perform the last exercises well. After all, by the time it starts, your pectoral muscles will already be too tired.

Do 8 to 15 repetitions for each exercise.

Determining the maximum of one repetition

- the maximum weight you can lift once - has become a tradition in gyms for the bench press. But you should start it only after at least a couple of months of training. There is also no need to find out your maximum more than once a week. By the way, some experts believe that such clarification gives better training results. But if you intend to lift the maximum weight, do not forget to enlist the help of a backup. In addition, be sure to do several warm-up approaches before this, gradually increasing the weight you lift.

Dumbbell flyes

Another popular exercise for isolated chest work.

Technique:

Sit on a training bench, grab the weights with a neutral grip and place them on your thighs.
Sit on a bench and push the dumbbells over your shoulders with your hips. Bend your elbows slightly. This is your starting position.
While inhaling, spread the projectiles out to the sides. Don't drop them too deep as this can cause serious damage to your shoulder joints.
As you exhale, return to your original position. Feel the maximum stretch in your chest muscles. Hands must always move along a clearly defined path.
Repeat the movement as many times as necessary.

Pushups

The reaction of some readers now may be: “What? Pushups? But I was interested in chest exercises in the gym, not some kind of physical education!” Don't rush to conclusions! At the initial stage of training, push-ups are a very good exercise for the pectoral muscles. If you can't do at least 10-20 clean push-ups, then it's too early for you to do bench presses and other heavier chest exercises in the gym.

Classic push-ups are performed as follows:

Take a lying position. Hands should be wider than shoulders. Do not bend your back, do not lift your pelvis - the body should be in a straight line. This is your starting position.
Inhale and lower yourself down.
As you exhale, press your body upward, feeling the stretch in your chest muscles.
Do the required number of repetitions.

Content

1 Chest muscle training in the gym
2 Introduction to the chest muscles
3 Benefits of Strong Pectorals
4 Developing chest muscles in the gym
5 How to avoid mistakes when developing pectoral muscles
6 Acquiring skills in developing chest muscles 6.1 Modified push-ups
6.2 Bench press with a barbell
6.3 Bench press with dumbbells
6.4 Incline Dumbbell Raises
6.5 Chest press on the machine
6.6 Crossing arms on a cable machine
6.7 Push-ups on the machine

What should a chest workout be like in the gym?

To grow muscle mass and improve relief, it is optimal to use 1-2 basic and 1-2 isolated exercises. In general, you should not do more than 3-4 chest exercises in one workout. The optimal number of repetitions in each set is from 6 to 12 (depending on the exercise). We will give an example of a training program for the chest muscles in the next section.

We bring to your attention a useful video tutorial. The chest training program in the gym is described in detail.

Chest triceps

You should always start with a large muscle group while you are fresh and full of strength. Although once every 1.5-2 months, you need to conduct training with a modified order of exercises and the order of muscle training. This will help you avoid getting into a state of overtraining and will add variety to the training process.

If you focus on the triceps at the beginning of your workout, then when you move on to working on the chest, you won’t be able to lift heavy weights. Your triceps will be tired and will not be able to fully support your pecs in doing bench presses, for example. Breastfeeders will not be able to press heavy weights on their own. You'll end up having to lift less weight than you would if your triceps were fresh. The result is less weight, less load, less stress on the pectoral muscles. The result is less growth.

The pectoral muscles are a large muscle group, so if you have been training for several months, you need to perform at least 3 exercises for them.

Recommendations

Finally, we would like to give you some tips that will make your training more effective and safer:

Always warm up before you start exercising. This applies to absolutely all training days, not just those on which you pump your chest. By taking five to ten minutes to warm up, you will prepare your muscles and joints for subsequent, heavier loads. This will greatly increase your productivity and significantly reduce the risk of injury.
Use a partner's help. We have already written about this before, but we will write again. Under no circumstances should you press a heavy barbell or dumbbells without the help of a spotter. If there is no one nearby who can back you up, then it is better to reduce the working weight to something that you can control.
Do all exercises as technically as possible. Incorrect technique is one of the main reasons for injury and lack of results. Before adding an exercise to your program, make sure that you have studied the technique of doing it in detail. It is advisable that you be supervised by your trainer or some more experienced gym goer.

Shake Waite Shake Weight

The exercise machine does a great job of strengthening your chest at home. Just like Easy Curves, Shake Waite takes up very little space and resembles a dumbbell in its appearance. The designers have done a good job with the development and implementation of new technologies, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the simulator (compared to a conventional dumbbell) significantly.

The main feature of this simulator is the use of dynamic inertia. That is, it begins to work during shaking, which means always when we exercise. The shock wave from the “Neck” causes muscles to contract at an amazing speed – up to 250 times a minute. During training, the “dumbbell” itself sets you the desired rhythm and forces you to maintain it during training.

As the developers assure, 6 minutes a day - and your chest, shoulders and arms will become irresistible. Both beginners and professionals give very flattering reviews about the simulator, so we can recommend it to almost anyone.

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