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Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror and wondered why, despite months spent doing chest workouts for mass at the gym, you haven’t been able to develop a bulging chest, and why it remains adamantly flat? Most people, when they want to build up their chest muscles, simply focus on doing Bench Press daily or maybe one of the Flyes, without much difference.
Chest muscles and chest workouts for mass basically serve three functional movements — sidearm pitching motion, arm up and down motion, and the arm wrestling motion. These are facilitated by the Pectoralis Major and Pectoralis Minor chest muscles. While working out, it is best to treat your Chest as constituting of three separate portions. The upper half is stimulated by working on the bench press and other exercises at a 30-45 degree incline, the middle is stimulated on a flat bench, whereas the lower is stimulated at a 30-45 degree decline.
5 Best Chest Workouts For Mass
These are 5 best chest workouts to build mass – a massive chest.
#1. Barbell Bench Press
This is the easier of the available options which help you lift more weight. It is easier to lift and keep under control than the heavy dumbbells. This is one of the most common chest workout exercises, as it is easy to learn and spot.
This should be performed during the beginning of your chest workout session, prioritizing weight heaviness rather than the number of reps. It is also advised that you keep varying the grip of the barbell in order to stimulate your muscles more completely.
#2. Flat Bench Dumbbell Press
These are harder to control than the barbells, however, they require each side of your body to work on their own terms, thus calling for more stabilizer muscles. Your range of motions with these dumbbells is also heightened.
Dumbbells, when used on a flat bench, allow you to wield more weight and thus are suitable alternatives to the Barbell.
#3. Seated Machine Chest Press
These are great for doing quick drop sets and are also great when you need to drop the speed of your reps whether in concentric or eccentric phases. These are also really great for your pecs because the machine bench press uses up less of the three deltoid heads — anterior, middle and posterior — than the free-weight alternatives due to a decrease in the need for humeral stabilization.
These need to be done once all your other workouts are over. This is the ideal way to pump your chest up with minimal shoulder stress.
#4. Incline Dumbbell Press
While dumbbell presses are a necessary exercise for the chest, it is always preferable to use an incline bench and then steadily keep altering the angles of your workout so that your muscles can be stimulated from a variation of angles giving you a complete workout. It is better to perform this towards the beginning of your session as you can carry more weight than for a longer period of time.
So ideally this should be your first, second or third exercise. For an even more rigorous use of this method, you can even twist your arm slightly from palms-forward to an inward motion. This will give your upper arms a complete workout as well.
#5. Dips for Chest
This is a great alternative for the decline press exercises. However, for it to be effective you need to do it at just the right angle. The ideal position is for you to raise your legs back and lean your chest in as much as possible and lift or dip with your elbows flaring out at the sides. Only then will the weight of the motion fall on your chest.
For those who are already seasoned in their workouts, this can be a great way to finish the session. But for those who are just beginning or not quite as strong, this should come towards the beginning. Coupled with push-ups, they make for a great superset.
These are only some of the best chest workouts for mass out there, amidst many others that might be suitable for different needs. You don’t need to practice all of them every day, you can mix and match them and see what works best for you personally.
