Chest Exercises | Top Pectoral Exercises

Chest Exercises

Weight Training Advice

The chest, or pectoral, muscles are easily one of the most popular muscles to train for any bodybuilder or weight trainer. Due to their proximity to the heart and lungs, this muscle group usually gets a strong pump quicker than other muscles. Thick, powerful looking pecs are a must for any weight trainer trying to build an awesome physique. Of course, to do this you need to perform the right chest exercises with good form.

The bench press is the staple chest exercise of any weight training routine. Nothing is better for building the pectoral muscles. It's also an easy exercise to perform properly - just make sure to keep your rear end on the bench and keep a natural arch in your lower back. Try pulling your shoulder blades inward as well so you contract your upper back muscles and pop the chest muscles out so they get targeted better while you bench press.

Another great chest exercise is the incline bench press. With the incline press you can focus on building the upper pectorals so you avoid that droopy chest look you may get if you neglect this exercise. It's performed basically the same way as the normal bench press but while lying on an inclined bench. In fact if you have overdeveloped lower pecs you may want to make this your starting exercise during your chest routine. You'll also want to stretch your shoulders before doing this chest exercise since the resistence will also affect the front deltoids.

Many weight trainers also use the decline bench press as a chest exercise. It's good for building the lower pecs and getting that squared look of a muscular chest. Of course you may want to avoid them if you have a droopy chest appearance.

A great alternative exercise to the decline for the lower pecs is the dip. While many think of dips as a triceps exercise you can make them into a chest exercise if you do them on a dip bar and grip your hands further apart. You'll also want to keep your upper body at an angle so you feel dips in your chest muscles more than your triceps.

The good ol' push-up can be a great chest exercise if you don't have weights or access to a gym. You can make them harder by changing your hand position or putting your feet on a small bench or table. You can also use push-ups to warm up or as a finisher to a chest workout. If you can find a way to do them, weighted push-ups are an excellent chest exercise to do.

The main chest exercise to isolate the pecs is the flye. You take a dumbbell in each hand, lie on a bench, and with your arms out to your sides with your elbows slightly bent, raise the dumbbells until they are directly above your chest. You may not feel the resistence in your chest as much at the end of flye reps if you use dumbbells. You can try doing them on machines or with cables (cable crossovers) to feel the resistence throughout the entire rep.

One often overlooked chest exercise is the pullover. If you lie sideways on a bench and only have your upper back on it you can do pullovers with a heavy dumbbell with both hands holding it. This exercise can give you a great stetch for the pectoral muscles. One great trick is to superset high rep squats and dumbbell pullovers to help expand the rib cage and make the chest look thicker.

Of course, you can experiment with how you grip the weights and perform chest exercises to see what works best for you. Once you find the right routine you'll be on your way to bigger pecs.