The pectoral muscles are one of the most important body parts a bodybuilder or muscle-conscious person should work on.
Having a firm, lean, chiseled chest can make or break your entire appearance so be sure to give it enough time and attention.
Before we get started with tips on how to build chest muscles, let me tell you a bit on how your pecs are built:
Your pectorals stretch all the way from your breastbone to your collarbone, attached to some of your ribs and covering a large part of your rib cage. There are various levels of interconnected muscles here, most of which aren’t visible even when developed.
The key is to understand that the pecs aren’t a one-dimensional muscle but a muscles system. All the components in this system have to be developed to get a killer chest.
There are two main layers of muscles in the chest: The lower layer is called pectoralis minor which begins at the upper ribs and is connected to your shoulder joint.
The pectoralis minor layer is covered by the pectoralis major. It is this layer of muscles you need to build to have that barrel-chested look. However, all the muscles, even the invisible ones, come into play to make sure you’re fit and strong.
To get chest muscles, you have to work the pecs in a variety of ways. This is due to the length and breadth of these muscles. You have to change exercises, positions, grips, and so on to make sure you are really getting the best stimulation you can.
One website which has some killer, and unorthodox, muscle exercises is Nick Nillson’s The Best Chest Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of… but there are other, more common, exercises you can do to start building your pecs.
A lot of movements work the pecs and you need to utilize these movements in your various exercises. Anything that’s pushed away from your body works the chest, and anything which you pull from the side to you (with full arm movement) also does but in a different way.
There are many pushing exercises but some of the common ones are:
1. Chest barbell press – You basically take a barbell, put some weights on it and press it away from your body while lying on a workout bench. This pushing away motion is what causes the pecs to strain.
2. You should make sure to do the barbell press in a variety of angles to work different parts of the chest. By placing the workout bench in an incline position, you work the upper chest, by placing it in a decline position, you work the lower.
3. Push-ups are similar to a chest press as you are basically pushing the floor away. Since you can’t move the floor, your body rises, but the movement is the same.
4. You can and should do both barbell pressed and dumbbell presses. Each person has his or her own preferences. I like dumbbells better than a barbell, but it’s up to you, really.
5. Chest flies – This is different from presses or pushups and works the inner part of the pecs, where they’re connected to your breastbone. However, they do influence the shape and growth of the entire chest muscle. You do this exercise with a pair of dumbbells, letting your arms fall to your side and then, bringing them back in front of your chest.
6. You can do variations of the chest flies similarly to the chest presses by changing the angle of the workout bench. Do flat, incline, and decline flies to work the chest all over.
7. Standing cable crossover is also an excellent exercise to build inner chest muscles.
Here are some tips to make sure your workout is awesome:
1. Your exercise isn’t finished even when the weight or barbell is lowering. This is called the negative part of your exercise because you’re not making the stimulating motion. However, your muscles are still working. Make sure to lower the dumbells or barbell slowly, keeping them steady between reps, and you will get better results.
2. Don’t forget to pack on the weight. If you want massive muscle growth (or Manic Muscles as we like to call them), you need to push your muscles. This can only be done with a lot of weight. Don’t forget to push yourself.
3. When you’re doing your workout, take care of the big muscle groups first, supporting muscles later. For instance, make sure to do the chest exercises before shoulder and triceps exercises. The shoulders and triceps help you perform chest workouts. Don’t tire them out with focused exercises before finishing with your pecs for the day.
Again, I super recommend The Best Chest Exercises You’ve Never Heard Of… as it got some killer workouts to really bring your pecs out, but this is up to you.
Nick Nillson has some really crazy and creative exercises here which can push your pecs to their limit.
I believe that this is a manual that you can find very useful and will help you get better pecs.
What are your favorite chest exercise? Leave a comment below and let me know.