Building a bigger, more defined chest is a common fitness goal.
Whether it's to look more defined on holiday or to feel better about yourself in the gym, building the 'perfect chest' is often thought of as one of the most important aesthetic goals to strive towards (which is why you never hear of people skipping chest day!).
But did you know that building out your chest offers significant strength and health benefits, such as improving your posture and breathing?
In this blog, we're outlining the exercises you can do to help build out your chest muscles, whether you want to look good in the pool or simply want to lift heavy things more easily.
From the exercises to focus on at home and in the gym to the supplements to support your workout goals, prepare for your most enhanced chest yet!
Table of contents:
Building a bigger chest: Understanding your anatomy
Exercises for building the perfect chest
Training strategies and common mistakes to avoid
Supplements to support your chest goals
Building a bigger chest: Understanding your anatomy
Understanding your anatomy is key to working the correct muscles in your chest.
The chest comprises two main muscles, the Pectoralis Major and the Pectoralis Minor, and supporting muscles, the deltoids and the triceps.
The Pectoralis Major comprises a larger upper portion called the clavicular head and a lower portion known as the sternal head.
The Pectoralis Minor is the smaller of the two muscles and is shaped like a triangle. These two sets of muscles work together to move the chest.
In order to curate perfect, well-balanced chest development, you'll want to target the upper, middle and lower chest muscles without forgetting to focus on the surrounding, supporting muscles in your arms and back.
Why train the chest muscles?
Alongside aesthetic gains, a strong, healthy chest brings with it many functional benefits, such as an improved metabolism, a more well-rounded posture and improved well-being.
The chest muscles work together with the shoulder joints and arms, allowing you to twist and rotate the body, an action performed every day of our lives during the most menial everyday tasks.
Washing your hair, carrying your shopping and even pushing open doors all require strong and healthy chest muscles.
Exercises for building the perfect chest
So, now you know the many reasons you should consider building your chest, it's time to move on to the best, most effective exercises to help you do so.
Many effective exercises can help you increase your chest size, including compound chest exercises and chest isolation exercises.
Here, you'll find a combination of home-based and gym-based exercises to help you work smarter, not harder when building those muscles.
Remember, concentrating on correct form, a comfortable weight volume, and a manageable number of reps is the ideal way to reap the benefits of a good workout.
Dumbbell chest exercises - perfect for the gym
Dumbbells are an ideal addition to chest exercises, particularly if you're a beginner. Compared to other weights, such as barbells, they place less stress on the joints and allow a greater range of motion.
Here are some of the most effective dumbbell exercises for working the pecs and building your chest (we'd recommend performing these in the gym to benefit from a greater choice of weights).
Chest Fly
- Take a medium pair of dumbbells (choose a heavy weight that is still manageable for your ability).
- Lay flat on a bench, holding the dumbbells directly above your chest. Have your palms facing inwards, ensuring the weights touch each other.
- Slightly bending your elbows, lower the weights towards your sides with your palms facing inwardly.
- Pause at the bottom, exhale, and return to the starting position.
- Give an extra squeeze to the weights when they are above you to maintain tension on the muscles throughout the repetition.
Dumbbell press
- Use a pair of heavy dumbbells for this exercise.
- Start by laying flat on your back on a bench with the weight directly above your chest.
- Dig your shoulders into the pad of the bench, make sure your wrists are straight, then, whilst breathing in, bring your weights down to a 90-degree angle towards your shoulders (your palms should be facing towards your thighs, rather than inwards for this exercise). You should feel tension in the chest area as you hold the weights.
- Then, exhale and slowly push the weights back towards your starting position.
Close-grip dumbbell chest press
- Use a pair of heavy dumbbells and lay flat on the bench with them above your chest.
- Your palms should be facing inward towards each other for this exercise. Bring the weights together so they are almost touching.
- Breathe in and lower the weights towards the middle of your chest, as close to your rib cage as possible, without resting them there. If you feel any tension in your shoulders, adjust so the weights are loaded directly over the centre of your chest for better form.
- Exhale and push the weights back above your chest.
Bench press (with barbell) - perfect for the gym
For these exercises, it might be worth having someone to spot you in the beginning, until you have perfected an accurate technique.
Flat bench press
This exercise helps work your Pectoralis Major and tricep muscles and benefits your anterior delts, traps and back muscles. Throughout the exercise, keep your back and hips flat to avoid applying stress to your back, neck or spine.
- Lay on the bench with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor.
- Take hold of the barbell by wrapping your hands around the bar. Your palms should face the ground, and your thumb should be wrapped around the bar. Push your arms straight to the ceiling as you lift the barbell off the rack.
- Slowly lower the weight to your chest in line with your nipples. Your elbows should be at a 45-degree angle. Hold for a few moments then exhale and return the bar back to the starting position before repeating the process.
Incline bench press
This exercise works the triceps, pectoral muscles and front delts. Ensure to keep your back and feet flat when you lift to prevent injury.
- Lay on your back on the incline bench. Keep your feet flat; the bar should be positioned above your collarbone.
- Take the barbell, wrapping your arms to face your feet; your thumbs should grasp the bar. Press your arms toward the ceiling, lifting the barbell off the rack.
- Lower the barbell slowly towards your chest, level with your nipples.
- Hold the position, then exhale as you return the bar to the starting position. Then repeat.
Resistance band chest exercises - perfect for home workouts
If you can't get to a gym, resistance bands are inexpensive and allow you to perform effective chest exercises at home. They are great for isolating the chest and triceps whilst reducing stress on the shoulders.
Resistance bands allow you to limit your range of motion and reinforce proper tensions and retractions for your movements. Here are some of the best, simple resistance band exercises to help you build your chest without the need for fancy gym equipment;
Resistance band floor press
- Hold the resistance band and place it around your back, properly placing it just slightly below the shoulders.
- Lay down on the floor with your arms bent at a 90-degree angle.
- With your palms facing towards your thighs, push up the resistance band and hold at the top of your arm extension. As the band lengthens, tension will be created, forcing your muscles to contract more.
- From here, slowly bring your arms back down to that 90-degree angle.
Resistance band crossover fly
You need a door anchor or multi-gym machine to use your resistance bands or cables for this exercise.
- With the resistance band adequately attached to the stationary fixture, take the ends of the resistance band in each hand.
- Facing away from the fixture, your arms should be stretched out and parallel to the floor. Each arm should be fully extended with a slight bend.
- Bring your arms before you, ensuring they bend very slightly.
- Cross your arms in front of you, with your right hand on the bottom. Then, stretch your arms back out wide at your sides.
- Alternate your right hand being on the bottom and top of the cross over.
Staggered stand incline press
- Stand staggered, with one foot behind and one in front in a lunge position.
- Place the resistance band underneath your back foot while you hold the band's ends in each hand. Bring your hands up so that they are in line with your shoulders, with your palms facing outwards.
- From here, push diagonally forward and out. Ensure that your arms remain slightly bent while they are fully extended. To get the perfect form, ensure your core is engaged to maintain posture with a slight arch in your lower back.
- Hold this position for a moment before gently returning to the starting position with your hands level with your shoulders. Repeat this movement whilst alternating which leg is in front for the lunge position.
Pushups - no equipment required
If you're looking for a single, failsafe exercise to help you get started on building your chest, then pushups are it!
Standard pushups are ideal for developing upper body strength, activating your tricep, pectoral and shoulder muscles and working your core, lower back and abdominal muscles, as your form improves.
Start with three sets of 6-12 reps, and build out your regime. Here's how to achieve the perfect pushup:
- Start off in a high-plank position, with your hands slightly over shoulder-width apart. Engage your hamstrings and keep your spine neutral.
- Engage your core and bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle, as you lower your chest to the floor. You should aim to keep a straight line throughout.
- Control your movement and lower your body to the floor as far down as possible without losing stability.
- Hold the position for a few moments, then push your chest back away from the floor, straightening your elbows before repeating the process.
Training strategies and common mistakes to avoid
When building your chest, there are other training strategies to consider, to achieve the greatest results. How you approach your training will impact how effective it is and how quickly you will expect to see results.
Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your training (and some common mistakes to avoid!);
Progressive overload
Rather than choosing a heavy weight and performing maxed-out efforts, progressive overload training allows you to gradually increase the difficulty of your workouts without overdoing it and risking injury.
The goal with progressive overloading is to stimulate the muscles and nervous system to improve strength and muscle mass, and there are a few ways you can implement it into your strength training, such as:
- Increasing weight by choosing a challenging weight that allows you to complete up to eight reps with good form.
- Increasing repetitions slowly instead, add more reps to a set.
- Add more sets as you become more comfortable with the weight and exercise.
- Reducing rest periods between sets
For best results, whichever way you progressive overload, follow the 10% rule, whether that's weight volume, reps or sets, never increasing by more than 10% at a time to prevent injury or burnout.
Recovery
Rest days and sleep are crucial to effective workouts, as your muscles need time to repair and recover. When starting out, try to work out no more than three times per week, leaving time for your muscles to recover between workouts.
Time under tension
Although it may be tempting to power through your workouts, time under tension can help to increase the intensity of your workouts. For best results, slow down your reps for better muscle activation.
Warm up and don’t overdo it
Going into a workout without preparing your body for it doesn't make sense, so always remember to stretch and loosen up your muscles before going into a full-on chest workout. Overdoing it can be painful and cause your upper body to seize, with painful results.
Take time to build up your training and master your form and posture before increasing the intensity of your workouts.
Supplements to support your chest goals
To achieve the best gains from your chest building workouts, the supplements you choose could be a game changer to your results. Here are our top picks to help support your regime;
1. Optimum Nutrition - Gold Standard 100% Whey
If your goal is to build muscle, you must ensure a high protein intake. Protein is packed with amino acids essential to building and maintaining muscle tissue.
Whilst protein is readily available from meat and fish in our diets, and foods such as nuts, peas and tofu, if you follow a plant-based diet, protein powder can be a great addition to supplement your daily intake and help with recovery post-workout.
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey has been the world's number one sport protein powder for the last twenty years, so it's a great place to start if you're new to taking protein. Available in various delicious flavours, such as Banana and Chocolate Peanut Butter, simply add a single scoop to 250-300ml of liquid and mix in a shaker bottle. For best results, take yours straight after your workout.
Or, if you follow a plant-based diet, why not explore our vegan protein options?
2. Efectiv Nutrition Performance Creatine
Creatine is a nitrogenous organic acid that helps to supply energy to all cells in the body, primarily to build muscle. It is ideal for high-intensity workouts like weight training, as it gives your body the energy boost it needs. It also helps to keep muscle cells hydrated, allowing you to get the most out of your workouts.
Creatine Monohydrate is one of the most tried and tested supplements on the market, so what safer way to enhance your workouts than by supplementing with it?
Efectiv Nutrition Performance Creatine was designed to fuel athletes striving for performance at the highest level, so why not add it to your chest workout supplement regime? Mix one scoop in 300-400ml of water and consume immediately.
Creatine can be taken at any time of the day, but to feel its muscle cell hydration benefits, take it just before your workout.
3. XL Nutrition Purge Pre-workout
What better way to get jacked up for your chest workout than with a pre-workout supplement? Pre-workout helps enhance energy and gets you pumped and ready to go, even if you're not quite feeling it!
XL Nutrition's Purge Pre-workout is our best-selling pre-workout at Discount Supplements. With a high caffeine content and exceptional flavours, there's no better way to improve your focus and get ready to lift!
Looking for something a little less intense? Why not try XL's Purge Pump Pre-workout for a stim-free alternative?
Build your chest with ease at Discount Supplements
Find protein powders, creatine, mass-gainer and more at Discount Supplements, the perfect additions to your daily intake to help you benefit the most from your chest workouts. With options from industry-leading brands, finding the supplements that work for you has never been easier!
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