What Chest Exercises Should Be Part Of Your Routine?

I’ve been lifting for around 30 years so, of course, I’ve done a ton of chest exercises. Pecs were always a priority back in the day, and they still are today. However, as I’ve gotten older, and hopefully wiser, I’ve evolved the way I train my chest. At this point in my life, I’m not trying to test my max bench every time I train chest. In fact, I almost never do classic flat benches at all! No matter though, I still hit my pecs as hard as ever.

Variety is the spice of life, and that holds true while lifting weights. However, while I vary my workouts, there are certain exercises that will always have a place in my routine. They may not be done during every single workout but will be part of every second or third of them. This is especially true of chest training, with all of the great exercises that can be done.

Incline Bench Press

I’ve always felt a kinship with the incline bench press. Even when I was focused on flat benching heavier, I always made sure to be very strong on the incline as well. I would also do just as many sets on the incline as I would on the flat bench. Nowadays, incline bench presses are the cornerstone of my chest routine.

I Don’t Flat Bench Anymore

As far as flat bench presses go, I don’t even do them anymore. Not that it’s a bad exercise, it’s just that I don’t get the same feeling in my pecs as I used to. Basically, they just don’t do it for me anymore. The way many lifters perform the exercise, they aren’t getting as much out of flat benching anyway. With some of the ridiculous back arching just to get more weight up, how much are you actually training the muscles?

Incline Press Workouts

The incline bench press just doesn’t allow for cheating the same way the flat bench does. Sure, it’s possible, but if you stay seated you will be using the proper incline press form. I also like the deep stretch I get from incline presses. Of course, they also hit the upper pecs so the possibility of overdeveloping the lower pecs isn’t as likely.

When I do the incline bench press with a barbell I like to warm up to my heaviest weight for a set of 5 or so reps. Then I’ll lower the weight by 5 to 10% and rest for between 90 and 120 seconds before doing my next set. I continue this until I complete 4 or 5 straight sets to failure.

Dumbbell Incline Bench Presses

Dumbbell incline bench presses are also a major exercise as part of my routine. With dumbbells, I’ll do my heaviest set for probably no lower than 8 reps. It’s not easy to get up heavy dumbbells over your body without help. In this situation, I will lie back and bring my body up to “cheat” the weights to the starting position.

Another thing I never see anybody doing is to vary the incline when using dumbbells. Adjustable benches allow for more than just the common 45-degree angle everybody uses. On my heaviest set, which is also my first set. After the warm-up,  I’ll use a lower angle on the bench. Then I do a couple of sets on the common angle. My last set will be done with a higher angle and lighter dumbbells, hitting the front delts more along with the upper pecs.

Tyson Push-Up

One incredible chest exercise I recently discovered is the Tyson push-up. It’s credited as an exercise Mike Tyson did in his heyday, though I haven’t any footage of him doing it. Whatever the case, it’s a great form of the classic push-up that will really hit your chest and front shoulder muscles.

A Tyson push-up is done by getting into a position where you place your feet against a wall and move your body forward as you get down to the bottom of a push-up. As you “push up”, you also push your body back towards the wall and bend your knees. Another key component of this exercise is to dip your head towards the wall as well as to stretch the upper back.

Superset Them With Normal Push-ups

I incorporate Tyson push-ups in just about every chest workout I do now. I find that it’s a great one to do after heavy free-weight sets. You will find that you can’t do nearly as many reps as you can while doing traditional push-ups. What I like to do is to start with my feet up on a wall to hit the upper pecs more, then continue with my feet on the floor when I hit failure. To finish a superset, I’ll do normal push-ups.

Push-up Variety

It’s possible to get so much more out of push-ups by incorporating more versions of the exercise. Besides Tyson push-ups, try a variety of hand widths and angles. Try push-ups with your feet stretched out so that you aren’t on the tips of your toes, but instead more like on the tops of them. Push up and back while bending at the waist to get very full reps.

You can go very wide or very close in the distance in which you place your hands. Staggered hand placements are excellent as well. Try going down to one side with the opposing arm outstretched.

There is no end to the variety you can create to make this basic exercise more difficult and effective.

Slightly Declined Dumbbell Bench Press

Rather than do flat dumbbell bench presses, I like to do them with a slight decline. I really notice the difference, feeling like I’m in a better position to push the weights. I have to emphasize that the decline isn’t very much so I don’t need to have somebody hand me the weights, which would be the case while using a larger decline. These slightly declined dumbbell presses still allow me to hit the lower pecs hard.

If you don’t have a spotter, it’s a must to get the dumbbells into a position over your body as you lie back. This is done so you can start your set at the top of a rep rather than the bottom, which is much more difficult. If you do it right, you can still use very heavy dumbbells.

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press Form

Once you get your set started you lower the dumbbells until they are at shoulder level. As you lower, you can turn your forearms a bit so your knuckles are to the sides of your chest. Think of it like being at the bottom of a dumbbell fly but with your arms close to your body. Then as you push the weights up, return the hands to a normal pressing position. You’re best off getting the dumbbells very close to each other as opposed to clanging them together so you keep complete control of the weights.

Weighted Chest Dip

Anytime you can do an exercise that has you lifting your body weight you have to take advantage of it. the classic dip is one of these exercises. It’s a great chest exercise when you flare your elbows out to focus on the pecs doing most of the work. To hit the chest you also need to grip the dip bar at its widest point.

Use A Dip Belt

One item needed to get the most out of this exercise is a dip belt. This is a belt that will allow you to add weight so you can do heavier-weighted dips to build more strength and size. If you just rely on your body weight to dip with, you’re likely going to be able to do so many reps that it becomes an endurance exercise. Most good lifting gyms will have a dip belt or two, but you won’t find them everywhere. They are very affordable though, and it’s an integral piece of lifting equipment that’s great to have if you need it.

I like to add a lot of weight to a dip belt for my heaviest sets. It’s certainly possible to add 150 pounds and get enough reps for a strength-building set. If you’re going heavy, try to start up high rather than starting at the bottom of a dip. Lower down to get a nice stretch. Then be sure to get up high while focusing the resistance on the pecs.

Flys and Cable Crossovers

Here’s the classic pec isolation exercise we all know and love. In my case, I’m not and have never been, a fan of the dumbbell version of this exercise. I feel that cables and machines allow for more feeling in the muscles throughout the entire rep. Some form of the fly finishes off just about every one of my chest workouts. My favorite versions of this exercise are the seated cable fly, the seated machine fly, and cable crossovers.

While doing flys, I’m focusing on really feeling the chest working with a wide arcing motion. At the end of each rep, a short pause with the muscles contracted should be done. I also like to go for a lot of reps and decrease the weight to complete a drop set. This will enable me to finish my chest workouts with the pumped feeling we all strive for when lifting.

How I Fit These Chest Exercises Into My Routine

Lately, I’ve been doing two different workouts for the chest. The first will start with barbell incline presses followed by slightly declined dumbbell bench presses as my main exercises. These are done for 3 or 4 straight sets each. I’ll then do a superset of Tyson push-ups followed by normal pushups. To finish this workout I’ll do a drop set of the machine fly, cable fly, or cable crossover.

My other chest workout will start with weighted dips. They are followed by incline dumbbell bench presses. Once again I’ll do a superset of Tyson push-ups and finish with one of the fly or crossover exercises.

I do one chest workout per week these days. It may not seem like much, but with intense training, it should be more than enough. Every now and then, give yourself a break by doing a lighter workout without going to failure to help let the body recover from constantly training hard.

Check out adjustable incline benches on Amazon