Why Does Every Guy Enjoy Training the Chest?

Every dude who works out loves a classic chest workout. What guy doesn’t look forward to benching heavy weights? What guy doesn’t want to throw out an impressive number when somebody asks them how much they can bench? The funny thing is, I don’t even do flat bench presses these days. Nothing against them, as I loved the exercise for years and years. I just don’t feel like I get anything from them at this point and prefer to bench from a slightly declined position now. This is a personal preference of course, and you should do the exercises you think work best for you.

Maybe It’s The Pump Or The Exercises

Another thing that people love about chest workouts is the great pump in the pecs that can be achieved quite quickly. Does anything really make you feel more powerful than this pumped-up feeling?

Chest exercises are favorites for a variety of reasons. They are rather easy to perform compared to other compound exercises for one thing. Honestly, does anybody prefer training legs to the chest? Exercises for the chest are also considered among the main tests of strength for many people as well.

Should You Start With Flat or Incline Bench Presses?

Sometimes, I like to start with incline bench presses instead of flat benches when I train my chest. For a long while, I was doing this. Recently, I have returned to starting my chest workouts with barbell or dumbbell bench presses. However, there are some advantages to making inclines the main exercise when training the pecs.

There was a time when I was an avid flat bencher, getting up a nice amount of weight in my younger years. Once upon a time, I was maxing out on the bench almost every time I worked the chest. Ahh, to be young again. Over time, little injuries made the bench press more bothersome. Fortunately, I found that incline bench presses didn’t bother these injuries nearly as much. At this point, I realized I prefer incline bench presses in how they make my pecs feel when I do them. If you have injuries that have mounted up over time from flat benching, try starting with inclines to see if it helps.

At this time, I’ve returned to starting with flat bench presses. After not doing them as much for a while, they don’t bother those small injuries as much anymore.

I was always good about my bench form, which is of the utmost importance when you bench. This exercise gets abused constantly. There’s no end to the ways lifters get more weight up while bench pressing. Benching on the incline bench makes it tougher to cheat excessively, though it’s certainly still possible. You also get a fuller range of motion, even more so if you do flat benches with an extreme arch in your back.

The incline is, of course, going to hit your upper pecs more than the lower chest. This can be beneficial if years of excessive flat benching have given you overdevelopment in the lower pecs. Training the upper pecs will help lift the chest for a better look.

Where Do Chest Workouts Fit Into A Split Routine?

Being a major muscle group, the chest requires multiple exercises and hard work. In any split routine, they should be prioritized. Start one of your workouts in your routine with chest training. After my chest workouts, I train my shoulders as they are used to assist in many of the exercises I’ve already done. I just train those two muscle groups on that day, though many like to include triceps workouts as part of a push-pull routine.

Don’t Always Do The Same Workout

I have two favorite workouts I go between for chest training. I’ll start with straight sets of major chest exercises done to failure before using high-intensity techniques like supersets and drop sets on my secondary exercises. To keep the intensity up, I time my rest periods between sets as well.

While I have three different workouts for some muscles, I prefer to keep it simple when it comes to my chest workouts. Honestly, any other exercises I would do would incorporate lifting machines, which I haven’t been using very much these days.

Chest Workout #1

Weighted Dips or Flat Bench Presses

The classic bench press is always going to be a great exercise. Personally, I like to switch between starting with the flat and incline versions of the exercises when I train the chest. At this time, the flat bench is gonna be the starter for a while, but it’ll go back to the incline at some point I’m sure.

Go for four sets here. You can warm up and start out heavy when you feel fresh. This is what I used to do. Now, after so many years, I prefer starting light and increasing the weight for each set. If you’re going to positive failure or close to it, you may not be able to go as heavy on your heaviest set. However, this can possibly help with avoiding injuries as your joints won’t take as much of a beating.

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Over the years, the incline bench press has become my favorite chest exercise. After getting warmed up, I go for 4 or 5 sets starting with your heaviest set and done for 6 to 8 reps. I prefer starting heavy and lowering the weight on every set to go for more reps.

I don’t overdo my warm-up sets as I don’t want to use too much energy before my heaviest lifts. I’ve been training for a long time, though, so I know what I can handle.

Since I’m not going super heavy for very low reps these days, I keep my rest periods between sets on the short side. Even on a major exercise like the incline press, I’m looking to only take 105 to 120 seconds of rest between sets.

Tyson Push-ups

I’ve recently learned of this great chest exercise which was apparently a Mike Tyson favorite. It’s done by starting with your feet against the wall in sort of a push-up position. The key to properly doing this exercise is to push back more than up to push your body back towards the wall so your knees bend. It’s kind of like you’re pushing into a squat position against the wall. The video below is an example of the Tyson push-up, but I like to put my feet up on the wall. You can do this or keep your feet at floor level.

Seated Cable Fly

A high rep set followed by two weight drops is done here to finish my chest workout with a wicked pump. How much weight you use isn’t as important as getting a nice stretch and strong contraction on every rep. This set should be done with high reps in mind.

Chest Workout #2

Flat or Decline Dumbbell Bench Presses

I’ve recently started some of my chest workouts with the classic flat dumbbell bench press. Since they don’t bother my right elbow like they used to, I decided it was time to bring them back to my routine. I also like to use a slightly declined bench to do dumbbell bench presses on as well. It’s one of those things, for a while I will go with one form, flat or decline, in my routine and eventually switch to the other for a time.

For flat dumbbell bench presses, I like to start with a weight I can do for between 15 and 20 reps. Whereas I used to start heavy after warming up, I now like to go heavier on each set of my first exercise for a muscle group. This way not as much time and energy is used for warm-up sets. This is because the first set or two are more like warm-up sets themselves even though I’m going all out or close to it.

Another thing I’ve started to do recently is to use wrist straps on dumbbell bench presses. The dumbbells I use are quite heavy. By using straps I won’t waste as much energy getting them to a bench to use them. It’s also nice for making my grip feel tighter while doing the exercise.

When it comes to slightly declined presses, it’s pretty easy to get the weights up on the first rep up when compared to the incline dumbbell press. As I lie back, I’m able to keep the weights high enough to not have to press from the bottom position. Once again, I turn the wrists a bit as I lower the dumbbells to the sides of my chest. As I lift the weights, they return to the starting position.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses

Benching with dumbbells definitely gives the pecs a different challenge than when using a barbell. I set a bench at about a 45-degree angle for this exercise. As the dumbbells are lifted, push the weights in towards each so they almost touch at the top of each rep. Go for 3 or 4 straight sets with a 2-minute rest period between each set. You may need a spotter to help you get the dumbbells up into the starting position.

Tyson Push-ups or Weighted Bosu Ball Push-ups

I like to do Tyson push-ups during every chest workout. In its place, I may do Bosu ball push-ups, but I haven’t lately. If I decide to do the Bosu push-ups I’ll put weight on my back and do push-ups with my hands on the flat side of the ball. Once I hit failure, I’ll do normal push-ups as part of a superset.

Cable Crossover

I like to do a drop set on this popular exercise to finish with a nice pump. Once again, I’m going for a nice stretch and good strong contraction on every single rep. This is a set done to really feel in the pecs, so I keep the reps high. At least 20 reps are what I’m shooting for.

How Often To Do These Workouts

Having been weight training for over 30 years, I feel attuned to what my muscles need to at least maintain strength and size. Once upon a time, I trained each muscle, including the pecs, more often than I do now. Nowadays, each muscle is trained once per week. I feel that with enough volume this is enough to give you the results you want.