The Top 10 Chest Exercises for Building Muscle

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Barbell Bench Press Variations for Chest Growth:

In your workout: Bench toward the start of your chest workout for heavy sets in lower rep ranges, such as 5-8 reps. There are better moves for high-rep chest burnouts. Vary your grip width and style for more complete chest development.

Dumbbell Bench Press

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Incline Bench Press Variations for Chest Growth:

In your workout: As a primary lift, a few heavy sets of 6-8 can be your bread and butter. As a secondary lift, up it to 8-10. Many chest workouts start with flat-bench movements first, but every so often you should start with inclines, particularly if you’re trying to bring up your upper chest.

Decline Press

Machine Chest Press Variations for Chest Growth:

In your workout: Machine exercises make the most sense at the end of your workout for sets of at least 8-10 reps, plus dropsets or rest-pause sets if you can handle them. This is when you see if that pre-workout you’ve been taking can live up to its promises! Pump your pecs until they’re seriously fatigued and finish your workout strong.

Push-Up

Dip Variations for Chest Growth:

In your workout: If you can do them for high reps, dips make a great finisher to a pro-level chest day. If you can’t, you can do them earlier in your session in traditional strength- or muscle-building rep ranges, such as 6-8 or 8-10 reps. Dips also make a great superset pairing with push-ups for a big pump at the end of your workout.

Chest Fly

Why it’s on the list: Looking for a way to isolate the pecs after your presses? It’s time to fly. And when it comes to fly variations, you can’t beat cables. They allow for continuous tension throughout the exercise’s full range of motion, which is why they’re a no-brainer on the list of 10 Best Muscle-Building Isolation Exercises.

Cable cross-overs are most lifters’ go-to, and with good reason, but also consider trying a lying version on an incline bench. They’re more stable than a standing press, allowing you to push further into fatigue. And if you’re training with a partner, like in the BodyFit program Duel: 6-Week Partner-Based Muscle-Building Program, you can do a few dropsets for some real masochistic, muscle-building fun!

Fly Variations for Chest Growth:

In your workout: Do your flyes after your presses, either as your first isolation move, or as the final exercise in your workout. There’s no need to go heavy! Stick to higher-rep sets, like 10-12 reps or slightly higher.

Dumbbell Pull-Over

Why it’s on the list: Pull-overs have been a favorite torso builder of bodybuilders for decades. Dating back to the 1940s and earlier, lifters alternated them with 20-rep squats in workouts designed to expand the ribcage. The logic behind this approach may not stand up today, but the move is still worth including on a modern chest day.

Lean toward the incline version, which puts your chest fibers under tension for a longer range of motion. Use a bench that’s 30-45 degrees and keep your elbows in a fixed comfortable angle. The more they bend and flex, the more this becomes a triceps movement.

Pull-Over Variations for Chest Growth

In your workout: Do pull-overs at the very end of your workout for sets of around 12 reps. On every set, hold the peak contraction of the last rep for a full 5 seconds.

Machine Fly

Why it’s on the list: For the majority of lifters, the machine chest fly (aka, pec-deck) is a more effective, harder-to-screw-up alternative to dumbbell flyes. If your gym has one, it’s a great move to get a great pump without having to balance any weights or put your shoulders at risk.

But does it work? EMG data shows that activation of the pectoralis major is statistically similar between the machine fly and bench press, which means that even though you’ll likely be working in different rep ranges for each exercise, both are worthy components to chest day. The big difference? For the machine, you don’t need a spotter and can more safely push the intensity and reach true muscle failure.

In your workout: As a pre-exhaust, hit a few sets of 10-15 before your presses.As a burnout, hit the machine fly last in your routine for sets of around 10-12. Experiment with dropsets, partial reps, and other intensity boosters. Don’t be afraid to take this movement to failure, and know that you’ve earned your post-workout protein shake.

Best Chest Workouts

Hard and Heavy Chest Workout

If you’re someone who celebrates International Chest Day each Monday like clockwork, this is for you. It’s focused on heavy compound presses, but finishes with high-rep dips. Have anything left in the tank? Hit your triceps next.

Hard and Heavy Chest Workout

Workout to Build Your Upper Chest

Want to build your shelf? This is your workout. It’s great on its own, but is also an ideal approach if you like to do two chest days a week. That’s the approach taken in the popular program 30-Day Chest with Abel Albonetti.

Upper Chest Workout

Machine Pump Chest Workout

No bench press? No problem. This high-rep, short-rest workout will allow you to move solid weights and chase failure. Feel free to mix in some dropsets and leave the gym with that shirt feeling tight!

Machine Pump Chest Workout

Best Chest-Building Programs

What Are the Best Chest Programs for Mass?

What Are the Best Chest Programs for Mass?

The best chest-building programs feature workouts you’ll be looking forward to all week long. Lift heavy, finish with a pump, and give your chest everything it needs to grow. If there’s any time left afterward, do the same for your triceps!

If you want to follow a similar blueprint to build the rest of your body, check out the companion pieces in this series:

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