If you’ve read any of my articles on arm training you know I’m all about building big, muscular arms that ooze power and look great! But to look and feel your very best you’ve got to balance those GUNS with a thick, muscular chest.

Many beginning bodybuilders mistakenly believe that barbell bench press is all they need to build a massive chest. And some guys love to impress themselves by bragging about how much they can “bench.” Hopefully you’re not in this crowd because you simply can’t build truly awesome pecs with barbell bench press alone. The standard bench press is a compound exercise that involves coordinated work from the chest, triceps and shoulders. While this exercise is great for building overall upper body strength, it’s not enough for getting maximum growth, shape and muscularity in the entire pectoral region.

If you really want a big, muscular chest with well defined pecs that look like tectonic plates, you should try the 5 chest building exercises I’ve listed below. I’ve chosen these exercises because they’re simple and effective for beginners who need a solid foundation in chest-building fundamentals to achieve long-term bodybuilding success. The equipment needed for each exercise is generally available at any gym or health club. Each of my Top 5 chest-building exercises will help you simultaneously build mass, shape and power in your chest. The entire pectoral area is directly targeted during each exercise to maximize growth and efficiency from your workouts.

Now, here’s my list of the Top 5 starter exercises for building the big, muscular chest that you desire! They’re not listed in any particular order, so there’s no reason to think that one particular exercise is better than another. You must decide what works best for you by experimenting with each exercise. But rest assured that any chest-building program that includes all of these exercises will definitely add inches, symmetry and power to your pecs.

1. Dumbbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Bench Press is one of my favorite exercises for building mass, shape and power in my pecs. Try it and you’ll soon feel this way too! Unlike barbell bench press which often causes shoulder pain and risks rotator cuff injury, this exercise allows you to comfortably stretch your pecs through a greater range of motion to stimulate more muscle fibers for enhanced growth and shape.

And if you really want to build strength in your chest, balancing and controlling each dumbbell during high intensity sets requires considerably more power than it does to complete the same motion with a barbell. If you don’t believe me, consider the following. If your one-rep maximum in the barbell bench press is 250 pounds, you might logically assume that you could work with two 125 dumbbells for your Dumbbell Bench Press. But if you actually tried to do this you’d be in for a big surprise! Bench press with dumbbells is harder and requires more strength than the barbell variety. I recommend it for beginners because the difficulty lies not in the technical aspects of the lift, but in the strength required to complete it. And the sooner you start developing the strength in your chest necessary to effectively complete this exercise, the better.

2. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

The size, shape and strength building benefits of Incline Dumbbell Bench Press are basically the same as discussed in Exercise #1 above. The basic difference is that these benefits are concentrated in the upper portion of your pecs. If you’ve never done this exercise before or if you’ve only done it with a barbell, remember that Incline Dumbbell Bench Press requires and builds more strength than doing the same movement with a barbell. That means you’ll need to experiment initially with different poundage to find the amount of weight that you can lift with proper training technique. Remember, don’t try to impress or keep up with anyone else in the gym – especially when you’re first starting out. And don’t worry about those guys doing nothing but incline barbell bench press. They’ll be shocked when they see your chest after disciplined and consistent training with this exercise.

3. Parallel Bar Dips

Parallel Bar Dips are great for shaping and building mass in the entire pectoral region. Grasp the handles of a parallel dip apparatus and hold your body suspended between them. For primary training emphasis on your chest, lean forward as you perform this exercise (holding your torso erect puts primary resistance on your triceps). Inhale as you lower yourself as far down as you can comfortably descend and then exhale as you push yourself back up to the starting position. This exercise is a great bodyweight chest builder as long as you watch your technique and lean forward throughout the movement.

For an overload effect or to pyramid your work sets, use a harness to hang a barbell plate or dumbbell from your waist for added resistance. Most commercial gyms and some health clubs have these harnesses, so if you need one, ask for it.

4. Flat Bench Dumbbell Flys

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flys are designed to build well defined, massive pecs by isolating resistance on the chest as much as possible with strict training technique. Such technique requires the controlled movement of the dumbbells over your chest with your back and shoulders planted firmly on a flat or incline workout bench. This means you shouldn’t try to do this exercise with excessively heavy weight (I suggest poundage that allows you to do 10-12 reps). Make sure that you don’t jerk the dumbbells together with bodyweight or shoulder assistance. This type of cheating on training technique deprives the chest of the work it needs to grow and simply wastes time. If done properly, this exercise will thicken and shape the “pec-delt tie-ins” where your chest and shoulders meet to give your pecs a full and wide frontal appearance.

5. Weighted Pushups

Standard pushups are a compound exercise that involves the triceps, chest and shoulders in the “pushing” motion. If you can do 3 sets of 15-20 pushups with little or no difficulty, you should try Weighted Pushups to increase resistance on your chest.

For proper performance, take a standard pushup position with your hands and arms extended and shoulder-width apart. Have a training buddy gently place a 5-10 pound barbell plate on your back to force your chest to work harder than it would with a standard pushup (you can increase the amount of weight as needed).

Make sure you keep your back straight and your head up to balance the weight and put maximum resistance on your chest. Slowly lower your chest to nearly touch the floor and then push yourself back up to the starting position. Try this and you’ll be amazed at the results you can get from such a simple exercise!

So, there you have it – my Top 5 list of chest-building exercises for beginning bodybuilders. When you try them, make sure that you use safe amounts of weight and proper training technique with every exercise. Have fun and start making plans to buy some bigger shirts!

Build Muscle

Vince Delmonte asked:


So you think you know everything about building muscle? If you have read everything, tried everything and heard everything about muscle building but still resemble the silouette of a Calvin Klien model instead of a buff fitness model than I promise these three ‘little-known’ muscle building tips will accelerate your muscle gains immediately!

1. Body Weight Training

This was once a popular muscle building technique but is very commonly ignored. Why? Perhaps because most body weight training is simply hard and can put a dent in your precious ego! As far as I am concerned, if you can not work with your own body weight than you have no freaken business using external loading such as barbells and dumbbells.

It’s incredible how many attempt to use heavy weights with a microscopic range of motion but can’t do a set of push ups, a squat to the floor or even one chin up. Don’t get me wrong, there is definitely a place for external loading with heavy weights but not until you have the ability to master the following bench marks:

Males should aim for 1 set of 80 push ups, 1 set of 20 chin ups, 1 set of 20 1-leg squats, 1 set of 40 dips and 1 set of 20 pull ups.

Females should aim for 1 set of 40 push ups, 1 set of 5-10 chin ups, 1 set of 10 1-leg squats, 1 set of 10-15 dips and 1 set of 3-5 pull ups.

These standards will ensure a solid foundation of general fitness and muscular endurance and lead to building muscle mass more easily in the following stages of your weight training program.

2. Flip Your Program Upside Down Every 3 Weeks

This is an extremely powerful tip to building muscle mass, not to mention one of the easiest tricks to ensure your body side-steps plateaus forever. Consider that you have been training your chest shoulders and triceps every Monday. In you next phase, three weeks later, you should do the complete opposite. You will train your triceps, shoulders than chest on Friday. This will prevent plateaus because each muscle group will have an opportunity to train completely fresh.

Let’s say you are training your back, biceps, forearms and abs on Friday. Than you will train your abs, forearms, biceps, and back on Monday (in the opposite sequence). You will literally switch everything upside down. Again, this will ensure that these muscles receive an opportunity to train first in the week when your body is the most fresh.

You will curse my name when you blow the heck out of the smaller muscles first and than train the larger muscle groups last. Yes, I know this months issue of Bodybuilders Digest said to never train the smaller muscle groups before your larger muscle groups. I have heard it before so stop analyzing, trust me and give it a try. You be the judge and don’t be surprised if you see new levels of muscle mass and strength after this one technique.

3. Spend More Time At The Grocery Store

If you are serious about building muscle, accept the fact that you will need to spend more time than you do right now in the grocery store. Have you ever opened the fridge for something to eat and all you found was Aunt Wilma’s Thanksgiving turkey leftovers with mold on it? Ever gone into the cub boards and discover only a few leftover bags of potato chips from last weeks Super Bowl party?

To ensure a optimal environment for building muscle and fat loss you must ensure your cub boards and fridge are constantly stocked. This will mean more frequent trips to the grocery store. Chuck the crap that is in your kitchen right now and replace it with good stuff and keep on replacing it. Don’t ever let that supply of good food run low.



Muscle Gain