Crazy About Fitness

How to Build Chest Muscles

Build Chest Muscles

Bodybuilding Routine + Chest Weightlifting Exercises

The chest is a very important area in the human body and the strength of those big muscles are key to perform alot of daily activities. Most people do not know that switching the angle at which you lift the barbell can determine which part of the chest muscle you workout more.

There are many different weightlifting exercises you can perform to get a firmer chest. I will provide you with exercises that I believe are crucial to devoloping an all around strong chest.

Bodybuilding + Chest Routine

One of the first questions that often gets asked is "how many reps and sets do I do to build a big chest?". For all of the exercises that I'm going to provide you, a good starting point is to perform 10 reps per set and do 3 to 4 sets. Ok, so let's get started on how to build a big chest muscle.

1.)Barbell or dumbell bench press:

keep hands about shoulder width apart, lower weight to the lower third of your pec or to your sternum, then push the weight back up in a controlled manner. Try not to lift your back off the bench while you get the weight up, that would be considered a cheat rep and we do not want those yet. If you want to work the outside of the chest, widen your grip. If you want to work / build the inner part of the chest, narrow your grip. This is a great exercise on how to build chest muscle.

2.)Incline Bench Press:

hands should remain the same width apart as in the regular bench. Lower weight to the sternum, take a brief pause, then lift the weight back up in a controlled manner. This exercise works the top part of the chest mostly. Most of the time, you will not be able to do as much weight on incline as you will on regular of decline bench press.

3.)Decline Bench Press:

hands should remain shoulder width apart. Lower the weight to your sternum and pause very briefly, then raise the weight back up. This exercise mainly works the lower part of the chest. This will give you the the definition at the bottom of the pectoral muscle and will really help build chest muscles.

4.) Dips:

keep hands slightly closer or shoulder width apart. Lower your body down until your upper arms are at a 90 degree angle from your lower arms, pause briefly then push your weight back up. Remember to keep your back straight at all times, do not arch your back when pushing your weight back up. Also, make sure to give yourself a slight forward lean when doing this exercise. This weightlifting exercise works the lower part ot the chest and also is a great weightlifting exercise for your biceps / triceps. This is also a great way to build chest muscle without weights.

5.) Dumbbell Fly:

find a flat bench and lay down on it dumbbells in hand. Raise dumbbells away from your body keeping your palms facing each other. Now extend the dumbbells away from your body in an arcing manner while keeping a very slight bend in your elbows. Stop the weight once your arms are perpendicular to the bench, then raise the weight back up to the starting position. This exercise works the outside of the chest really well but is a good exercise for the entire chest. You will have to work your way up to this exercise. Start with light weight and work your way up to heavier weights.

6.) Push-Ups:

Push ups are a great exercise for you chest and you can do them anywhere. All bodybuilding routines include these. There isn't a bodybuilder out there that has not done push ups to help strengthen and define there chest. For weaker push ups, perfrom on your knees. If you want an intensive push up, keep your hands very close together when lowering and raising yourself during the exercise.

You can more reps with this exercise because it is only your partial your bodyweight which you are lifting. This is another exercise to build chest muscle without weights.

These are just some of the great exercises i know to workout the chest. These are also bodybuilding exercises that professionals use as well and i know they can work for anyone no matter what your physical goal may be in the gym.

I would recommend performing some of these exercises in the presence of a spotter just in case you may not be able to lift the weight up on your last rep of a set or if you get stuck. When trying to put on muscle mass, develop huge, massive chest muscles, then you have to include the above exercises.