The 10 best chest exercises for men - get the perfect pecs!
If you’re looking for some great exercises to help you build the chest of your dreams, take note of this quick list of the 10 best chest exercises for men. They’ll help you build lean muscle fast, so you can quickly get the chest you want!
1) Push-Ups
Chest workouts for men don’t have to revolve around machines or cables. Pushing yourself up and down on your own is a chest exercise for men that everyone can do. The push-up works your chest, triceps, shoulders, and core all at once, so it’s not just one of those bench presses you saw on TV. It’s a classic muscle-building exercise that builds muscle mass in your chest. To maximize results, do push-ups several times per week after taking a warm shower when blood flow to your muscles is higher than normal.
2) Chest Presses
Chest presses are perhaps one of the most common chest exercises out there. If you're a beginner, you'll probably want to start with either barbell or dumbbells (depending on your strength level) and try to do 3 sets of 8-12 reps. These can be done with a wide range of grips, but I find that most beginners perform them best when they are right under their chin and more vertical than an incline press would be. After you feel comfortable with these, then move on to incline presses, decline presses, and flat flyes.
3) Cable Crossovers
This is a great exercise to help develop your deltoids and is a great chest exercise for men who want to add bulk. Start by attaching two cables in a Y-shape. Begin with your arms crossed, palms facing one another. Move each arm straight up from your sides until you've reached your max height. Slowly bring each arm back down and repeat. This should be an explosive movement and shouldn't take more than ten seconds per rep at most. To maximize results, use lighter weights and do more repetitions; working in short intervals will also improve your endurance—this exercise should be extremely difficult towards its end, as you'll be using almost every last bit of energy you have left to keep going throughout each set of reps
4) Dumbbell Pullovers
The dumbbell pullover is a great chest exercise for working both your major and minor pectoralis and improving your posture. Start with a pair of dumbbells or kettlebells at shoulder width apart and laid across your thighs. Slowly lower them behind your head in an arc motion until you feel a stretch in your chest, hold it there for 2-3 seconds, then slowly return to starting position. You can also perform kickbacks with weights to achieve similar results if pullovers are too hard on your shoulders. Here's how: lay back on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and raise them up over your head until they're completely straight.
5) Dumbbell Chest Flyes
Chest workouts for men generally focus on both the upper and lower chest. The dumbbell chest flye is an excellent variation that emphasizes your upper chest by targeting your inner pec muscles with a downward rotation at mid-rep to mimic and isolate a horizontal fly. To add even more difficulty, take a full breath in at peak contraction and hold it until your lower back is down. As you grow stronger over time, try using heavier weights or increasing your reps per set to make sure you continue reaping all of these benefits without any plateauing.
6) Cable Pec Flyes
Cable Pec Flyes (Or, as Arnold calls them, Butterfly Chest Presses) are one of my favorite chest exercises. They’re pretty easy to learn and they hit your chest from a slightly different angle than typical pressing movements. Plus, I really like that you can do these on a cable machine with a low-cable pulley system. The low pulley helps you create more tension in your pec muscles and allows you to use heavier weights to overload your pectoralis major muscle group and build thicker upper chest muscles simultaneously. This also allows me to incorporate heavy weights into my chest workouts for men even though I don’t have much room in my home gym since I keep my cable machine up against one wall.
7) Dip Bar Triceps Extension
You've probably heard of dips as a great way to build triceps, but dips aren't just good at working your triceps -- they're also among the best ways to work your pectoral muscles. The dip bar triceps extension is an advanced version of a standard dip that targets your pectoral muscles by putting them in a stretched position at full extension and bringing them back under control. This not only works your pecs directly but also gives you more resistance through a greater range of motion with every rep. While traditional dips are still great, do make sure you build up to these once you're ready. It's much easier to hurt yourself on these if you're doing too much too soon.
8) Incline Bench Press
Dumbbells or Barbells? It’s a debate as old as time. Should you be using dumbbells or a bar to do your chest workout? While either will make an excellent addition to your exercise routine, it really comes down to preference. Each has pros and cons; ultimately, it’s just one more variable that can make all the difference when building muscle. With that said, however, the incline bench press tends to be easiest with a bar (just because of where it hits on your body) but we recommend you try out both – maybe even at different angles – so you can figure out what works best for you personally.
9) Decline Bench Press
To start, lie down with your back flat on a decline bench and grasp two dumbbells. Press them straight up over your face while keeping your wrists straight and elbows locked at a 90-degree angle. Lower slowly to complete one rep. This move is highly effective at isolating and building strength in your chest muscles, as well as sculpting your upper body into that of an Adonis. If you need further guidance, here's how to perform the decline barbell bench press correctly.
10) Standing Cable Flyes with Rope Attachment
If you want to build up your upper pec muscles, but don’t have a bench at home or access to free weights, then cable flies with a rope attachment are an excellent choice. Stand sideways in front of the machine, gripping an end of a rope in each hand. Push forward on both ends of the rope, pulling it towards you and using your back muscles to pull them apart (your arms will stay still). Remember not to lean back as you do so. If done properly, you should be able to feel the tension in your chest muscles throughout. To add weight (if needed), simply stand closer to or farther from one side of your body; using ankle weights would also work well with these types of machines.
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