By: Sean Nalewanyj
Submitted: 2009-11-03 06:14:03 | Word Count: 849
The bottom-line is that everyone wants to build chest muscles.
It is all too common to see inexperienced lifters slaving away on endless sets of bench presses and cable crossovers in an attempt to build chest muscles. The reality is that there is nothing complicated about building an impressive chest.
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You will need consistency, effort, and steady progression in both weights and repetitions to build chest muscles. A press and a flye are the two basic motions that are widely used when using weights to build chest muscles.
Pressing motions will give you the best results from your chest workouts. The anabolic effect of high intensity pressing movements is critical to your chest workouts, even though flyes still have their place from time to time.
I'm referring to the basics-heavy barbell presses, dumbbell presses, and wide-grip dips will do the job.
Look, there are no magic formulas or killer techniques to build chest muscles. Go for the basic presses, put your mind on overload and progression, and it's a guarantee that you will see impressive gains.
Here are the most effective lifts to successfully build chest muscles:
***Flat/Incline/Decline Barbell Bench Press
A standard barbell press is the meat and potatoes of any effective routine to build chest muscles. This basic move lets you handle the most weight through the given range of motion.
When you work with an incline press, you can target the upper region of your chest and the decline press helps you to work out the lower/outer regions of your chest muscles.
Both regions are worked equally with the flat bench press.
When setting up a routine to build chest muscles, I highly recommend that you add a standard barbell press to the works.
***Flat/Incline/Decline Dumbbell Press
When you want to build chest muscles, dumbbell presses are also very effective.
The main advantage of dumbbells is their ability to allow you to move through a more natural range of motion than the barbells, and this helps to prevent shoulder injuries. This also prevents strength imbalances, since both arms are forced to exert an equal amount of effort.
The biggest drawback is that you cannot take on as much weight. Still, the standard dumbbell press is a major movement when you want to build chest muscles.
***Wide-Grip Dips
This top chest movement is often overlooked.
Shift the stress from the triceps onto the pectorals by using a wider grip and leaning forward. If pressing your own body weight is not sufficient then you can always add resistance by using a weight belt.
Dips are an excellent compound movement for overall chest development.
Sample Chest Routines
Chest Routine# 1
Flat Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Chest Routine# 2
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
Flat Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps
All reps should be performed to concentric muscular failure, and sets should consist of 5 to 7 reps.
Note down the details of each workout and always focus on progressing in either reps or weights each week to build chest muscles.
