chest exercises

Chest Exercises became very popular around here since we let women know that training your chest has the power to boost your boobs. That’s why our Chest & Biceps Workout Category is called “Boobs & Biceps”. It is true that you cannot alter your breast tissue with exercise, but you can alter the muscle that sits behind the breast tissue, and this muscle (the pectorals), when trained and built, can boost your boobs by pushing them further out and up.

Want to boost your boobs? Then these Chest Exercises will help get you there. And if you’re looking for something else, check out our entire exercise database broken down by muscle group here.

The purpose of the exercises on this page is not to be an exhaustive list of all Chest Exercises, it is simply here to offer you some suggestions that you may not have considered in your workout plans already. Use these exercises as an “add on” to your existing plan, or combine them with some exercises from our other muscle group categories to make yourself a full plan.

Chest Exercises Benefits

We already covered the aesthetic benefits of Chest Exercises above, so now let’s consider the other benefits:

A strong chest will contribute to improved upper body strength, endurance and athletic performance. You will perform better on all push exercises and daily activities will become much easier for you. A strong chest will also leave you with better posture, which will always benefit you in the long term.

What Muscles Make Up Your Chest?

Your chest, or pectoral muscles, consist of two main muscle groups: the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. The pectoralis major is the larger muscle and is divided into two portions: the clavicular head (upper chest) and the sternal head (lower chest). The pectoralis minor is a smaller muscle underneath the pectoralis major and assists in stabilising the shoulder.

Why Do Chest Exercises?

Chest Exercises are essential for anyone who wants to build strength, muscle mass, and definition in their chest muscles. Strong chest muscles not only contribute to a more aesthetically pleasing physique but also enhance functional movement and athletic performance. Whether you're aiming to improve your bench press, increase your pushing power, or you simply want a more defined chest, incorporating Chest Exercises into your routine is essential.

How Often Should I Do Chest Exercises?

That’s up to you, we recommend at least once per week, keeping in mind that the more you train the faster your results. BUT do not overtrain as this will not benefit you and could lead to injury. You should allow at least one day between Chest Exercises where you are focused on a different muscle group entirely or resting.

What Equipment Is Best For Chest Exercises?

The King of Chest Exercises is the Bench Press, and of course this is performed with a barbell. Generally speaking; barbell exercises get the fastest results, because they allow you to move the most weight. That’s not to say you shouldn’t use dumbbells, cables, machines and bodyweight, all types of equipment have their place. Start with the barbell exercises and work your way down through dumbbells, then onto the assisted/less intense exercises using cables, machines and bodyweight.

What Are The Most Effective Chest Exercises?

Think of all Chest Exercises as part of a bigger picture, because the fact is, there is no one, two or three exercises that act as a magic ingredient. Of course there are many staples that you should include, such as some of the many bench press variations, but you should also consider a wider range of different compound and isolation exercises that use both free weights, cables and bodyweight.

How Can I Use These Chest Exercises To My Advantage?

An Added Boost to Your Existing Plan

As with all exercises in our database, you are encouraged to use them to enhance your existing workout, by picking out exercises for the muscle groups you want to grow and adding them to your current routine.

Build Complete Workouts

You may also make yourself a full weekly workout rotation with these exercises, but that will require some critical thinking on your part. We can give you the exercises, there is a lot of information on each individual exercise page for you to work with. But it’s up to you to take that information and use it to build the best workout plans for you. With experience this will get easier.

Building a Workout Basics

When you create a workout plan for yourself, you should start with a general plan of which muscle groups you will train on each day. If you are a beginner, keep it simple with an upper/lower body split. Intermediate and advanced lifters will move to rotate muscle groups or other methods such as push, pull, legs.

Once you know how you will train on each day, choose a key compound exercise to start with. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say you’re planning a lower body or leg workout plan. The most obvious exercise to start with is a Squat, if you don’t want to squat, you can start with a Deadlift or a Lunge. A good weightlifting workout plan always starts with a compound barbell exercise, you should work your way down through freeweight, cable and machine exercises, finishing up on bodyweight exercises all focused on the target muscle group.

Progress

Always make sure that you push yourself out of your comfort zone, as soon as you feel like you are breezing through your workout with ease, it’s time to switch things up. There are 3 things you can do in this instance:

Lift more
Change your rep/set method
Change your plan

Essentially, you should do all 3, but one thing at a time. The most sustainable results come from incremental changes over time.

Consistency

The results we want from weightlifting don’t happen overnight and they don’t happen with one single exercise, workout or strategy. You need to keep showing up and evolving. When you train consistently you get results. There are no shortcuts.

Looking for a full Chest Workout?

We have a Simply Chest Workout category in our Members Zone portal, it’s part of our single muscle group series. These workouts are designed to be used as an add on to any full workout plan, or combined with other single muscle group workouts to make a complete plan. We also have a selection of Abs & Core finisher plans available in the portal. You can sample some of these plans when you sign up for a Free Members Zone account. All you need to provide is a valid email address so that we can create your secure account. Then just head to “My Zone” and you will find a selection of free plans.

More chest exercises coming soon...

Just so you know, this list of chest exercises is a work in progress and is by no means extensive. We will continue to grow this entire database for you over time, so be sure to check back for updates. Alternatively, you can join our mailing list below and you'll be the first to know about all new content we produce.