These Are the Best Chest Exercises for Stronger Chest Muscles.

We’ve worked the upper back , biceps and triceps , so it’s time to finish off the upper body day with my best chest exercises. And before you ask, these are the best chest exercises for men and women. You will find gender specific lists, but the same exercises work for all genders. I will explain.

What are the pectoral muscles and what are they for?

The main muscle of the chest is the so-called pectoralis major muscle, which literally means “core muscle of the chest” in Latin. For short, we call them rib cages . (There is also the pectoralis minor; it is a tiny muscle that lies underneath the pectoralis major.)

The pectoral muscles originate at the sternum (chest bone, in the middle of the chest) and connect to the shoulder. When they contract, they bring your arms closer to your chest. When you hug someone tightly, your pectoral muscles work. The pectoral muscles are also active if you push that person because they hold your arms in front of your chest during the push.

With that in mind, exercises that work the chest are those that bring your arms together in front of your body, as well as exercises in which you push something away from you at about chest level.

Should women do chest exercises?

Yes, of course, because your breasts are part of your body. If you don’t train your chest, you’re neglecting an entire area of ​​your body that can contribute to your overall strength and health. As we’ve seen, the chest muscles help with pushing and everything you do with your arms in front of you. Strong breasts are part of a well-developed, strong body.

To answer the two most common questions about this:

• Do breast exercises make breasts smaller? No. You can’t make a body part smaller by training it .

• Do chest exercises make your breasts bigger? Not really. You will build muscle under your breasts, but most people find that this does not affect their breast size or overall body shape.

If your main concern is how you look, working out your chest won’t have much of an impact on your appearance. This will affect your strength and muscle mass. I wouldn’t skip these exercises. The more upper body strength we have, the better.

Best Chest Exercise for Gym Bros: Bench Press

You probably saw it coming: I’m declaring the bench press the absolute winner, and it’s already been recognized by athletes around the world. This is an exercise in which you lie on your back on a bench and lift a barbell, pushing it away from you towards the ceiling.

There are many variations of this exercise, but I prefer the regular bench press. You can load it heavier than most other versions and it’s honestly a lot of fun. To do this correctly, place your feet on the floor and tuck your shoulders under your back. (You’ll likely end up with a slight arch in your back.) This will put your body in the strongest, most efficient position for safely moving heavy weights.

But don’t be afraid to try other options! The dumbbell bench press is a classic, and there are variations of the bench press that can be performed on an incline or incline bench to target different parts of the muscle. Combine exercises with a bench with elevated legs or a reverse grip.

Better insulation: the car flies

I sincerely apologize to the English-speaking world on behalf of all my gym bros that there is no good way to pluralize the exercise known as chest fly or pectoral fly. Flying? No, it looks like a bunch of insects. Does it fly? It does not make sense. Does it fly? It makes even less sense, but that’s what people call it. I’m sorry.

Either way, you flap your wings like a butterfly. You can perform turns with dumbbells while lying on a bench; The trick is to do this with relatively straight arms and not turn it into a bench press. You can fly with two cables spaced apart and call it a “cable crossover,” but good luck grabbing two whole stacks of cables on a busy day at the gym.

Instead, just use the machine. Almost every gym has a machine known as a “chest machine” (sometimes it can also do backswings), and you can just sit there, adjust your starting position as needed, and do the backswings.

Best Minimalist Chest Exercise: Dips

I’ve included push-ups in our list of the best triceps exercises , so I won’t spend too much time on them. Like the bench press, dips work both the chest and triceps. You can make push-ups easier by using a push-up machine, a bench to rest your feet on, or a band. You can make them more difficult by holding a weight plate between your knees or by strapping dumbbells to your waist.

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