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Men consider their chest muscles as one of the top show muscles, second only to their biceps. For women, chest muscles are very important in maintaining the perky appearance of their breasts. These are the primary reasons why many individuals look for the best chest exercises that they can use. Well, look no more as the following list should provide you with everything you need to know as regards the best chest exercises.

The Barbell Bench Press is known as the king of all chest exercises for good reason. In fact, if you were made to choose just three of the best chest exercises, this exercise should still be on that list. There are several variations of the flat barbell bench press that you can choose from. In general, close-grip barbell bench presses are used to work the triceps, while wide-grip barbell bench presses are considered a standard chest muscle builder. The middle-grip barbell bench press is the most effective for strengthening both your triceps and the pectorals; what’s best is that it strengthens your shoulders as well.

The Dumbbell Bench Press ranks second on our list of the best chest exercises because it is an awesome way of ensuring that you do not experience any strength imbalance between the two sides of your body. This exercise is also commendable because it works with the natural function of the chest muscles with its focus on moving the weights toward the middle of the body. You may choose to do incline, decline, or flat dumbbell bench presses. If you choose flat dumbbell bench presses, you may also choose to use a wide, medium, or close grip during the exercise.

Explosive push-ups are also among the top choices of chest exercises. No matter how much time you devote on bench presses or any other type of chest exercise, you should never take push-ups for granted. This exercise is an excellent way of developing power not only in your chest, but also in your shoulders and triceps. Clapping and plyometric push-ups are the two most recommended types of push-ups for you to try. There’s a bit of debate going on as regards the position of your head during push-ups. Ideally, you should hold your head up and look forward when performing this exercise. But, when you are doing plyometric push-ups by jumping up onto weight plates, then you probably won’t have much choice but to look down in order to avoid missing your target.

Chest Dips closely resemble the movement of decline bench presses, except that it works more on strengthening your triceps for chest pressing. If you have a bad shoulder, it is advised that you either refrain from doing this exercise, or stick to shallow dipping. If you feel that your shoulders are strong enough and you decide to include this exercise in your routine, then you must remember to lean slightly forward so as to keep the tension more on your pectorals than your triceps. The most common variations of this exercise are the assisted, bodyweight, and weighted chest dips.

Dumbbell Flyes are not really that important as chest exercises, but they can be very effective recovery exercises. Of course, you will need to rest for a day or two after doing intense chest workouts, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect exercising your chest during that period. Dumbbell flyes allow for a good stretch and increase the blood flow to all areas of your chest. It is also considered as a key exercise for muscle growth and flexibility, which is why it is included in our list of the five best chest exercises. When you perform this exercise, be careful not to bring your arms completely perpendicular to the floor at the top of the movement. Rather, you should stop the motion when your arms are about 15 degrees short of being completely overhead. Be sure to control the entire motion with your chest muscles and front deltoids as well, instead of with your triceps.

Full Body Workout

Of course, it’s not enough that you know what the best chest exercises are; you should also learn how to integrate them into a full body workout in order to get the best results. The barbell or dumbbell bench press (whether flat or inclined) should be your main chest exercise for each workout session. Follow this exercise with either a back or leg exercise and then perform dips or flyes followed immediately by calves or abs exercises.

If you choose to do a flat bench press as your main chest exercise, you should perform incline flyes after the back or leg exercise. On the other hand, if incline bench presses are your chest exercises of choice, then flat flyes should follow the back or leg exercise. These combinations are perfect for optimal lifting and for hitting the pectorals from a secondary angle. At the same time, you are working a secondary set of muscles – the shoulders during flyes and the triceps during dips.

The day following this type of workout, you should perform plyometric or clapping push-ups as the only chest exercise for the day. Ten sets of five repetitions should be enough. The goal is to focus solely on explosive chest training on that day. Remember that this type of exercise has to be explosive, so you should never perform it slowly or with a compromised form. That is why it is important to stop after ten sets; doing more might result in slower movement or bad form.

Split Workout Integration

If you are one of those people who prefer a split workout program, which works on different parts of the body each day, then this is how you can integrate the best chest exercises into your workout routine: Perform a flat bench press immediately followed by an incline bench press and then follow these up with either dips or flyes. It is best to do one barbell and then one dumbbell movement, but if you prefer doing two of the same type of movement, then that is also acceptable.

Just as with full body training, you should do explosive chest training on a separate day from strength training. It is important to focus on your efforts to build and strengthen your chest muscles. And if you really want to make superior gains in this area, then you should limit your squat and deadlift exercises to maintenance levels for about 4-6 weeks, the period within which you should prioritize chest training. If you just want to work your chest muscles without necessarily wanting to focus on it, then you can continue with your regular workout schedules with the five best chest exercises fully integrated.

Now you know what the best chest exercises are and how to integrate them into either a full body workout or a split workout routine. The necessary next step is for you to learn how to perform these exercises with the proper form and movement. If you are currently working with a personal fitness trainer, then you can ask your trainer for assistance in performing these chest exercises. Otherwise, you could look at online videos or illustrated instructional guides. However you choose to do it, what’s important is that you take action and take it NOW.

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Source by Michael Tottman