Chest Exercises
Your main chest muscle, the pectoralis major, runs from your breastbone and collarbone to the top of your upper arm. It pushes your arms forward and pulls them across your body, as in a hug. The upper fibers near the collarbone also help to lift the arm forward and up. The main chest pattern is the horizontal press: push-ups, bench presses, floor presses and dips. An incline press moves some of the work toward the upper fibers. Flyes on a cable or a pec deck train the hugging motion with the elbows almost straight. Your triceps and the front of your shoulders help in every press, so a chest session trains them too.
6 exercises with male and female illustrations.
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Beginner picks: easy to learn and easy to load.
Horizontal push
Questions
Can I train my chest without a bench?
Yes. Push-ups and their easier and harder versions train the chest with no equipment, and the dumbbell floor press needs only a pair of dumbbells. In an 8-week study, push-ups done at a load matched to a light bench press gave similar chest muscle growth and strength gain as the bench press.
How many chest exercises should I do in a workout?
Count your hard sets for the chest across the week, not the number of exercises in one session. A meta-analysis found a graded dose-response: more weekly sets went with more muscle growth. For a beginner, one press done with good effort is a solid start; add a second exercise, such as a fly, when you want more chest work.
Do I need incline presses for the upper chest?
You do not need them, because flat presses and push-ups train the whole muscle. An incline bench changes the angle of the arm and puts more of the work on the fibers near the collarbone. Use one when you want more upper chest work or more variety.