Chest Exercises for Men

Benefits

Exercises that define and sculpt your chest help you look your best at the beach or the gym. They can also help you do a variety of daily tasks, like lifting or pushing objects. On top of all that, while you improve your look and strength, you lift your mood, too. Working out the chest means working out the pectoral muscles, better known as the “pecs.” While the pecs are the largest muscles in the chest, there are actually several smaller muscles that support the pectoral muscles, including the latissimus dorsi muscles (or “lats”) on the sides of the chest and the trapezius muscle around the shoulders. Here’s a look at some top exercises to build your strength and size while helping support your overall daily movement.

How to Use

Getting started To make sure you work all the chest muscles, include a mix of motions in your chest workout routine: Press using the flat or incline bench, dumbbells, or bar, or seated machine chest press. Lift using the parallel bars, floor, or bench. Pull using the cable fly bench, dumbbells, or cable crossovers. If you’re a beginner, meet with a trainer to make sure you are following a good program with proper form during the exercises. Consider starting with a lower weight to reduce your risk of injury. You should be able to pick up the weight without too much strain. Remember, you can always go up in weight if the exercise seems too easy. The number of reps and sets you do depends on your goal: To increase size, try 1 to 3 sets of 8-12 reps for new or intermediate lifters or 3-6 sets of 1-12 reps for seasoned lifters, of a weight that is at the higher end of your 1 rep max. Rest 1-2 minutes with more reps and up to 3 minutes for higher weight, lower rep sets. To increase strength, try 1 to 3 sets of 8-12 reps for new or intermediate lifters or 2-6 sets of 1-8 reps for seasoned lifters, of a weight that is around 60-80 percent of your max, depending on your experience. Rest 1-2 minutes with more reps and up to 3 minutes for higher weight, lower rep sets.