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The 3 WORST (And Best) Chest Exercises For Growth

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Rating: 4.5; Vote: 2

I'm going to show you 3 common chest exercises that are slowing your gains and the exercises you should be doing instead for a bigger chest. Im going to give you much more effective options than the common incline bench press, dumbbell fly, and pinch press for chest growth. Start using the best chest exercises we cover in this video for your chest workout and youll be able to grow your chest faster than you ever have before. For a well developed chest, you need to focus on growing the upper chest. Its what fills out your chest and gives it a proportionate look. One of the most popular upper chest exercises, the incline bench press, may be leaving gains on the table because of the angle of the bench and the angle of your elbows. Thats because, contrary to common practice, to target the upper chest, you dont need a very high bench angle. So, where does this leave the incline bench press? Unfortunately most incline benches are pre-set, and at too high of an angle at about 30 degrees with some even as high as 45 degrees. A good alternative for better chest growth is to use a low incline dumbbell press set to roughly 15 degrees. This is generally the first or second notch up on the bench. Were using dumbbells instead of barbells here because keeping the elbows tucked to 45 degrees as you press helps significantly increases upper chest activity since it better lines up the arms with the fibers of the upper chest. Since with dumbbells you can adjust your wrist position to whatever feels best rather than being locked into the barbell, youre able to achieve this elbow angle without stressing your joints. As a fan of Arnold, I used to love the dumbbell fly. It wasnt until I learned more about the science behind the chest involvement during the dumbbell fly did I realize there was a better option. People often think that the dumbbell fly is one of the best chest exercises around. Admittedly, the dumbbell fly isolates the chest. So, it seems like a great option to build your chest. The downside with this movement however is that it only really works the chest at the bottom part of the movement when your chest is fully stretched and your arms are fully extended to your sides. As soon as you pass this point, your chest becomes less and less involved, which makes the exercise less effective for overall chest growth. That being said, we still want to do some kind of fly movement in our chest workout. Were going to do that by making 1 big change to your flyes that will keep constant tension on your chest and work it through its full range of motion. Keep the bench but move it upright and place it between two cables that are set at about the height of your chest. Grab the handles, sit between them, and perform your fly there. If you dont have cables handy, you can mimic a similar setup by wrapping a band around your hands and performing the dumbbell fly like so. This will help keep a little bit of tension on the chest throughout the whole movement. One of the most Instagram famous chest exercises for a bigger chest is often done by squeezing a weight plate or two dumbbells together while you bring your arms out and in. The general idea is to do this to target more of the inner chest. The problem here is that all the chest is doing is keeping the weights squeezed together. This type of contraction on the chest is whats called an isometric contraction, which isnt very effective for building muscle. The front delts and triceps are whats actually moving the weight out and in, and are benefiting more from this exercise than the chest is. What can you do instead? A good swap for this exercise is the cross body press using either a machine or a cable. To perform this exercise, you will get set up at a 90 degree angle so that you can push ACROSS your body one arm at a time. If you dont have a machine handy, you can do the same thing with a cable by putting a handle attachment on and pushing across your body. This can be done with a band as well. This exercise will still allow you to get the same strong activation and squeeze on the chest as youd get with the pinch press. But by using your chest to push the weight away from you rather than just holding a weight in place, youll now be providing your chest with the right type of contraction to grow.
Date: 2022-01-03

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Comments and reviews: 8

Sloosh
The only problem I have with this video is that the chest is only made up of the upper and lower parts. I could be completely wrong here, but I do not believe that there is any such think as targeting the middle of your chest, and so I think that those parts are a little misleading. Other than that this is a great video and all of the other Info definitely seems to hold up.
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allnighter2011
Best thing about this video is including 3 alternatives (machine, cable, and bands) for each exercise. many times you see great videos with great exercises but the problem is you don't have that particular machine. showing the alternatives to do the same exercise is beyond helpful. thank you
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Riley
3rd replacement exercise- everything Ive read about it suggests that it doesnt help with gains, mainly because of its range of motion. It feels good but doesnt actually activate the chest well. Not sure if theres something out there that says the contrary
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WhyDashCamMatters
Hi Jeremy, Im currently working out at home without a bench. How can I build my upper chest if thats the case?
Another question Ive is that, whats the ratio should I prioritise my upper chest exercises over the flat presses? Thanks
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Craig
My opinion the pinch press is a rubbish exercise but if you do want to do it and don't have a machine do it lying down that way you are using your chest to fight against gravity and not so much arms
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xxcrysad3000xx
I do a pinch press with plates as an activation exercise but yeah, other than that it has practically no utility. Will have to try that cross body machine press, looks legit.
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Carlos
Awesome vids! love the variety and the way you explain. This video is lacking proper white balance in your camera you look a little purple.
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Ross
Keep the scientific studies at the core of your presentations. Cant go wrong with facts. Thanks for everything you do!
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