While it’s true that our chest is one of those primary muscle groups that we tend to work on most frequently for obvious reasons, sadly it’s the same muscle the majority of people find most difficult to build.
Most of the time we are prone to do flat press exercises mainly, such as bench press, that result in imbalanced development of chest muscles due to inadequate focus on other types of movements. Hence, consistency is what we should concentrate more on than the mere volume if one wants to build an attractive chest with proportionately developed muscles.
That simply means it’s crucial to target every muscle group of our chest area to train them accordingly. Here you’ll find the experts recommended best five chest workouts using a chest press machine and other equipment that you can follow to build your chest mass and muscles, so keep reading until the end.
1. Bench Press with Barbell
This is arguably the most popular chest expansion workout, so much so that it has been the gold standard and most recommended exercise to build chest muscle and mass by personal trainers all over the world.
First, lie on a bench straight facing upward. Ensure your feet are firmly placed on the ground and your head and back are correctly aligned on the bench. Now, unrack the bar and lower the same towards your chest slowly while pressing the feet on the ground. Take a pause of a second or two if you can hold (it’s not necessary though), and drive the bar up using your arms. The bar should have weights attached as per your ability; however, you can increase that a little if you want to push your limit a bit.
2. Bench Press with Dumbbell
This exercise is similar to the barbell bench press; however, it works better on pectoral muscles as it promotes their intended functions more precisely. The dumbbell bench press allows you to bring the weight closer to the chest midline instead of pushing it upwards. It is further easier to distribute the strength between two arms more evenly with this workout as here you’re holding two free weights that are not connected.
Now, start with lying down flat on the back on a standard weight bench and keep the feet on the ground. Grab and hold a dumbbell with each of your hands, rest the weights on the shoulder gently for a moment or two, and drive them up straight.
3. Push-ups
While building mass, it’s crucial to supplement weight training with more movement-centric workouts for an all-round chest development program. Now, these exercises that require rapid motions are hard to carry out with weights safely; therefore you must add some explosive push-up sessions in-between your weightlifting schedules.
Here you don’t need a bench or a chest press machine, instead, simply get on the floor on your knees and hand. Now, stretch your legs back while maintaining the position and body alignment with your toes. Make sure your hands are placed not very far from your shoulders and lower your chest towards the ground as you flex your arms. The intensity of this exercise can be increased by more rapid movements and by extending the time of each set step by step.
4. Bench Press -Inclined
This is another form of bench press exercise that we mentioned at the top of this list and it works on the same group of muscles, including triceps, deltoids, and pectoral. However, this specific workout targets the upper chest more than the previous and place a lot more workload in the same area. It can be performed in the exact similar way, only the bench should be in an inclined position. Make sure your elbows do not deviate outwards beyond a 45-degree angle to avoid putting strains on your shoulders which could lead to a joint injury.
5. Bench Press - Declined
Just like the inclined variation, the decline bench press also belongs to the same bench press workout category where the bench would be in a declined position. While working on the same set of muscles, it concentrates more on the lower chest portion. Read more here about how to buy chest press machine gym equipment for your gyms.