Overview

Effective chest training involves targeting the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor to some capacity.

The pec major has the sternal and clavicular heads, in descending order of size.

The sternal head is involved in chest horizontal adduction and shoulder extension.

The clavicular head is involved in shoulder flexion.

The pec minor is mostly a stabiliser but good development can visually ‘push up’ the the pec major physique.

The chest is tied together with triceps and shoulders; although we’re grouping them into distinct categories for ease of discussion, in reality a pressing motion is going to involve all three muscle groups. Therefore overtraining of the shoulders or triceps have to be considered when designing a program.

Prescription

Minimalist

An absolute minimalist approach means 1 movement ‘slot’.

In this case if we can only one motor pattern, there’s a clear winner:

  • Incline converging press

Moderate

If we have more resources to expend on the muscle group, it is of course the preferred approach.

In this case the movement slots would look like this:

  • Incline converging press
  • Flat non-converging press
  • Chest fly (lengthened biased)

Maximalist

This is the approach if we are throwing everything at the kitchen sink. Use sparingly; either if you are in a plateau or looking for a specialisation phase.

Here the movement slots might look like this:

  • Incline non-converging OR converging press
  • Flat converging OR non-converging press
  • Decline press
  • Chest fly (shortened biased)
  • Chest fly (lengthened biased)

Standout exercises

Exercise selection for chest is remarkably simple. There’s incline vs flat, and converging vs non-converging, on either barbells, dumbbells, smith machine, or plate loaded machines. These options form the bulk of chest training.

Incline converging press movement

DB Incline Bench

  • Pairs well with a Smith Machine Bench.
  • If going for a moderate approach, this in conjunction with a Smith Machine Bench is arguably the best 1-2 combo.

Incline Chest Press Machine

  • If going for a minimalist approach, I dare say this is the singular best exercise for chest development.

Incline non-converging press movement

Smith Machine Incline Bench

  • Pairs well with a DB Bench.

Barbell Incline Bench

  • Pairs well with a Chest Press Machine.

Flat converging press movement

DB Bench

  • Pairs well with a Smith Machine Incline Bench.

Chest Press Machine

  • Pairs well with a Barbell Incline Bench.

Flat non-converging press movement

Smith Machine Bench

  • Pairs well with an DB Incline Bench.
  • If going for a moderate approach, this in conjunction with a DB Incline Bench is arguably the best 1-2 combo.

Barbell Bench

  • Pairs well with an Incline Chest Press Machine.

Decline press movement

Chest-dominant dip

  • This is a dip done with the elbows stacked on top of the wrist for the entire motion. Focus on opening up the chest to a deep stretch.

Chest fly (shortened biased) movement

Pec Deck

  • If your gym has a good pec deck (it fits your body and you feel your pecs), this is the best option. Something like a Prime Equipment piece is ideal if you have access to one. To make this shortened biased, flex at the contracted position for a 1 count each rep.

High Cable Fly

  • Small angles is especially nice here to provide a different stimulus to the fully horizontal pec deck. Change the cable notch a few pins above or below a horizontal cable fly. I do suggest above is slightly better with our preferential treatment of upper pecs, so that option is listed as the default.

Chest fly (lengthened biased) movement

Pec Deck

  • If your gym has a good pec deck (it fits your body and you feel your pecs), this is the best option. Something like a Prime Equipment piece is ideal if you have access to one. Yes this is great for either shortened or lengthened biased depending on your form.

DB Fly

  • This is a fantastic option, the dumbbells don’t need to clang together at the top. This is one where ‘partial’ reps are correct and should be considered full reps. Keep tension on the pecs by stopping a good few inches from the top position, and focus on the stretch.

Execution

With flat presses, the key is to keep the stack and press your upper back firmly on the bench. So think of breathing in and expanding your rib cage with each eccentric, and breathing out on each concentric. Generally maintain pressure around your whole rib cage throughout the set. If you were rotated 90 degrees, your rib cage should be sitting directly over your pelvis, thus ‘keeping the stack’.

With incline presses and flys, the same thing broadly applies, though it’s ok to have a modest arch of the lower back. This should not be emphasised though, focus on expansion of the rib cage and mind muscle connection of the pecs. If by focusing on these two points you end up with a slight arch, that’s fine.

Programming

Reps, tempo, sets, rest times

The chest doesn’t need any unique points here, just focus on execution and effort and the rest will come.

Intensifiers and volume

Flat and incline presses should generally be kept as straight sets; cluster sets (for machines) or drop sets (for free weights) can be used for a period of time.

Shortened biased flys can be added with all the usual intensifiers. For lengthened biased ones keep it simple with the occasional iso hold.

Sequence

The sequence here doesn’t need to follow the standard shortened biased first, mid-range biased second, lengthened biased third rule.

Generally we want to start with an incline press before the flat press to focus on the upper pec muscles.

Adding the flys before presses can be considered more of an optional idea, if your joints are feeling cranky or you are feeling particularly conservative. If you choose not to however, it’s still always a good idea to throw in 1 or 2 light sets of flys as a warm-up.