The Best Chest Workout Routine For Men (9 Keys To More)
There are plenty of articles out there that will claim to show you the best chest workout routine of all time. Trust me, I’ve seen them, and the vast majority are crap.
That’s why I’ve decided to do something a little different in this article. Actually, I’m going to do three things:
- First, I’m going to show you the WORST chest workout routine that men typically use.
- Then, I’m going to show you 9 factors that actually make a chest workout effective.
- And finally, I’m going to provide you with some example workouts that put it all together.
Let the fun begin…
Here’s The WORST Chest Workout
What better way to show the best version of something than by first showing an example of the worst version… and then laughing at it?
So, without further ado, here’s a slightly exaggerated version of what most intelligent people would consider to be the worst possible way to train for building a bigger chest.
Behold!
What you see above is a (slightly exaggerated) version of how most men approach their chest workouts.
And that is by doing an excessive amount of sets of an excessive amount of (redundant) exercises to excessively blast their chest from every angle, get a massive pump, and then do it all over again 7 days later.
This, right here, is the WORST WAY to train your chest.
Why Do So Many Men Do This?
This is the point when you’re supposed to be thinking “hmmm, if this is indeed the worst way to train, why the hell do so many people men train this way?”
Good question. And the answer is usually a combination of the following…
- Bodybuilding Bullshit
This is the typical high volume, low frequency “blast the crap out of your muscles” bodybuilding nonsense you commonly see being done by steroid-using bodybuilders. Natural guys will then see this and assume “these bodybuilders train this way and they’re huge, so clearly I should train this way to get just as huge!” which unfortunately ignores the fact that their aforementioned steroid use makes everythingeffective, including things that are ineffective for us natural trainees. Details here: Steroids vs Natural - More Is Better
When it comes to any form of exercise, the natural instinct for most misinformed people is that more is better. So if a little of something is supposed to be good, surely a shitload of it will be even better, right? Which means, if a couple of chest exercises works, adding a few more will work even better, right? Not quite. See, there is a point when the amount of sets and exercises you’re doing switches from beneficial to detrimental. This “more is better” approach to training almost always crosses that line. Details here: Am I Doing Enough In My Workouts? - Soreness And Pump
Another thought misinformed people have when it comes to building muscle is that getting an insane pump during the workout followed by a ton of soreness in the days after is A) a requirement for making progress (and the greater the pump/soreness, the greater the progress), and B) a sure sign that progress is being made. Turns out it’s actually neither of these things. Details here: How Important Are Muscle Soreness And Pump? - The Different Parts Of The Chest
Guys think every individual “part” of their chest needs to be hit directly with its own individual exercise(s). That means AT LEAST one exercise each for the upper chest, lower chest, inner chest, outer chest, south eastern chest, upper areola, outer armpit, middle nipple and on and on and on. This isn’t actually true, of course. Details here: Upper Chest vs Lower Chest
The 9 Keys To An Effective Chest Workout
So now that we’ve covered the factors of an ineffective chest workout, it’s time to cover the factors of an effective one. Here are the 9 that are most important…
- Train Your Chest 2-3 Times Per Week
All research looking at training frequency shows that a higher frequency (2-3 times per week) is more effective than a lower frequency (once per week), and real-world experience confirms it. Which means instead of this once-per-week frequency where you only hit your chest every Monday, you should hit your chest 2 or 3 times per week. How do you do this, you ask? Simple. Instead of a low frequency body part split that involves having a single “chest day,” you should use a Full Body split, Upper/Lower split, or Push/Pull/Legs split. - Do 1-3 Chest Exercises Per Workout
Rather than doing every chest exercise in existence, stick with 1-3 chest exercises per workout. More specifically, 1 exercise if you’re using a full body split, 2 exercises if you’re using an upper/lower split, and 2-3 exercises if you’re using a push/pull/legs split. - Do 60-140 Total Reps For Chest Per Week
Instead of doing a laughably excessive amount of sets that will only cut into your capacity to recover, aim for 60-140 total reps per week as that tends to be the sweet spot (source) for most people. So, for example, if you’re training your chest twice per week, you should aim to do between 30-70 reps for your chest in each of those two workouts. And no, warm-up sets don’t count toward this total. - Avoid Redundant Exercise Selection
For example, instead of doing an incline barbell press, incline dumbbell press, incline machine press and incline fly, maybe just do ONE incline exercise per workout. - Use The 5-15 Rep Range Most Of The Time
Instead of only doing the stereotypical 8-10 reps for every set of every exercise, going as low as 5 and as high as 15 will be ideal for generating the three types of stimuli that signal muscle growth (tension, fatigue and damage… details here: How To Build Muscle Fast). More specifically, use the lower end (5-8 reps) for your primary exercises, the middle (8-12 reps) for your secondary exercises, and the higher end (12-15 reps) for isolation exercises. - Rest 1-4 Minutes Between Sets Most Of The Time
Instead of resting 1 minute between every set because it’s what leads to the biggest chest pump possible, use longer rest periods (2-4 minutes) between sets of your primary exercises, shorter rest periods (60-90 seconds) between sets of isolation exercises, and something in the middle (2 minutes) for sets of your secondary exercises. - Use Whatever Equipment And Whichever Exercises Suit You Best
When it comes to building muscle, your body doesn’t give the slightest of shits what type of equipment you’re using when performing an exercise. It only knows the tension, fatigue and damage that exercise is causing. So, for example, if you prefer the barbell version of a chest press, or the dumbbell version, or a machine version, feel free to do that version. And if a certain exercise bothers your shoulders or elbows or whatever else, avoid that exercise in favor of a similar variation that isn’t problematic for you. Basically, do what suits your body best. - Focus Primarily On Progressive Overload
Frequency, splits, exercises, sets, reps, rest periods and so on are all important factors of an effective workout. But progressive overload – aka increasing the demands being placed on your body by getting stronger over time – is the most important factor of all. So, instead of just going into the gym for the purpose of getting a huge pump and feeling sore the next day, you need to go into the gym with the intent of beating what you did the previous time so that you’re gradually getting stronger. This, above all else, is what makes muscles grow. Details here: The Progressive Overload Principle - Make Sure Your Diet Supports Your Goals
I know this is an article all about the weight training side of things, but the truth is that the best chest workout routine in the world isn’t going to work if your diet isn’t designed to support it. Above all else, that means eating a sufficient amount of calories (details here: How Many Calories Should I Eat A Day To Gain Muscle) and protein (details here: How To Calculate Your Macros) to support muscle growth.
Example Chest Workouts
At this point, you know the best (and worst) way to approach chest training, and the 9 factors that need to be in place for it to be as effective as possible.
All that’s left to do now is put it all together. To help, here are a few examples from two of my most popular muscle building workouts…
1. The Muscle Building Workout Routine
First up is a routine of mine called The Muscle Building Workout Routine. You can see the entire program and all of its details for free right here.
However, for the purpose of this article, let’s focus only on the chest training aspect of it.
So, this program involves training every muscle group twice per week over the course of 4 total workouts (there’s also a 3-day option) using the upper/lower split. In this specific case, the chest is trained on Mondays and Thursdays. Here’s how it breaks down…
As you can see, all of the weight training factors explained above are in place. All that’s needed is a focus on progression and a proper diet plan. And, optionally, exercise substitutions dependent on each person’s specific needs and preferences (e.g. Hammer Strength incline press instead of incline dumbbell press, cable fly or pec deck instead of dumbbell fly, etc.).
Once again, to see the full version of this program and all of the details that go along with it, go here: The Muscle Building Workout Routine
2. Bodybuilding 2.0
Now for a little peek into my Bodybuilding 2.0 routine, which is NOT available on the website. Rather, it’s a part of my Superior Muscle Growthprogram.
This routine uses the rotating version of the push/pull/legs split where every muscle group gets trained (about) twice per week. There are a few different versions of this workout in my book, so I’ll show you 3 different examples of how I’ve designed the chest training for each version’s “push” day.
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