In order to come up with a good chest workout for working out the chest you have to first be clear of your goals. We will focus a chest routine in this article intended to develop a chest to what a male fashion model may possess.
If your main goal is to be powerful at bench pressing, then you would certainly need to follow a different workout. This workout will increase some strength, but it isn't the main focus of the routine.
What Should A "Masculine Chest" Look Like?
The look of a masculine chest should be square and angular, not rounded and soft looking. The traditional way of working out the chest is to focus on the basic bench press. True, the bench press is great for getting bigger and more powerful chest, but the problem is it can develop the lower area of the chest too much.
A workout for developing the chest that focuses mainly on the bench press may increase the size of the lower pecs so much that they can start looking like breasts. In most men the upper area of the chest is the most underdeveloped.
In order to develop square looking pecs your workout should focus on the upper chest and not so much on the middle to lower part of the chest.
How to Build the Upper Pecs.
For you to build mass in the upper pecs you need to utilize different incline pressing movements in your chest workout. You should begin your chest routine with some sort of incline press.
I would recommend starting your chest workout with incline dumbbell presses on an adjustable bench. I like dumbbells, because you can really work that hard-to-hit inner part of the upper pecs. If you develop this part of your chest, you will get that "line" up the middle of your chest all the way to your collar bone.
Here is a Great Chest Workout Which Focuses on the Hard-to-Develop Areas
1) Incline Dumbbell Presses: Adjust the bench to about 20-30 degrees above the flat setting. Pick a weight that you can press 10-12 times. Click the bench up the the next higher angle setting.
With the same weight, try to do 8-10 reps. Click the bench up to a steeper angle and try to get 6-8 reps. Keep clicking to a higher angle until you are either close to upright, or until you can't get more than 5 reps. I like starting my chest workout with this exercise, because it hits every part of the upper chest.
2) Smith Machine Incline Presses: I then take this same adjustable bench and bring it over to the smith machine. I setup the bench so that the bar hits my collar bone at the bottom of the lift. I will choose about a 20-45 degree angle.
I put on a pretty light weight and mainly aim for higher reps to really fatigue the muscle. This is more of a finishing move. The smith machine insures that I keep all stress on the upper pecs. I find that if I use a regular incline bench press in my chest-workout, then I can cheat and take the stress of my upper pecs. Include the incline smith press in your chest workout if you have access to this piece of equipment.
3) Cable Crossovers: You need the include cable crossovers into your chest workout if you want to develop the line that defines the mid part of your chest. You can also get a similar effect using machine flyes. Dumbbell flyes are a great mass movement, but you won't get enough tension in the middle of your chest.
Make sure when doing machine flyes or cable crossovers that you really flex the mid part of your chest hard when your hands meet at the end of the movement.
Avoid All Flat Bench Movements For A While When Working out The Chest.
If you are like most guys in the gym, your upper pecs probably need to catch up with your mid and lower pecs. You should consider dropping all flat bench movements out of your chest workout for a while.
I dropped all the flat bench exercises for aver two years and the look of my chest improved dramatically. Another nice benefit of incline movements is that your shoulders will also take on a better appearance.
Keep The Main Points in Mind When Setting Up Your Chest Workout.
When setting up your chest workout, you can be flexible on the exercises you use. Just make sure that you focus on the angular and square look. Having great pecs is less about size and more about proper proportion and definition.
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