The best pec workouts for a stronger and well-defined chest

You use your chest muscles every day with simple movements like pushing open a door or picking up a toddler. Powerlifters need those strong pec muscles to lift heavy with the bench press. Building a bigger chest requires dedication, the right exercises, and multiple weekly sessions. Fortunately, there are plenty of effective chest-centric exercises to add to your routine, from the classic pushup to the weighted dip. Here’s your complete guide to the best pec workouts.

What are the chest muscles?

You have three main chest muscles: pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and serratus anterior. You also have a subclavius, which is a smaller accessory muscle involved with breathing.

Pectoralis major

The pectoralis major has two heads: the sternocostal head and the clavicular head. These two heads help you move your arms in different directions, and as one head contracts, the other relaxes.

Pectoralis minor

The pectoralis minor stabilizes your shoulder blades and helps you squeeze your shoulders together.

Serratus anterior

The serratus anterior stabilizes your shoulders and helps prevent scapular winging — a condition that causes the shoulder blades to stick out. 

Top tips for defining your chest muscles

Improving muscle definition involves several factors, including hypertrophy, diet, and reducing body fat. 

Reducing body fat

Reducing body fat helps you see muscle definition. People often accomplish fat loss and change body composition with various methods, such as: 

• Increasing calorie burning and aerobic exercise (cardio)
• Calorie reduction
• A healthy, balanced diet 
• Decreased sugar intake
• The low-carb or ketogenic diet

Hypertrophy

You’ll also need to work your chest muscles to achieve hypertrophy, which means increasing the size of your muscles. When muscles increase in size, you can see their shape, and they look more defined. Hypertrophy involves progressively stressing your muscles beyond their resting state.

Protein

Protein is the building block of muscle, so consuming a greater amount of protein spurs the process of building muscle mass (muscle protein synthesis).

Common pec workout mistakes to avoid

Here are the most common pec workout mistakes to avoid:

• Avoid focusing too much on one particular chest exercise, like the bench press. You’ll need variety for the best results.
• Perfect your form and work at a steady pace.
• Engage your pec muscles throughout each exercise. 
• Train opposing muscle groups.

The best pec workouts

Sculpting those pecs amplifies your upper body power. Read on for the best exercises to improve the muscle strength and definition of your pecs.

Bench press

The research confirms what we already know: The bench press is a superior exercise for chest hypertrophy. For example, a study concluded that when untrained individuals took part in bench press training for just two to three months, they had a 10% to 20% increase in muscle thickness of the chest muscles. The bench press is one of the most popular powerlifter moves because it strengthens your chest, triceps, and front deltoids. You’ll also ramp up muscle growth in the lateral head of your triceps.

How to perform a barbell bench press:

1. Lie on a flat bench and grip the barbell a little wider than the width of your shoulders.
2. Press your feet into the ground, take a deep breath, and unrack the bar with an overhand grip.
3. Carefully bend your elbows and lower the bar until it touches your chest.
4. Push the bar back up and straighten your arms while you’re exhaling.
5. Take another deep breath and repeat for the desired number of reps.

Incline bench press

As the name suggests, the incline bench press involves performing a bench press on an incline bench, which better targets the upper part of your pectoral muscles. You’ll also work your anterior deltoids and triceps. The bench is positioned at about a 45-degree angle. When you press from an incline, you involve more shoulder flexion and upper chest activation compared to the flat bench.

How to do an incline bench press:

1. Sit down at the incline bench station with the seat at the appropriate height. Your eyes should be directly under the bar. 
2. Grab the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart.
3. In the starting position, pull the barbell horizontally to unrack it so that the bar rests directly over your shoulders.
4. Carefully lower the barbell down until it gently touches your chest.
5. Press the bar up and backward to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Dumbbell pullover

The dumbbell pullover is a strength training exercise popular with bodybuilders because it targets the pecs in the chest and the lat muscles in the back. It also works the teres major, triceps, and posterior deltoids. 

How to do a dumbbell pullover:

1. Hold one dumbbell with both hands and recline back onto the flat bench so you’re lying flat and looking up.
2. Your feet should be flat on the floor, and the bench should support your head and upper back.
3. Hold the dumbbell with both hands and straighten your arms up, so the weight is above your chest in the starting position.
4. Slowly take the weight back overhead as far as you can, bending your elbows and moving the weight until your upper arms are next to your ears.
5. Return the weight to the starting position.
6. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Standing cable press

The standing cable chest press gives your pectoralis major a real workout. You’ll get a full range of motion and develop strength in your chest area. You’ll also work your arms, shoulders, and upper back.

How to do a standing cable press:

1. Make sure you’re using two shoulder-height pulleys with single-hand handles.
2. Stand between the pulleys facing away from the weight.
3. In the starting position, hold on to the handles. Your arms should be out to the sides, with your forearms parallel to the floor.
4. Push the handles forward to straighten your arms out in front of you.
5. Carefully return the handles to the starting position.
6. You should feel a good stretch in your chest.
7. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Weighted dip

The weighted dip takes the chest dip exercise to the next level because you’re adding resistance by wearing a dipping belt around your waist or a heavy chain over your shoulders. Chest dips are an upper-body exercise you perform using dip bars or parallel bars. You’ll get plenty of benefits from this exercise, including stronger and bigger arms, chest, and shoulders.

How to do a chest dip:

1. Make sure the dipping bars or parallel bars are wider than shoulder-distance apart. A narrower grip won’t put as much emphasis on your chest muscles.
2. Grip the bars with your palms facing inward.
3. Make sure your chin is down and straighten your arms to support your body weight.
4. Bend your knees and tilt forward, pushing your hips and legs back. A greater incline activates your pecs better.
5. Bend your arms and lower yourself down with control to get a deep stretch of your pecs. 
6. Extend your elbows and push yourself back up to return to the starting position.
7. Repeat for your desired number of repetitions.

Chest fly

The dumbbell chest fly supercharges your chest, shoulders, and triceps, and you can perform this exercise on a flat bench, an incline bench, or standing up. This movement is considered a chest opener because it helps open up and stretch your chest muscles, which might increase your range of motion and help with upper back pain.

How to do a dumbbell chest fly:

1. Lie on your back on a flat bench, feet planted on the floor on either side of the bench. The bench should support your head and back throughout this exercise.
2. Pick up the dumbbells and hold one in each hand with your arms out to the sides in the starting position.
3. Carefully lift your arms up above your head to bring the dumbbells together in an arcing motion. Your arms should be extended, not locked, and your elbows should be slightly bent with your palms facing each other.
4. Slowly lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position so they’re in line with your chest. Try not to drop your arms lower than your shoulders.
5. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Pushup

We can’t forget about the old-fashioned pushup when it comes to building your chest muscles. The pushup is a worthwhile bodyweight exercise that’s convenient because it doesn’t require any weights or equipment. 

How to do a pushup:

1. Start on all fours with your hands about shoulder-distance apart.
2. Extend your legs back behind you so your spine and legs form a straight line and your knees and hips are in the plank position.
3. Lower yourself down until your chest touches the floor and your elbows are at a 90-degree angle.
4. Push yourself back up to straighten your arms.
5. Repeat for your desired number of reps.

Standing one-arm landmine press

The standing one-arm landmine press adds variety to your workout program and helps you increase grip strength. This unique pressing exercise involves a barbell inserted into a landmine attachment, so you can train your muscles from different angles. You’ll work your upper back, shoulders, forearms, pecs, obliques, and glutes.

How to do the standing one-arm landmine press using the barbell and landmine attachment:

1. Stand with your feet about hip-distance apart and hold the end of the barbell with one hand.
2. Make sure you’re holding the end of the barbell a few inches away from your shoulder in the starting position.
3. Brace your core and keep your back straight.
4. Lean forward slightly and push the bar overhead on a slight diagonal until your arm is extended.
5. Carefully lower the barbell back down to the starting position.
6. Repeat for your desired number of reps.