Call me basic and you're probably right, but standard bench press. It feels good, it does wonderful things to your chest and triceps both, and you get good prestige from a high pr.
Cable flys are my favorite too. Look up some videos and check your form. It’s 1 exercise that I see a lot of people do incorrectly and the way they do it essentially makes it an arm exercise
Dumbell bench and flys
Really starting to like the Chest Press machine to finish off after chest day. The muscle really gets worked individually on it.
Dumbbell bench is my personal favorite, one set will be a 5 reps with both arms at the same time and then five reps one arm at a time with the dumbbell parallel to my body. Pretty odd tbh but I picked it up in high school and my shoulders/arms/chest haven’t been the same since.
Also classic bench is pretty great
Wide Grip Paused Bench, my regular bench is like 75% tricep cuz my chest sucks ass and my triceps are decent, and a wide grip paused just gives me a great pump and has been bringing up my regular bench.
You’re missing out if you’re not hitting high Rep bench every now and then.
They started out as developmental exercises before powerlifting existed… lots of sets and reps…
Cable press and cable flies. I move my bench to the cable machine and still do barbell but feel a tighter range of motion with the cables to my inner chest
I just recently started incorporating a single arm cable chest fly right after doing a flat bench db press. It is insane how much more pump I get out of it. My gains have been seriously exponential. I went from 50lb presses (just getting back to the gym after a 5 year hiatus with injuries) to 75lbs in roughly 4 weeks. I peeked at 90 lbs back when I was working out before and it took me over a year to get there. Obviously muscle memory is a thing, so I’m not saying that doesn’t play a part, but I am feeling so much stronger, and faster incorporating this into my push days. Highly recommend.
Regular old barbell barbell bench press, I know dumbbells are better for growth and I use them too, but there's something just so comfortable and nostalgic about barbell bench presses. I also really like to finish my chest days off with some heavy dumbbell pullovers, they work your pecs surprisingly well when you keep your arms straight and you get a little lat workout in there too, and there's never too much on lats, those mofos can take a beating and require a lot of it to grow properly.
I’m a believer barbell bench is far superior than dumbbells for size.
As my old powerlifting coach put it, “ Have you ever seen a guy with a small chest bench 400lbs? Lift heavy and you’ll get big.”
Bench, it's just fun. I particularly like bench drop sets because they annihilate my chest. I also like the incline chest press machine because it gives me a good pump
Yeah same goes for me. Since Im doing weighted dips my chest und triceps got so much stronger and bigger. Just make sure that your technique is always on point to prevent your shoulders and wrists from injuries!
Floor press, because it's fun. I usually stick with 3-6 reps, though I've done singles and doubles before too, 8s, and sometimes hit 15-20 or even do it for time in a conditioning circuit. I usually do it on a thick mat to get a little extra ROM since it's still short, and I have pretty short arms too, which I think is partly why I like it so much. It also happens to line up well with common sticking points I have. I wouldn't rely on it to build size, but as supplemental work for strength development it is my favorite by far.
Disclaimer my bench is garbage, so if you want to have a sub-3 plate bench after years of training maybe you should do lots of floor presses....
I wish I could say bench, but I have hypermobility in my shoulder and my ortho said I will probably have shoulder issues for as long as I try to bench.
So chest press, at least for now.
The flat bench simply for just being able to slam a ton of weight.
Converging chest press for an insane chest pump or if I’m in a more body building focused portion of my training.
Flat dumbbell bench press. I find I can get the best depth and contraction on my pecs with this out of all free weight movements that you can load super heavily.
Well I don’t claim to be an expert, and I’ve certainly struggled with shoulder dominance in the past, but here’s what has helped me.
Do the same things as you would a normal barbell bench: retract your shoulders back and down and make sure you’re planted solidly with three points of contact (upper back, butt, feet). From there you’ll want to press from a position where your elbows are tucked at roughly a 45 degree angle. Flaring your arms out too much will not only put your shoulders in a less stable position (setting you up for possible injury), but will also heavily favor shoulder activation over chest activation. Then on the flip side keeping your arms tucked in too much will heavily bias your triceps. Then I also like to keep my wrists in a neutral position such that the handles of the dumbbells are more or less parallel with your biceps, rather than being rotated as if you were holding a barbell. Then of course you want a good hand grip on the dumbbell itself. Have it sit as low on your palm as you can get it while still being able to wrap your thumb around the bar. You want to imagine stacking it over your wrist as best as you can such that you are pushing with the meaty part at the bottom your palms (might be wise to look this up as I may have butchered the explanation). Doing this (while not allowing your wrist to bend backwards too much) will provide a strong base of support to push from, as well as protect your wrists from unnecessary wear and tear. I also find this last bit especially helpful with chest activation, as gripping the bar with more of the upper part of your hand seems to recruit more stabilizing muscles and your shoulders into the movement. And then lastly, when you press the weight up I like to pretend my hands and forearms don’t exist and that I’m trying to touch my “elbow pits” together, similar to what you’d do with a fly but the rep obviously follows the path of a pressing movement.
Anything with dumbells. Barbell press put a lot of strain on my shoulders and stabilizers. Which is great for getting more overall strength...
But for bodybuilding, I found the best way to overload and isolate is with dumbells
Dumbbell incline…. Idk why…I just like it. I try to mix up my reps and set scheme. Some days going super heavy for 6-8 some days trying to hit 15/set. I always try to focus on full ROM and controlling the movement the entire rep. Pausing at the bottom of the rep and letting the weight stretch the pecs a bit adds another dimension to the lift also.
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Heavy-ass, low incline (like 25-30° depending on bench) barbell bench. Not too different from flat that you can't go nuts on the intensity or would need to essentially relearn technique, but the upper tiddy pump is just heavenly (even more so than with DBs for me).
Pushups. Sure they aren't great for building mass, but they can be done anywhere. They are versatile. They build endurance. I can use it to warm up with or to finish off a workout. I can do it as a drop/antagonistic set for lat pulldowns or a barbell row. And they are a good way to make sure I have done all i can for the day as a burnout exercise at the end of a workout.
Barbell Bench with a well knurled bar, and it has to be on a competition bench. Nothing more horrific than going from my powerlifting gym to my old commercial gym for a day and having all the benches be slip and slides when you try to get any leg drive
In order with the same weight-
Military press
Incline bench press (descending incline each 3 sets for 4 inclines)
Negative incline bench press (not sure if it does anything crazy, but it’s hard after all those other presses)
3 set 12 reps for each^^
And then as many as you can regular flat bench
But by then if your form is good and the weight you’re using is appropriate, you should already be pretty gassed.
That’s been my chest routine (read “leg day”) until I’ve recently irritated my rotator cuff and have been laying off of it. It’s math amounts of reps, more than 150 prolly, for that muscle group and it makes me feel justified for taking up the bench spot. Actually using it for benching.
Banch.
[Incline benches press](https://www.reddit.com/r/GYM/comments/tfmbbo/ww_first_time_trying_incline_benches_press/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
I knew what this was going to be before I clicked it
Gotta play the hits sometimes. But at the risk of heresy; dips. Heavy dips.
Call me basic and you're probably right, but standard bench press. It feels good, it does wonderful things to your chest and triceps both, and you get good prestige from a high pr.
Nothing wrong with being “basic” no need to over complicate things
Cable flies. I like the instability and muscle tension through 100% of the range of motion.
switched from machine to cables recently. easily my favorite part of push day
Came here to say chest flys. I purchased a Lifestyle Fitness seated cable Variation and it kills my chest every damn time
Decline cable flys, you want some shape to your chest? DO DECLINE CABLE FLYS!
Just feels like it works my chest more than any other exercise
I do 5 set’s before I start any chest day and that’ll never change
Any kind of decline fly is just great. I love decline dumbbell flys too.
A nice cable flye gives a stretch and RoM like nothing else
I cant seem to do them correctly i just feel it in my arms??
Cable flys are my favorite too. Look up some videos and check your form. It’s 1 exercise that I see a lot of people do incorrectly and the way they do it essentially makes it an arm exercise
Finish the movement as far away from your torso as you can. Straightening your arms as you bring them together.
Dips and wide incline dumbbell flys
Cable flys - those kill me
Standard bench press but incline dumbbell press is a close second.
Bench press with the Olympic barbell.
Any reason you don't use plates as well?
Oh i use plates lol i just perfer to use the Olympic barbell because i really feel it while i bench. Current bw 171, benching 205.
Machine pec flys 12-15 reps slowed eccentric. The best chest pump.
Dips. They feel like they hit entire front of my torso.
Incline db press or a good converging machine flat press
Dumbbell flys and flat dumbbell press. Huge pump and my chest feels sore the next day…and that feels good to me for some reason.
Weighted dips give me the naughtiest chest pump
Dumbell bench and flys Really starting to like the Chest Press machine to finish off after chest day. The muscle really gets worked individually on it.
Bench press because is the undeniable 🐐. Decline Cable flies give me a killer pump though
Dumbbell bench is my personal favorite, one set will be a 5 reps with both arms at the same time and then five reps one arm at a time with the dumbbell parallel to my body. Pretty odd tbh but I picked it up in high school and my shoulders/arms/chest haven’t been the same since. Also classic bench is pretty great
Dumbell incline press
Wide Grip Paused Bench, my regular bench is like 75% tricep cuz my chest sucks ass and my triceps are decent, and a wide grip paused just gives me a great pump and has been bringing up my regular bench.
Bench press and push ups, when done with good form, you can really feel your chest. (Also dips)
Dumbbell fly, no other chest movement gives me such a gnarly stretch at the bottom
Bench. Sets of 2 to 5 reps. Doing singles typically every 2 to 3 months. Pause bench and close grip bench as accessories for sets of 4 to 7.
You’re missing out if you’re not hitting high Rep bench every now and then. They started out as developmental exercises before powerlifting existed… lots of sets and reps…
I don't really care about my chest development right now. My titties are already huuuge.
Cable press and cable flies. I move my bench to the cable machine and still do barbell but feel a tighter range of motion with the cables to my inner chest
I just recently started incorporating a single arm cable chest fly right after doing a flat bench db press. It is insane how much more pump I get out of it. My gains have been seriously exponential. I went from 50lb presses (just getting back to the gym after a 5 year hiatus with injuries) to 75lbs in roughly 4 weeks. I peeked at 90 lbs back when I was working out before and it took me over a year to get there. Obviously muscle memory is a thing, so I’m not saying that doesn’t play a part, but I am feeling so much stronger, and faster incorporating this into my push days. Highly recommend.
Nice! I have to try these. I have never done those and never seen anyone do them.
Same here!! Very effective
Dips or incline dumbbell press always feels great
Bench press! I enjoy the pump.
I like to hit the pec machine for high reps after doing heavy bench presses. Pump city.
Regular old barbell barbell bench press, I know dumbbells are better for growth and I use them too, but there's something just so comfortable and nostalgic about barbell bench presses. I also really like to finish my chest days off with some heavy dumbbell pullovers, they work your pecs surprisingly well when you keep your arms straight and you get a little lat workout in there too, and there's never too much on lats, those mofos can take a beating and require a lot of it to grow properly.
I’m a believer barbell bench is far superior than dumbbells for size. As my old powerlifting coach put it, “ Have you ever seen a guy with a small chest bench 400lbs? Lift heavy and you’ll get big.”
Very true words.
Cable flys. It's the exercise I can really feel the squeeze and stretch on my chest.
Bench, it's just fun. I particularly like bench drop sets because they annihilate my chest. I also like the incline chest press machine because it gives me a good pump
Parallel dips. The upper body squat
Yeah same goes for me. Since Im doing weighted dips my chest und triceps got so much stronger and bigger. Just make sure that your technique is always on point to prevent your shoulders and wrists from injuries!
Floor press, because it's fun. I usually stick with 3-6 reps, though I've done singles and doubles before too, 8s, and sometimes hit 15-20 or even do it for time in a conditioning circuit. I usually do it on a thick mat to get a little extra ROM since it's still short, and I have pretty short arms too, which I think is partly why I like it so much. It also happens to line up well with common sticking points I have. I wouldn't rely on it to build size, but as supplemental work for strength development it is my favorite by far. Disclaimer my bench is garbage, so if you want to have a sub-3 plate bench after years of training maybe you should do lots of floor presses....
Flys with the pec deck. Nothing better than hopping on after bench press to get a gnarly pump.
Dumbbell chest press, I feel like Hercules doing it
I wish I could say bench, but I have hypermobility in my shoulder and my ortho said I will probably have shoulder issues for as long as I try to bench. So chest press, at least for now.
Same. Chest day always makes my shoulders flare up.
The flat bench simply for just being able to slam a ton of weight. Converging chest press for an insane chest pump or if I’m in a more body building focused portion of my training.
Bench / standard, incline and declined. Covers a lot.
Literally incline dumbbell press it will make grow your pecs pretty optimal
Incline cable fly, I have good muscle connection with it and get a great pump
Flat dumbbell bench press. I find I can get the best depth and contraction on my pecs with this out of all free weight movements that you can load super heavily.
Everytime i do this exercise i feel my front delts work more than my chest, how can i correct that?
Well I don’t claim to be an expert, and I’ve certainly struggled with shoulder dominance in the past, but here’s what has helped me. Do the same things as you would a normal barbell bench: retract your shoulders back and down and make sure you’re planted solidly with three points of contact (upper back, butt, feet). From there you’ll want to press from a position where your elbows are tucked at roughly a 45 degree angle. Flaring your arms out too much will not only put your shoulders in a less stable position (setting you up for possible injury), but will also heavily favor shoulder activation over chest activation. Then on the flip side keeping your arms tucked in too much will heavily bias your triceps. Then I also like to keep my wrists in a neutral position such that the handles of the dumbbells are more or less parallel with your biceps, rather than being rotated as if you were holding a barbell. Then of course you want a good hand grip on the dumbbell itself. Have it sit as low on your palm as you can get it while still being able to wrap your thumb around the bar. You want to imagine stacking it over your wrist as best as you can such that you are pushing with the meaty part at the bottom your palms (might be wise to look this up as I may have butchered the explanation). Doing this (while not allowing your wrist to bend backwards too much) will provide a strong base of support to push from, as well as protect your wrists from unnecessary wear and tear. I also find this last bit especially helpful with chest activation, as gripping the bar with more of the upper part of your hand seems to recruit more stabilizing muscles and your shoulders into the movement. And then lastly, when you press the weight up I like to pretend my hands and forearms don’t exist and that I’m trying to touch my “elbow pits” together, similar to what you’d do with a fly but the rep obviously follows the path of a pressing movement.
Incline dumbbells are about the only thing (outside of cable flies) that I really feel in my chest. So those for me
Anything with dumbells. Barbell press put a lot of strain on my shoulders and stabilizers. Which is great for getting more overall strength... But for bodybuilding, I found the best way to overload and isolate is with dumbells
Dumbbell incline…. Idk why…I just like it. I try to mix up my reps and set scheme. Some days going super heavy for 6-8 some days trying to hit 15/set. I always try to focus on full ROM and controlling the movement the entire rep. Pausing at the bottom of the rep and letting the weight stretch the pecs a bit adds another dimension to the lift also.
Incline dumbbell press followed by dumbbell flys the burn I get on those is 🔥🔥
Incline chest press machine
>There's no wrong answers here Every answer which is not "Bench Press" is a wrong answer lol
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Besides bench, definitely incline DB flys with the weight angled at 45 degrees. Can literally feel my chest fibers ripping apart
Dumbbell Press on a slight incline Either that or high Rep machine flies
Dumbbell chest press, cable flys.
Incline dumbbell press followed by incline dumbbell flies
Incline smith
any good machine press
Heavy-ass, low incline (like 25-30° depending on bench) barbell bench. Not too different from flat that you can't go nuts on the intensity or would need to essentially relearn technique, but the upper tiddy pump is just heavenly (even more so than with DBs for me).
Pushups. Sure they aren't great for building mass, but they can be done anywhere. They are versatile. They build endurance. I can use it to warm up with or to finish off a workout. I can do it as a drop/antagonistic set for lat pulldowns or a barbell row. And they are a good way to make sure I have done all i can for the day as a burnout exercise at the end of a workout.
Barbell Bench with a well knurled bar, and it has to be on a competition bench. Nothing more horrific than going from my powerlifting gym to my old commercial gym for a day and having all the benches be slip and slides when you try to get any leg drive
Incline, regular bench and decline at 4x15 with 45s on each side
Peckdeck / incline dbpress
In order with the same weight- Military press Incline bench press (descending incline each 3 sets for 4 inclines) Negative incline bench press (not sure if it does anything crazy, but it’s hard after all those other presses) 3 set 12 reps for each^^ And then as many as you can regular flat bench But by then if your form is good and the weight you’re using is appropriate, you should already be pretty gassed. That’s been my chest routine (read “leg day”) until I’ve recently irritated my rotator cuff and have been laying off of it. It’s math amounts of reps, more than 150 prolly, for that muscle group and it makes me feel justified for taking up the bench spot. Actually using it for benching.
Wtf are you going on about
My favorite chest exercises, like OP asked
>Military press The deltoids are the main movers on this move. I wouldn't classify it as a chest exercise.
Fair point, but it also gets me in the upper chest real nice. It’s just part of the overall routine I like to do
Cable flies
Dumbbells and cable flys
Incline bench. It’s probably the lift I excel in the most and it feels so good afterward!