One of the main goals for any bodybuilder is to develop a massive, chiseled chest. However, there is much more to accomplishing this goal than to simply start pounding out chest exercises. In this article, we’ll look at the proper strategy for building a bigger chest.

Keys to Building a Ripped Chest

Simply pounding out chest isolation exercises won’t provide the desired results of a muscular chest. There are other foundational steps which need to be included in the chest-building formula that are critical to reaching the goal. Building a bigger chest requires setting short and long-term goals and sticking to them. Here are some important steps for achieving a ripped chest.

• • Patience – Muscle is built and shaped over time and with consistency. Set both short-term and long-term goals, create an aggressive weight training program and stick with it. Before you know it, you’ll start to see the desired results and can flex your pecs.
  
  
• • Modify Your Diet – You’re not going to build a ripped chest by eating like a bird and you’re not going to drop body fat by eating three huge meals a day. Bodybuilding is just as much about designing a balanced nutritious diet as it is about pumping iron. Research what foods will help with your particular body type and design a healthy diet plan. You should try to eat small portions approximately every 3 hours which will help increase and stabilize your metabolism as well as provide your growing muscles with the nutrition they need throughout the day.
  
  
• • Begin with Compound Exercises – Before you start chiseling with chest isolation exercises, you have to build a muscular foundation first. Therefore, begin with performing heavy compound exercises that will develop body strength and bulk. Tackle bench press, overhead press and similar heavy weight exercises often.
  
  
• • Build Your Legs – Don’t just target your upper body. Do regular sets of deadlifts, leg presses and squats as well to build leg strength. Not only will this help you with your chest-building goals, but these heave exercises, along with the ones mentioned previously, will release valuable HGHs (human growth hormones) and testosterone which are key in developing strong, healthy muscle tissue.
  
  
• • Focus on Good Technique – Lifting improperly will only do more harm than good, hindering your chest-building efforts. Use a full range of motion in both lowering and lifting to get the maximum benefit. If you aren’t sure what the proper techniques are for various exercises, ask a seasoned pro or get help from a trainer.
  
  
• • Use Explosive Speed – When doing your foundational and chest exercises, explode the weight when pressing, lifting, pushing, etc. Rapid, controlled movements cause the muscles to respond with more power, allowing you to lift more weight faster and getting that shredded chest sooner.
  
  
• • Get Sufficient Rest – Your muscles use rest and sleep periods to repair and rebuild. Therefore, get plenty of quality rest so the damaged muscle fibers can absorb nutrients from your healthy diet and supply you with strong, ripped muscles that are ready to go for the next workout session.

Best Chest Building Exercises

Now that you know that foundational steps that lead to a bigger chest, incorporate these four best chest building exercises into our workout routine and get to work! Just remember to practice proper technique for each exercise. Note: You can increase results by creating supersets or adding chest exercises to a circuit training program.

• • Bench Press – The bench press is the overall best chest building exercise because it incorporates the entire group of chest muscles. You can use heavy weights when bench pressing which will provide fast results. 
  
  
• • Dumbbell Press – Although you can’t lift as much weight as when pressing a bar with both arms, the dumbbell press allows you to stretch your pectoral muscles more which increases chest volume. 
  
  
• • Pushups – Pushups are good chest builders. However, bodyweight pushups are only good to a certain extent. Therefore, add weights, wear chains, or do them against resistance bands for maximum benefit.
  
  
• • Dips – Performing dips on a set of parallel bars will increase chest size. However, just like pushups, you should add weights in order to push your muscles to failure. Try to go down as far as possible before exploding back up so you get the advantage of a full range of motion.