Training

After looking at the anatomy of the pectoral muscles and the most common mistakes in pectoral muscle training in the first part of this article series and discussing the scientific principles of effective chest training and taking a look at the first of the 10 most effective chest exercises in this second part, in this third and final part of this article series I will look at the remaining 9 best chest muscle exercises and provide you with a template for a chest training session.

2. incline bench press

The good old flat bench press is the foundation of most upper body workouts, but it's usually accompanied by a few variations.

The incline bench press is one of the best of these variations as it helps to build the upper and middle part of the pecs better than the flat bench press (1).

When performing this exercise, the incline of the bench should be between 30 and 45 degrees. For my part, I prefer 30% but some exercisers prefer an incline closer to 45 degrees. I would recommend that you try different settings between 30 and 45 degrees and see which incline you prefer.

3. close barbell bench press

The close bench press is a variation of the bench press that works the chest muscles, but focuses slightly more on the triceps than the regular bench press.

Close bench presses are also particularly effective when it comes to activating the upper chest, making this one of the most well-rounded upper body exercises you can use (2).

At the bottom of the movement, the close bench press is not much more than a regular bench press with a tighter grip. Apart from the grip variation, you should perform close bench presses just like regular bench presses.

In terms of grip width, your grip should be slightly narrower than shoulder width. For most exercisers, this means moving the index fingers 5 to 10 centimetres closer together than in a regular bench press.

Some exercisers place their hands very close together to maximize triceps activation, but this puts their shoulders and wrists in a potentially dangerous position. If your shoulders or wrists don't feel good at the lowest point of the movement (when the bar touches your chest), then simply use a hand spacing that is 2 fingers wider. Repeat until your grip feels good in this position.

4. bench press with reverse grip/underhand grip

Bench press with reverse grip - also known as bench press with an underhand grip - is an often overlooked variation of the bench press that also has its own benefits.

In this variation, you grip the bar with an underhand grip so that your palms are facing your face. Scientific research shows that this variation of the bench press is not only easier on your shoulder, but is also particularly effective for targeting the upper chest.

A study conducted by scientists at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College with 12 trained men examined 5 different variations of the flat bench press (3). The scientists measured muscle activation of both pectoral muscle heads, the biceps and the triceps during exercise performance.

They found that when using a reverse grip, activation of the upper chest was 25 to 30% greater than when using a regular grip. In addition, biceps activation was twice as strong when using a reverse grip as when using a regular grip.

Although reverse grip bench presses will feel strange at first and you may use significantly less weight at first, once you get used to this exercise, many exercisers can use as much or more weight than a regular grip bench press.

And here's another tip: grip the bar so that it runs diagonally across your palm instead of across your palm. The diagonal grip is much easier on the wrists and elbows of most people.

5. dumbbell flat bench press

Dumbbell flat bench presses are quite similar to barbell bench presses except that you press a dumbbell with each hand instead of holding a barbell with both hands.

Although the dumbbell bench press is often seen as a second choice version of the bench press after the barbell bench press, scientific research shows that this exercise is more or less just as effective for the pecs (with one caveat).

In a study conducted by scientists at Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway, 12 23-year-old men with weight training experience had to work their way up to their 1RM weight on three different exercises with 3 to 5 days rest between exercises (4). The exercises were:

1. Bench press on the multi press
2. Barbell flat bench press
3. Dumbbell flat bench press

The scientists attached electrodes to the torso and arms of the test subjects to measure the activation of the different muscle groups while they performed their exercises.

After analyzing these measurements, the scientists found that dumbbell flat bench presses resulted in the same activation of the chest muscles, less activation of the triceps and more activation of the biceps compared to bench presses on the multi-press and barbell flat bench presses.

Dumbbell flat bench presses also have several advantages over barbell flat bench presses:

1. It allows the use of a greater range of motion
2. It allows the use of the position of the wrists that feels most comfortable and natural
3. It is gentler on the joints

However, there are also disadvantages that you should be aware of:

1. It requires more balance, which means you can't use as much weight as with the flat bench press.
2. It takes a good amount of energy to get the dumbbells into position.

The second point becomes more pronounced the stronger you get. Once you are using 40 kilo or heavier dumbbells, you will probably lose at least one repetition even if you can perform this movement smoothly due to the effort required to get the dumbbells into position.

For this reason, I recommend performing dumbbell bench presses after your heavy barbell workout.

6. dumbbell incline bench press

Dumbbell incline bench presses are identical to dumbbell flat bench presses except that they are performed on an incline bench with a 30 to 45 degree angle.

This exercise gives you many of the benefits of incline bench presses and dumbbell flat bench presses: greater range of motion, emphasis on the shoulders, use of a more comfortable grip, and joint relief from heavy barbell bench presses.

7. dips

Dips are one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do for your upper body. Dips work your chest, shoulders and triceps and you can use a dip belt to increase the difficulty.

Dips are easy to learn and can be performed in practically any reasonably well-equipped gym.

8. flying movement standing on the cable pulley (low cable chest fly)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1N804yWA-8

Flying movements are not as great a chest exercise as many people think, but they are one of the better chest isolation exercises you can incorporate into your training program. I prefer the version with ropes passed over the lower pulleys of the cable pulley, as this minimizes the strain on the shoulders.

9. flying movements with dumbbells

Flying movements with dumbbells are similar to the variation on the cable pulley just described, but are performed with dumbbells lying on a bench.

The disadvantage of flying movements with dumbbells is that these exercises put a strain on the shoulders of some exercisers and it becomes more difficult to perform this exercise correctly with heavier weights. However, if you don't have a cable pulley, this exercise is a useful substitute.

10. push-ups

Push-ups are probably one of the oldest and most popular chest exercises in the world - and for good reason.

You can do push-ups anywhere, you don't need any equipment and you can make this exercise more challenging by putting your feet up, wearing a weight vest or backpack or bringing your hands closer to your hips.

The problem with push-ups, however, is that it gets harder and harder to increase the level of difficulty (and thus achieve progressive overload) as you get stronger.

This makes push-ups an excellent exercise for beginners, for maintaining fitness or for recovering from injury, but less suitable for slightly more advanced exercisers.

Here's what I recommend:

1. Start, if you're too weak to be able to press a 20 kilo barbell, with push-ups to build up your upper body pressing strength.
2. Work your way up until you can do 30 push-ups in a row.
3. Once you can do 30 push-ups in a row, it's time to move on to an exercise with additional weight such as a barbell or dumbbell bench press.

If you can already do 30 push-ups in a row, then you are better off focusing on other exercises.

The three best training programs for upper and lower pecs

The following training programs take into account all the factors we have looked at in this series of articles:

1. They include multi-joint exercises for both the upper and lower pecs.
2. They include exercises with medium to low repetitions.
3. They focus on progressive overload.

All of the following training programs include two multi-joint exercises for the chest muscles, followed by an isolation exercise.

Depending on how often you want to train your pecs, you can choose from one of the following training programs with one, two or three training sessions per week.

If you choose one of the programs with two or three chest training sessions per week, you should make sure that there are at least one or two days between the individual training sessions. These can be non-training days or days on which you train other muscle groups.

Here are the training programs:

1 chest training session per week

Training session 1

• Barbell flat bench press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps with 80% of 1RM weight
• Barbell incline bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Dumbbell flat bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Tricep press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight

2 chest training sessions per week

Training session 1

• Barbell flat bench press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps with 80% of 1RM weight
• Barbell incline bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Dumbbell flat bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Tricep press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight

Training session 2

• Flat bench press with reverse grip: warm-up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Barbell flat bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Dip: 3 sets with body weight until muscle failure or 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Flying movements on the cable pulley or with dumbbells: 3 heavy sets of 8 to 10 repetitions with 70% of the 1RM weight

3 chest training sessions per week

Training session 1

• Barbell flat bench press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps with 80% of 1RM weight
• Barbell incline bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Dumbbell flat bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Tricep press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight

Training session 2

• Flat bench press with reverse grip: warm-up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Barbell flat bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Dip: 3 sets with body weight until muscle failure or 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Flying movements on the cable pulley or with dumbbells: 3 heavy sets of 8 to 10 repetitions with 70% of the 1RM weight

Training session 3

• Barbell flat bench press: Warm-up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of 1RM weight
• Dumbbell incline bench press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Barbell flat bench press with close grip: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight
• Tricep press: 3 heavy sets of 4 to 6 repetitions with 80% of the 1RM weight

If you have just started strength training, the program with one chest training session per week is a good starting point. However, if you want to get your chest growing as quickly as possible, or if you already have experience in strength training, you should give the programs with two or three chest training sessions per week a chance.

Here are some tips on how to perform the above workouts:

1. increase the weight once you reach the top end of the repetition range on a set

This is known as "double progression" and is one of the most effective ways to ensure that you progressively overload your muscles.

For example, if you can do 6 reps with 80 kilos on the bench press, this means you should increase the weight by 5 kilos on the next set. If you can do at least 4 repetitions with 85 kilos in the next set, then this is your new working weight until you can do 6 repetitions again and increase the weight.

If, on the other hand, you can only do 3 repetitions or less, reduce the weight by 2.5 kilos to 82.5 kilos and see how the next set goes. If you can only do 3 or fewer repetitions at 82.5 kilos, go back to your weight for 6 repetitions and continue working with this weight until you can do two sets of 6 repetitions before increasing the weight.

2. rest 2 to 4 minutes between sets

It is important that you feel completely ready to give your best on each subsequent set. Yes, it will feel like a lot of waiting, but resting sufficiently is an important part of a heavy weight workout.

This is the time during which your muscles recover their strength so that you can give maximum effort on each set.

3. make sure you are eating enough

You probably know that you should consume adequate amounts of protein to build muscle, but calorie intake also plays an important role here.

The bottom line on chest training

Many exercisers spend a huge amount of time on their chest training without really seeing any great results. And many women neglect chest training completely because they don't want to build a muscular male chest.

Most exercisers don't realize that with a few simple changes to their training plan and some hard work and patience, they can achieve the chest muscle development they've always wanted.

And for women, the right chest muscle workout will only improve the appearance of their upper body, rather than give them a masculine, beefy look.

The three keys to bigger, stronger and more symmetrical pecs are:

1. Target the upper and lower pecs.
2. Perform a lot of training with heavy basic exercises
3. Perform 9 to 15+ heavy sets per week

References:

1. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/abstract/1995/11000/effects_of_variations_of_the_bench_press_exercise.3.aspx
2. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/abstract/1995/11000/effects_of_variations_of_the_bench_press_exercise.3.aspx
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16095407
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21225489

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/chest-workout-best-chest-exercises/

By Michael Matthews

After looking at the anatomy of the pectoral muscles and the most common mistakes in pec training in the first part of this article series, in this second part we will look at the science behind effective chest training and take a look at the first of the 10 most effective chest exercises.

The simple science of effective chest muscle training

After the first part of this article, you know what not to do. Now let's look at what science says you should do to build amazing chest muscles. The whole thing is less complicated than many would have you believe. You just need to do a few simple things right.

1. target the "upper" and "lower" part of the chest

As you learned in the first part of this article series, you should emphasize the upper and lower parts of your chest muscles during your chest training sessions. Fortunately, this doesn't require endless supersets, muscle confusion or other fancy training techniques.

The three most effective ways to target the upper pecs are as follows:

1. Include close grip bench presses and reverse grip (underhand grip) in your chest workouts, as scientific research shows that these exercises activate the upper chest 20 to 30% more than regular flat bench presses (1, 2).
2. Include incline bench presses in your chest workouts because scientific research shows that they activate the upper chest more than regular flat bench presses (1).
3. Train with heavy weights because scientific research shows that this increases the activation of the entire pectoralis major, including the upper chest (3).

The training program that I will present in the last part of this article series includes all of these tips.

2. perform multi-joint exercises and move heavy weights

I used to think that heavy training with lower repetitions was for building strength and not for building muscle mass, but I was wrong.

One of the most important lessons I've learned over the past decade of research, study, and activity as a trainer is this:

As a steroid-free exerciser, your most important long-term goal should be to increase your total body strength.

I know I'm repeating myself, but this point is so important that it can't be repeated often enough. As long as you make this the primary focus of your training, you will have no problem improving muscle mass and definition.

While you can build a useful amount of muscle during your first few years of training without building too much strength, once you get a little more advanced, there is a strong correlation between strength and muscle mass.

In other words, the best way to continue building muscle after your hyper-responsive beginner phase of training is complete is to continually build strength.

How do you best achieve this?

While the science of training is complex and there are more questions than answers, the evidence is clear: heavy multi-joint exercises are the most effective way to get stronger (4).

And that's why we steroid-free exercisers need to do a lot of multi-joint exercises if we want to build significant amounts of muscle and strength.

This is not a specific rule for the pecs. It applies to every primary muscle group in the body including smaller, more stubborn muscles like arms, calves and shoulders, as well as larger, more responsive muscle groups like legs and back.

So if you want to build big and defined chest muscles as quickly as possible, then you should build a strong chest as quickly as possible, which means a lot of heavy chest muscle training - and in most cases, that means a lot of heavy pressing.

You might be wondering what I mean by "heavy". I primarily mean working with weights in the range of 70 to 80% of your 1RM weight or in a repetition range of 8 to 10 repetitions (70%) to 4 to 6 repetitions (80%).

In practical terms, this means performing each set up to one or two repetitions before reaching technical failure (the point at which you can no longer perform another repetition without losing form). Scientists also refer to this as performing the set with one repetition "in reserve".

In other words, your muscle building sets should be damn hard. What do I mean by multi-joint exercises?

Well, these are exercises that involve multiple joints and muscles, as opposed to isolation exercises that focus on one joint and a limited number of muscles.

Isolation exercises such as dumbbell flyes, for example, primarily involve the shoulder joint and pectorals, whereas multi-joint exercises such as bench presses involve the shoulder and elbow joints, pectorals, shoulders, triceps, biceps, back and to a lesser extent even the legs.

Now you may hear the argument that professional xy does countless repetitions in his chest training and still has one of the most muscular chests on the planet.

Unfortunately, this is where steroids and other performance-enhancing compounds are often used, allowing the user to complete repetition after repetition, set after set and exercise after exercise for hours every day. This, of course, will ultimately lead to bigger muscles.

For example, a study conducted by scientists at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science showed that a relatively low dose of 600 mg of testosterone per week resulted in average muscle gains of 13.4 pounds and a 50-pound increase in bench press maximum weight within 10 weeks, while the control group was only able to build 4.4 pounds of muscle and increase their bench press maximum weight by only 22 pounds (5).

But don't worry. You can build impressive chest muscles without chemical assistance. All it takes is a little know-how, hard work and patience.

3. perform one to three chest training sessions per week

You may have heard that you need to train each muscle group at least two to three times a week to maximize gains in strength and muscle mass. This advice goes in the right direction, but you can't see the wood for the trees.

Scientific research shows that training frequency or how often you train a particular muscle group per week is not that important per se when it comes to building strength and muscle (6). More important is the total weekly training volume or the number of hard work sets you complete per week.

You might be wondering what I mean by "hard work sets". Well, a set is a fixed number of repetitions performed of an exercise and a "hard set" is a heavy, muscle and strength building set performed to near the point of technical muscle failure (the point at which you can no longer perform another repetition with correct form).

So, going back to the point above, as long as you perform enough hard sets for a given muscle group per week, it doesn't matter how you split these sets between different workouts.

So you can expect more or less the same results in terms of strength and muscle gains if you do 12 hard sets of chest training on Mondays or 4 hard sets of chest training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Now that we've got that out of the way, it's time to get to the obvious question: How many hard sets of chest workouts should you do per week to build impressive chest muscles.

I've tried many different training splits and volume/frequency schemes and the one that worked best is consistent with two extensive studies on the subject (7, 8).

If you emphasize heavy weights in your training - 70 to 80+% of your 1RM weight - then optimal volume seems to be in the range of 9 to 15 sets every 5 to 7 days.

This is true for chest as well as any other primary muscle group in the body.

Before increasing your training volume or frequency beyond these levels, you should ensure that you are striving for progressive overload in your training, that you are getting enough sleep and that you are eating enough.

In many cases, exercisers who consider themselves hardgainers who need high volume to make progress are simply exercisers who need to train harder, sleep more or eat more.

That being said, there are also exercisers (mainly men) who seem to be doing everything right but still can't make significant gains in strength and muscle mass. I like to recommend the following to these exercisers:

1. Train your pecs on 2 or 3 non-consecutive days per week.
2. Increase the number of your weekly hard sets for the pecs to 18 to 27.

For example, if you currently train your chest muscles on Mondays, you should do additional chest muscle training on Thursdays.

Slightly increasing your weekly training volume is not a magic formula, but it can help you break through stubborn muscle-building plateaus.

Now that we've got the basic theory out of the way, it's time to move on to the 10 best chest exercises.

The 10 best chest exercises

As with most muscle groups, there are tons of exercises to choose from for your pecs, but only a handful of these exercises are really necessary.

In fact, the list of the best chest exercises is quite short:

1. Flat band back
2. Incline bench press
3. Close bench press
4. Bench press with reverse grip / underhand grip
5. Dumbbell flat bench press
6. Dumbbell incline bench press
7. Dips
8. Crossover cable pulls
9. Flying movements with dumbbells
10. Push-ups

If you've just started training, then you can forget every other chest exercise and just focus on these 10 without getting disappointed.

And unless you're an advanced bodybuilder doing everything you can to get the last bit out of your body, you don't need to worry about fancy training techniques, periodization plans or exercises.

Instead, you should focus on the basic exercises I recommend in this series of articles.

1. barbell flat bench press

There's a good reason that any well put together weight training program includes bench presses as one of the core exercises.

Bench presses are one of the best all-round upper body exercises you can do. It works the pecs, latissimus, shoulders, triceps and, to a lesser extent, even the legs.

Studies conducted by scientists at California State University (9), the Institute of Human Performance (10) and the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (11) show that using heavy weights in the bench press allows you to activate almost all the muscle fibers of the pectoral muscles.

And more muscle activation generally leads to greater gains in strength and muscle mass over time. This is the reason why studies show that the stronger exercisers get on the bench press, the more their pecs grow (13).

However, even though the bench press looks quite simple, it is a very technical exercise. If you don't know what you're doing, you'll eventually plateau... and if you're lucky, avoid injury.

For this reason, it is crucial to learn how to perform this exercise correctly. This will ensure that you can progress with the bench press in a safe manner.

Because barbell bench presses activate so much muscle mass, this exercise is also extremely exhausting, which is why I recommend performing bench presses at the beginning of your training sessions when you are mentally and physically at your freshest.

If you can't do barbell band presses, dumbbell band presses are a good alternative. Bench presses on the multi press can also work, although I prefer dumbbell band presses.

As bench presses are the foundation of an effective chest training session, it makes sense to look at this exercise in a little more detail - starting with the correct body position.

There are three steps that make up a correct bench press:

1. The setup
2. The lowering
3. The press

Let's start at the top:

The bench press setup

Lie on your back on the bench and position yourself so that your eyes are under the bar.

Then lift your chest up and pull your shoulder blades down and together. Imagine that you are pulling your shoulder blades into your lower back. This should provide sufficient stability and tension in the upper back.

Then grip the bar with a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip, which corresponds to 55 to 72 centimetres for men and 35 to 56 centimetres for women, depending on their build.

If you grip the bar too tightly, you will shift the load more towards the triceps and away from the chest muscles and if you grip too wide, you will reduce your range of motion and the effectiveness of the exercise while increasing the risk of shoulder irritation.

Hold the bar in your hands so that it is closer to your wrist than your fingers and grip it as tightly as you can. Your wrists should be bent just far enough to allow the bar to rest in the center of your palm. However, they should not be bent back towards your head.

A good way to control your grip is to have a training partner stand behind you and control the position of your forearms at the lowest point of the movement. Your forearms should point as vertically upwards as possible in this position.

Do not use a 'thumbless' grip, where your thumbs are next to your index fingers instead of gripping around the bar. If you are using heavy weights, this grip can make it surprisingly easy for the barbell to slip out of your hands and fall on your chest or - even worse - your neck.

Next, make a slight hollow back and place your feet firmly on the floor directly under your knees, shoulder-width apart.

Your back should neither lie flat on the bench nor be bent so far that your bottom floats in the air. Instead, you should maintain a natural curve that is created when you push your chest up.

The upper part of your legs should be parallel to the floor and the lower part should form a 90 degree angle with your thighs. This will allow you to push over your heels as you lift the weight and generate a push from your legs that will increase your strength.

Next, take the weight out of the rack by hyperextending your elbows and move the weight horizontally upwards until it is directly over your shoulders. Do not try to move the weight directly from the rack to your chest and do not let your chest sink down or relax your shoulder blades as you lift it out of the rack.

Once the bar is in the correct position, take a deep breath, push your knees apart and grip the bar firmly.

Now you are ready to lower the bar.

The downward movement in the bench press

The first thing you should know about the downward movement is how to position your elbows. Many exercisers make the mistake of keeping their elbows wide apart, which can lead to shoulder injuries. A less common mistake is to pull your elbows too far towards your torso, which robs you of stability and strength and can overload your elbows.

Instead, your elbows should form a 30 to 60 degree angle with your torso throughout the movement. This protects your shoulders from injury and provides a stable and strong position from which to press.

While keeping your elbows in the correct position, lower the weight to the lower part of your chest above the nipples. The bar should move downwards in a straight line.

Once the bar has touched your chest (touched and not bounced off your chest), you are ready for the upward movement

The upward movement in the bench press

Imagine that you are pushing your torso away from the bar into the bench instead of pushing the bar away from your body. This will help you maintain proper form in the exercise and maximize your strength.

While keeping your shoulder blades down and contracted, your elbows at the correct angle to your torso, your lower back slightly rounded and your feet firmly on the floor, push against the bar to move it away from your chest.

As you begin to push the bar up, you can use the leg thrust I mentioned earlier by pushing your heels into the floor and spreading your knees.

This transfers force through your hips and back, which helps maintain proper form of the movement and increases the amount of force you can generate.

The bar should move upwards in a slightly diagonal path, moving towards your shoulders and ending where the movement began - directly above your shoulders.

Overextend your elbows at the highest point of the movement and do not keep them slightly bent. Now you are ready for the next repetition.

After you have completed your last repetition, you are ready to move the bar back to the rack. Don't try to push the bar directly into the rack, because if you miss, the bar will move directly towards your face.

Instead, finish your last repetition with the bar directly over your shoulders and elbows hyperextended and then move the bar horizontally into the rack.

In the final part of this article series, I will look at the remaining 9 best chest exercises and give you a template for a chest training session.

References:

1. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/abstract/1995/11000/effects_of_variations_of_the_bench_press_exercise.3.aspx
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16095407
3. http://www.miotec.com.br/pdf/Pinto_et_al_2013_Med_Sport.pdf
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28834797/
5. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101#t=articleResults
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29470825
7. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17326698
8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16287373
9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20093960
10. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18076235
11. http://www.miotec.com.br/pdf/Pinto_et_al_2013_Med_Sport.pdf
12. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26270694
13. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3831787/

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/chest-workout-best-chest-exercises/

By Michael Matthews

If you want muscular, strong and defined arms that you can be proud of, then you should use these arm exercises and workouts

If you're like most guys... and I'll admit that I was no different... then you probably got into weight training because you wanted to build thick arms and a muscular chest.

And if you're a woman, shapely and defined arms were probably on your list too (after a toned butt and killer legs of course).

Nothing inspires impressed looks and comments from strangers more than muscular arms and well-developed pecs. A perfect body is simply not complete without full, round, "three-dimensional" arms.

Well, in this article, we're going to talk about everything necessary to build biceps, triceps and forearms that others will freeze with envy at the sight of.

Let's start with the anatomy of the arms and see what needs to happen to achieve the look we want and then move on to the arm exercises and arm workouts that will get us there.

The anatomy of the arm muscles

When most people think of arm muscles, they first think of the biceps. Big biceps = big arms ... right?

Not necessarily!

Ironically, the biceps contribute substantially less to the overall size of the arms than the triceps, which are a much larger muscle group. Thus, one of the lesser known secrets to building big muscular arms is building big triceps.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's take a step back and look at the individual arm muscles in detail first.

The biceps in detail

The biceps - or formally biceps brachii - is a two-headed muscle that looks like this:

Another muscle you need to know about is the biceps brachialis, which is located under the biceps brachii and supports it when flexing the elbow.

Even though this muscle is not nearly as impressive as the biceps brachii, it plays an important role in the overall appearance of your arms. When well developed, the brachialis looks like a "knot" between the biceps brachii and triceps and has a significant impact on the overall aesthetics of the arms:

• Firstly, when contracted, it clearly separates the biceps and triceps, making both more prominent.
• Secondly, it pushes the biceps brachii upwards and makes them appear higher when contracted.

When we come to the exercises and training sessions in this article, we will therefore integrate some training to train the brachialis.

The triceps in detail

The next muscle we'll talk about is the triceps - or triceps brachii, which consists of three muscle heads;

As you can see, all three heads together form the characteristic horseshoe shape, which can be quite pronounced if developed well.

As I mentioned earlier, the biceps get far too much attention in most arm training programs. Small triceps are synonymous with small, disproportionate arms, regardless of the size of the biceps.

The forearms

Last but not least, there are the forearms, which are made up of several small muscles. They are not immediately in focus when it comes to arm development, but if they are underdeveloped then this is painfully obvious. However, when they are well developed, they improve the overall appearance of the arms.

The simple science of effective arm training

Let's start the practical part with the basics of good arm training.

There are a lot of theories about the best way to train your arms.

• Some people say that you should focus on high repetition workouts that really get your arm muscles burning.
• Others say that the key is to train your arms several times a week.
• Still others say that you don't need to train your arms directly and should focus on the heavy multi-joint exercises instead.

Well, I've tried all of the above and more and have worked with thousands of people and in my experience a combination of the above works best.

In other words, building big arms requires heavy multi-joint exercises and direct arm training with low and high reps. And as with all major muscle groups, you need to emphasize heavy training to best stimulate muscle growth.

Exercise selection is also a very important part of good arm training, as some exercises are better than others at progressively overloading your muscles. For example, standing barbell curls are a more effective bicep exercise than cable curls in every way.

Another aspect of your arm training is the correct volume or total number of repetitions you perform per week. This is especially important if you do a lot of heavy training, as the following general rule applies:

• The heavier the repetitions, the fewer you can perform per week.

Heavier sets require more recovery, which means you can't do as many reps per week as with lighter weights without risking overtraining.

I have tried many different training splits and training frequency schemes and the one that works best in my experience is also supported by 2 extensive study reviews on the subject.

If your training emphasizes heavy weights (80 to 85%+ of 1RM), then the optimal training volume seems to be in the range of 60 to 70 reps every 5 to 7 days

This is true not only for biceps and triceps, but also for any other primary muscle group. However, I would modify this slightly in the case of arm training, as biceps and triceps are also heavily involved in your pulling and pushing exercises.

So if you are doing 60 to 70 heavy repetitions for both chest and back per week, then you might want to do a little less direct training for your biceps and triceps. In my experience, 30 to 40 repetitions are completely sufficient.

Now that we've got the basic theory out of the way, it's time to take a look at the best arm exercises for building muscle and strength.

The best arm exercises

We'll start with the biceps and then move on to the triceps and forearms.

The best biceps exercises

As with most muscle groups, there are tons of exercises to choose from for the biceps, but only a handful of these exercises are really necessary.

Just because you can perform 20 variations of curls doesn't mean you have to. The following exercises are among the most effective (3):

1. barbell curls

Barbell curls have been a staple exercise in bodybuilding for over a century - and with good reason: this is one of the best bicep building exercises you can do.

2. dumbbell curls

I perform curls with a SZ bar from time to time instead of barbell curls to give my wrists and elbows a break from the stress that barbell curls cause.

3. alternating dumbbell curls

Just like barbell curls, this exercise is a proven exercise that builds bigger biceps.

4. dumbbell hammer curls

Hammer curls are particularly useful when it comes to building the brachial biceps (the smaller muscle that helps give your biceps a visible boost).

5. pull-ups with an underhand grip

Pull-ups with an underhand grip are an excellent functional exercise that targets the biceps. You can add extra weight using a dip belt or weight vest as you get stronger, ensuring that you can progressively overload your muscles continuously.

The best tricep exercises

As with biceps, the sheer number of potential exercises you can perform with your triceps is overwhelming. Here are the exercises you should focus on if you really want to bring out your triceps:

1. close bench press

If I could perform one tricep exercise, it would probably be the close bench press. This exercise is a multi-joint exercise that allows you to safely press heavy weights and can also give your chest development a little boost.

Note: When performing close bench presses, your grip should be slightly tighter than shoulder width but not tighter. Although you will often see exercisers performing this exercise with only a few centimetres between their hands, this is a bad idea as it puts the shoulders and wrists in a weakened, vulnerable position.

2. dumbbell tricep press overhead

This is one of my favorite tricep exercises because it allows me to safely press a heavy weight and overload the triceps.

3. tricep press lying down

Lying tricep presses involve a similar movement to dumbbell overhead tricep presses and are great for developing the triceps.

4. cable tricep presses

This is one of the most common tricep exercises and surprisingly it's actually quite good. I use this exercise later in my training session after I've done heavier work with the previously mentioned exercises. I personally prefer a V-grip or straight bar to a rope grip.

5. dips

You can perform dips either on a bench or on parallel bars. Both variations are good for training the triceps and are also useful for shoulders and chest.

Forearm training

I'm often asked what I do for my forearms and people are surprised when they hear that I don't do forearm training directly. My forearm development is the result of my back, chest and arm training.

I'm not a fan of direct forearm training for two reasons;

1. It can lead to tension and pain in the forearms, which can hinder tricep training.
2. It is not necessary if you are focusing on heavy multi-joint exercises in your back, chest and arm training.

Remember that progression is the key to muscle growth

That's it for the best arm exercises. However, the key is not to simply perform these exercises, but to achieve progression. This means increasing the weight you use over time.

If you don't get stronger, you won't get more muscular. However, if you work on your strength with these exercises and eat enough to grow, your arms will respond.

The ultimate arm training program

A good arm workout trains biceps (both biceps brachii and brachialis) and triceps (all three muscle heads) and indirectly the forearms and focuses on heavy weights.

Just like any other muscle group, the arms can benefit from training with higher repetitions, but you need to focus on training with heavy weights if you want them to grow over time.

Perform the following arm training program every 5 to 7 days for the next 8 weeks:

• Barbell curls: warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 reps
• Close bench press: Warm up and 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions
• Dumbbell hammer curls: 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions
• Dips: 3 sets of 4 to 6 repetitions

Optional:

• Dumbbell curls: 2 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions
• Dumbbell tricep presses overhead: 2 sets of 6 to 8 repetitions

That's all - just 16 to 20 heavy sets during the entire training session.

Do not perform these exercises as supersets, but do the following:

• Bicep exercise
• 60 seconds rest
• Triceps exercise
• 60 seconds rest
• Repeat the whole thing from the beginning

This will give your muscles enough time to fully recover their strength so that you can maximize your effort on each set.

As soon as you reach the upper end of the repetition range for an exercise, increase the weight.

For example, if you did 6 repetitions on your first set of barbell curls, increase the weight by 2.5 to 5 kilos for the next set and continue working with this weight until you can do 6 repetitions again, and so on.

References:

1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17326698
2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16287373
3. https://www.iat.uni-leipzig.de/datenbanken/iks/ls/Record/2000826

Source: https://www.muscleforlife.com/best-arm-exercises/

By Michael Matthews