Large Pecs: How To Build Chest Muscles

Aside from big arms, there is no desire among aspiring underweight muscle building enthusiasts to outweigh the longing for a large, well-developed chest. And why not; big pecs command respect. Somehow, they are primitively associated with courage and assertiveness. When you have pectoral muscles that only protrude a little beyond your abdominal section, you are considered to be “fit.” What’s more, in a world of male competitiveness where one’s height seems to unfairly monopolize the aura of the dominant physical stature, powerful pecs can be a great equalizer. They tell the world that no matter what level your genetics have elongated you, you are packed into physical prowess by choice. He exudes strength and athleticism with well developed pecs.

So what is the best method to develop a great chest? Well, that shouldn’t be our only question. Because if the pecs are not built in a balanced way, the excessive size can contribute to a feminizing effect on the male torso. Does anyone really want to develop “man boobs”? I do not believe it. Therefore, it is imperative that we make our pecs a bit heavy on top (upper pecs sticking out a bit more than the middle pecs) in our attempt to increase breast size. An emphasis on ensuring that we are successful with incline exercises will ensure good upper pectoral development.

Note that I did not recommend doing “a lot of incline exercises.” Instead, I mentioned that you make sure you are “successful” with your incline movements (this applies to all bodybuilding exercises). Although this may seem like a subtle pun, it is really a vital topic for your muscle development progress. Overtraining is probably the biggest setback that most natural bodybuilding enthusiasts face unknowingly. So you may need to add more incline bench movements to develop larger upper pecs, or you may need to stop doing those movements. It really depends on what you are currently doing. Just keep in mind that many times our enthusiasm for progress in a particular body part leads us to inadvertently overwork on that area, resulting in the exact opposite of our desired effect.

As a lifelong natural bodybuilder, nothing has done more to develop my pecs than de-emphasize ‘push moves’ and put it on ‘flying moves’. The widespread notion that you “have to bench press” and “bench press heavy” has only been overcome in the retention of pectoral growth through the practice of overtraining. Combine the two with the typical tough situations of the natural bodybuilder and you have a scenario where pectoral growth is almost non-existent for many gym-goers. If the heavy bench press were the key to a big chest, we’d see powerlifters epitomizing pectoral development. Turns out some of them have big pecs and others seem to have almost none, even though they can bench press heavy.

What if you could do heavy flights? What if you could sit on an incline bench and strictly move seventy-five pound dumbbells from the top of the movement, slowly down until your arms are extended and the weights are parallel to your head (elbows only slightly bent)? upper position without any arm movement? If you can’t do that for six to eight reps now, but can do it in a few months, I’d bet your pectoral muscles are significantly bigger after those few months. Making strict, heavy flying movements the cornerstone of your chest routine can do wonders for the growth of those muscles.

In addition to shifting the bench press movements to a secondary position and the flights to the primary position, I have also accelerated my pectoral gains by dividing my first flight movement into two partial rep exercises. So when I hit the gym to start my chest routine, I head straight for one of those pec / flye machines where you hold the handles with your arms outstretched (just a slight bend in the elbows). These are the type of pectoral machines that are also used for rear deltoid exercises. Adjust the seat on the machine so that a flying motion performed on the machine hits directly in the middle of my pecs.

Then I proceed to do two different exercises with this machine; one for my outer pecs and one for the inner ones. For the outer pecs, I move my arms from the fully outward position to about half the range of a full flight. I do five to eight sets like this. For the inner pecs, I go from the angle of about twenty degrees (where I finished my rep for the outer pecs movement) to the point where the handles contact each other in front of me. I do them for another five to eight sets. When I’m done with these two partial rep exercises, my entire chest is worked and pumped to the max.

It’s important to know that working your mid-chest muscles really puts your upper and lower pecs into play. However, isolating the upper chest with incline movements does not bring the middle or lower chest muscles into play. The same is the case with the isolation of the lower part of the thorax with slopes; only work the lower pecs. Therefore, the most effective way to start a chest routine is with an exercise that hits the middle of the chest. My suggestion is that when you start your pec workout with the exercise mentioned above, be sure to adjust the seat so that you are hitting the center of your chest.

Only when I have exhausted my pecs enough with the strict execution of these partial reps do I move on to isolating the upper and lower pecs respectively with three more exercises. These include incline dumbbell flights, Hammer Strength presses, and a downward angled pec platform. I do two exercises for the upper pecs in an attempt to develop them slightly for better balance; the dumbbell flights and the push movement with the Hammer Strength machine. Presses are incredibly more effective for pectoral growth when the pecs have previously been depleted with flies.

If you have struggled with pectoral growth, I recommend that you switch to making flying exercises the basis of your routine. Also, divide that first push-up exercise into two half-rep movements. This will create maximum tension on the inner and outer pecs, doing wonders for both the size and shape of the muscles.