Power Up Your Upper Body: The Best Exercises for a Stronger Chest
Strengthening your pecs isn’t all about aesthetics. Adding chest exercises to your workouts has many functional and practical benefits, too.
Follow this guide to find out why building a strong chest is important (for everyone), the best pec exercises whether you’re a beginner or a gym pro, and how to improve chest strength both at home and in the gym.
Introduction to your chest muscles
Your chest is made up of two large muscles: the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor, more commonly known as “pecs”. You have two of each: one on the left and one on the right side of your sternum.
The pectoralis major is the biggest of the two, consisting of the clavicular head (the upper portion) and the sternal head (the lower portion).
Why building a strong chest is important for everyone
The pecs are two of the biggest muscles in your body and are responsible for moving your arms up and down, and across and away from your torso.
They’re also vital for functional movements, including pushing, lifting and carrying. So, while you might not realise it, you use your pecs all the time: whenever you push open a door, pick something up from the floor, carry shopping bags or just move your arms.
Having a strong chest also helps you to be more stable and efficient while performing other upper-body movements. Even when you isolate muscles in your back and arms, your pecs help to support your body and maintain proper form and stability. So, building your chest muscles can improve your overall performance in other exercises.
The best chest exercises for beginners
Isometric chest squeeze
This is the perfect no-equipment chest exercise to add to your warm-up. And it couldn’t be simpler to perform.
Stand up and lock your hands together in front of you, with your arms bent at 90 degrees. Contract and squeeze your chest as hard as you can. Hold the contraction for 15 - 30 seconds, then relax and repeat.
You can also vary this exercise by pushing your palms into a hard ball (like a medicine ball) instead of gripping your hands together.
Press-ups
Press-ups are one of the most versatile chest exercises around.
They can be performed at home or in the gym, made easier or more difficult, and can be used to target different muscles just by changing your arm position.
Beginners should start with a standard press-up.
Start in a plank position with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders.
Pull your belly button towards your spine to contract your core.
Keeping your back straight, bend your elbows and inhale as you lower yourself towards the ground until your elbows are at 90 degrees.
Exhale as you slowly push through your hands to straighten your arms.
Return to the plank position.
Repeat to complete your set.
To make this movement slightly easier, you can bend your knees so that they’re touching the floor. Or you could try incline push-ups where your hands are placed on top of a bench (the higher the bench, the easier the movement).
Once you’ve mastered a standard press-up from a plank position, you can increase the difficulty by elevating your feet, holding on to dumbbells (rather than having your palms flat on the floor), or moving your hands close together so your thumbs are touching to perform a close grip press up (these are also a brilliant movement for targeting your triceps).
Flat barbell bench press
The flat barbell bench should be a staple of any beginner chest workout.
To do a bench press correctly:
Set the safety pins so that they’re slightly lower than your hands when your arms are fully extended (around wrist height).
Position yourself on the bench with the bar level with your eyes as you look up.
Grip the bar overhand, a little wider than shoulder-width, with your ring or middle finger near the gap in the knurling.
To un-rack the bar, press your feet into the floor, retract your shoulders, and push the bar up until your arms are straight (but not fully locked).
Move the bar forward to clear the pins.
Lower the bar to your chest, aiming for your sternum, while keeping both arms moving evenly and your elbows at a 45-70 degree angle.
Once the bar touches your chest, press it back up to the starting position without using your hips or back to assist.
You can also perform a flat bench press using dumbbells (which gives you the freedom to do single arm reps) or even lie on the floor with your knees raised if no bench is available – unsurprisingly, these are called “floor presses”.
Dumbbell flyes
Don’t be fooled by dumbbell flyes – while they might look fairly simple to perform, this is not an exercise where you can pick up the heaviest weight on the rack from the get-go.
You can get a great pump with minimal weight, which is why they’re one of the best dumbbell exercises for your chest.
Use a light pair of dumbbells and focus on slow, controlled movements and squeezing your chest muscles. If you find that you need to use your biceps to move the weights, then you’ve gone too heavy.
To perform an efficient fly, grab a pair of light weights and then:
Sit on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand.
Lie back on the bench, keeping the dumbbells close to your chest.
Once you're flat, push the dumbbells up above your chest to get into the starting position. Keep your palms facing inward.
Inhale, and lower your arms to the sides with a slight bend in your elbows until you feel a stretch across your chest. Don’t drop your arms lower than the height of the bench, as this can put unnecessary strain on your elbows and shoulders.
Exhale as you bring your arms back to the starting position, squeezing your chest muscles. The dumbbells can touch gently, but don’t bang them together.
Repeat for the desired number of reps.
Keep your elbows slightly flexed throughout the movement, and think about drawing a semi-circle with the dumbbells. Some people also find that it helps if they imagine that they’re hugging the air between their arms.
Like the bench press, you can also perform flyes while lying on the floor.
The best intermediate pec exercises
Incline bench press
Once you’ve mastered the flat bench press, you can progress to the incline version with a bar or dumbbells.
Most adjustable benches can be raised or lowered in several increments. The ideal incline bench angle is between 30 and 60 degrees, depending on which muscle you want to target.
Set the rack pins so they’re a few inches below your hands when your arms are straight. Then:
Set your feet a little wider than you would do in the flat lift and lie back on the bench.
Ensure your glutes, lower and upper back, and head are in firm contact with the bench.
Grip the bar at a width that allows you to keep your elbows tucked in at a 45-degree angle during the movement. For most people, this will be about shoulder width, but it depends on your mobility, so you may need to do some trials (without any weight on the bar) to get the right grip width.
To complete a lift, gently push through your feet and extend your arms to raise the bar from the pins.
Bring the bar forward to level with the mid-portion of your chest (ideally, the area a couple of inches below your clavicle).
Inhale and control the bar down to your chest, ensuring your elbows don’t flare out past 45 degrees.
When the bar touches your chest, push it back up again using your arms and chest as you exhale.
Once you’ve completed your set, gently bring the bar back towards the rack, and lower it onto the pins.
It’s essential not to arch your back to initiate the barbell movement from your chest. Reduce the weight if you find you need to move your torso away from the bench to complete the lift.
T-Bench Fly
The arm motion of the T-bench fly is the same as the basic fly variant, but the main difference is the initial set-up and body position.
Instead of lying fully on the bench, only your upper back and shoulders will rest upon it. Your feet will be on the floor at a 90-degree angle to the bench, with your torso unsupported in a glute bridge position. This means that not only is the T-bench fly an excellent exercise for developing chest muscles, but it also works your core and glutes.
Sit on the bench with both feet on one side, with the dumbbells resting on your thighs.
Lift the dumbbells slightly and roll your body backwards, allowing your hips to move forward off the bench.
Slide forward until only your upper back and shoulders are on the bench. Your body should now be in a raised glute bridge position.
Ensure your body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees, with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and feet firmly on the floor.
Push the dumbbells up so they’re directly above your shoulders, keeping elbows and wrists in a straight line.
Engage your glutes and abs to maintain a straight line from knees to shoulders, avoiding any arching of the back.
Perform the fly: your elbows should gently touch the bench at the bottom of the movement. Repeat for your desired number of reps.
Single-dumbbell pullover
Dumbbell pullovers are a brilliant all-round upper-body movement. While they mainly target your pec major, they also engage your back, core, and triceps.
This is another exercise where you need to start slowly and pick a low weight to begin with. You’ll likely be surprised by how quickly your chest tires, even with a light dumbbell.
Select your dumbbell, and sit on a bench with your legs on either side. Then:
Lie back flat on the bench.
Hold the dumbbell upright on your chest, gripping the top of it securely with both hands.
Lift your arms and push the dumbbell up off your chest.
Keeping your elbows slightly flexed, inhale, then gently lower the dumbbell behind your head (it should travel in an arch shape).
Pause for a couple of seconds, then following the same arc, reverse the movement as you exhale and return to the starting position.
Complete the desired number of reps.
While the single-dumbbell pullover is a staple chest exercise, you can also perform this movement with a dumbbell in each hand, holding a medicine ball, kettlebell, or an EZ curl bar. If there’s no bench available, you can also do this exercise on the floor (but if you’re using a dumbbell, hold the weight horizontally rather than vertically).
Chest exercises for experts
Single-arm press-ups
Single-arm press-ups are the ultimate advanced chest exercise to perform without equipment.
Start in the same plank position as with a basic press-up. Move your feet so they’re slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Carefully lift one arm off the floor and rest it on your lower back, then perform a one-armed press-up, lowering yourself until your elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle.
It’s critical in a single-arm press-up that you don’t lock your elbow at the top of the movement, that your back stays straight throughout and that your hips and shoulders remain level with the floor: don’t rotate your body in any way.
Bear plank cable chest press
Cable machines are a go-to piece of equipment for many gym-goers looking to develop their chest muscles.
And the bear plank cable chest press is one of the most advanced skills you can perform using this versatile piece of kit.
You’ll need to engage your chest, quads, core and glutes to complete this exercise efficiently, so it’s a fantastic all-round movement to add to your workouts.
Set yourself up on all fours in the middle of the cable machine, holding one cable in each hand. Then:
Brace your core, and lift your knees a couple of inches off the ground so you’re in a bear plank position.
Ensuring your hips and shoulders are square to the ground and your back is flat, inhale and slowly lift one hand away from the ground while still gripping the cable.
Raise your hand until your elbow is at a 90-degree angle.
Pause for a couple of seconds.
Exhale, push the handle back down and place your hand on the ground.
Complete the desired number of reps on both sides.
Bodyweight dip
A huge amount of stabilisation is required to safely and efficiently perform a dip, not to mention the fact that during this movement, your upper body supports your entire body weight – which is why it’s one of the best upper-body exercises you can do.
Not only will you be hitting both your pec major and pec minor, but you’ll also find that your shoulders, arms, upper back, and core get a great workout.
You’ll need to use parallel bars or a dip extension on a squat rack to complete this movement.
Hold the bars with your palms facing inward.
Take your feet off the floor so your arms are holding your body weight (depending on the height of the bars, you can either bend your legs, cross them over, or keep them straight).
Lean slightly forward.
Inhale, then bend your elbows, engaging your chest as you lower your body.
Lower yourself so your elbows are at 90 degrees.
Push yourself back up by straightening your arms as you exhale until you reach the start position.
Repeat
Top tip: to target your chest, lean forward and let your elbows flare out slightly. Or, if you want to work your triceps, keep upright with your elbows tucked in.
Dips are another really adaptable exercise, which can be performed using gymnastics rings, or made even more challenging by adding a weighted belt.
How often should you train your chest?
If you do full-body workouts (i.e., train legs, arms, chest, and back in every session), adding a couple of pec exercises into each workout is sensible for developing chest hypertrophy and strength.
If you use body splits (i.e., focusing on one body area per workout), you should train your chest up to three times a week on non-consecutive days, ideally with at least two days between sessions.
However you train, make sure you’re using a variety of chest-focused exercises which incorporate dumbbell, barbell and bodyweight movements to hit both your pec major and pec minor.
The number of sets and reps you perform will depend on your goals and whether you’re looking to improve chest hypertrophy or strength. Guidance on this varies, but a 2021 study into the “repetition continuum” – the ideal number of reps to meet different goals – found that:
For strength, do sets of 1-5 reps at 80-100% of your one-rep maximum.
For hypertrophy (building muscle mass), do sets of 8-12 reps at 60-80% of your one-rep maximum.
Most studies show that between 3-6 sets is sufficient for strength, mass, and power goals.
At-home chest exercise programme
You can do plenty of pec exercises at home with little to no equipment.
For this three-day programme, you’ll just need some weights (ideally dumbbells, but you can use bottles of water or even tins of food), a ball (a medicine ball, or a hard football or basketball) and something to place your hands or feet on. If you have one, this could be a workout step, but you could also use your stairs. Do these on non-consecutive days.
Day one
Workout: Standard press-up and floor press: 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2 minutes between each set and 5-8 minutes between exercises.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Day two
Workout: Decline press-up (feet up on a step) and floor flyes: 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2 minutes between each set and 5-8 minutes between exercises.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes with a ball: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Day three
Incline press-up (hands up on a step) and floor pullovers: 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps per exercise, with 2 minutes between each set and 5-8 minutes between exercises.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Gym-based chest exercise programme
As you’ve learned, there are many variables for training your chest based on your goal, and how experienced you are with resistance training. So, we’d always recommend that you get advice from a personal trainer to help you develop a gym-based programme personalised to you.
The following is an example of a chest exercise programme for an intermediate-level gym-goer who wants to build muscle mass and improve chest hypertrophy. You should have at least two days off chest training in between these sessions. Don’t forget to fully warm up and cool down.
Day one
Workout: Flat barbell bench press, dumbbell flyes, single dumbbell pullover: 4-5 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise at 70% of your one-rep maximum.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes with a medicine ball: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Standard press ups: 4-5 sets of 12-15 reps, with one minute between each set.
Day two
Workout: Flat barbell bench press, incline dumbbell bench press, T-bench flyes: 4-5 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise at 70% of your one-rep maximum.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes with a medicine ball: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Weighted press ups: 2-4 sets of 12-15 reps, with 90 seconds between each set.
Day three
Workout: Incline barbell bench press, single arm flat dumbbell bench, dumbbell flyes: 4-5 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise at 70% of your one-rep maximum.
Finisher: Isometric chest squeezes with a medicine ball: 4-5 sets of 20-30 seconds, with 1 minute between each set.
Close-grip press ups: 2-4 sets of 12-15 reps, with 90 seconds between each set.
Build your chest for improved all-round performance
Build – and maintain – your chest strength, and watch your overall gym and sports performance increase!
Barbell and dumbbell chest exercises are some of the easiest movements to incorporate into your all-round training sessions and, as you’ve found out, can be performed either at home or in the gym with very little equipment.
And you don’t need any special kit to train your pecs, either.
But, if you’re new to resistance or weight training, you might find our women’s training gloves or men’s training gloves make it more comfortable to lift heavy weights.
Women often find that movements where the bar touches the chest – like a flat barbell bench press – comfier if they’re wearing a padded sports bra like our UA Infinity 2.0, which features a unique foam padding that's lighter than anything else on the market.
And if you want to show off the results of all your hard work, our men’s gym tops and t-shirts or workout tanks are the perfect way to do so.
