I’ll share with you the ultimate chest & best biceps sculpturing workouts. These muscles groups will give you the V-figure that you’ve been longing for and look good in any outfit! So we’re going to focus on that today, and we’ll walk you through how to execute each workout with the perfect form to ensure maximal muscle growth and minimal injury.
First, we shall start off from one of the largest muscle groups of the body, apart from your legs and back – The Chest Muscles. The 3 most common ultimate chest workouts are:
1)Standard push-ups
2)Alternating one-handed push-ups
3)Shoulder adduction
1) Standard Push Ups
The standard push-up variation is best for beginners to develop overall pectoral muscles and if it’s too difficult for you, go ahead and do knees push-ups – a variation where you place your knees while doing push-ups.
When you can do at least 30 push-ups and ready to move on to the advanced level, you can switch it up with different push-up variations to challenge yourself and engage different parts of your chest in building that full, nasty pecs!
1. Begin in the “up” position. Hand position can vary but should be at least slightly wider than the shoulders.
2. Keep the elbows close to your body and lower yourself very slowly.
3. Keep your back straight and do not allow the knees to touch the floor
4. Lower to within 1-2 inches of the floor and pause momentarily. Keeping your back straight, slowly raise your body to the “up” position.
5. Do not hold your breath. Practice inhaling and exhaling throughout the entire movement back and forth.
6. Do note that the wider your hand placement are, the more engagement will be involved in the outer pectoral muscles.
2)Alternating One-Handed Push Up
Want to challenge yourself to do something crazy? Try Alternating One-Handed Push Ups. And here’s how you do it:
1. Spread your feet apart (Recommended as wide as your shoulder width for stability).
2. The active hand should be placed on the floor while the other hand can be placed behind the back.
3. This movement requires both stability and strength.
4. Just like doing normal push-ups, you perform this exercise in a 2-point movement: Concentric motion during push, and eccentric motion when you move back to the bottom in a slow and controlled manner. The only rule is not that you shouldn’t touch the floor with your chest and knees. If it’s too difficult for now, you can try doing this with knees on the ground.
3)Shoulder Adduction
Another Ultimate Chest Workout that everyone should include into their routine is Shoulder Adduction or more commonly known as Chest Flys. Unlike push-ups and bench presses, Chest Fly workout engage the chest muscles more because this is a pure bodybuilding workout to sculpt the chest muscles; whereas bench press is more of a powerlifting workout. And the range of motion of doing chest fly is a lot wider than presses. So how do you do it? Here’s how you do a standard shoulder adduction:
1. Feet should be placed comfortably on the floor, making it easy to push against the ground for stability. (A seat belt helps to reduce excess body movement and isolate and exercise the chest muscles). The upper arms should be in line with the shoulders.
2. Begin with the upper arms parallel to the floor and outstretched to the side midline to the body, or behind the midline for a better stretch.
3. Bring the forearms together in a controlled movement. Do not slam the two pads into each other. The arms naturally tend to drop slightly as the forearms are brought together.
4. Allow the forearm pads to return slowly to their starting position
5. Breathing techniques can vary, but you should either inhale or exhale on each movement. Many individuals find it easier to exhale on the concentric contraction of bringing the forearms together and then inhale on the eccentric contraction of returning to the start position. Do not squeeze your hand grip because this detracts from the workout of the chest muscles by using extra energy.
This is one common variation. Most people like using cable for adduction or flys, but you can also use dumbbells or even kettlebells. Some prefer standing, while some prefer to do it while laying on a bench. You can always switch things up for more variation because variety is the spice of life! You don’t want your workout to be a boring routine, so make sure to keep things fun and interesting.
Honestly, the 3 workouts that I mentioned earlier can really help you grow some awesome pectoral muscles especially if you’re a beginner. A simple routine with 4 Sets of the 3 Workouts can ensure optimal muscle growth because they engaged different angles of the muscles. For more advanced lifters, here are some additional chest workouts:
1.Barbell bench press
2.Incline bench press
3.Dumbbell bench press
4.Close-grip bench press
1.Barbell Bench Press
Presses are more of a power movement and require proper understanding of each movement and perform with the right form as injuries are very common in presses. The most common reasons of injury in presses are carrying too much weight and improper form of execution. So how do you properly execute Chest Press movements?
Number 1- Barbell Bench Press
1. Make sure to lie in a comfortable position on the bench to ensure safety and powerful execution. Usually, your eyes are beneath the bar at the starting position.
2. Before you begin execution, make sure to arch your back slightly to bring those shoulder blades together and always keep your chest up.
3. Hand placement on the bar is totally up to you, and you can manipulate hand movement for different variations of bench press such as standard bench press, wide-grip bench press, close-grip bench press and underhand bench press.
4. To execute bench press properly with maximal power output, make sure to plant your feet firm on the ground because you should be utilizing leg drive in this movement.
5. Unrack the weight carefully and perform the movement in horizontal movement until it touches your chest, then execute full power to push the bar upwards. Repeat this movement until the repetitions have been completed.
Remember to squeeze your shoulder blades together when you perform Bench Presses and tuck your elbows in at 45 degrees angle for safety and proper execution. A lot of guys risk screwing up their elbows and shoulder joints for not following these 2 simple tips.
Also, start light and drop your ego in the gym. Ego-lifting is a surefire way to the hospital and if you don’t want to suffer from unnecessary pain and injuries, be honest with yourself and pick the weight you can handle. Your only goal is to make progress in your fitness goal and not impress others in the gym.
2)Incline Bench Press
As mentioned before, the chest muscles are made up of different parts and angles. The common ones are the Upper chest and the Lower chest; The Outer, Middle and Inner Chest. The upper chest is the least developed part of the majority and you should really focus on this part more as the upper chest provides the illusion of you having fuller and mightier pecs. And the best workout to target the upper chest is the Incline Bench Press.
1. Don’t attempt to lift weights that are too heavy for you at the moment. Otherwise, you might risk breaking your wrist or neck if you’re not careful.
2. Again, lay flat on the bench and plant your feet firm on the ground. You should be utilizing leg drive in pressing motion. Retract your scapula with a slight arch and lock into this position. Now, you’re good to go.
3. Grip the bar firmly and unrack when you’re ready. You can easily unrack the barbell by simply extending your arms straight. Now, you’re at the starting position to execute the full movement.
4. One thing to take note of is to perform this exercise in a controlled manner, you don’t want to swing around heavy weights and injure yourself. Slowly lower the bar to your chest with your elbows tucked in. Keep your body tight throughout the entire exercise and remember to utilize leg drive.
5. At the bottom of the movement, push the bar back up to the starting position with the powerful concentric pushing motion. Repeat this movement until your rep scheme has been completed.
3)Dumbbell Bench Press
This can be said to be a more advanced level of push-ups as it engages the chest more and you’re able to make progress with heavier weights. Here’s how you perform Dumbbell Bench Press properly:
1. First, find 2 dumbbells which are suitable for you to execute dumbbell bench press properly. Not too light and not too heavy, enough to execute 8-10 reps before failure is the sweet spot. Next, sit on a flat bench with dumbbells in both hands on your side, resting on your thighs.
2.Then, you can easily get into position by using your thighs to raise those dumbbells to your side at shoulder width.
3. Once at shoulder width, the dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest. Remember to protract your shoulder blades and you should form a 45-degree angle at your armpit. This will be the bottom of your lift.
4. Now is the time to execute the concentric motion. Remember to keep your body tight at all times and exhale when you push. Just like performing barbell bench press, you can use leg drive for more power. Remember to squeeze your pecs at the top of the lift. Then slowly lower your dumbbells to the bottom position in a slow tempo.
5.Repeat the exercise until your rep scheme has been completed.
4)Close-Grip Bench Press
This workout focuses on the Inner Pecs and Triceps.
1. The starting position is the same as performing the normal bench press. The only difference in this lift is the hand position, which you’ll be placing your hands close together firmly on a barbell (your grip can be supinated or pronated in this lift). Carefully unrack the barbell and lock into this starting position.
2. Slowly lower the barbell to your chest with your elbows tuck in. You will feel more burn in your triceps in this lift because close-grip bench press involves more triceps activation.
3. From the bottom of the lift, push the bar back up to the starting position with one clean, powerful motion. You will feel tightness in both your chest and triceps as you move the bar upwards. After that, slowly lower the bar once again at a slower tempo.
4. Repeat this movement until your rep scheme has been completed.
5. Finally, rack the bar after you’re done with the exercise.