The Most Effective Pectoral Exercises

Regardless of whether you just want to shed the flab, firm up your pecs and get rid of the "man boob" look, or your goal is to build jaw dropping muscular pecs, then you absolutely must be focusing on the most effective pectoral exercises on a regular basis. Sure hitting the gym in an unorganized fashion and randomly performing pectoral exercises with no clear purpose, will allow you to achieve some level of success. But if you really want to build thick muscular pecs that you can be proud of, then you need to create your upper body workouts around top pec exercises and forget about the laundry list of ineffective or all out worthless pec exercises.
Regardless of what body part you want to focus your attention on, It's my opinion that you are much better off in the long run sticking with the chest exercises that allow you to workout with heavier weights through a complete range of motion that stimulates muscle fibers from many different muscle groups. In the case of chest training, I like to focus on the basic chest presses that incorporate the deltoid and pectoralis at the same time, and sometimes even the lats.

I really think that you get more muscle stimulation lifting this way than you would by trying to singularly isolate each and every muscle fiber of each and every muscle group. If you try to lift for muscle growth by planning your workouts around isolation movements that don't incorporate the muscles of your shoulders, you reach a point where while you are isolating the pectoral muscles, you aren’t training with a heavy enough weight to stimulate real muscle growth.

Here are my choices for the best pectoral exercises. Take the time to learn how to perform each of these pec exercises with correct form and start working them into your chest days. Not only will you begin to instantly feel a difference in the size and strength of your pecs, but after a few weeks of determined effort, people will start to take notice of your bigger, stronger pectoral muscles.

Basic Yet Effective Pectoral Exercises

1. The Bench Press - This is easily the most recognizable of all of the pectoral exercises. Including muscles from your pecs, deltoids and triceps this basic pec exercise will help you pack on some serious chest muscle fast!

To perform the flat bench press - Lie on your back on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor and your back firmly in contact with the bench. Grip the bar with an overhand grip spaced just wider than shoulder width. Slowly lower the barbell in a slow and controlled manner until it's located just below the lower portion of your pectoralis. Extend you arms upward while pushing the weight until the bar is in the starting position.

2. Barbell Incline Press - The incline press is another classic (and extremely effective) chest exercise that will help you get your pecs into amazing shape. The barbell incline press works the muscles in your chest and shoulders.

In order to perform the incline press lay down on an incline bench that has an angle set between 35 and 60 degrees. I personally find that a lower angle between 35 and 40 degrees allows me to train with heavier more growth stimulating weights.

Wrap you thumbs around the barbell just wider than shoulder width and with an overhand grip. Slowly lower the bar to the top of your chest. Make sure that your back and butt stay in contact with the incline bench during the entire movement. Press the weight up until the bar is back in the starting position. Make sure to avoid any aching in your back during this exercise.

3. Weighted Dips - When performed properly chest dips are one of the most effective pectoral exercises. Weighted dips target your pecs while incorporating your deltoids at the same time. One of the unique things about dips is that when performed properly, they allow you to really stretch out your chest and shoulder muscles at the bottom of the movement, which can help to improve blood flow and nutrient uptake in your shoulders and chest.

To perform chest dips: Hang from the parallel bars with your arms fully extended and you legs curled up behind you. Bend your elbows and lower your body slowly until your chest is level with the parallel bars, then press down and lift your body back up to the starting position. In order to place more of an emphasis on your pectoralis and less on your triceps, lean forward through the complete movement.

If I had to pick only 3 pectoral exercises to comprise my chest workouts, bench press, incline press (as well as the dumbbell equivalents) and chest dips would be the ones I'd go with. Not only do these basic pec exercises require little in the way of fancy equipment, but they are the most effective exercises for building a powerful muscular chest.