You can speak to practically any bodybuilder on the planet, and they will all tell you how desperate they are to get big chest muscles.
Ironically, however, a huge percentage of them spent half their time in the gym doing countless cable crossovers and bench press exercises for pectoral muscles.
What these people don't realize is that you can have an awesome looking chest without killing yourself in the process.
Nobody is saying you can't use these exercises for chest muscles, but if you really want to get big chest muscles, your focus should primarily be on steady progression in terms of the weights you're using, as well as the number of repetitions.
Also, apart from presses, you also need to incorporate the flye into your routine.
Now, while you need to include flyes into your routine, they should not be the dominant exercise.
Your dominant exercises for building up the chest are high intensity presses.
These should include dumbbell presses, heavy barbell presses, and wide-grip dips.
No matter what you may have read or been told, there is no magical shortcut to get big chest muscles.
The only way you'll ever see your pectoral muscles growing is by focus on your presses, by overloading your muscles, and by adopting a "progressive" approach.
When I say "overloading" your muscles, I actually mean you need to work them to total exhaustion.
Okay, now that we have all that out of the way, go ahead and take a look at the following exercises for chest muscles: Barbell Bench Presses - Flat/Incline/Decline One of the best motivators in the world is seeing results, so in order to stay motivated we want to start seeing results as soon as possible, and to achieve this goal, you need to turn your attention to classic barbell presses.
This will allow you to work with the maximum amount of weight, hence the reason why it's so popular with any bodybuilder that wants to get big chest muscles in as short a time as possible.
Presses are the best exercises for building pectoral muscles, but you have to include all three styles - flat, incline, and decline.
The flat presses target both upper and lower chest muscles, while the incline presses target the upper muscles, and the decline targets the lower chest muscles.
Dumbbell Press - Flat/Incline/Decline Many bodybuilders overlook the importance of dumbbell exercises, and yet they are amongst the most important of all the exercises for chest muscles.
Unlike barbells, dumbbells allow for a more natural range of motion, and of course, this helps to avoid unpleasant shoulder injuries.
Furthermore, because both arms exercise independently, you're less likely to end up with a strength imbalance, because you won't have one arm working harder than the other.
Wide-Grip Dips This is another frequently overlooked top chest exercise, despite the fact that it's an essential exercise if your aim is to get big pectoral muscles.
One thing to bear in mind, however, is you need to use a wide grip, and you need to lean slightly forward so that the stress is on your pectorals rather than on your triceps.
Here are a few sample routines you may want to try: First Routine Flat Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps Incline Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps Second Routine Incline Barbell Bench Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps Wide-Grip Dips: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps Flat Dumbbell Press: 2 sets of 5 to 7 reps The exercises mentioned in this article are the best exercises for chest muscles, but just remember, each rep needs to end in concentric muscular failure.
You should also keep a record of your routine, so that you're able to progress from one week to the next, in terms of weight and reps.