Weight Training Tips and Articles

Building Bigger Pecs

June 20, 2009 on 6:49 pm | In Build Muscle, Chest, High Intensity Weight Training, Weight Training Exercises |

Building bigger pecs is something that most men who weight train want to do. Thick, powerful looking chest muscles are a must for an optimal muscular physique. Most weight trainers also enjoy doing chest exercises. However, to succeed at building bigger pectorals there are some things you must do.

You must focus on compound chest exercises for building bigger pecs. They’re the exercises that will help you build the most strength and size. This means that bench pressing exercises (flat, incline, and decline) and dips should make up the majority of your chest workouts. Save flyes and cable crossovers for the end of your workouts. You must actually build bigger pecs before you try to add shape to the muscles with isolation chest exercises.

Another great tip for building bigger pecs is to use proper form on your exercises. The bench press is, without a doubt, one of the most abused weight training exercises there are. So many weight trainers will do anything to lift more weight when they bench press. However, constantly cheating will only lead to joint pain or an injury. On the bench press and all other chest exercises you must focus on doing full repetitions with complete control of the weight. You will build chest strength if you perform these exercises the right way. This gain in strength will lead to you building bigger pectorals.

You must train with high intensity to build bigger pecs. If you always stop short of failure your chest won’t be forced to adapt and grow. Try to get as much as you can out of every single set you do. For most chest exercises this means that you’ll need somebody to spot you for safety. Have your spotter assist you for an extra rep when you reach positive failure.

Another key to building bigger pecs is to regularly switch things up. If you always do the same exercises for the same amount of sets and reps your body will get used to it and you’ll hit a plateau. Try a chest weight training routine where you do a workout with high reps and light weights, one with medium reps and medium weights, and one with low reps and heavy weights. Your chest muscles won’t get used to always doing 8 to 12 reps on every set and you’ll build bigger pecs. You should also regularly switch the exercises you do. Switch between decline bench presses and dips every other workout. You can also do dumbbell bench presses on a core ball every now and then.

To succeed at building bigger pecs you also need to avoid overtraining. Doing 20 or 30 sets per chest workout is just too much. You can actually get a great workout from 10 total sets for chest or even less if you work hard enough during each set. You also need to give your chest enough time between workouts to recover and grow. Training the pecs every 5 to 7 days depending on how much you do per workout should be enough.

As long as you follow these rules, you’ll be on your way to building bigger pectoral muscles.