3 Barbell Chest Workouts

All Chest Workouts should include the Barbell Bench Press.  The basic Bench Press, performed with  the standard barbell still offers some of the best results and should there be incorporated into any chest workouts for mass. In this post I want to discuss three benchpress exercises you can incorporate into your chest workout routine.

Building a big strong chest is one of the fundamental aspects of any fitness or bodybuilding routine. Not only does a huge chest look good, but it is one of the key muscle groups that helps increase your metabolism and therefore burns fat. Thus keeping you lean and muscular.

The Traditional Bench Press

The traditional bench press is a great strength exercise, but it also has the additional benefits of not only working your chest, but also of front shoulder (posterior deltoids) and triceps.  The key to success with this exercise, as always, is in your form. It’s not about who can push the heaviest weight, although increasing your weight is obviously important for muscle overload and therefore Pec growth, it is about who can build the biggest chest.

In performing this exercise, there are many discussions about whether your feet should be placed firmly on the floor, or whether you should have them on the bench, with your knees bent, and a flatter back.  Personally I believe it is a matter of comfort.  I personally prefer to have my feet on the bench, my knees bent and my lower back pushed firmly into the bench.  I also find this prevents me from twisting and potentially hurting myself, when I get the point of failure and try to squeeze out that last repetition.

I also believe that the pace of each repetition is important.  I am a strong advocate of slow, deliberate movements in all exercises and chest workouts no different. It’s not a matter of dropping the weight and trying to bounce it off your chest to get either the maximum amount of repetitions, or use the maximum amount of weight; this is basically cheating.   My preferred method is to lower the weight to your chest slowly to a count of four or five.  At the point the Barbell touches your chest,  immediately start pushing the bar or way again; no delay or rest.  It is the same at the top of the exercise.  As soon as the Barbell reaches the top of the movement, immediately start to lower in a controlled journey back down to your chest.

Doing this exercise slowly, as with all exercises, also prevents you from aggressively locking out your elbows at the top of the movement which is not good for the elbow joints.

Each set of repetitions should ideally be done to failure.  This therefore means that you may have to lower the amount of weight used for each set.  To get the best chest workout, as with all workouts, I recommend 8 to 10 repetitions and the traditional three sets.

The Incline Bench Press
Working the upper part of the chest is an importance part of any chest workout routine.  Developing the upper part of the pectoral muscles is key to getting a fuller and less “Man Boob” shaped chest.  A well developed upper Pec also gives an attractive cleavage; and yes I am talking about men.

Although performed in a similar fashion to the traditional flat bench press, there are a couple of the points to note that can improve your upper chest workout.

Firstly, do not have the bench at too high of an angle.  The higher the angle, the more load is put onto the shoulders, making the exercise more like a shoulder press than an upper chest workout.  Don’t have your bench any higher than 45°, and slightly lower would be best.

My second point, is to bring the bar down to your chest keeping the bar high and near your Clavicle.  Try not to lower the bar to the nipple as you might do on the flat bench press exercise.  The higher up your body the bar touches your chest, the more load you put on the upper pectoral  muscle.

Bench press on the Floor

Previously I have spoken about doing Barbell flies the floor, which can be done easily because you have straight arms, allowing you to get the appropriate amount of movement and load into this particular chest exercise.  So you might think thatchest workouts 3 Barbell Chest Workouts doing benchpress from the floor would be inappropriate, as you are unable to physically get the bar to your chest.  However there are some benefits of incorporating this exercise, with its short range of movement, into your chest workouts.

Doing the benchpress in this manner only allows you to perform the upper part of the bench press exercise.  This is the part of the benchpress that squeezes the chest and creates a very concentrated amount of tension in the Pec.  Because of the limited amount of movement, you can also increase the amount of weight you use.  This exercise is best performed, as with many exercises, with a spotter who can lift the weight onto your hands for you, especially as you will be using increased amounts of weight.

In theory, this very exercise could be carried out on the bench as per the normal bench press, and simply limit the amount of movement that you do.  However, doing it on the floor will prevent you from going too deep into the benchpress. Thus it forces you to carry out a different exercise. Variation, and what many call “Muscle Confusion”, can be the key to stimulating growth.  So you may not make this exercise are key part of your chest workout routine, but I would suggest that it becomes an exercise that you do regularly carry out as part of your chest workouts.