1. Must-Do's for Mass
Every bodybuilder, from amateur to professional, slaves to build a massive chest. If you're ready to join their ranks, you're going to need to do the basic exercises that have helped many before you achieve that longed-for chest. Flat bench presses, incline bench presses and flies are essential if you're looking to do mass building chest exercises. You can do bench presses, both flat and incline, with a barbell or dumbbells, with free weights or using a machine (such as a Smith machine, which is great for giving you the ability to lift higher amounts of weight without sacrificing form). You can do flies (flat or incline) using dumbbells or with weighted cables. Three to four sets of 10 to 14 repetitions (or reps) is a good guideline to follow.
2. The Highs and Lows of Mass Building Chest Exercises
For building mass, it's long been established that greater amounts of weight lifted for relatively low repetitions is advantageous over lighter weights and higher reps, which is better for shaping and defining the muscles. If you find yourself doing four sets or more of more than 14 reps, you're using too little weight. Add on some weight plates to that barbell or choose heavier dumbbells and perform the exercise again. However, too much heavy lifting can lead to muscle fatigue and leave you more prone to injury. You might try mixing in some light days with heavy days; for instance, do heavier mass building chest exercises on Monday and Thursday, while moving to lighter weights on Tuesday and Friday.
3. Supersets for a Super Chest
If you want to build mass, you have to hit the muscles hard. Those last few reps should really demand that you give all you have. To that end, supersets are an option as a way of doing mass building chest exercises. Supersets involve doing at least two exercises back to back, without any rest between. So you can do several reps of dumbbell or cable flies, for example, immediately after doing a set of bench presses, or you can drop and do as many push-ups as possible right after you've finished a set of incline bench presses. Using up that little bit of gas in your tank can really go a long way toward building a massive chest.
4. No Weights, No Problem
Though utilizing weights may be the fastest and most efficient way to a massive chest, you can get results even if you never lay hands on a barbell or dumbbell or set foot inside a gym. Push-ups using various hand positions (wide, close together, directly under the chest, under the shoulders, one-handed) can attack the pectorals from different angles. You can also raise your feet or do them between two chairs. Dips are another great body weight exercise that can develop chest muscles. You can do them between two high-backed chairs. For added benefit, try placing weight plates on your back while doing push-ups, or tie them around your waist when doing dips.
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