Walk into any gym in America, and it doesn’t matter if the trainers you see are new to the iron game, or have been training for years, they all seem to have a goal in common: They want to learn how to build a big chest. The great Arnold Schwarzenegger had a chest you could sit a beer upon, and has been the benchmark for complete chest development ever since. If you’re looking for a few lessons on how to build a big chest, you have come to the right place. Let’s get started!

Compound Movements
If you want your chest to grow to larger dimensions, you are going to want to use heavy weights that push your entire upper body – but particularly the chest – to new dimensions. Flat bench press is the movement chosen most by new lifters – but there are other alternatives which help a bit more when it comes to developing the center chest. Flat dumbbell presses are terrific for allowing for a greater extension and more depth to the movement. When looking to build the upper chest, incline presses and flyes should be used every other week. Outer chest should be targeted with dips, dumbbell pullovers, and decline dumbbell and bench presses. Finally, the outer chest is hit with the use of flyes, either of the machine or dumbbell variety, at a variety of angles. Use heavy, compound movements – that is how you build a big chest!

Going Beyond…
Do you train alone on chest day? If so, you are probably missing out on an extra repetition or three on those heavy sets - when you just aren’t confident in your ability to control the weight for another repetition. A spotter can solve this problem, allowing you the confidence to train until you reach the point of absolute failure. Those reps at the end of a set lead to much more meaningful muscle growth than those at the beginning. Use a spotter and push yourself more than you even have before, and your chest will certainly grow.

Diet & Rest
You grow outside of the gym, not during your workouts. Outside of the gym, you should be consuming 40 to 50 grams of protein per meal. At night, you should be getting 7.5 to 8.5 hours of sleep per night, with a small 30 to 45 minute nap during the day if your schedule allows for it. Recovery is key for muscle growth.

Consistency
You aren’t going to grow an incredible chest in a month. It will take 1 to 3 years of steady, consistent training for you to reach this goal. Keep at it, measuring your progress from month to month, but not letting yourself get down when you reach those points when growth stalls for a while. When this happens, increase your calories, try a new movement, and get more rest, and you’ll break through the plateau!

Now that you know how to build a big chest, it’s time to put your knowledge to work in the gym!

If you like this article, click here to share: