Most bodybuilders are well aware of the importance of flat and incline bench presses. Some even discover dumbbell flyes before long. A small percentage learns of the benefits of pullovers. However, most don't discover the benefits of low cable crossovers until years after they've started training. By then, the pectoral-deltoid tie-in is a weak area in many bodybuilders. Using this exercise early on ensures that this area never is a weakness; rather, a strength!

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Notwithstanding those whose passion is to be a power lifter, bodybuilder, or as humanly strong (big) as possible; I think most would be pretty happy looking like a Brad Pitt, or a Gerard Butler. For a lot of us, a good objective would be to develop a physique that looks good on the beach, in a polo shirt, a casual sports jacket, or say a tux. These guys I mentioned, and others, have solid shoulders, lean muscular arms, good looking abs, and flat, square Pecs. Their core, their trunk muscles are great. And what makes them look great are really their Pecs. Sure the abs look good, and the eyes do got there; but it's the Pecs that convey the sense of manliness, in my humble opinion.

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If you asked a hundred bodybuilders what their top five chest movements would be, the answers probably wouldn’t vary all that much. Sure, they would be in different order, but you can rest assured the top five would likely be sprinkled with incline and flat dumbbell and barbell presses, along with dips and cable crossovers. You can also rest assured that machine flyes probably wouldn’t even make the top ten list of most useful chest exercises. Machine Flyes are seldom mentioned because they aren’t all that exciting of an exercise. They don’t build mass, so they’re not particularly popular with young bodybuilders. Their poundage's are meaningless, so they aren’t all that interesting to powerlifters. They are often seen as an exercise which is completed by beginners on their home bench set with the butterfly attachments, or one of the nautilus machines at the gym frequented by the elderly trainers while the real bodybuilders crowd the free weight area. Face it: machine flyes get no respect!

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How has your chest training been lately? Are you making the best gains of your life, or are you just chugging along, trying to keep up with the others around you? If you haven’t been adding 5 pounds per month to your major compound chest movements, then you’re essentially treading water, spinning your wheels, and wasting your time. Here are some tips that you can employ to bump up your chest training productivity.

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Ask any top bodybuilder what area of his chest he works to stimulate most, and barring a few exceptions, they will all answer in the same manner: Upper chest! The upper pectoral shelf was made legendary by Arnold Schwarzenegger in his bodybuilding heyday, and not a whole lot has changed since then. Arnold could balance a full glass of water on his upper pectorals, and bodybuilders have been trying for years to match that feat! Here is a training style which emphasizes the upper pectorals.

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We all tend to find comfortable grooves in life. We wake up in the morning, and fall into our regular groove of brushing our teeth and grabbing a protein shake before running out the door to work. When mealtime arrives, we’re often on auto-pilot. We throw a chicken breast on the Foreman grill, and prep our carbs at the same time. After washing it down with a Diet Dr. Pepper or some Crystal Lite, we get back to work in anticipation of our journey to the gym that evening. When the time comes for training, it’s often the same way. We train at the same time each day, and we know what to expect. Our machines will be there for us. We’ll use about the same weight each time, save for small incremental increases. We’ll almost always use the same rep range. It will usually be 6 to 10 repetitions, sometimes flirting with 12 on the early sets of an exercise.

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Q: I’m working to bring up my lagging chest development with flat and incline bench presses. But these exercises don’t seem to give me a pump in the pecs, only in my triceps and delts. Should I give up on these and focus on stretching movements like flyes?

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We know, we know... Most people will tell you that the bench press will solve all your chest problems and then some. But we don't exactly agree... While powerlifting exercises are, overall, a great choice if you had to choose just one exercise, the fact is, you don't!

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Anyone who has spent a few years in the gym can probably show some pectoral development. However, to earn that massive set of Arnold-like pecs, you have to go further, train harder and stay more focused than the rest. Here are six key steps to developing a successful pec strategy.

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Few exercises can top the staying power of the classic bench press. Ask any serious bodybuilder and odds are you’ll hear that the flat bench is, and always has been the meat-and-potatoes of his chest routine. Simply put, the flat bench delivers. But here’s the catch: Whenever you make a specific exercise a habit, you’re all but guaranteed to hit a plateau at some point.

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