6 Challenging CrossFit and Bodybuilding Chest Workouts

Bodybuilding chest workouts are a core part of building a strong upper body.

The chest is composed of two basic areas (clavicular head and sternal head) that benefit greatly if each are worked upon and targeted specifically. These should accompany the core exercises that involve the entire chest. Isolation moves, while they should never form the core of chest work, can also be very useful for stimulating muscle growth.

• In most cases, experienced lifters will need at least 8 sets of chest work per week to maintain their gains.
• Most intermediate-advanced lifters need at least 10 sets of direct chest work per week to make gains.
• Most people respond best to between 12 and 20 weekly sets on average.

Very large, strong lifters may need lower set numbers when they choose mostly barbell movements, since those are both so simulative and disruptive.

FREQUENCY

“Because of the forces the chest has to contend with and the way it’s designed, and because it is anatomically positioned to take a high degree of stretch under load, the chest takes quite a beating from overloading training and needs its recovery time. It’s rare to see a program that implements more than 3 successful overloads in a week’s time.” Dr Mike Israetal

Here is a great example plan for chest workouts.

BODYBUILDING CHEST WORKOUTS

Add these workouts into your training routine if you want to build a bigger, stronger and more muscular chest.

BODYBUILDING CHEST WORKOUTS: UPPER

• Barbell incline bench press medium grip – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
• Incline dumbbell press – 3 sets of 8 reps
• Incline dumbbell flyes – 3 sets of 8-12 reps
• Pushups – 3 sets of 12 reps

BODYBUILDING CHEST WORKOUTS: MIDDLE

• Barbell incline bench press medium grip – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
• Incline dumbbell press – 3 sets of 8 reps
• Dumbbell flyes – 3 sets of 8-12 reps
• Push ups – 3 sets of 12 reps

BODYBUILDING CHEST WORKOUTS: LOWER

• Decline barbell bench press – 3 sets of 4-6 reps
• Decline dumbbell bench press – 3 sets of 8 reps
• Decline dumbbell flyes – 3 sets of 8-12 reps
• Push ups – 3 sets of 12 reps