Best Chest Exercises - Bench Press is Rated 4!
Imagine if you could walk into a gym and know instantly how effective an exercise was on a rating of 1 to 10. That would allow you to hone in on the ones that rate a 9 or 10 and steer clear of those that are 4s and 5s. As a result, you’d be able to avoid the ineffective, time-wasting, and downright dangerous exercises and get the absolute best bang for your buck out of every rep of every set.
Well, guess what?
Thanks to the objectivity of physics and biomechanics, you can do exactly that. By relying on science, you remove all emotion, subjectivity, and bro-science from the picture to reveal the undeniable truth of how good an exercise is. And that is precisely what we are about to do, starting with the chest.
WARNING
What you are about to read may be confronting for you. You will discover that exercises you may have been taught are the best thing you can do for your chest are actually not very good pec builders at all. Yet, every point made will be backed up by the physics of the human body - in other words, undeniable science.
Sixteen biomechanical principles determine whether an exercise is good, bad, or great in building muscle and strength. Go here for a layman’s explanation of each of them.
Vital Chest Anatomy
The chest muscle, or pectoralis major, consists of three divisions of muscle fibers based on where those fibers start and finish. Each of these divisions is known as a ‘head.’
The muscle fibers of the clavicular head originate on the clavicle bone, while the costal head comes from the upper ribs. The majority of the fibers, though, originate on the sternum, or breastbone, at the center of your chest. All three heads insert at the same point - the upper part of the arm bone (humerus), at the armpit.
The primary function of the pec major is to bring the arms forward and in toward the centerline of the body.
The pectorals also consist of the pectoralis minor muscle. This muscle sits behind the pec major and does not contribute to the physical appearance of your chest muscles.
The Upper Chest Myth
From the previous section, we can see that there is no separate ‘upper chest’ muscle. All of the pec major muscle fibers insert at the same point on the upper arm. So, all of them are activated during every exercise. You cannot isolate the upper, mid, or lower fibers and train them separately.
When you work a muscle group, including the chest muscles, the operating lever (in this case the upper arm or humerus) needs to move towards the origin of the muscle fibers. Yet, when you do an incline press, whether it is with a barbell or a pair of dumbbells, you are moving the arms away from the muscle fiber origins.
The best angle to work the upper chest is not an incline press. It is, on the contrary, a decline press with the bench set at an angle of around 30 degrees. When you work at this angle, you will be activating the greatest number of pectoral fibers. That’s because the angle of movement will have the arms moving through the largest amount of pec origin points. So, the best upper chest exercises will move your arms towards, rather than away from, your sternum.
The Barbell Bench Press - Rating: 4
The barbell bench press is not an effective chest muscle builder. Here are four reasons why that statement is true:
- The barbell bench press restricts your range of motion: That’s because the bar keeps your hands locked in position at or wider than shoulder width. As a result you are not able to bring your hands in together in the top position of the press. That robs you of 20 percent of your range of motion.
- Reduced mind-muscle connection: Most bench pressers are focused on moving the bar from a lockout position down to touching their chest. This is different than when you use a cable or dumbbells. In those cases, you can focus on contracting and stretching the pectorals.
- Incorrect direction of movement: When you bench press, you will naturally push the bar upward and outward. When using dumbbells or cables, the direction of movement is upward and slightly downward to the midline of the body, which follows the natural direction of movement of the muscle as well as the fiber direction. The bench presses upward/outward direction activates the triceps more and the pecs less.
- Lack of unilateral movement: Most people have one side that is stronger than the other. When you use a barbell, you are not training each side independently. As a result, your strength and muscle imbalance never gets addressed.
Incline Bench Press - Rating: 3
Everything that is wrong with the bench press also applies to incline presses and then some. It turns out that the incline press does not, despite what you may have been told, isolate your upper chest.
Your pec major is one muscle. Even though it has three points of origin, they all converge on one insertion point. So, you activate all three heads whenever you move your arm. You cannot isolate any part of the chest, be it the upper, lower, or middle portion.
For any chest exercise to be effective, it must move your upper arm (humerus) to the area on your body where your pectoral fibers originate. The highest pec fibers on your chest are on your clavicles. So, pushing a weight any higher than your clavicles is a waste of time if you are trying to build muscle. That is why when you extend your arms above your head at an angle, your pecs are flaccid and not contracted - try it right now and see for yourself!
Decline Dumbbell Press - Rating:10
The best chest press movement will move your humerus toward the area of greatest pectoral origin. That movement will have you angling your arms down slightly to meet in line with your middle sternum. To achieve that ideal direction of movement you should do your chest pressing on a 30-degree decline bench.
From our analysis of the bench press, it should be clear that dumbbells are a far better option for chest pressing than a barbell. Using dumbbells allows you to bring your hands into the midline of the chest, at the sternum. This gains back that vital 20 percent of movement that is lost with the bench press.
Dumbbells also allow for unilateral training, where each side of the pectoral muscle must carry its own load.
The decline dumbbell press on a 30-degree decline bench is one of the best exercises you can do for your chest. It puts you in the ideal position according to the intended direction of movement of the chest, which is to move the humerus toward the body's midline.
Decline Cable Press - Rating: 10
The decline cable press is essentially the same movement as the decline dumbbell press, except that you use a double cable machine. You are seated on a bench with the angle set slightly back at 20 degrees. Set the cables at the level of your shoulders. The angle of your arm movement will be the same as when performing the decline dumbbell press.
The decline cable press allows for optimal early phase loading where the hardest part of the movement is at the beginning. Early phase loading provides the ideal resistance curve for any exercise. Many people also find that doing the decline press seated upright with cables is more comfortable as you don’t have to worry about getting into position with a pair of dumbbells on a decline bench.
Wrap Up
Despite the fact that most people will be pumping away on the flat and incline barbell bench press on chest day, you now know that those two chest exercises are far less than ideal. In this article, you’ve been shown two far superior exercises to replace them. The question is, are you prepared to act on the objective science you’ve just read, turn away from the mainstream, and do what is right rather than what is popular?
Here’s the challenge I’m leaving you with!
For the next six weeks, ditch the barbell bench and incline press for your chest workouts and do the Decline Cable Press and the Decline Dumbbell Press for your chest workout. Do six sets of each, with the following pyramid rep scheme:
- Set One - 30 reps
- Set Two - 15 reps
- Set Three - 10 reps
- Set Four - 8 reps
- Set Five - 8 reps
- Set Six - 6 reps
Pay attention to the feel in your pecs during and after your workouts. Focus on form, extension and contraction on every rep. Then compare the difference!