Top Chest Exercises for Hardgainers

Top Chest Exercises for Hardgainers

Sep 4, 2024 mindpump

If you are a hardgainer trying to put on mass, chest is one of the most common areas guys want to bulk up. It fills out their shirts, and gives an overall bigger appearance to the upper body. Some find it really challenging to connect to this muscle and activate it to a point where they can see growth. By choosing the right exercises, and knowing how to cue them, you can correct your workouts so that you can get that chest growing again.

Key Points

One key to keep in mind with any body part you are working is that any rep range between 5-30 reps promotes muscle growth. The higher you go in reps the closer to failure you need to go. With the chest in particular, ensuring you’re using the right muscles is also of the utmost importance. My clients who don’t see chest growth are usually shoulder dominant. In other words when you are pressing or doing a flye, remember to always stick your chest out (think Superman). It should always lead ahead of the shoulders if you want the chest to activate. If your chest caves in because the weight is too heavy and you flare your arms to 90 degrees and let the shoulders lead, it’s going to become a shoulder dominant movement. Guys who tend to do this you can tell because they have really good shoulders but a flat chest.

Incline Barbell Press

I know a lot of people see incline pressing as an upper pec movement, and it is. But there is actually research out now that it activates the entire pec more than a regular bench press. What I love about the incline is that it helps build that fullness on the upper pec which makes your entire muscle look fuller and bigger. Set it to 30-45 degrees and focus on a full range of motion. Lower the bar to your chest and really emphasize the stretch. If you find your range of motion is limited you can switch to dumbbells as this will allow for a greater stretch which helps with more muscle growth, but at an angle that best fits you.

Bench Press

Like with the incline, you can go dumbbell or barbell for this. I would say, if you are doing barbell for one movement, go dumbbells for the other. This can help keep any imbalances in check. Again, we are looking for a deep stretch to stimulate those muscle fibers under stress, and squeeze at the top as if you were trying to crunch the dumbbells together. The bar or dumbbell should hover somewhere around the nipple line.

Dips

When performed correctly, dips are a fantastic way to target the lower pec area. The tricky part is hitting the chest over the triceps. To help shift this focus, make sure you lean forward versus being upright. Try to make sure you are feeling the stretch in the lower pec and not the arms. You can go bodyweight or add a dip belt with weights if you need more resistance.

Cable Flyes

I absolutely love cable flyes. Half of growing your muscle comes down to your ability to take your muscle through a full range of motion in the direction of the fibers. If you notice, your pec fibers run horizontally. That’s what makes cable flyes such a good option. You also have the luxury of the cables pulling you into that stretch position so you are constantly under tension which is what enables muscle growth. You can even change the height to target more upper, middle, or lower areas of the chest. Make sure to get a good stretch at the end range, and when squeezing together, the trick is to keep your chest leading ahead of your shoulders. If your shoulders sneak forward, they will take over the movement and you will lose tension off the pecs.

Push-Ups

People underestimate the power of the push-up. It is a great intro for anyone just getting into lifting as it provides enough stimulus to grow. If you are more intermediate or advanced, it’s a great finisher exercise that you can do to top off whatever is left when working the chest. You can also modify its difficulty by elevating your feet.