Chest · 164 exercises

Chest workouts

Two complete chest workouts — one built around the bench press, one around the upper chest — plus every chest exercise in the library to swap in.

A good chest workout pairs a heavy press for strength with lighter presses and flyes for volume. Flat pressing trains the whole pec; an incline of 15 to 30 degrees shifts more of the work to the upper chest, and flyes load the muscle at a long stretch, which presses can’t.

Chest workout for strength and size
Upper-chest workout

Chest workout for strength and size

Heavy pressing first, then a dip and a fly to finish the chest at a stretch.

Barbell Bench Press
Sets
4
Reps
6–8
Rest
2–3 min
Dumbbell Incline Bench Press
Sets
3
Reps
8–10
Rest
2 min
Chest DipLean forward to keep the work on the chest.
Sets
3
Reps
8–12
Rest
90 s
Cable Fly
Sets
3
Reps
12–15
Rest
60 s

Upper-chest workout

Leads with the incline for lifters whose upper chest lags.

Barbell Incline Bench Press
Sets
4
Reps
6–8
Rest
2–3 min
Dumbbell Bench Press
Sets
3
Reps
8–12
Rest
2 min
Cable Low FlyPulleys low, hands meet at chin height.
Sets
3
Reps
12–15
Rest
60 s
Pec Deck
Sets
3
Reps
12–15
Rest
60 s

Can’t do one of these?

Machine taken or training somewhere else? Each of these has substitutes that work the same muscles.

Tips

Set your shoulder blades back and down before you unrack, and keep them there. It protects the shoulders and gives the chest a stable base to press from.
Lower the weight under control to the bottom of the range. Most chest growth comes from the stretched position, so half reps leave a lot behind.
Ten to twenty hard sets a week is the range most lifters grow on. Start near ten and add sets only while you keep recovering.

Run this workout in SPLYT

Every exercise here is in SPLYT’s library. Save the workout as a template, log your sets on iPhone or Apple Watch, and next time your weights are already filled in from what you lifted.

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164 chest exercises

Every one links to step-by-step instructions and a demonstration. Swap any of them into the workouts above.

All chest exercises →

Questions

How many chest exercises are there?

SPLYT’s exercise library has 164 chest exercises, including Push-up, Pec Deck and Cable Fly, each with step-by-step instructions, a demonstration and the muscles it works.

How often should I train chest?

Twice a week suits most people: it lets you split ten to twenty weekly sets across two sessions so each one stays productive. Once a week works too if the session is big enough.

Should I do incline or flat bench first?

Start with whichever press you most want to get stronger at, since the first lift of the day gets your freshest effort. If your upper chest lags, lead with the incline.