Learning how to set up for pressing movements is the first step to building your chest, which I’ll be showing in tomorrow’s post. Don't forget to check that out.
HOW MANY SETS
Beginners' lifters will need at least 8 sets of chest work per week to maintain their gains. The sweet spot for most lifters is around between 12 to 20 sets weekly. Because the back can handle a pretty good beating up to 20 sets a week, I recommend splitting that across 2/3 sessions a week; otherwise, you risk running into serious recovery problems.
HOW MANY REPS
What works best is training in the 8-12 rep range.
THE BEST CHEST BUILDING EXERCISES
It's almost impossible to hit a particular spot on the chest, doing lots of incline pressing moves isn't going to be the best way to building a big upper chest as it will only work a small amount of chest muscle fibres.
Focus on compound movements, such as flat barbell & flat dumbbell pressing as these movements recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibres across the chest.
Lastly, finish off with isolation exercises as these don't involve the triceps, which will allow you to finish off tearing the remaining chest muscles.
EXCERCISE VARIATION
In each chest session, make sure to include some horizontal pressing moves, some incline, and some isolation movements. Every week should include at least a couple of sets of each.
Here are a few examples:
+ Horizontal Press
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
Close Grip Bench Press
Press Ups
Flat Barbell Bench Press
+ Inclie Press
Incline Dumbbell Press
Incline Machine Press
Incline Barbell Press
+ Chest Isolation
Pec Dec
Flat Dumbbell Fly
Cable Fly