The best chest exercises
Your chest moves your arm forward and toward the middle of your body. That means almost everything that trains it does one of two things: pushes, like a press, or brings your arms together, like a fly. Presses let you move more weight and also work your shoulders and triceps. Flyes and crossovers load the chest with less help from the triceps.
- Bench press. The main lift for moving more weight and tracking your progress week to week. See how to do the bench press.
- Incline press. It changes the angle and puts more work on the upper chest. It works with a barbell or dumbbells.
- Dips. Chest dips, with your torso leaning forward, load you heavily with your own bodyweight. If they bother your shoulders, swap them for a machine press.
- Cable crossover. The cable crossover keeps your chest working through the whole range and fits well at the end of a session.
- Push-ups. The push-up is the press you can do anywhere. When it gets easy, raise your feet or add a band.
To pick others, see the full list of chest exercises, each with a photo and step-by-step instructions.
Chest workout at the gym
Start with the exercise you most want to improve, because the one done first gains the most strength (Nunes et al., 2021). Then change the angle and finish with the lighter exercises.
That is 15 sets in one session, so it suits a day dedicated to chest. If you train chest twice a week, do the first two exercises one day and the other three on the other.
Dumbbell chest workout
Dumbbells are enough to train your chest well. Each arm works on its own, which helps you notice if one side falls behind. You only need a bench, and an adjustable one also lets you do the incline variations.
When the dumbbells you have stop being enough, add reps or lower more slowly before changing the weight.
Chest workout at home, without machines
You can build muscle without weights if each set ends close to failure. Muscle grows similarly with light or heavy loads when the sets are hard (Schoenfeld et al., 2017). That is why the rep ranges are higher here. You only need a sturdy chair and a resistance band.
Still struggling with push-ups? Start with the incline push-up or the knee push-up and move to the regular one when you reach 15 reps.
How many chest sets to do per week
To build muscle, what matters most is how many hard sets each muscle does per week (Schoenfeld, Ogborn and Krieger, 2017). The ACSM links the greatest hypertrophy to 10 or more sets per muscle per week and sees gains level off around 18 to 20 (Currier et al., 2026). When you are starting out you do not need to reach 10: fewer sets also bring progress (Currier et al., 2023).
| Level | Sets per week | Sessions | How to split them |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beginner | Fewer than 10 | 1 or 2 | 2 or 3 exercises per session |
| Intermediate | 10 to 16 | 2 | 5 to 8 sets per session |
| Advanced | Up to 20 | 2 or 3 | More than 2 sessions if they do not fit with good form |
Training chest once or twice a week gives similar hypertrophy when the volume is the same (Schoenfeld, Grgic and Krieger, 2019). Frequency mainly helps you spread the work, so pick what fits your week. If you already follow a push pull legs routine, your chest already has its push day.
Common chest training mistakes
- Doing four nearly identical presses. They add fatigue more than new stimulus. Choose exercises that change the angle or the movement.
- Only going halfway down. Short reps make it easy to load more, but they make sessions hard to compare. Use a weight you can control through the full range.
- Going to failure on every set. Reaching failure does not build more muscle than stopping close to it (Refalo et al., 2023). Leave 1 or 2 reps in reserve on most sets.
- Resting too little. Resting more than 60 seconds has a small benefit, and beyond 90 it barely changes (Singer et al., 2024). On heavy presses, rest as long as you need to repeat your performance.
- Changing exercises every week. Rotating at random or very often can hurt (Kassiano et al., 2022). Repeating the same session lets you see whether you are improving.
How to progress on your chest workout
- Log every set. Weight and reps for each exercise. Without that number you do not know what to beat next session.
- Add reps first. When you reach the top of the range on every set, for example 12 reps, raise the weight by the smallest step you can.
- Keep your form. If going up means cutting the range short or bouncing the bar, it is not time yet.
- Check the big picture. If you stall for several sessions in a row, look at sleep and food before adding sets.
The full rule is in the progressive overload guide, and you can estimate your max with the 1RM calculator.
Questions
How many chest exercises should I do per session?
3 to 5 is enough. With 2 or 3 exercises and 3 sets each you already get 6 to 9 sets, which is a good starting point.
How many times a week should I train chest?
Once or twice is the most convenient. With the same weekly volume the results are similar, so choose based on how many days you can train.
Can you train chest without weights?
Yes. Push-ups and their variations grow your chest if each set ends close to failure and you keep making them harder.
Which exercise works the upper chest?
Presses and flyes on an incline bench, such as the incline dumbbell press. It is worth doing one in each chest session.
Should I train chest with triceps?
It is a common pairing, because pressing already works the triceps. There is a ready-made session in the chest and tricep workout.
Sources
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Strength Cond Res. 2017. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002200
- Currier BS, D'Souza AC, Singh MAF, et al. American College of Sports Medicine Position Stand. Resistance training prescription for muscle function, hypertrophy, and physical performance in healthy adults: an overview of reviews. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2026. doi:10.1249/MSS.0000000000003897
- Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Krieger J. How many times per week should a muscle be trained to maximize muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies examining the effects of resistance training frequency. J Sports Sci. 2019. doi:10.1080/02640414.2018.1555906
- Currier BS, Mcleod JC, Banfield L, et al. Resistance training prescription for muscle strength and hypertrophy in healthy adults: a systematic review and Bayesian network meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2023. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2023-106807
- Refalo MC, Helms ER, Trexler ET, Hamilton DL, Fyfe JJ. Influence of resistance training proximity-to-failure on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Sports Med. 2023. doi:10.1007/s40279-022-01784-y
- Singer A, Wolf M, Generoso L, et al. Give it a rest: a systematic review with Bayesian meta-analysis on the effect of inter-set rest interval duration on muscle hypertrophy. Front Sports Act Living. 2024. doi:10.3389/fspor.2024.1429789
- Kassiano W, Nunes JP, Costa B, Ribeiro AS, Schoenfeld BJ, Cyrino ES. Does varying resistance exercises promote superior muscle hypertrophy and strength gains? A systematic review. J Strength Cond Res. 2022. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000004258
- Nunes JP, Grgic J, Cunha PM, et al. What influence does resistance exercise order have on muscular strength gains and muscle hypertrophy? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Sport Sci. 2021. doi:10.1080/17461391.2020.1733672
This guide is for information only and does not replace advice from a health professional.
