chest

He was a powerlifting champion, won 7 Mr. Olympia titles, dominated Hollywood for decades, was elected governor of California, and has a fitness weekend named after. Make no mistake, Arnold Schwarzenegger will go down as not only one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time, but as someone who...

Here is a ranking of the best exercises for building a better chest based on personal experience and the training articles of top IFBB pro bodybuilders. This is not necessarily a determination of exercise order, but the exercises that are most effective for muscle fiber recruitment and targeting...

Let’s get the science out of the way; the pectoralis major is comprised of a clavicular and a sternocostal head, or better known as the upper and lower pec respectively. When flat benching, both heads are stressed evenly. The anterior deltoids also come into play, and the triceps are used during...

It goes without saying that it’s a tremendous honor to spend any amount of time talking with the legendary Arnold Schwarzenegger. But there’s always something incredibly cool about getting to talk training with the greatest bodybuilder of all-time. To hear how he trained, why he trained, and...

So I’m going to let you in on a little workout I’ve come up with which has given me astounding results over the past month or so. It’s so effective that I almost don’t even want to let this cat out of the bag, it’s like my secret little chest workout. Forget everything you’ve read or heard...

When you first started doing an exercise, I'll bet you went through all the performance pointers like flash cards in your head to ensure you were doing the movement correctly. Hopefully, over time, the movement became second nature so you didn't have to think about it. That freed up your mind to...

One of the more popular muscle groups to train is the chest. If you’re like most lifters, chest day falls on Monday (aka International Chest Day). Having a great pec workout can generate momentum to carry you through the rest of your training week. The right exercises and training principles can...

Everyone reading this has one thing in common: we were all beginners at one point or another. Some of you that are here may be a beginner now. Regardless of the level you’re at, we have all learned the basic movements when we started working out. Even if you’re someone who is training at an...

In recent weeks, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has been putting the sweat equity into his gym, “The Iron Paradise,” while preparing to film Marvel’s next major movie “Black Adam.” The Rock actually gave a rare insight into that prep in a recent Instagram post. As you can see in the video, the...

If you’ve ever wondered how cover models train or prep for magazine shoots, it differs from person to person. (Sorry, did you expect some BS blanket answer that applied to everyone at every age, gender, and fitness level?) That said, this is how former M&F cover star and celebrity trainer Don...

Have your upper body workouts become a bit mundane? Have you been doing the same, tired chest and arms workout routine day in and day out only to experience stagnating results after a matter of a few months or even weeks? If so, we’ve got something special for you. In the following workout...

We use machines to build things every day. Machines build cars; they build roads; they build computers; they build robots. So why not build your body with machines? Ask a dozen trend-following “New Age” trainers this question, and about 10 of them will respond emphatically, “Because machines...

Build a big chest

Chris Nicoll / M+F Magazine “It wasn’t the outcome I was hoping for,” Henri-Pierre Ano admits, after reflecting on his 14th-place finish in 2019’s Olympia Classic Physique. Ano, 38, had plenty of reasons for disappointment. The Canadian stepped onstage with high hopes of improving on his 2018...

Kevin Horton / M+F Magazine Ronnie Coleman, the eight-time Mr. Olympia, set the standard for freaky size and conditioning that, in all likelihood, won’t be equaled anytime soon, let alone surpassed for the foreseeable future. His pecs outsized the rest of the competition’s, and, if not for his...

Per Bernal / M+F Magazine We love the barbell bench press as much as you do, but just because you’ve been doing it every Monday night since high school doesn’t mean you can’t change it up every once in a while. Pressing with dumbbells is safer for your shoulders and activates more pectoral...

marius bugge / M+F Magazine Flyes remove reliance on the triceps and deltoids so you can better isolate the chest muscle for growth. And besides looking badass, using chains to do them takes some pressure off the shoulder joints, increases instability for more muscle recruitment, and ensures...

Jacob Lund If you’re chasing an upper-chest pump thinking it’s going to impress your lady or gym crush, think again. A study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science found that men tend to stare at the upper-chest of other men longer than women do. In other words, your bro is more likely...

Dan Ray / M+F Magazine IFBB pro League classic physique competitor Charles Donaldson is doing a good job of not letting work get in the way of, well, work. In between weekday 6 a.m. fasted cardio and late-night weight-training sessions, the 2017 NPC Masters Universe Classic Physique winner...

Matthew Leete With summer weather still persisting, getting your arms and chest primed for the beach is a top priority. So how does one get their upper body big and ripped for the skin-revealing occasions that the warm weather brings? The answer is simple: Giant sets and lots of reps. This...