The push-up is one of the most common bodyweight exercises programmed into full-body and upper-body workouts, but it’s not a movement most people can do without building up strength first.

Thankfully, this is relatively straightforward to do once you know how. “Building up the muscles necessary for a push-up involves targeting the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core,” says Amanda Place, personal trainer and founder of Sculptrition.

You can do this by using other exercises to develop the muscles used to perform the movement combined with practicing easier push-up variations, such as a negative push-up where you only perform the lowering portion of the movement as slowly as you can, an incline push-up where you place your hands on a raised platform, or a push-up on your knees.

“Aim to practice push-up variations and related exercises at least three to four times per week,” says Place. “Consistency is key to building strength and muscle endurance. Track your progress and gradually increase the number of repetitions or the difficulty of the exercises as you get stronger.”

Here are four strength exercises Place recommends to improve your ability to perform push-ups or help you achieve your first one. It’s also worth familiarising yourself with our expert guide to proper push-up form.

1 Plank

“Planks help strengthen the core muscles, which are crucial for maintaining stability during a push-up,” says Place.

Lie on your front, brace your abs and lift your body off the floor, supporting yourself on your forearms and the balls of your feet, with your elbows under your shoulders. Keep your body in a straight line from your shoulders to your heels.

2 Dumbbell bench press

Lie on your back either on the floor or on a bench, with your feet on the floor, holding dumbbells by your chest, with your upper arms at a 30°-45°angle to your torso. Extend your arms to press the weights up, then lower under control to the start.

3 Overhead triceps extension

Stand or sit on the end of a bench holding the head of a dumbbell in both hands above your head with your arms fully extended. Keeping your elbows pointing forward and your upper arms still, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbell behind your head, then extend your arms to return to the start.

4 Cable flye

Attach D-handles to the high anchor points on a cable machine and stand in the middle of the weight stacks. Move forward until there is tension in the cables and your hands are out to the sides at shoulder height with a slight bend in your elbows. Adopt a staggered stance and engage your core, then bring the handles in front of you. Pause, squeeze your chest muscles, then return to the start under control.

The push-up is one of the best bodyweight exercises you can do, and possibly the most well-known exercise of all. However, there’s a difference between knowing an exercise and knowing how to execute it perfectly to get the most from the movement, and if you take the time to nail your technique with the push-up you’ll increase its effectiveness.

One of the most important things to pay attention to when performing push-ups is your elbow position, because how much you flare your elbows during the exercise will change the muscles you’re predominantly targeting during the move.

I spoke to Alasdair Nicoll, personal trainer and tutor at The Fitness Group, which provides personal training courses, to get his advice on how to do a push-up and his top tip for elbows position was to think about forming an arrowhead with your upper body.

“You want to make sure that the direction in which the elbows are traveling is right,” says Nicoll. “You don't want them traveling out to the side because that’s going to put unnecessary stress through the shoulder.

“If we were to look over the top of the person, we’d want to see an arrow shape from the head down to both elbows. They should be angling back at pretty much a 45° angle. That would be optimal for prioritizing the chest, and will also help to get a full range of motion through the chest.”

You’ll find more of Nicoll’s tips in our push-up form guide. And once you’ve nailed your technique, dive headfirst into this 30-day push-up challenge and build up to doing 100 push-ups in one go.

The chest muscles are some of the biggest in the upper body and some of the hardest to grow too. In part, this is because a lot of popular upper-body pressing movements—cough bench press cough—don’t fully engage the upper chest. 

It’s an easy problem to address, using the incline bench press, one of trainer Christian Poulos’s go-to chest exercises. It’s one of four favored moves he posted on his Instagram account. Take a look and see what else he included.

Watch Christian Poulos’ Top Four Chest Moves

Poulos included sets and reps for each exercise, and in the comments he recommended setting the weights bench to 30° for the incline bench press, also explaining he uses dumbbells for that move to achieve a greater range of motion. 

To build muscle, choose a weight that makes the final two reps of each set hard to complete, but more importantly, follow the principles of progressive overload and increase the difficulty of one variable, such as the weight, over time.

It’s also worth focusing on moving through as full a range of motion as possible in order to engage the chest muscles fully. For example, make sure the bar touches your chest during the bench press and that your arms fully extend after the push-up.

We have more moves and routines to consider if you’re looking for more ways to target your chest. For experienced gym-goers, we have a month-long chest workout plan that directly trains your pecs twice a week. If you don’t have a gym membership, you can still add size to your chest. This home chest workout with dumbbells assumes you don’t have a weights bench, while this bodyweight home chest workout cycles through push-up variations.

When you think of the best chest exercises, the first thing that probably springs to mind is bench pressing heavy barbells. You probably don’t think about the cable machine – and yet the one-arm cable flye is one of the most effective ways to target pecs, and it serves up a side of abs work to boot.

Add it to your workout routine today using our form guide and a cable machine workout which includes the one-arm cable flye.

How To Do The One-Arm Cable Flye

Stand side-on to the cable machine, holding the high cable in the hand nearest to the machine. Split your stance so the leg further from the machine is forwards. Keep your core engaged throughout to resist the rotational pull of the cable and amplify the abs benefits of the exercise. Pull the cable down and across your body slowly, then reverse the motion with control. Do all your reps on one side, then switch.

Use The One-Arm Cable Flye In A Workout

Once you’ve secured your spot on a cable machine, make good use of it with this five-move workout that includes the one-arm cable flye.

1 High-to-low woodchop

Hold a cable at head height in both hands, standing side-on to the machine with your feet wider than shoulder-width apart and your knees bent. Bring the cable down and across towards the opposite knee, then take it back to the starting position. Do all your reps on one side, then switch.

2 Cable lunge

Stand facing the cable machine, holding a low cable in both hands. Stand far enough away from the machine that there is tension in the cable. Step forwards into a lunge and lower until both knees are bent at 90°, then push back up to standing. Alternate legs with each rep.

3 High pull

Attach a long bar to the low cable and hold it in both hands. Pull the bar up to your chest, raising your elbows to the sides and keeping your shoulders down, then lower the bar slowly.

4 One-arm cable flye

As above.

5 Squat to row

Attach a small bar to the low cable and hold it in both hands facing the machine. Pull the bar in towards your abs and squat down until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Then extend your arms to move the bar back towards the machine, and pull it back in to your abs as you stand up.

The bench press is one of the big three lifts and a move that almost every weights room regular wants to get better at. It’s one of the best chest exercises you can do and it simply feels (and looks) fantastic to press a massive bar laden with weights above you.

If you’re looking for ways to improve your bench press form so you can get better at the exercise, then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve enlisted Emily Servante, trainer education manager at Ultimate Performance, for her tips for the lift, including a detailed form guide to make sure you’re doing it right.

Form Guide

Before we go into more general tips, here’s Servante’s form guide.

The set up

Using a PowerPlate between sets can increase power output. One study found that subjects who rapidly vibrated their chest muscles increased power output by five per cent over those who rested.

1. Position your feet shoulder-width apart, under or behind your knees and flat on the floor.
2. Lie back on the bench with your eyes directly under the barbell.
3. Place your hands on the barbell with an overhand grip, roughly one-and-a-half times shoulder-width apart.
4. Raise your chest and pinch your shoulder blades back together.
5. Your head, shoulders and glutes should be touching the bench, and there will be a small gap between your lower back and the bench.
6. Pull the barbell forwards off the hooks and into the start position directly above your shoulders.
7. Pause to let the barbell settle, then fine-tune your position before starting the set.

The movement

1. From the start position, control the barbell down towards the lower half of your chest.
2. Throughout the downward movement, your upper arms should be at an angle of 45-60° to your torso.
3. You have reached the end of your range of motion when you cannot lower your elbows any further below shoulder height without your chest collapsing and shoulders rotating inwards. 
4. Pause for a moment, then press the barbell up to return to the start position.
5. On the last rep, fully extend your arms and then move the barbell back towards the hooks.

How To Bench More

Change your angles

“The bench press is a multi-joint exercise that primarily targets the pec major and minor muscles, the triceps and the anterior deltoids,” says Servante. “The most important thing to remember with any pressing exercise is that all three of these muscle groups will always be working. But the angle at which you set the bench will mean that you can increase the challenge to the chest or the deltoids, depending on your goal. The lower the angle, the more emphasis there will be on the pectorals. The higher the angle of the bench, the greater the challenge to the anterior deltoids.” Use a combination of the incline bench press and decline bench press to develop strength that will carry over to the flat-bench version. 

Get your grip right

“Start with a grip roughly one-and-a-half times shoulder-width apart and test out positions 2-5cm either side to see what feels most comfortable,” says Servante. “Grip the barbell with your entire hand – do not use a thumbless grip because this increases the risk of losing control of the barbell.”

Pull the barbell off the hooks

"Pressing the barbell directly upwards off the hooks can pull your shoulder blades forwards and into an unstable position,” says Servante. “To stop this happening, pull the barbell forwards off the hooks instead, which is much easier with the help of a training partner.”

Push yourself away from the barbell

“A common mistake is to let your shoulders become loose and shrug upwards at the top of the movement,” says Servante. “This reduces stability and shifts tension away from your chest and on to your shoulders and triceps. Focus on pushing yourself away from the barbell, instead of pressing it away from you. Also be careful not to push your head back into the bench, because this can strain your neck.”

The press-up is one of the best chest exercises you can do, so you know that any variation that makes it a little harder will be a highly effective move. The plyometric press-up is a challenging progression for those who are already comfortable with the classic press-up, and it brings with it extra benefits in the form of increased power thanks to the explosive movement involved.

As with all press-ups, the muscles that benefit are primarily the chest, triceps and shoulders, with your core also heavily involved. The plyometric portion of the move, where you push yourself into the air, recruits fast-twitch muscle fibres to improve your power as well as increasing strength. After a week or two of doing plyometric press-ups, you can expect to see improved performance on the bench press, as just one benefit of incorporating the move into your routine.

The exercise also increases the cardiovascular challenge of press-ups, making it a useful addition to challenging HIIT workouts and circuits where you’re looking to spike your heart rate. 

How To Build Up To A Plyometric Press-Up

For all the reasons above, the plyometric press-up is well worth doing, but those same reasons means that it is also more challenging than a classic press-up, and an exercise that many might struggle with at first.

Building up to a plyometric press-up starts with becoming adept at the classic move, which will strengthen the key muscles required. You should be able to knock out 15 to 20 press-ups without any trouble before tackling the plyometric version. 

You can also make the plyometric move easier with variations similar to those you might use to make the classic press-up easier, such as lowering your knees to the floor or placing your hands on a raised surface. 

Given its explosive nature it’s also important to warm up before going into a set of plyometric press-ups to reduce any risk of injury. You can keep it simple by warming up with normal press-ups.

How To Do The Plyometric Press-Up

Start in a press-up position, with your hands shoulder-width apart and your feet together. Your body should form a straight line from your neck to your ankles, and you should aim to keep your hips in line with your shoulders throughout the movement.

Bend at your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor, keeping your elbows close to your sides as you go. Press back up explosively so that your hands come off the floor, then land softly and go straight into another press-up. 

You can also throw in a clap while in the air, which will demonstrate that your powerful press has created sufficient airtime to bring your hands together and then still catch yourself on the way back down.

The bench press is an all-time great chest exercise. It’s one of the big three lifts alongside the squat and deadlift, and a part of almost every weight room regular’s weekly routine. 

It’s so great, in fact, that you might wonder why you’d ever need to bother with a variation on it. The answer is that you will boost the pec-popping benefits of the bench press by working your chest muscles from a different angle with a move such as the decline bench press. 

The decline bench press focuses on the lower pec muscles, while still working the upper ones. The lower pecs are not easy to target, and doing the decline variation regularly alongside the classic bench press will help increase your overall chest strength.

How To Do The Decline Bench Press

Set up your bench at a 15° to 45° angle below horizontal – anywhere in this range should ensure you are hitting the lower pecs as desired. Secure your feet in the pads at the end of the bench; the last thing you want to do is slide off the bench during your set. 

Lie back on the bench holding the bar with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Bring the bar down to your chest, then press it up. Pause for a beat at the top of each lift and lower the bar with control on each rep. 

Decline Bench Press Variations

Dumbbell decline bench press

You can also perform the move using dumbbells instead of a bar. This allows for a greater range of motion so you work more pec muscles during the exercise, and you’ll also be working each side of your body independently. That allows you to spot any strength imbalances and work on them so one side isn’t doing all the heavy lifting during the barbell version.

Lie back on the bench holding a weight in each hand. Press the dumbbells above you and bring them closer together above your chest for greater pec activation. Don’t let them touch, though, because this will take the load off your chest. Lower the weights in a slow and controlled manner.

If you spend a lot of time in the weights room, or are about to commence a rigorous gym routine, there’s a good chance you want to bulk up your chest. Frankly, even if you have no intention of ever stepping into a gym, the chances are you wouldn’t say no to bigger pecs. Unfortunately there’s no magic shortcut to take – it’s only going to happen if you work at it.

“Building a bigger chest certainly doesn’t happen overnight, but doing the right exercises which target your pectoral muscles from every angle using appropriate rep ranges will ensure you get the results from the graft,” says Robert Stevenson, Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard PT of the year.

“To develop your chest, ensure that you include chest exercises in your workouts a minimum of two days a week. If you’re an experienced lifter, incorporate maximal (one to three reps), heavy (four to eight reps), moderate (eight to 12 reps) and lighter (12-plus reps) sets. If you’re new to the gym, stick to lighter weights and higher rep ranges until you refine your technique.

“It’s extremely important to work your chest from all angles and not only focus on the the biggest muscles in your chest – the pectoralis major – but also the smaller ones such as the pectoralis minor and clavicular pectoralis.”

To help you on your way to a bigger chest, we asked Stevenson and Keith McNiven, founder of personal training company Right Path Fitness, to recommend their favourite chest exercises for beginner, intermediate and advanced gym-goers, and we’ve thrown in a couple of our favourites as well.

Beginner Chest Exercises

Hands-elevated press-up

A great place to start for complete beginners – pop your hands on an elevated surface and do a press-up.

“This exercise allows you to very easily adapt the difficulty of a press-up. You could perform it against an elevated surface such as a bench, box or on a bar in a squat rack,” says Stevenson.

“It’s one of the most common exercises I use with clients starting out who aren’t quite ready for a press-up on the floor.”

Incline dumbbell press

Set up a bench so it’s at a 45° angle. Lie on the bench holding a dumbbell in each hand by your shoulders with your elbows bent at 90°. Press the dumbbells up until your arms are straight. Lower under control.

“Starting on the flat bench can be quite daunting and awkward for beginners in the gym. Starting on an incline makes the transition getting the dumbbells up slightly easier,” says Stevenson.

Resistance band flye

Hook two resistance bands to a fixed post behind you. Hold the other ends of the bands out to your sides with your arms straight. Slowly bring your arms around until they meet in front of your chest, keeping your arms straight throughout, then slowly take them back to the starting position.

“This is a safe and effective way of learning the difference between a press and a flye movement for beginners,” says Stevenson.

“Using the bands creates maximum tension at the point in the exercise where your hands meet in the middle. It also means there’s less risk of injury when you’re at the stretch point of the exercise.

“This can also be used as a finisher to get an unreal chest burn at the end of a workout. Try 60 seconds of high-tempo reps and you’ll see what I mean!”

Press-up

You’ll find several press-up variations in this list, which speaks to how great a chest exercise it is. It’s worth making sure you’ve mastered it before moving on to intermediate exercises, but if it proves too tough then check out the hands-elevated press-up above.

Start in a high plank position, supporting yourself on your hands and your toes with your body forming a straight line from your neck to your ankles. Bend your elbows to lower your chest until it’s just above the floor, then press back up, keeping your elbows close to your sides.

Shoulder tap

This plank variation is great for your core and shoulder strength as well as your chest. Start in a high plank position, with your hands positioned under your shoulders, your body forming a straight line from your neck to your ankles. Lift your left hand to tap your right shoulder, return to the high plank, then tap your left shoulder with your right hand. Continue alternating, making sure you keep your hips still and your core engaged throughout.

Intermediate Chest Exercises

TRX press-up to flye

Holding the straps with your hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing down, lean into a pair of TRX ropes with straight arms. Lower yourself until your thumbs are level with your armpits, then press up. Turn your wrists so your palms are facing in, keeping your elbows slightly bent, and move your hands out to the sides, so your chest drops down and is between the handles. Bring your hands back together to push your chest back up to the start position.

“As with the hands-elevated press-up, the difficulty of this variation can be altered drastically by simply moving your foot position,” says Stevenson. “The further your feet are from the TRX ropes, the harder it will be.”

“What makes this exercise challenging is the balance and stability aspect. Alternating between a press-up and a flye movement takes a bit of co-ordinating, but once you suss it out you’ll feel the added effect of combining these two exercises into one.”

Barbell bench press

A classic chest exercise, and that’s meant only as a compliment. Lie on a bench and grasp a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Bring the bar down to your chest, then push it back up.

“This is and always will be the daddy of chest exercises,” says Stevenson. “A mixture of decline, flat and incline bench presses will ensure you hit your chest from top to bottom.”

Cable cross-over

Stand in the centre of the cable machine with both ends of the pulleys at the highest level. Bend forwards slightly at the waist and hold the handles with your elbows bent a little. Pull the hands down and across your body, then slowly take them back to the starting position, keeping the bend in your elbows throughout the movement.

“This is easily my second favourite exercise after a bench press,” says Stevenson. “The cable cross-over enables you to work from low to high, across the middle, and high to low on the pulley machine, and ensure you get the chest DOMS that everyone craves. Superset this one with any chest press for maximal gains and a horrendous burn.”

Resistance band cross-over

“The cross-over exercise on the cable machine is an excellent way to work your chest, but you can also do the move using resistance bands,” says McNiven. “A benefit of using resistance bands is that then you can do the move at home or outdoors.

“Wrap the resistance band behind a stable surface like a post, and face away from the post holding the ends of the band in each hand. Bring your arms out to the sides, opening up your chest, and then bring the ends of the resistance bands together in front of your chest in a controlled movement.”

Gym ball press-up

“The press-up is one of the best exercises for the chest and if you want to really challenge yourself, introduce a gym ball,” says McNiven. “Stand with the ball in front of you, then place your abs on the ball and your hands on the floor. Walk your hands forwards and roll your body along until the ball is firmly under your toes and your arms are taking your weight. Keep your arms just wider than shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, bend your elbows to lower your body under control, and then as you exhale extend your arms and push back up.”

Wide-arm press-up

Moving your hands further apart for your press-ups increases the focus on your chest muscles. However, it’s important not to place your hands too far apart and ruin the quality of your press-ups as a result – make sure you can move slowly and with control throughout the move, and if you can’t, bring your hands closer together until you can.

Floor press

A great move to do when the bench is busy, the floor press allows you to work your chest in a similar way to the bench press – but there are some key differences between the exercises. Lying on the floor and pressing the bar above you has a smaller range of movement than the standard bench press, so it puts less stress on your shoulders; it also means you can’t involve your legs in the press, so more work is done by your chest. Another difference is that as your arms touch the ground with each rep you lose the tension in the muscles, so you have to get going again from scratch with each lift, making the start of each press noticeably tougher.

Lie on the floor on your back with your legs either extended or bent at the knee with your feet flat on the floor. Hold a barbell with hands shoulder-width apart above your chest. Lower the bar to your chest slowly, allow your shoulders to meet the ground, then push the bar back up explosively.

Dumbbell flyes

To hit a wider range of chest fibres than the bench press, set yourself up with two dumbbells and a flat bench. Lie on your back holding the dumbbells above your chest with arms extended towards the ceiling. Keeping a slight bend in your elbows and your back flat against the bench, lower the dumbbells out to the sides as far as is comfortable. Pause briefly, then bring the dumbbells back together above your chest. Aim for three sets of eight reps and use a weight that makes the final few reps tough to get through.

Kettlebell incline flye

Introducing some incline to your chest workouts is a smart move because it enables you to hit the muscles from different angles. We recommend using kettlebells for this particular flye because it keeps the weight on the outside of your wrists, which means it’s easier to maintain the same bend in your elbows throughout the move. Set up a bench at a 15° angle and lie back, holding a kettlebell in each hand above your shoulders with your palms facing. Lower the weights out to the sides, keeping a slight bend in both elbows, until you feel the stretch across your chest. Then slowly lift the bells back to the start by squeezing your chest.

Landmine press

The landmine press works your chest, arms and shoulders while putting less pressure on the shoulder joints than a typical press, thanks to the curving path of the lift. Secure one end of a barbell in a corner (wrap a towel around it to make sure you don’t scratch any walls) and load weight plates on the other end. Stand holding the weighted end in both hands in front of your chest. Press it up until your arms are extended, then bring it back down. You can also do the move holding the bar in one hand, or for more stability, do it while kneeling instead of standing.

Divebomber press-up

Another great press-up variation, the divebomber also works your hamstrings and stretches your lower back while still hitting the chest hard. The starting position differs from the standard move in that you pike your hips upwards. Then lower, moving your head forwards as you go to flatten your body until your hips and legs are hovering just above the floor. Then push forwards and raise your head and chest. Reverse the movement to return to the starting position.

See related 

• The Ultimate Chest Workout: Build A Big Chest In Just 28 Days
• 20-Minute Chest Workout
• The Only Home Chest Workout You’re Ever Going To Need
• The Best Chest Exercises For Women

Advanced Chest Exercises

Bottom to top press-up

“You’ll need a squat rack or Smith machine for this one as well as a set of parallettes [tall handles],” says Stevenson.

“Start with the bar at the bottom of the rack, hold onto the parallettes and place your feet on the bar so your body is straight like it would be in a plank. Perform ten to 15 press-ups, ensuring your chest gets well below parallel on the parallettes.

“Then put the bar up to the next peg on the Smith machine or holes in the rack and do the same again. Repeat this until you’re at the top of the rack or your chest and shoulders can’t go any longer. This is the ultimate decline press-up progression and an impressive exercise in any gym.”

Single dumbbell press

“Not to be confused with a single-arm dumbbell press, this is a press using both arms but only one dumbbell,” says Stevenson.

“Imagine trying to squeeze a dumbbell from both ends so your force is towards the middle from either end. As soon as you apply the inward force, you’ll feel the muscle fibres in your chest starting to fire. Keep the constant pressure on as you press the dumbbell up and down. This exercise really targets the mid chest.”

Weighted dip

“Dips are simple, yet highly effective,” says Stevenson.

“Concentrate on leaning forward while lowering yourself on the dipping bars. Keep a reasonably wide grip if possible to maximally load the chest. For low-rep sets, wear a dipping belt or hold a dumbbell between your legs.”

Guillotine press

This charmingly-named exercise is definitely one for advanced gym-goers who have a trusted spotter, simply because if you get it wrong a barbell is going to apply an unwelcome amount of pressure to your throat. The lift is the same as the standard bench press, but instead of taking the bar down to your chest with each rep, you lower it towards your throat. This increases the range of motion of the move, because you can lower the bar further when aiming for the neck rather than the chest, and will force those pecs to grow big and strong as a result.

Clap press-up

The clap press-up is a plyometrics powerhouse move that recruits the fast-twitch muscle fibres, stimulating growth in areas other exercises can’t. From the top press-up position, lower until your chest is almost touching the ground, then explode up with a push that’s powerful enough to give you time to clap your hands and return your palms to the floor.

Walk into any gym in the world, regardless of its size, location or clientele, and you’ll find they all have one thing in common: there will be a bench positioned underneath a secured barbell ready for the next person to start bench pressing.

It’s not surprising that the bench press is such a popular move. Once you’ve mastered the basic movement pattern and your bench press form, you will see rapid progress in how strong you are, as well as size gains to three major muscle groups: the chest, the front shoulders and the triceps.

But if you are new to the gym or new to lifting weights, how do you know if you are ready to take on the bench press? Here’s our guide to developing your bench press form.

When are you ready to start bench pressing?

First, before you get underneath the bar you need to make sure you have the strength on your chest, shoulders and triceps to manage the weight of the empty bar. The Olympic barbell, which is the standard one used to bench press in most decent gyms, weighs exactly 20kg. That may or may not sound like a lot depending on your weight training experience. If it does, then you need to get up to speed with press-ups first.

Start in the press-up position with your hands underneath your shoulders, your core tight, and your toes together so your body forms a straight line from head to heels. Bend your elbows to lower your chest down to the floor, pause for a second at the bottom position, then press back powerfully to the start (but don’t lock out your arms at the top).

If you’ve never done a press-up before then you need to focus on doing one quality rep at a time, and gradually building up your strength until you can do ten good reps without stopping.

Once you can you are ready for an empty bar bench press (following the form guide below), but only if you have a “spotter” who can stand behind you to assist your lift if you start to struggle. Read on for our comprehensive guide to the bench press to add muscle size and strength across your upper body.

How To Bench Press

Let’s go through the basics, before we talk about tweaking your bench press form and improving the move.

1. Lie flat on your back on a bench.
2. Grip the bar with hands just wider than shoulder-width apart, so when you’re at the bottom of your move your hands are directly above your elbows. This allows for maximum force generation.
3. Bring the bar slowly down to your chest as you breathe in.
4. Push up as you breathe out, gripping the bar hard and watching a spot on the ceiling rather than the bar, so you can ensure it travels the same path every time.

What could go wrong? In reality it can be very easy to tear the stabilising rotator cuff muscles around your shoulders that can be difficult to patch up. Prevention is far better than cure, so set your ego to one side and first learn how to perform it safely.

Watching others in the weights room it might be tempting to start pressing with the bench at different angles. While it’s true that muscle activation in the upper chest is greater when pressing on a bench set at a 30° or 45° incline than on a flat bench (so says the European Journal Of Sports Science) activation of the lower pec muscles is greater on a flat bench. According to a different report in the European Journal Of Sports Science, when researchers asked subjects to perform sets of six reps at 65% of their one-repetition maximum they found that muscle stimulation was greater when the bench was flat than when it was placed at a 15°, 30° or 45° angle. So make the flat bench the cornerstone of your chest-building strategy and include incline variations to hit your upper chest and anterior delts (the fronts of your shoulders).

Bench Press FAQs

Bench Press Tips For Beginners

Whether you’re new to the move or you’re an old hand looking to check your bench press form, these tips from Jenna McKean, British powerlifter and Maximuscle ambassador, will help.

1. Points of contact

• Your feet should stay on the ground beneath or behind your knees. Press your feet into the floor to create tension in your hamstrings and glutes.
• Your head, shoulders and hips should all remain on the bench throughout the lift, and your shoulders should retract and press firmly into the bench to create a solid foundation.

2. The set-up

• Your eyes should be directly under the barbell and the bar should be no higher than your wrists when your arms are locked out overhead.
• For most people, your hands should be on the bar just a bit wider apart than your shoulders.

3. Unracking and re-racking

• Use a spotter! If you don’t have one, stop well before failure so that you can safely re-rack the bar.
• To unrack the bar, start with a strong lock-out where the bar is directly above your shoulders.
• Lower the bar under control for one or two seconds to approximately where a chest strap heart rate monitor would be, then press until your elbows are straight and you have the bar under control.
• Re-rack carefully and make sure the bar is secure before you release the tension in your arms.

Bench Press Form Tips

“For maximum strength and size gains, forget about the weight on the bar and focus on being as stable as possible on the bench to create tension from head to toe and get the most out of every rep,” says strength coach Andy McKenzie. Here’s more advice to boost your bench press form.

Get a grip

“Your hands should grip the bar about shoulder-width apart to maintain the best position to press the weight up,” says McKenzie. “If your grip is too wide you risk placing too much pressure on your shoulder joints, and going too narrow places a strain on your elbows. Grip the bar as hard as possible – when you press the bar up, imagine you’re trying to bring your hands together.” But don’t actually move them.

“On a heavy set, squeeze the bar as hard as possible for a second or two before taking it out of the rack,” says trainer Robert Kane. “According to the principle of irradiation, this’ll fire up the surrounding muscles and allow you to lift heavier. Oh, and don't forget the rule of thumb: wrap them around the bar. Some lifters use a thumbless grip, but it's nicknamed the ‘suicide’ grip for a reason.”

Keep your feet on the floor

As you drive your head, upper back and glutes into the bench, you need to do the same with your feet on the floor. This creates total-body tightness that allows your muscles to fire at their maximum potential. “Press your feet hard into the floor to flex your quads,” says strength coach Paul Carter (lift-run-bang.com). “The body works in synergy, so having your entire body as tight as possible will help you bench more weight instantly.”

Arch your lower back

“You need to maintain a strong arch in your lower back as you lift and lower the weight, so focus on getting into this position before you even put your hands on the bar,” says McKenzie. “Your glutes need to be in constant contact with the bench too, and tensing them hard enables you to maintain an arch in your lower back and keep your core braced, which is essential to keeping both your upper and lower body stable.”

“Most guys don’t get tight enough before they set up to bench,” says Carter. “You need to have a strong scapular retraction – so pull your shoulders down hard into the bench.” This will create tension across your torso to keep your body compact and tight, giving you the ability to push harder when lifting heavier.

Keep your elbows close

“Initiate each rep by bending your elbows to lower the bar slowly and under control until it touches your chest near the nipples,” says McKenzie. “Perfect form means keeping your elbows as close to your sides as possible as you lower the weight, then press back up powerfully.”

Be head strong

“The back of your head should be in contact with the bench from the moment you lie down to the moment you rack the weight,” says McKenzie. “Raising your head will have an effect on the rest of your body, preventing you from staying stable. Your shoulders and upper back should also be in contact with the bench for the duration of the set for stability purposes. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lower the bar to your chest.”

Common Beginner Bench Press Mistakes

To get the most from your bench press make sure you’re not falling foul of any of these common mistakes, as detailed by Will McAuley, former competitive powerlifter, and strength and conditioning coach at personal training studio PerformancePro.

Going too heavy

“Don’t try to lift more than you can,” says McAuley. “Your body will realise that it can’t handle it and lift your hips to put your chest in a more favourable position to contract and move the weight, messing up your form. The best way to correct this is to simply lighten the load.”

Not setting your shoulder blades

“Unlike a press-up, you want your shoulder blades to remain still during a bench press to help stabilise the barbell, and also to prevent injury to the shoulders while moving heavy loads,” says McAuley. “Before lifting the bar out of the rack, set your shoulder blades by pulling them back and down – as if you’re trying to push them into your back pockets. When you unrack the bar, keep them set by imagining pushing yourself into the bench instead of lifting the bar upwards.”

Moving your feet during the set

“Like the shoulder blades, your feet should stay still during the entire set,” says McAuley. “Moving your feet around means you’re not as tight as you should be. Make sure your feet are flat on the floor and push through them for the entire set, as if you’re trying to push yourself backwards off the bench.”

Changing your grip width

“When you bench press, where do you grab the bar?” asks McAuley. “Is it the same distance from the rings, or the smooth section of the bar, every time? If not, then you had better start becoming more consistent. Changing your grip width can have a huge effect on what muscles are working and how much weight you can lift. Having a slightly wider or narrower grip can make you drastically weaker or stronger, making it difficult to accurately gauge progress.”

Getting the chest touch wrong

“This could be bouncing the bar off your chest or touching it to your chest too high – or not touching your chest with the bar at all,” says McAuley. “These all have to do with the bottom of the rep as the bar approaches the chest. Very often, a lifter won’t bring the bar all the way to their chest. Make sure to touch your chest on every rep, if you feel you can’t then lower the weight on the bar.

“When you do touch your chest, don’t bounce it off your sternum! Tap your chest then press it up – you should be in control the entire time.

“Finally, make sure you’re touching the bar off your chest, not your collarbones. Unlike most barbell exercises, the bar should not move in a vertical line. Start directly above your shoulders and move downwards in a diagonal line to touch the middle of your chest.”

Using a thumbless grip

“Every time you grab the barbell your thumbs should be around the bar, especially for the bench press,” says McAuley. “Using a thumbless grip has no benefit and you risk literally dropping the bar onto your face, neck or chest. Grab the bar with your thumbs around it and squeeze it as hard as you can. This will help generate more force and recruit more muscles.”

Assistance Moves To Build Bench Strength

To work your muscles more effectively, and make greater gains, it’s vital to focus on correct bench press form. If you want to bench heavier, though, these exercises will help you by strengthening some of the key supporting muscles that work with the chest to lift and lower the bar.

1 Close-grip bench press

Benching with a narrow grip shifts the emphasis to your triceps while safeguarding your shoulders. It’s a good way to work on weaknesses in your regular bench press, or just get a bit more work in on arms day. Grip the bar with your hands roughly shoulder-width apart, then bring it down to your chest, keeping your elbows tucked in to your sides. Pause, then press it back to the starting position.

2 Incline bench press

Pressing on an incline angle shifts the emphasis towards the upper portion of your pecs, but you won’t be able to lift as heavy as in the flat bench version. Lie on an incline bench, gripping a barbell with an overhand grip. Plant your feet on the floor. Lower the bar towards your chest, then press it back up to the start.

3 Dumbbell bench press

The main function of the pecs in pressing moves is bringing the arms towards the centre of your body. In a barbell bench press, your hands can’t move inwards, but they can with dumbbells for greater pec activation. Lie flat on the bench with your feet planted on the floor, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Press the weights directly up until your arms are straight so that they meet over your chest. Slowly lower back to the start.

4 Spoto press

You’re excused from full range of motion – just this once. In the Spoto press you pause the barbell 2-3cm above your chest before pushing up, to better isolate your pecs and blast through plateaus. Alternate with a standard bench.

5 TRX press-up

According to the Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, doing press-ups on a suspension trainer increases muscle activation in the chest, shoulder and abs muscles. Start with your feet on the floor, holding the TRX handles. Brace your core and glutes to keep your body in a straight line. Bend your elbows to lower your chest, then press back up to the start.

6 Deadlift

When you bench you should be transferring power from your legs through your core and up to your chest to help stabilise the movement. Your glutes are your biggest muscles in your legs so a lot of the power will come from them. And you'll need to keep them tensed for a significant period of time during each rep of the bench press, which means you should be doing moves that keep them under tension for a comparable amount of time. Deadlifts do just that.

7 Dumbbell triceps extension

In any big lift you’re only ever as strong as your weakest link, and neglecting your triceps can severely hamper your big bench aspirations. Start with light dumbbells and master the full movement range, then increase the weight.

8 Dumbbell flye

The flye is one of the very few lifts that isolate the chest muscles entirely so that they do all the work. Targeting them like this will help you get a better “feel” for how these muscles move so you’ll have a stronger mind-muscle connection when benching. This allows more muscle fibres to fire at once to get – and keep – the bar moving.

More Tips To Boost Your Bench Press

Here are trainer Tom Wright’s pro-tips.

1. Get a grip: “Hold the bar with a hand position that allows your forearms to be parallel when the bar touches your chest. Your wrists should be over your elbows as they pass by your sides.”
2. Brace your body: “Keeping your body tight throughout the movement will keep you stable and strong. Squeeze your shoulder blades and raise your chest, while tensing your abs and glute muscles."
3. Squeeze the bar: “Once you’re ready, take a deep breath and squeeze the bar hard to fire up your central nervous system. This will elicit a response that will fire up your mind-muscle connection to allow your muscles to contract harder.”

Here are trainer Andrew Watson’s top three tips.

1. Break the chain: “Hit a plateau? Swap 15kg with 2x10kg chains. As the chains hit the floor at the bottom of the rep the bar gets lighter, so you can bust through sticking points.”
2. Drop the bar: “Load a bar with 5x5kg on each end. Aim for ten good reps, rest for ten seconds, remove one plate on each side and repeat until you’re just pressing the bar.”
3. Back it up: “An imbalance between your chest and back will stop you in your tracks. Aim to do as many bent-over rows as bench presses. If you’re too front-heavy, focus on your back until it’s even.”

And here are PT Olly Foster’s top three tips.

1. Level up: “Lowering the bar to nipple level allows you to lift the heaviest weight because it keeps your shoulder and elbow joints in their strongest and most stable position.”
2. Get engaged: “Bracing your core, tensing your lats and glutes, and arching your lower back will increase how much weight you can put on the bar by keeping your body as stable as possible.”
3. Breathe easy: “Inhaling deeply as you lower the bar then exhaling forcefully as you press it back up will keep your torso stable, so lifting a heavy weight feels slightly easier.”

How to Avoid Damaging Your Shoulders

We asked Dan Roberts, former athlete and trainer to film stars, models and other PTs, what to do if you’re worried that bench pressing is ruining your shoulders.

The classic answer would be to do more pulling movements – face pulls and pull-aparts especially – but that’s not the whole story. If you’re developing a hunch, then focus on correcting the bench-press movement itself, so that you can do it damage-free.

Try this: lie on a foam roller so that it’s running down the length of your spine. Focus on “pinching” it with your shoulder blades, so that you almost feel as if you could grip it and pull it off the ground, then get a spotter to pass you a pair of fairly light dumbbells – about 50% of what you’d usually bench. Use them to do a couple of sets of five, and this will “cue” your shoulders into the right position for the rest of your bench session.

What do you do when the bench press is busy at the gym (or the gym is closed)? Hover nearby, ensuring you don’t lose your turn, or reorder your workout and go and do something else? Or, and this is the best answer, find a free mat and rattle out a set of floor presses?

The floor press is not just a basic version of the bench press to do when there is no bench available. It’s an exercise that has several key differences which merit consideration over its more famous counterpart, especially if you have any kind of shoulder injury.

Since the range of motion in the exercise stops at the floor, you place less strain on your shoulders during the floor press than in the bench press. Lying on the floor also means you don’t get the help from your legs that you do with the bench press, making it more testing on your upper body.

An extra challenge also comes from your arms touching the ground with each rep, which removes the tension from your muscles. This makes the start of each press extra tough as you have to get going again, whereas in the bench press the muscles stay loaded until you re-rack the bar.

The floor press and bench press target the same muscles: chest, shoulders and triceps. You won’t be able to lift as much weight as you can with the bench press, but you can still load up the bar and enjoy strength gains in your upper body.

How To Do The Floor Press

Lie with your back on the floor under your bar and grasp it with an overhand grip and your hands around shoulder-width apart. You can have your legs extended or bent with your feet planted – the former is better for ensuring the lift is powered purely by your upper body.

If you’re under a rack the next step is to take the bar off it and hold it above you, but if you’re lying under a grounded bar you might need to get someone to help you raise it at the start of a set, especially if you’re using heavy weights. Once you’re holding the bar above your chest with your arms outstretched, slowly lower it until your upper arms are touching the ground, then press it back up explosively.

See related :

• The Best Chest Exercises For All Levels Of Gym-Goer
• The Best Shoulder Exercises For All Levels Of Gym-Goer
• The Best Triceps Exercises For All Levels Of Gym-Goer

Floor Press Variations

Dumbbell floor press

The floor press you’ve come to know and love, but performed with dumbbells instead of a barbell. The benefit of this is that you work each arm unilaterally, so you can’t rely on your stronger side to do the bulk of the work as you can do with a barbell. When lifting the dumbells make sure you press them directly overhead, rather than letting them sway out to the sides or back over your head.

Bridge press

This exercise can be performed with a barbell or dumbbells and adds an extra dimension to your floor press by engaging your glutes, core and hamstrings. As you press the weight overhead, thrust your hips upwards as you would in a glute bridge. Once your arms are fully extended and your hips are up so your body forms a straight line from your knees to your head, pause for a beat, then lower slowly back to the start. You can also opt to hold the bridge for a set of presses, which will maximise the benefits to your core, glutes and hamstrings. Doing so also increases the range of motion of the exercise compared with the classic floor press (especially when using dumbbells), thereby increasing the challenge to your pecs.

The bench press is the king of chest exercises, but if it’s the only one you ever do, you won’t be maximising the improvements you can make to your chest strength. It’s important to vary the moves you do to work all your chest muscles, and the good news is you don’t really have to vary them much – simply setting up your bench at a different angle will change the benefits you get from the chest press.

To get the facts about the incline bench press, we spoke to NSCA-accredited strength and conditioning coach Andrew Reay, speaking to us on behalf of sports coach booking platform Sport Session.

How To Do The Incline Bench Press

“The first thing you have to decide is the incline setting of the bench,” says Reay. There’s usually a choice of a 30° and a 45° angle. The higher the angle, the more emphasis it will put on the upper chest and front delts, and the smaller the amount of weight you’ll be able to lift. Make sure to reduce the weight when you first try the incline bench press, compared with what you normally bench.

“When you set up, your body shouldn’t be too far in front of the bar,” says Reay. “If you have to reach too far behind you to unrack it, that will be a limiting factor. Make sure your feet are planted and your back is centred on the bench.”

Grip the bar hard, with your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart, then lift the weight from the rack. Steady yourself for a second, then lower it to your chest. Touch it gently against your body – don’t bounce it off your sternum or stop short of a full rep – and then drive through your feet as you push the bar back to the starting position. 

“Try to touch your chest in line with the nipples, then drive straight back up,” says Reay. “Make sure your feet are flat on the floor and you’ve got a little bit of pressure through your feet, then that will anchor your body so you’re able to generate a bit more force through the bar.”

Common Beginner Incline Bench Press Mistakes

On the face of it, the incline bench press is a simple movement: lower the bar, then push it back up again. However, there are a few pitfalls to be aware of. 

Bar path “When people press on an incline, they often lower the bar to a point that’s too close to their neck and come into a hunched position,” says Reay. “Instead, make sure you’re hitting the same spot as you would during a bench press [level with your nipples or lower sternum].”

Weight “You need to be aware that you won’t be able to lift as much as you would during the flat bench press,” says Reay, who suggests lowering the weight by 20-25%, as a rule of thumb. 

Incline Bench Press Variations

Dumbbell incline bench press

Just as with the flat bench press, swapping the barbell for dumbbells means you can work both sides of the body unilaterally, helping to identify your weaker side and improve it. Using dumbbells can also help you avoid shoulder injuries and allow you to achieve a greater range of motion because there is no bar to limit the point to which you can lower the weights. 

Hold the dumbbells by your chest with your palms facing forwards. Press them straight up until your arms are fully extended, pause, then lower under control.

While the classic bench press is undoubtedly one of the best chest exercises, you can have too much of a good thing, and there’s one compelling reason to occasionally switch up your workouts to do the hammer press instead, which is your shoulder health.

Both the barbell and dumbbell bench press place more strain on your shoulders than the hammer press, and the shoulders are always an area of the body to be careful with, since it's a delicate joint that’s prone to injury.

If you are concerned about your shoulders but still want to work your chest and triceps, the hammer press is a great option. It changes the grip so your palms face each other (also known as a neutral grip), reducing the stress on the shoulders. The move also places more demands on your triceps than your chest muscles, but rest assured your pecs are still getting a good pump.

By using dumbbells instead of a barbell for your chest presses, you can also identify and then work on any strength imbalances in your body. If your right side is doing all the work in your bench press, the hammer press will quickly reveal that when your left side struggles to complete half the reps in your set.

Below you’ll find a form guide for the hammer press, along with some of its most common variations, plus a couple of training plans that involve the exercise for you to try.

How To Do The Hammer Press

Lie on a flat bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bring the dumbbells up to the sides of your chest, keeping your grip neutral. Press the dumbbells up above your chest until your arms are fully extended. Bring the weights back down slowly until you feel a stretch in your chest, then press them overhead again.

Hammer Press Variations

Incline hammer press

If you do the hammer press on a bench set at an incline, the upper chest muscles will take more of the workload. Set up a bench at a 45° angle and then lie holding a dumbbell in each hand by your chest with a neutral grip. Press the weights up above your chest, then bring them back down under control.

Workouts Which Feature The Hammer Press

Two-Week Workout Plan To Build Muscle

This two-week training plan will help you to build strength and size in your upper body, with the incline hammer press included in the chest workout. There are three workouts to do each week, one focuses on your chest, another your back and shoulders, and the third on your biceps and tris.

See the two-week workout plan

Four-Week Upper-Body Workout Plan

If you’re ready to commit a longer period to training your upper body, then clear your schedule for this four-week plan. There are four workouts a week and the chest and triceps session incorporates the hammer press into a superset that goes particularly hard on your triceps.

See the upper-body workout plan

The bench press has long been the go-to move for bulking up your chest, and there is little doubt that it’s an exercise worth including in most chest workouts. However, treating it as the be-all and end-all of chest exercises is only going to be counter-productive in the long run, because if you want to build a truly terrific torso, you have to think outside the bench press box.

Benefits Of The Cable Cross-Over

Just as with all the other major muscles in your body, if you want to increase the size and strength of your chest, you need to work it from a variety of angles using a mixture of exercises – some that isolate the chest muscles and some compound moves that hit multiple joints and muscle groups at the same time. The bench press is a compound move that works the shoulders and the triceps as well as the chest, while the cable cross-over is an isolation move that will directly target the chest muscles. It’s an exercise favoured by bodybuilders because it does wonders for the definition of your chest muscles. Read on for our form guide so you can perform the exercise safely and successfully.

How To Do The Cable Cross-Over

Set the handles at both ends of the pulleys at the highest level. Stand in the centre of the machine with feet shoulder-width apart. Bend your torso forwards slightly, keeping your spine neutral and back straight, and bend your elbows slightly as well, with your wrists facing the floor. Keeping your core engaged, pull both handles down and across your body. Squeeze your chest muscles in this fully contracted position (the handles don’t have to be touching). Slowly reverse to the start position, keeping the bend in your elbows throughout.

Cable Cross-Over Variations

Low pulley cable cross-over

The upper chest is a particularly difficult area to grow. Typical incline pressing movements place a great deal of stress on your anterior (front) delt, which makes the muscle fibres around the collarbone hard to target. This is where the low pulley cable cross-over comes in.

Set the handles on the lowest pulley rung. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and grasp the handles with palms facing forwards and hands beside your thighs. With a slight bend in your elbows, pull both handles up and inwards until your palms face each other in front of your chest. Squeeze your chest muscles for one to two seconds, then reverse to the start, keeping the movement under control.

Resistance band cross-over

As much as we love the cable cross-over, we recognise that not everyone has regular access to a cable machine. Fortunately you can also do a version of the move using a resistance band, a highly portable bit of training kit that means you can perform the cross-over whenever and wherever you like. If you don’t own any already, rectify that immediately with our selection of the best resistance bands. 

Some resistance bands will require you to use something sturdy to attach your resistance band to, while others just require you to place the band around your back. We’ll use the former for this form guide. Wrap the band around your robust anchor point, then turn to face the other way, holding one end of the band in each hand. Move far enough away to put some tension into the band, then take your arms out to the sides, opening up your chest. Slowly bring your hands together in front of your chest, keeping a slight bend in your elbows throughout the move. Squeeze your chest muscles in this position, then open your arms up again.

The press-up is a fine compound exercise that does wonders for your chest and triceps, but what if we told you could add a greater test for your core? Hopefully, as a regular reader of Coach you’ll know how important it is to improve your core above all else (with the sole exception of your fibre intake).

This move will work your core again and again, first by supporting the press-up motion and then by rotating your body. Better still, if you hold the T position then your core needs to work really hard to keep you upright.

Your shoulders will also get far more involved thanks to the rotation. This undoubtedly helps with building muscle, but it also serves to improve flexibility and prevent injury.

See related :

• The Push-Up Home Workout For Big Arms
• How To Do A Diamond Push-Up
• Attempt The 30-Day Press-Up Challenge

How To Do A T Press-Up

This move can be done with or without dumbbells, but we’ll explain how to do the latter so we cover the finer points.

Grab two dumbbells of medium weight – 6kg each should be ideal. Use hexagonal dumbbells if available because they’ll ensure a more stable platform (it sounds like a minor detail but you’ll be thanking us when you don’t roll your wrist). Place the dumbbells beneath your shoulders and hold them with your arms fully outstretched and wrists rigid. Form a straight line from your head to your heels, so the only other point of contact with the ground is your toes. Unlike a normal press-up, your feet should be shoulder-width apart to support your rotation.

Lower your chest to the ground and push back up. Once you’re back in the top position, bring one dumbbell off the ground and raise it by rotating your torso, stopping when your arm is pointing straight up. Pause, then reverse the movement under control. Alternate sides with each rep.

We don’t want to come over all fitness hipster here, but frankly, the barbell bench press isn’t the be-all and end-all of chest exercises. Sure, it’s a great strength-building compound move for the upper body, but its place as a workout staple is largely due to its ability to inflate one’s ego, rather than pump up their pectorals. 

If you’re ready to look beyond the bench press, we believe there are five chest exercises you should do instead—one of which, suitably, is the dumbbell bench press. That’s right, all you need to do to boost your bench is switch out the barbell for a pair of dumbbells, especially if you’re looking to build a bigger chest.

To help you get the most from the dumbbell bench press, we enlisted the help of strength and conditioning coach and sports scientist Ryan Horton. Here he explains how to master the move and how to avoid common pitfalls, and weighs up whether the dumbbell bench press deserves to knock its barbell cousin off its perch once and for all. 

How To Do The Dumbbell Bench Press

You need only a weight bench and set of dumbbells for this move, making it a versatile option when you can't get to the bench press stations. 

The Set-Up

“Grab a set of dumbbells and sit on the end of a bench with your feet flat on the floor,” says Horton. “Start with the dumbbells resting on your thighs, then lie back on the bench and, as you do, use your legs to push the dumbbells into place at your chest.”

The Press

Most people tend to hold the dumbbells perpendicular to their body, but Horton advises holding them so they form a 30-45° angle with your torso, with the end of the dumbbell closest to your chest also closest to your head. 

“This angle means the elbows can be tucked in, rather than flared out from the shoulder when you press,” says Horton. He also recommends pressing the weights from level with the bottom of your chest, below your nipples, then driving them until your arms reach full extension directly above your chest.

The Return

The eccentric, or lowering, phase of the lift is arguably more crucial for muscle growth than the press. “Generally you should be looking to drive the weight up powerfully, taking about one second on the way up, then keeping everything under control on the way down, taking three to five seconds to lower so you promote greater hypertrophy,” says Horton.

Common Form Mistakes

Going Too Heavy

The dumbbell bench press isn’t rocket science, but there are still a few bad habits and common pitfalls to avoid. “Firstly, there’s the common mistake with every exercise of trying to use too much weight,” says Horton. 

Of course, you need to lift something challenging to build strength, but you should never opt for a set of dumbbells so heavy that they force you to compromise on your form. 

This ego-driven approach is a one-way ticket to partial reps and injury, which leads us nicely on to Horton’s next point.

Not Completing The Full Range Of Motion

“After going too heavy, the biggest mistake I’ve seen is when people are not working through a full range of motion, instead only lowering or pressing the weight halfway,” says Horton. 

Taking shortcuts will reduce the overall muscle activation involved with each rep, hampering your ability to add size and strength. Instead, Horton says, make sure you lower the dumbbells until they’re just about in line with your chest.

Elbow Position

Another all too common mistake Horton has spotted relates to the angle of the area between the upper arm and torso at the start of the dumbbell bench press. 

“I want a 45° angle, not a 90° angle where the elbow is all the way out, in line with the shoulder,” he says. Not only will the correct position help you press heavier, it’ll also considerably reduce your risk of injury. 

“Flaring out your elbows puts a lot of unnecessary strain on the shoulder joint, while also taking a lot of the emphasis of the exercise away from the pecs,” Horton adds.

Benefits Of The Dumbbell Bench Press

First and foremost, the dumbbell bench press is a tried-and-tested way to build strength and power to your upper body, while also adding considerable size to your pushing muscles. 

“The dumbbell bench press involves multiple major muscle groups,” says Horton. “Your pecs, anterior delts, triceps, even muscles like your core and your lats, are all required to engage and help stabilize the weights for a smooth motion.”

Horton notes that the dumbbell variation of the classic bench press has the added benefit of being an isolateral exercise, meaning that you can work both sides of your body independently from each other to address weaknesses. 

“This helps to prevent or even correct muscular imbalances,” says Horton. “If you have one side of your body that’s stronger than the other because you favor it, switching from the barbell bench to the dumbbell bench press can help correct that.”

Dumbbell Bench Press Variations

Incline dumbbell bench press

The incline press works the top of the chest and the front of your shoulders harder than the standard exercise, boosting the strength of your muscles and hopefully increasing the amount you’ll be able to lift when performing the standard flat bench press.

Set up a bench at an incline of 30-45° and sit with your feet flat on the floor and your back on the bench. Lift the dumbbells to chest height with your palms facing forwards. Breathe out and push the dumbbells up until your arms are fully extended, using your pecs to power the movement. Don’t let the dumbbells touch. Pause for a second at the top, then slowly bring them back down as you inhale.

Decline dumbbell bench press

If the incline bench press targets the top of the chest it stands to reason that the decline bench press will hit the lower chest muscles harder, and you might also find with this variation that you can lift more weight when on a decline than with the flat or incline press. Set up a bench so it’s at a 45° angle and sit on the top of the slope. Lean back (carefully) and bring the dumbbells up to your chest. Press the weights straight up slowly, then bring them back down to your chest. The natural tendency is to let the weights drift back over your head during the lift, so focus on avoiding that. It can be worth having someone check your form when first attempting this move.

Alternating dumbbell bench press

If you’re using dumbbells rather than a barbell with the aim of evening out any strength imbalances in your body, the alternating version of the exercise is one you should get well acquainted with. The form is the same as with the standard dumbbell bench press, except that you lift one weight at a time, keeping the other by your chest. The effect is to isolate each side of the body even more effectively than the standard version of the move. Start on your weaker side and you’ll soon see how much more of a challenge it is to lift one weight at a time.

Hammer press

By holding the dumbbells in a hammer grip—with your palms facing towards each other—you increase the load on your triceps compared with the standard grip for the bench press. You can do this variation with either a flat bench or set it at an incline, with the latter focusing more on the upper chest muscles.

Set up with the dumbbells held at chest height in a hammer grip and press them up until your arms are fully extended. Pause at the top, then bring the weights back down slowly.

So building a bigger chest is on your agenda. That’s fair enough. The same can be said for many of us who regularly hit the gym. But before you make a beeline for the bench press, understand that there is another way to strengthen your chest and promote new growth in the pecs. That way is via the often-overlooked dumbbell flye.

The dumbbell flye targets all areas of the pecs, but most significantly the sternal fibers—those that attach directly to your sternum. Growth in this particular region creates the defined chest separation look associated with all your muscle-bound heroes. 

The move is also better at stimulating pectoral growth than the flat bench press. What’s more, you don’t have to lift anywhere near as heavy, and since there’s almost always a wait for bench press stations at the gym during busy times of the day, this offers a viable alternative when time is of the essence. 

Despite its long list of benefits, it’s also an exercise that’s commonly misunderstood. To make sure your immaculate form is the talk of the gym, we’ve spoken to strength and conditioning coach Ryan Horton of Horton Barbell. 

Here you’ll find his expert how-to guide to master proper dumbbell flye form, along with common pitfalls to avoid and his rule on when you should deploy this chest exercise and when you should stick to the bench press. 

How To Do The Dumbbell Flye

To do this move, you need a pair of dumbbells and a flat weight bench, or one set at a very slight incline.

The Set-Up

Sit on one end of a bench with the dumbbells resting on your thighs. “Lie back, using your legs to help ‘pop’ the dumbbells to your chest, then press them straight up over your chest,” says Horton. 

The Lower

“Turn your wrists so your palms face each other over the top of your chest. There should be a slight bend in your elbow,” says Horton. “From here, lower the dumbbells out to your sides until they are level with your torso.”

The Return

Once you feel a gentle stretch in your pecs, while you maintain a slight bend in your elbows, you’ve reached the lowest point of the lift. “When you reach this point, squeeze and contract your pecs to bring your arms back to the starting position over the top of the chest,” says Horton. 

Dumbbell Flye Form Tips

Avoid the arch

You may see elite-level powerlifters arch their back when performing chest exercises like the bench press. Don’t attempt to emulate them—remember that the goal of powerlifting is moving a weight from A to B with sufficient force. Your goal is to recruit and target muscle fibres to elicit new growth.

Keep your elbows bent

Be sure not to straighten your arms fully and lock them out. This takes the emphasis off the pectoral muscle fibers and channels the load you are lifting into the elbow and shoulder joints. This increases injury risk and doesn’t activate the chest enough.

Don’t overstretch

Be careful not to let your elbows drop too low at the bottom of the rep. Overstretching during this part of the movement could injure your shoulders and reduce the amount of work the pec muscles do. Horton says you should go by feel because one person’s range of motion could be wildly different from another’s. “You’re looking for a slight stretch in the pec. Once you feel that, contract your muscles and bring the dumbbells back to the top of the lift.”

Benefits Of The Dumbbell Flye

The number one benefit of the dumbbell flye, over and above all other chest exercises, is muscle growth, explains Horton. However, it should be used wisely and rarely in isolation. 

“The dumbbell flye is a good chest exercise to use towards the end of your upper-body workouts as a way to add volume and focus on hypertrophy for the pec muscles,” he says. 

But if your goal is strength, power and dynamism for a particular sport, it should only be used as a supplementary exercise. “It’s more of what I consider a bodybuilding-type movement, rather than one to aid sports performance.”

Dumbbell Flye Variations

Incline dumbbell flye

The incline flye targets the top of the pecs more than the flat version of the exercise does and it’s the variation used in our gym-based chest workout plan. To do it, set your bench up at an incline of around 30°. Then lie back and perform the flye as you would with a flat bench, paying extra care not to overstretch when you bring the weights down.

Gym ball dumbbell flye

To make the dumbbell flye a heck of a lot harder and enlist all manner of other muscles in the movement, try performing the move while resting your back on a gym ball rather than a bench. Because you’re supporting your shoulders and back on an unstable surface, muscles all over your body have to work throughout the exercise to keep your body upright, which means you improve your balance and core strength on top of the chest-building benefits of the flye itself.

To perform this variation pick a lighter dumbbell than normal, then rest your shoulders and back on the top of a gym ball with your feet planted firmly on the ground.

About Our Expert

The push-up is often overlooked and considered unworthy of inclusion in many upper-body workouts. That’s a big mistake. Because when it comes to building a bigger and stronger chest, few moves are better than the classic bodyweight exercise that’s still used to separate the army men from the army boys.

This effective chest builder can be done anywhere, any time—and it works your shoulders, triceps and abs too. And there are a number of great variations that mean you’ll never run out of simple moves that sculpt impressive pecs. 

Former Royal Marine physical training instructor Sean Lerwill details—and demonstrates—his favourite push-up variations, as well as his performance and progress tips so you can build a bigger and stronger upper body.

We also have essential form tips from the PT who trains other PTs, Alasdair Nicoll.

How To Do The Push-Up

• Start with your hands underneath your shoulders and toes on the floor.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor. Don’t let your hips sag or rise during the set: if they sag, it puts pressure on your back; if they rise, it takes the tension off your chest.
• Pause briefly at the bottom, with your chest as close to the floor as possible without touching it.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start.

Tempo

“Far too many people think the push-up is an exercise that is beneath them—they favor barbell bench presses, dumbbell flyes, cable crossovers and other weighted moves to build up their chests instead,” says Lerwill. “But the push-up is a tried-and-tested upper-body muscle builder, and the beauty of it is it can be done any time. To get the gains you want, don’t rush your reps—taking your time to lower and lift your torso. Try a 4010 tempo—a four-second lowering phase, no pause at the bottom, a one-second pressing phase, then no pause at the top—to get your muscles better at controlling each movement. Or try a 3110 tempo that introduces a one-second pause at the bottom of each rep—all of a sudden this ‘easy’ and ‘boring’ bodyweight exercise is a legitimate muscle-building move.”

Push-Up Form Tips

For advice on how to nail a perfect press-up, we spoke to Alasdair Nicoll, personal trainer and tutor at The Fitness Group, which provides personal training courses.

1. Make Sure You Have A Stable Starting Position

“For most people, the hand position should be one-hand width outside of their shoulders,” says Nicoll. “Make sure that your wrist is directly underneath your elbow and your shoulder. The phrase we use is stacking joints. If you stack the shoulder and the elbow and the wrist on top of each other, it creates a really stable base from which to start the movement.

“Your feet should be pretty much in alignment with your shoulders, again to create as much stability as you can, because the more stability that you’ve got in any exercise, the more force production you can have and the greater level of muscle recruitment you can utilize in the exercise.”

2. Form An Arrow With Your Elbows

“You want to make sure that the direction in which the elbows are traveling is right,” says Nicoll. “You don't want them traveling out to the side because that’s going to put unnecessary stress through the shoulder.

“If we were to look over the top of the person, we’d want to see an arrow shape from the head down to both elbows. They should be angling back at pretty much a 45° angle. That would be optimal for prioritizing the chest, and will also help to get a full range of motion through the chest.”

3. Get The Tempo Right

“Make sure that when you go through the motion of the push-up that it's under full control,” says Nicoll. “Not just dropping into the movement, but doing it under control, potentially using a tempo. That could be two to three seconds on the way down, then a slight pause for a half second at the bottom. Then on the way up, making sure that that movement is really intentful. It should probably be close to a second for the powerful concentric part of the exercise.”

Push-Up Workouts

The classic push-up is a great exercise for improving muscular endurance in your pecs, front shoulders and triceps, as well as a fantastic way to work these muscles to full failure to encourage muscle size growth. To do this, perform a set of push-ups to failure after every set of bench presses. So once you finish your set of eight to 10 bench press reps, immediately move to the floor and do a set of push-ups to failure, which means you literally cannot do one more single rep with good form. This will work all those muscle fibers in your chest that don’t get worked by your heavy bench presses so you’ll build more muscle size, strength and endurance.

Push-Up Variations

Diamond Push-Up

Want bigger arms? The diamond push-up is the move for you, because this variation places far greater emphasis on your triceps than your chest to pack on size on your upper arms. To make the most of this move, focus on squeezing your triceps at the top of each rep, and think about how your triceps are contracting when you lower your torso towards the floor, using a good slow and controlled tempo. The more you can focus on a muscle moving during an exercise, the greater the rewards.

• Start in the push-up position but with your hands together so that your thumbs and index fingers form a diamond.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor. Make sure your elbows point back, rather than out to the sides, during the lowering phase of a rep to avoid over-stressing the joint.
• Pause briefly at the bottom.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start.

“This move is a lot harder than it looks, and that means a lot of people give up quickly because they can’t do many full-range reps,” says Lerwill. “To get stronger so you can do more reps, just do the lowering part of the move, keeping the tempo slow to make your muscles work harder, then kneel back up to return to the start. Alternatively lower yourself in the diamond position, then take your hands back to normal width to push back to the start.”

Wide-Arm Push-Up

Placing your hands wider apart increases the focus on your chest and lessens the involvement of the triceps and shoulders. It’s important to perform the move safely by lowering your torso to the ground slowly and under full control—doing so will both reduce the risk of injury and increase the effectiveness of the move. You want to feel a good stretch across your chest as you move closer to the ground. The quality of the rep is always more important than the width of your arm position – don’t sacrifice form by placing your hands too far apart.

• Start in the push-up position but with your hands about double shoulder-width apart.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor.
• Pause briefly at the bottom, with your chest as close to the floor as possible without touching it.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start.

“You need to ensure that your head and neck stay tight and in line,” says Lerwill. “Allowing your head to hang can cause your shoulders and upper back to round, which is poor form and makes the move less effective. This often happens as you get close to failure, so instead of going until you can’t do another single rep, stop once you notice your form suffering, rest on your knees for a count of 10, then do another set of reps. When you hit failure a second time, rest again, then do one final set to build chest strength without risking injury.”

Side-To-Side Push-Up

This variation is a great way of increasing the difficulty of the basic move to make the muscles of your chest, shoulders and triceps work hard to support, manage and move your bodyweight up and down and from left to right, while your core muscles need to be fully engaged to keep your torso level for the duration of each rep. The deeper you go each rep, the more effective it will be. That does make it harder so if you’re struggling, reduce the rep count and focus on quality of movement.

• Start with your hands underneath your shoulders and toes on the floor.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor.
• As you lower, move your torso left so your head is in front of your left hand.
• Keeping your chest as close to the floor as possible, move your torso across so your head is in front of your right hand.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start, moving your torso back to the middle as you do.

“This is a hard exercise, so it can be tempting to rush each rep to get the set finished quickly, but you need to resist that temptation if you want to work the target muscles effectively,” says Lerwill. “As with all exercises, it’s always better to focus on quality reps than quantity. Try to add an extra rep or two per set every time you do this move, but keeping reps slow and controlled is the first priority to increase muscular time under tension and minimize injury risk.”

Spider-Man Push-Up

This heroic variation is a move that’s not just about the chest, shoulders and triceps. Your upper and lower abs need to be fully engaged to draw one knee up to your elbow then back down again, and you’ll activate the deep stabilizing muscles of your core to keep your whole body stable throughout each rep. It’s a hard move, but mastering it will mean better performance and a better physique. Keeping your torso level with the floor, as opposed to rotating as you raise your knee, will keep the maximum amount of tension in your abs.

• Start with your hands underneath your shoulders and toes on the floor.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor.
• As you lower, draw one knee up towards your elbow.
• Pause briefly at the bottom, with your chest as close to the floor as possible without touching it.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start, straightening your leg as you do, then repeat with your other knee and alternate with each rep.

“The first thing to do to perform this move more efficiently and effectively is to engage your core before starting a set,” says Lerwill. “Do this by pulling in your bellybutton to tense your entire abs and deep core region. Bracing your midsection to keep it strong and stable—and focusing on keeping it tensed—will allow you to draw your knee all the way up while keeping your push-up form perfect to maximise your results.”

Dive-Bomb Push-Up

The very nature of this move means that for the duration of each rep there are a lot of different muscles fully engaged and under tension, which can only be a good thing when you want bigger, stronger and more defined muscles. The down-and-forwards then up-and-backwards movement also makes your chest, shoulders, triceps and core all work in different and more challenging ways from the standard push-up.

• Start with your hands and feet flat on the floor so that your body forms an inverted V-shape.
• Brace your core then lower your head and chest towards your hands, moving your torso and head forwards in a smooth arc as your head approaches the ground.
• Keep moving your upper body forward in a smooth arc until your eyes are looking forward and your chest is up.
• From there, raise your hips to return to the start position.
• Despite the aggressive-sounding name, the key to this exercise is maintaining a smooth movement path—the whole rep should be fluid and performed at an even tempo.

“Don’t worry about completing too many reps of this per set—instead, think about the muscles working at each point of the rep to build a stronger mind-to-muscle connection that will help you train more effectively in every session,” says Lerwill. “The nature of this movement means some areas will be far more difficult than others, with the most likely sticking points coming when your shoulders or triceps are fatigued but your chest is still strong. If that happens, do this variation to failure, then go straight into regular or wide-arm push-ups to keep working the chest muscles with a slow and controlled tempo for faster gains.”

Fingertip Push-Up

This variation is more about your finger and wrist strength than upper-body strength, so it’s best suited to people who want or need stronger fingers and wrists, such as MMA fighters, climbers and gymnasts. If that’s not you but you’re still up for a really big challenge, then give it a go—but don’t get disheartened when you fail! As with anything worthwhile, it takes time and effort to get good at this move, so add one or two reps per session over the weeks and months to build finger strength slowly without risking injury. If you’re unable to perform a rep on your fingertips, you can still develop finger and wrist strength by holding the top position for as long as possible.

• Start with your hands underneath your shoulders but with just your fingertips in contact with the floor.
• Brace your core and raise your hips so your body forms a straight line from head to heels.
• Keeping your weight on your arms, bend your elbows to lower your chest towards the floor.
• Pause briefly at the bottom, with your chest as close to the floor as possible without touching it.
• Press back up powerfully to return to the start.

“It’s worth experimenting with different finger positions,” said Lerwill. “We are all anatomically different, so some people find the exercise easier with fingers spread, others with fingers quite close, some somewhere in the middle. It all depends on finger length, size of hands, arm length and many other factors. If you’ve mastered one way, then try another—there are many ways to adapt and progress with an exercise, so don’t be afraid to use your imagination and experiment. Maybe one day you’ll be able to do a dive-bomb push-up on your fingertips!”

About Our Experts

1 Bench press

Sets 6 Reps 6-8 Rest 2min

Grip so your wrists are directly above your elbows in the bottom position. Retract your shoulders, drive your feet into the ground, squeeze the bar and brace your lats. Un-rack, then lower the bar under control to your chest. Explosively drive back up.

“The problem with the bench press is that most men focus on how much weight is on the bar rather than how much they are stimulating their chest,” says body composition expert Tom MacCormick (flatwhitesfreeweights.com). “This might boost your ego, but it won’t grow your pecs. Rather than having an external focus, look inward. Focus on the amount of tension you place on the pecs as you press. Concentrate on feeling the muscle stretch as you lower. At the bottom, make sure you’re using your chest to push the weight up. You may have to reduce the weight at first – but it will get you growing your pecs.”

2 Incline close-grip bench

Sets 4 Reps 8-10 Rest 90sec

Take a shoulder-width grip on the bar. Retract and depress your shoulder blades, contract your lats to brace your torso and lower the weight slowly to your chest. Explosively drive the weight back up to the start position.

“Because most guys’ chest training starts and ends with the bench press they disproportionately develop their lower chest,” says MacCormick. “Studies show the sternocostal head [lower chest] is highly activated in flat or decline bench presses with a wide grip. The clavicular head [upper chest] is more highly activated using inclines between 30-60°, while some studies show a narrower grip enhances this activation.” Best advice? Use both.

3 Cable flye

Sets 4 Reps 8-10 Rest 90sec

Lie on a bench set to a 15° incline between two cable pulleys with rope attachments. Grasp the ropes and with a slight bend in your elbows, lower your arms to the sides in a wide arc until you feel a stretch in your chest. Initiate the move by contracting your pecs.

“Most people do flyes with dumbbells using a neutral grip,” says MacCormick. “This is sub-optimal for two reasons. First, the range where the muscle is under tension with dumbbells is small because gravity isn’t directly acting upon the load for the second half of the movement. Second, the arms are neither in their strongest position nor the best one for isolating the pec. A better option is to do flyes with a palms-down grip on a cable machine. This provides a stronger contraction and constant tension on the muscle. You could add an external rotation of the arm at the start of the movement to provide a greater stretch to the muscle and increase activation.”

People doing dumbbell flyes is a common sight in most gyms, and that’s because it’s one of the few exercises that isolate the chest to build muscular size and strength.

Yet the likelihood of seeing someone do it correctly is far smaller. Often the weights selected are too heavy, placing excessive pressure on the delicate shoulder joint, forcing a movement range that’s too narrow, and ensuring that momentum does more of the lifting than the muscles. In short, it’s a waste of time.

Instead, to build a bigger and stronger chest effectively and safely, do standing cable flyes. This machine move keeps tension on your chest muscles for both the lifting and lowering parts of each rep, which isn’t the case with free weights.

As a bonus, there’s one simple form tweak – rotating your wrists, explained below – that can place even greater tension on the middle of your chest – the part many people struggle to develop.

Cable Flye Form Guide

Sets 3 Reps 12-15

Stand tall in the middle of a cable machine, holding a D-handle attached to the high pulley in each hand with a slight bend in your elbows.

Keeping your chest up and core braced, initiate the move and – still with that bend in your elbows – bring your hands around in front of your body to meet between chest and bellybutton height.

As your hands come together, rotate your wrists so your palms face upwards, then hold your hands together with little fingers touching, squeezing your chest muscles hard. Focusing on how this movement of your wrist and arms places tension on the middle of your chest, hold the position for a one or two count.

Slowly reverse the movement all the way to the start, keeping full control of the weight throughout the return.

We know we risk being banned from every half-decent gym in the land by saying this, but it’s time to admit it: the bench press isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, it’s little more than a big lift that builds a big ego, and it does relatively little to build a more muscular chest.

Don’t get us wrong: when it’s used in a progressive and balanced training plan, the bench press definitely makes a helpful contribution. But far too many guys focus their chest sessions on using – or waiting for – a bench and barbell. As we reveal below, there are better moves for sculpting impressive pecs that also minimise your chance of injury (or getting stuck under a bar). So start to include these other moves instead and watch your chest expand.

1. For Bonus Abs Work: Ring Press-Up

Why: Rings aren’t just for the gym show-offs. According to a 2014 study published in the Journal Of Strength And Conditioning Research, doing press-ups on a suspension trainer leads to increased muscle activation in the abs, delts and pectoral muscles.

How: Start with your feet on the floor, at an angle that’ll let you get a few reps done. Brace your core and glutes to keep your body in a straight line. Once you start to “caterpillar”, stop the set. “Once you can do a handful of reps, move to elevating your feet to the same level as your hands,” says trainer Adam Wakefield. “Then add a weight vest to make it tougher.”

For Go-Anywhere Gains: Band Press-Up

Why: Once you can do more than a dozen strict press-ups, you’re mainly working on muscular endurance, not building muscle. Using a band adds resistance, and a 2015 study found that band press-ups at similar levels of exertion to a bench press produced similar gains. Work your pecs at home with a heavy band (£8.99, wolverson-fitness.co.uk).

How: Wrap the band around your back and grip the ends. Keep your hands slightly below shoulder level to protect your shoulders and lead to better muscle activation. Three sets to near failure, twice a week, will set you on the road to strength.

For Healthy Shoulders: Floor Press

Why: No bench required. Also, if you have shoulder or elbow pain from benching, the floor press automatically corrects your form while reducing leg drive so there’s more triceps focus.

How: Start by going one-armed – as well as being able to manoeuvre the dumbbell into place more easily, you’ll engage your core to stabilise the weight. If you’re ready to graduate to the two-arm version, use a moderate weight for high reps: lower it until your triceps touch the floor, then press up. To really engage your chest, squeeze the dumbbells together as you press, then switch to normal floor presses when you hit failure.

For Maximum Pec Activation: Earthquake Flye

Why: Yes, it takes some setting up – and you might get odd looks – but the flye is a better chest-builder than the bench, and this is its ultimate form. “Adding resistance bands to kettlebell flyes will make your chest work harder in order to stabilise the weights,” says Wakefield. “It’ll build a chest to treasure.”

How: Grab a pair of kettlebells – start with the 12s – and wrap resistance bands around the handles. Lying on a slight incline, bring them overhead in a flye motion, then lower. “Keep the movement very slow and controlled,” says Wakefield. “Superset ten of these with ten ring press-ups for a killer chest workout.”

For T-Shirt Muscle: Dumbbell Bench

Why: Technically, the main function of the pec muscles during pressing exercises is “transverse adduction”, or bringing the arms towards the centre of the body. Obviously, during a barbell bench press, your hands can’t move inwards, so the alternative is the dumbbell version, which offers higher pec activation and a greater range of motion.

How: For best results, let your hands go below chest level at the bottom of the move and then bring the dumbbells together at the top when your arms are straight. If you’ve experienced shoulder issues, use a neutral grip, which means palms facing inwards.

The bench press is commonly man’s gateway lift into resistance training. Everyone talks about it. It’s how gym bros measure themselves against the competition. But, as with all exercises, get too efficient at it and it stops being an effective way to get fitter or pack on more muscle. If your strength has plateaued or your chest isn’t getting any more voluptuous despite dedication to the bench, it’s time to shake up the lift.

RECOMMENDED: Chest Workouts

“I see men bench pressing more than any other move in an attempt to get a big chest, but this is a mistake,” says trainer Nick Mitchell, founder of Ultimate Performance. “This is because the limited range of motion of a standard bench press – in which the bar stops at your chest – restricts the number of muscle fibres that can be activated, limiting muscular stimulation and development. But don’t worry – a simple alteration to the classic move makes the target muscles work harder than they’ve done before, so you get bigger and stronger fast.” Where do we sign up?

The Guillotine Press

This move is actually very similar to a standard flat bench press. The difference comes from the fact you lower the bar carefully down towards your Adam’s apple and not your mid-chest. If done correctly, it will force your pecs to grow. If done incorrectly you might have a sore throat for a bit.

“Lowering the bar towards your neck allows the chest muscles to move through a greater range of motion and you get a bigger stretch at the bottom of each rep,” says Mitchell. “This forces your pec major and minor to perform actions they wouldn't during a typical bench press.”

1. Lie on the bench with your feet on the floor, directly underneath your knees.
2. Your head, upper back and glutes should be flat against the bench. Brace your core and maintain a natural arch in your back.
3. Hold the bar with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
4. Slowly lower the bar towards your neck, until your elbows are bent at 90° and the bar is almost touching you.
5. Drive your feet hard into the floor and push the bar back strongly to the start position.
6. As with all barbell exercises in which you’re trying to stimulate chest development, focus on pulling your arms inwards as you press up and lower the weight.

RECOMMENDED: The Only Home Chest Workout You're Ever Going to Need

Make It Easier: Dumbbell Neck Press

If you're not confident enough to do the guillotine press without beheading yourself start with the dumbbell neck press. This exercise mimics the guillotine press in that it increases the range of motion and recruits more muscle fibres. However, dumbbells are easier to control than a barbell, making this a great gateway move to the advanced version.

1. Lie on a flat bench holding a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height.
2. Keep your feet flat on the floor and your upper back against the bench.
3. Press the weights directly above your head but don’t lock out your elbows at the top.
4. Slowly lower the weight towards the top of your chest, flaring your elbows out to the sides.

RECOMMENDED: Pectoral Exercises

Make It Harder: Dumbbell Flye Superset

Rather than simply adding more weight or reps to the barbell guillotine press it’s more effective and safer to superset it with a different chest move. You don’t want to go too heavy or too close to complete failure with the guillotine press given its proximity to your neck and the vulnerability of your shoulders in this position. Instead, follow it with an immediate set of flyes will target more muscles in your chest and the supporting stablisers in your deltoids and arms for greater all-round growth.

1. Lie on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand.
2. Bend your arms slightly, bring them up to meet above your chest.
3. Squeeze them together at the top before slowly lowering them to the sides until you feel a slight stretch in your pecs.

The chances are that, like most guys, you want to build a big chest so you spend at least one session each work glued to the bench press. While no one will doubt that this classic lift is great for building powerful pecs, if you do it week in, week out, your progress will quickly stagnate. Which is why you should include these nine other chest-specific super moves into your workout and watch your muscles grow.

Incline dumbbell flye

Why? It isolates your chest muscles by taking your arms out of the equation.

How Lie in an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand with a slight bend in your elbows. Lower the weights out slowly to the side then reverse back to the start.

Gym ball press-up

Why? The instability of the ball makes your chest work harder to keep you rigid.

How Grip the ball with hands either side of it with your body in a straight line. Lower your chest down to the ball then press back up powerfully.

Decline bench press

Why? It targets the lower portion of your pecs.

How Lie on a decline bench holding a barbell with a wider than shoulder-width grip. Slowly lower the bar to your chest then press back up powerfully.

Dumbbell bench press

Why? Dumbbells allow a greater range of motion than a bar and require more effort to stabilise.

How Lie flat on a bench holding a dumbbell with extended arms above you. Slowly lower the weights down then press back up strongly.

Cable crossover

Why? With cables you must control the weight through the entire rep, making your chest work harder.

How Stand in the middle of a cable machine holding a D-handle, attached to the high pulley, in each hand. Squeeze your chest to bring your hands down in front of your body then return slowly to the start.

Incline bench press

Why? It places greater emphasis on the top of your chest muscles and the front of your shoulders.

How Lie on an incline bench holding a barbell with a wider than shoulder-width grip. Slowly lower the bar to your chest then press back up powerfully.

Clap press-up

Why? It requires explosive power to push your hands up off the floor.

How Start in a press-up position then lower your chest to the floor. Press back up powerfully and draw your hands up and clap them together.

Dumbbell pullover

Why? This moves targets your pecs and lats to build a wide torso.

How Lie flat on a bench holding one dumbbell over your chest in both hands. Slowly lower the weight back behind your head until you feel a stretch then return back to the start.

T-press up

Why? It works your chest as well as your arms, shoulders and core.

How Start in a press-up position holding a dumbbell in each hand. Lower down then press back up, twisting to lift one arm up above you. Reverse back down then repeat with the other arm.

You mostly use your chest muscles (pectorals) when you push objects away from you. So the most obvious exercise to build up your chest is the bench press. In this you use your pectorals, serratus, front shoulders and triceps to press a heavy bar directly above your chest from a lying position.
 
The bench press has long been considered the main test of upper-body strength for men, which is why every gym has a queue for the bench press rack and why a certain type of gym-goer always opens every conversation with the question: “What do you bench?”
 
You should make the bench press the cornerstone of your chest workout, but don’t focus on this one exercise at the expense of all others. Like any muscles, the pecs need to be worked from a variety of angles to get the maximum growth stimulation and simply changing the angle of the bench, or opting for dumbbells instead of a barbell, can make a world of difference to the development of your chest.
 
The pectoralis major is a large block of muscle that attaches to your ribs beneath the collarbone. Although it is one single muscle, you can target the upper, middle or lower portions of your chest muscle depending on the angle from which you attack it. An incline bench press will focus most of the effort on the upper portion of your pecs, for example, although it will still work the entire pectoral muscle.

Below you’ll find six of the best chest exercises that will work your chest from all angles.

1 Dumbbell bench press

Why Dumbbells take more effort to stabilise than a bar, making the move tougher.

How With your head and shoulders supported by bench, your knees bent 90˚ and your feet flat on the floor, hold the dumbbells at chest level. Brace your core muscles, then press the weights straight up with palms facing forward. Lower slowly. Don't arch your back.

2 Incline bench press

Why Place the focus on the upper part of your chest by tilting the bench upwards.

How Set the bench at 30-45˚ and sit with your feet flat on the floor. Grip the bar with hands wider than shoulder-width apart, brace your core muscles and remove the bar from the rack. Hold the bar directly above your chest, elbows to the sides. Lower the bar slowly to your chest and press up powerfully. Don't arch your back.

3 Decline bench press

Why By angling the bench downwards you target the lower portion of your chest.

How Set the bench at 30-45° and lie with your head and shoulders supported by the bench and your feet secured beneath pads. Grip the bar with hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Bracing your core muscles, lift the bar from the rack and hold it directly above your chest. Lower the bar slowly to your chest and press back up powerfully. Elbows to the sides. Don't arch your back as you press up.

4 Dumbbell flye

Why You use only your chest muscles to lift the weights, not your arms, so your pecs get a thorough workout.

How Lie with your head and shoulders supported by bench and your feet flat on the floor. Hold the dumbbells directly above your chest, palms facing each other, then lower the weights in an arc out to the sides as far as is comfortable. Use your pectoral muscles to reverse the movement back to the start. Keep a slight bend in your elbows and don't arch your back.

5 T press-up

Why This move develops your unilateral chest strength.

How Hold your body in a straight line from head to heels, with both hands and feet shoulder-width apart and elbows close to your body. Don't let your hips sag. Grip the dumbbells with straight wrists, then press up powerfully. Twist your body and raise a dumbbell overhead with your arm straight. Roll onto the sides of your feet but keep your body straight. Go straight into the next press-up, lifting the opposite arm on the next rep.

6 Dumbbell pull-over

Why A single-joint move that hits your lower chest, lats and triceps.

How Lie with your head and shoulders supported on a bench and your feet flat on the floor. Grasp a dumbbell in both hands over your chest. With your core muscles engaged, lower the weight slowly behind your head. Use your pecs to draw your arms back over your head. Keep a slight bend in your elbows and don't arch your back.

1. Bench press

The reason the bench press has always been popular is that it’s simply the best exercise for developing upper-body muscular size, power and strength. Although it works mainly the pectoral, or chest, muscles, this exercise also recruits the muscles at the front of the shoulders and the back of the arms, making it ideal for anyone who wants a big, strong torso. Always warm up thoroughly with some press-ups, then using the empty bar.

How to do it:

• Lie on the bench with your feet on the floor directly underneath your knees.
• Your head, upper back and glutes should be flat against the bench. Brace your core and maintain a natural arch in your back.
• Hold the bar with an overhand grip, hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Slowly lower the bar to your chest, bending your elbows out to the sides, until the bar is almost touching the middle of your chest.
• Pause briefly before driving your feet hard into the floor and pushing the bar back strongly to the start position.

2. Dumb-bell flye

This move isolates your chest muscles, meaning your arms are taken out of the equation so all of the work has to be done by your ches

How to do it:

• Lie on a flat bench holding a dumb-bell in each hand directly above your chest, palms facing each other.
• Make sure your head and shoulders are supported on the bench and that your feet are flat on the floor.
• Keeping a slight bend in your elbows, slowly lower the weights out to the side as far as is comfortable.
• Don’t arch your back.
• Use your pecs to reverse the movement to raise the weights back to the top.

3. Cable crossover

It’s hard to truly isolate your powerful chest muscles – the arms and shoulders nearly always get in on the act because of how your upper body muscles move together. But this move is a great way to work the chest because using cables, rather than dumb-bells, for resistance ensures that there is constant tension throughout the move, which forces your chest to work hard to control the weight.

How to do it:

• Stand in the middle of a cable machine with a split stance holding a D-handle attachment in each hand, with the cable set above shoulder height.
• Keeping a natural arch in your back, your core braced and your upper body still, bring your hands down in an arc to meet in front of your torso.
• Pause briefly and squeeze your chest muscles before returning slowly, and under full control of the weight, back to the start.

4. Incline dumb-bell press

Tilting the bench places the focus on the upper part of your chest, as well as your triceps and the front of your shoulders, while using dumb-bells allows for a greater range of motion.
 

How to do it:

• Lie on a bench set at a 30-45˚ angle, holding a dumb-bell in each hand at shoulder-height.
• Keep your feet flat on the floor and back against the bench.
• Press the weight directly above your head, but don’t lock out your elbows at the top.
• Slowly lower the weight back down to your chest, flaring your elbows out to the side.

5. Clap press-up

Having to clap between press-ups means you have to push up from the floor very quickly, turning this humble bodyweight exercise into an explosive muscle-building move.

How to do it:

• Start in a press-up position and lower until your chest is just above the ground, keeping your elbows close to your side.
• Press back up powerfully so that your hands leave the floor. Quickly clap them together.
• Land on your hands and descend into the next rep.

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"Your one-max rep on the bench press is a good indicator of upper body strength and gym dedication, so everyone wants an impressive score," says Neil Odell, a personal trainer and lecturer at City & Islington College. 

"The problem is that doing too much work on your chest and not enough on your back results in hunched shoulders, which in turn leads to a lack of range of motion and poor posture. It can also cause shoulder pain. You will need strong pecs, deltoids, lats and triceps for this lift."

Exercises To Improve Your Bench Press

Incline one-arm press-up on step

The one-arm press-up requires immense strength and co-ordination between the chest, triceps, shoulder, glute and core muscles; all the muscles required for a strong bench press.

• Place a step on the floor and get into a press-up position but with just your right hand on the step.
• Perform a press-up.
• Repeat on the other side.

Serratus anterior pulse

With the support of the bench the serratus anterior muscles – which run from the side of the chest to the shoulders – can get lazy when bench pressing, and this can restrict your range of motion. This move will put your shoulders in the right position for the press.

• Kneel with your hands on a gym ball, placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
• Keeping your body in line, let your shoulder blades collapse inwards, then push them out while keeping your elbows straight and locked the whole time. 

Spider-Man press-up

Many people think the bench press is the best exercise for the chest - but they're wrong. This move hits the chest but works the stabilising muscles around the shoulders too. It also hits the abs and lower back, which are often required to shift your weight in sports.

• Get into a press-up position, then bend your elbows until your upper body is just off the floor, moving your right knee to your right elbow as you lower.
• Push up to the start using your chest, shoulders and triceps. Repeat on the other side.

Medicine ball chest pass

The power aspect of this move kicks your nervous system into gear, while jump-starting your fast-twitch muscle fibres. This results in more responsive, stronger muscles, meaning you can use more weight on your lifts.

• Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your core braced.
• Hold a medicine ball against your chest with both hands.
• Push with both hands to throw the ball against a wall or to a partner.

Incline bench press

Adding a tilt to your bench targets your upper chest muscles.

• Set the bench at 30-45˚ and sit with your feet flat on the floor
• Grip the bar with hands wider than shoulder-width apart, brace your core muscles and remove the bar from the rack
• Hold the bar directly above your chest, elbows to the sides
• Lower the bar slowly to your chest and press up powerfully
• Don't arch your back

Variation: Gym ball decline press-up

The additional wobble means your core gets a good workout as well as your upper chest, shoulders and triceps.  

• Get into a press-up position with your feet together on the ball
• Don't let your hips sag
• Drop down until your nose almost touches the floor

Variation: Incline dumbbell press

Using dumbbells works each side of your chest independently, preventing your stronger side from doing all the work.

• Sit on the inclined bench holding dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing forward.
• Press the weights straight up.

Variation: Incline Smith machine press

When you don't have a spotter to help you, the Smith machine lets you press heavy weights in safety.

• Place the bench so the bar sits directly above your chest.
• Press up quickly and drop the bar down slowly.

Sets: 3 / Reps : 10 each side

Targets: whole chest

Why it works: The cable machine is great for one-sided exercises that correct any muscle imbalances.

• Stand with your back to a cable stack with the pulley set to shoulder height.
• Place your feet shoulder-width apart but put your right leg behind you to provide a stable base.
• Hold a cable handle in your right hand up by your right shoulder.
• Brace your abs and press the cable away from you in a straight line for two seconds, rotating your body.
• Pause for a second and return the cable under tension for two seconds.

Unilateral cable press

Unilateral cable press