Workouts that target pectoral muscles are important for a well-shaped and defined chest. Dudes aren’t the only ones that need to focus on working these muscles; the same moves are also great exercises for saggy breasts- preventing them and even reversing the effects that aging can have on this particular part of the body.

Upper body strength is a common weak spot, especially among women. Having strong chest muscles not only gives you a better body shape, but also allows you the ability to do everyday activities effortlessly and with less chance of injury.

To get stronger, larger chest muscles, it is crucial to comprehensively work the pectorals through various ranges of motion. Technically, you might get bigger pecs by doing the same canned workout with heavier and heavier weights, over and over again but they aren’t going to be well developed, truly strong, or proportionate unless you approach their development expansively. Developing the pectorals evenly throughout all ranges of motion in order to get bigger pecs is the best method to get the most amount of size with the least amount of effort.

Exercises must hit both the upper and lower parts of the pecs, as well as the centerline and outer edges. Technically, whenever the pecs are utilized at all, the entire pectoral muscle will engage. However, it’s still important to isolate the different muscles in the various ranges of movement; these upper body exercises do just that.


Best Pectoral Exercises & Variations

Group 1: Presses
Decline chest press
Flat chest press
Incline chest press

Group 2: Flies
Incline chest flies
Decline flies
Flat flies

Group 3: Cable Crossovers
Incline Cable Crossovers
Decline Cable Crossover Press
Flat Cable Crossover Press

Do one group (i.e. presses, flies, or cable crossover presses) per workout. Do three sets of each exercise in that group for 6-10 repetitions per set.

Do upper body routines with one of the above groups included each time, up to three times per week. If you are ever sore from a previous workout, give that body part another day or rest in order to avoid undoing any gains you might have made.


Antagonistic Muscle Groups
Rhomboids are a particularly important complimentary muscle to work when you are doing routines that focus so intensely on the chest. Developing rhomboids will even out muscle development and help you maintain proper posture; often times when people are doing workouts to get bigger pecs, they neglect the rhomboids and end up with caved in shoulders that roll forward.

Exercises for Rhomboids to Balance out Chest Muscles
Reverse Flies
Bent Over or Kneeling Close Rows
Bent Over or Kneeling Wide Rows
Seated Row
Supine Push Ups - Check out this super-effective rhomboid exercise that uses only your bodyweight

Always make sure that you have well rounded fitness goals and workouts; you don’t want big pectoral muscles with chicken legs or a strong chest with no cardiovascular endurance. Lower body workouts are ideal for the days when you are not working on your upper body development. You should also aim to adhere to the recommended 30 minutes (minimum) of cardiovascular activity, five days a week. That 30 minutes can be a great extended warm up period for your upper and lower body strength training workouts.