How to Get Bigger Pecs

The pectoral muscle is the large muscle in your chest. It is a singular muscle, although the upper, middle, and lower fibers can be worked with a variety of different exercises. The primary lift that people use to work their pecs is the bench press, but this is not the only useful one, as there are several variations of it that are useful as well as completely different exercises. This muscle helps in almost every shoulder motion and is very useful, which contrary to the popular belief that the pectoralis is just a show muscle and has no real function.

One of the major completes that many people have with their pecs is the distance between them. Unfortunately, this can not be wholly remedied with weight training as this has more to do with genetics as they dictate the insertion point of the tendons. That said, you can help close the gap by building up the muscle near the sternum. Some exercises that you can use to do this are the pec deck, dumbbell flies, and dips. Dips are probably the best exercise on that list as they will put a significant amount of strain on the entire pectoral muscle and are a great mass builder. You can add additional weight to your dips by using a dipping belt. Remember, though, that diversity is key and that you shouldn't forego flies and the pec deck for just dips.

Another major part of the pectoralis is the upper or clavicular head. There are few ways to work this part of the muscle other than the use of incline presses. You can do the incline bench press or incline dumbbell press. If you want to close the gap in the sternum near the top, you can also use incline flies which are great for adding mass to both the pectoralis and the anterior deltoid. Many people have a hard time developing this part of the chest so it's important that you take the time to train it early on or you may develop muscular imbalance, in which case you might start to plateau on your normal bench press and chest development.

The lower part of the chest is best worked with decline flies and bench press. This part is less worried about since it tends to develop well with normal chest workouts. When doing the decline press, be sure to work at a comfortable angle as it can put considerable strain on the shoulders, especially at 45 degrees. I prefer to work at a 20 to 30 degree angle, as I think these are ideal.

While isolating the different parts of the pecs is important, you should also focus on the quintessential chest exercise: the bench press. When doing this make sure not to arch your back and to use a good range of motion. If you have weak rotator cuffs then I don't advise going all the way down as this puts a significant amount of strain on the shoulders and could cause serious injury. You should only do 3/4ths of a rep or whatever you are comfortable with. The bench press is great for adding mass to the entire chest and is a must-do exercise for anyone looking to get bigger pecs.