The Best Chest Day Workout for Muscle & Strength

It’s time for my favorite workout, your favorite workout… everyone’s favorite workout! It’s time for a chest day workout!

That might have been a slight over-exaggeration, but chest training is hugely popular, rivaled only by delts (in men) and glutes (in women). Regardless of sex, the barbell bench press is the most popular exercise of all.

This is the ultimate chest day workout for strength, muscle growth, and a well-developed chest.

StrengthLog’s Chest Workout

StrengthLog’s Chest Workout is tailored for anyone looking to build chest muscle mass and strength.

It features a combination of compound exercises and isolation movements with barbells, dumbbells, cables, and bodyweight exercises, using various rep ranges to hit every muscle fiber in your pecs.

It is suitable for both intermediate and advanced trainees and comes with recommendations on how to adapt it to your fitness level.

Click here to jump directly to the workout.

This workout is 100% free to follow in our workout tracker app, which you can download with the button for your device:

Chest Anatomy and Function

The mighty chest muscles are more than just a way to fill out your T-shirt. Let’s talk about these pectoral powerhouses.

Pectoralis Major

The pectoralis major is the big, beefy muscle that forms the bulk of your chest’s muscle mass. It’s like a muscle fan spread across the chest, originating from your sternum (the middle of your chest), clavicle (collarbone), and ribs, and then inserting into the humerus (upper arm bone).

The pectoralis major is the most sizeable muscle in your upper body and contribute greatly to your chest size.

*Large and Small Muscles in Resistance Training: Is It Time for a Better Definition?*

Your delts and triceps are larger but consist of several different parts, or “heads.”

The pectoralis major is involved in bringing your arm across your body, rotating your arm inward, and also helps in lifting your arm up.

It is divided into two parts – the clavicular head near your collarbone and the sternocostal (sternal) head across the middle of your chest. The clavicular head flexes your humerus, while the sternal head extends it when your arm is raised.

Pectoralis Minor

The pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular muscle tucked away beneath the showier pectoralis major.

This little guy originates from the ribs and attaches to the scapula (shoulder blade).

The pectoralis minor is all about movement and stability. It stabilizes your scapula by drawing it downward and toward the thoracic wall. So, when you’re doing push-ups or reaching for something on a high shelf, your pectoralis minor works behind the scenes, making sure your shoulder blade moves smoothly.

In addition to the major and minor pectoralis, your chest muscles include the serratus anterior that attaches your shoulder blade to your rib cage and the subclavius muscle between your clavicle and first rib.

These muscles work together like a well-oiled machine. And they aren’t just for looking good at the beach or high-intensity chest day workouts in the weight room. They play a vital role in all everyday activities that involve pushing, lifting, or even just holding your posture straight.

StrengthLog’s Chest Workout: Overview

From the first set to the last set, StrengthLog’s chest day workout blasts your pecs from every angle and with various rep ranges and loads.

The exercises hit your upper, middle, and lower chest for balanced development.

The weight and rep range goes from heavy loads and low reps to lighter weights and high-rep training to give you the full spectrum of strength and muscle growth stimuli.

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Bench Press	3	5
Incline Dumbbell Press	3	8
Dips	3	12
Standing Cable Chest Fly	3	15–20

You start with two pressing movements using free weights: heavy bench presses for overall chest size and strength, then incline presses for your upper chest.
You then target your lower chest with dips before switching to the best isolation movement for a great finishing pump.

There you have it: the perfect chest workout!

This training volume is ideal for intermediate lifters.

If you have been training for years and are an advanced lifter, feel free to add one set per exercise.

Perform this chest workout routine once every 4–6 days for best results. That gives you the ideal training volume and frequency to build muscle and strength. According to current research, you need 12–20 weekly sets per muscle group for optimal development.¹ That places StrengthLog’s chest day workout right in the sweet spot.

StrengthLog’s Chest Day Workout: The Exercises

It’s time for one of the best chest workouts you’ve ever had! Let’s go through each of the exercises in StrengthLog’s chest day workout with step-by-step instructions on how to perform them with perfect form.

Rest Between Sets

Standard recommendations for most lifters are 2–3 minutes for compound movements and 1–2 minutes for isolation exercises.

Use longer rest intervals for the first heavy pressing movements and go for the pump with short rest towards the end of the workout.

Bench Press

Likely the most popular exercise in the weightlifting world, the bench press is a staple in the chest day workout of champions since forever.

The standard bench press is a compound exercise, meaning more muscles are working, leading to more strength and size gains. The bench press is one of the best chest exercises, but it also recruits your shoulders, triceps, and even your core. More muscles working together means more overall strength and size gains.

It’s the go-to move for showing off your strength and has a bit of a celebrity status in gym culture. It’s often seen as a benchmark ( 🥁 ) of upper-body strength, especially in powerlifting, where it is one of the three competition lifts.

The barbell bench press lets you load up more weight than you could with dumbbells or bodyweight exercises. In addition, tracking your progress is as easy as adding more plates to the bar. Benching heavier over time (with proper form, of course)? That’s a direct sign that you’re getting stronger and building a bigger chest.

How to Bench Press

Lie on the bench, pull your shoulder blades together and down, and slightly arch your back.
Grip the bar slightly wider than your shoulder width.
Inhale, hold your breath, and unrack the bar.
Lower the bar with control, until it touches your chest somewhere close to your sternum.
Push the bar up to the starting position while exhaling.
Take another breath while in the top position, and repeat for reps.

Incline Dumbbell Press

The flat bench press is one of the best exercises for overall chest development, but the best way to target your upper chest muscles is to include the incline press in your chest day workout.²

The incline bench press with a barbell is a great exercise, but the incline dumbbell press offers several advantages.

Firstly, the incline dumbbell bench press allows for a full range of motion, which might benefit muscle hypertrophy and help you add chest mass.
Secondly, dumbbells allow your arms to move in a natural and comfortable path, and many lifters find it easier to establish a mind-muscle connection with their upper pecs using them.

Besides, you already have the bench press for that heavy barbell action.

Adjust the bench to around 30 degrees to hone in on the upper parts of your pectoral muscles. Some incline benches are pre-set to a 45-degree angle, but those emphasize your front delts rather than your upper chest.³

How to Perform Incline Dumbbell Presses

Adjust a weight bench to approximately a 30-degree angle. Sit on the bench and ensure your feet are flat on the floor for stability.
Lie back on the bench with your feet firmly on the floor and your back pressed against the backrest. Hold a pair of dumbbells with an overhand grip and lift them to the start position.
Take a breath, brace your core, and press the dumbbells upwards until your arms are extended, your palms facing forward. Keep your shoulder blades squeezed together throughout the movement.
Inhale and lower the dumbbells with control back to your shoulders.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Bar Dips

Chest day workout: Bar dip exercise technique — Dips

The bar dip is a classic bodyweight exercise and where you suspend yourself between two parallel bars, lower your body by bending your elbows, and then push back up.

The primary muscles worked with dips are your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Dips hit all areas of the chest, with extra emphasis on your lower chest.

Dips can be more or less of a chest or triceps exercise, depending on how you perform them. To make dips more chest-focused, lean forward a bit as you dip down. This tilt shifts the workload from your triceps to your chest, like bowing to the chest gods for that extra pump. This being a chest day workout, that’s how we’re doing them.

Bar dips can be a real test of upper body strength, and if you’re not quite ready to fly solo, your can use an assistance machine or resistance bands for a helping hand. Conversely, if your body weight isn’t enough, you can add a weight belt, hold a dumbbell between your feet, or wear a backpack with a weight plate in it to increase the challenge.

No bars? Use a bench or a sturdy chair. Feet on the floor for beginners, on another bench to make it more challenging. Bench dips do hit the triceps more than bar dips, but they are a good alternative if you don’t have a dip station.

How to Perform Dips

Place hands on the bars of a dip stations and lift yourself up so that your arms are supporting your entire body weight. Keep your legs straight down or crossed at the ankles.
Lean forward slightly to shift the focus to your chest muscles.
Lower yourself until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle or slightly lower, but avoid going too low as it can strain your shoulders. Don’t let your elbows flare out to the sides as you lower your body.
Push yourself back up to the starting position until your arms are straight.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Standing Cable Chest Fly

The standing cable chest fly is an isolation exercise for your pecs and an invaluable addition to your chest day workout. Unlike compound movements, isolation exercises involve only one joint and excel in honing in on the muscle fibers of a specific muscle group. Chest flyes allow you to stretch and squeeze your chest muscles more effectively than traditional bench presses.

You can do chest flyes with either dumbbells or cables, but for most lifters, the cable chest fly trumps the dumbbell fly and is the better way to build a muscular chest.

Unlike dumbbells, where gravity can give you a bit of a break, cables keep constant tension on your chest muscles throughout the entire movement.
With cables, you can easily adjust the angle of pull. You can hit your pecs from different angles, targeting any weak point in your chest development.
When you bring the cables together at the peak of the movement, there’s an incredible opportunity for a peak contraction. You can even cross your hands to put maximum squeeze on your pecs, which isn’t possible with dumbbell flyes.

After three exercises with heavy weights, this is the time to lower the load and choose a relatively light weight that allows you to focus on control, good form, and mind-muscle connection instead of hoisting as much weight as possible.

How to Perform Standing Cable Chest Flyes

Set up a cable crossover machine with two handles, one on each side, between chest to shoulder height. Stand in the center of the device, facing away from the weights.
Grasp the handles of the cable machine, one in each hand, with your palms facing forward. Take a step forward to create tension on the cables. Stand with your feet comfortably apart and your knees slightly bent. You can step forward with one leg if that feels more comfortable and stable. Your upper arms should be at ~30 degrees away from your upper body.
Pull the handles towards each other with a slight bend in your arms until your hands meet in front of your body.
Contract your chest muscles, then slowly release the handles back to a stretched position. Your arms should remain slightly bent throughout the movement.
Repeat the movement for your desired number of repetitions.

Note: if you do not have a cable crossover machine, substitute this exercise for dumbbell chest flyes.

Warming Up for StrengthLog’s Chest Workout

Before you hit the heavy weights, it’s always a good idea to warm up properly.

A warm-up is like an early morning coffee for your muscles. It gets the blood flowing and preps your chest, shoulders, and triceps for the action ahead. Warm-ups increase your flexibility, boost your performance, and give you a chance to mentally prepare, strategize your workout, and get into the zone.

In short, you can lift more and stay safe while doing it.

Here’s a great way to warm up and prepare your body for your chest day workout.

General Warm-Up

Start with ~5 minutes of light cardio like the stationary bike, elliptical machine, or the treadmill. The goal is to raise your heart rate and work up a light sweat, not to exhaust yourself.

Dynamic Stretching

After the cardio, do a series of dynamic stretches for your upper body. They activate your muscles and nervous system, improve flexibility, and boost muscle control and balance.

Arm Circles:
- Pretend you’re a human windmill. Start with small circles, gradually increasing to larger ones to get your shoulder get your shoulder joints lubed up and ready for action. Do them both clockwise and anti-clockwise for 15-20 seconds.
Cross-Body Arm Swings:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and swing your arms horizontally across your body for 15-20 seconds.
Twisting Windmills:
- Extend your arms out to the sides. Bend at the waist and touch your left hand to your right foot, then come back up and touch your right hand to your left foot.

Ramp-Up Sets

Finally, do a series of ramp-up sets of the first exercise, the bench press. You don’t want to jump straight into your working weights. Instead, a few sets using increasingly heavier weights primes your central nervous system and reinforces the movement pattern of the exercise.

For example:

Set 1: 50% of your working weight for 10-12 reps
Set 2: 60% of your working weight for 8-10 reps
Set 3: 70% of your working weight for 5-7 reps

Warm-Up Tips

Listen to your body: If you feel unusually stiff or if something hurts, warm up extra carefully for your first set or adjust your workout.
Keep the warm-up dynamic: The aim is to prepare your body for a good chest workout, not exhaust it before the main exercises. Save the all-out effort for your dedicated cardio sessions.

How Fast Can Your Chest Muscles Grow?

With the right workout routine, your chest muscles can grow impressively fast.

Research shows that training the bench press three times per week can increase the chest muscle size in untrained people by 43% in five months.⁴

The more training experience you have, the slower your gains will come, but with a good chest day workout like this, combined with hard work and consistency, you’ll keep adding inches to your chest.

How to Fit StrengthLog’s Chest Day Workout into Your Training Split?

StrengthLog’s chest day workout is incredibly versatile, and you can incorporate it into almost any workout or bodybuilding split you enjoy.

For example, you can include it in any 3-,4-,5- or 6-day workout splits, and you can combine it with a back, shoulder, biceps, or triceps workout or do it as a stand-alone chest session.

Here are five examples of how you can fit this chest workout into your training routine.

3-Day Split

Day one: StrengthLog’s Chest Workout and back
Day two: quads and hamstrings
Day three: shoulders and arms

4-Day Split

Day one: StrengthLog’s Chest Workout and shoulders
Day two: back
Day three: quads and hamstrings
Day four: biceps and triceps

Day one: StrengthLog’s Chest Workout and triceps
Day two: back and biceps
Day three: quads and hamstrings
Day four: shoulders

5-Day Split

Day one: StrengthLog’s Chest Workout
Day two: back
Day three: quads and hamstrings
Day four: shoulders
Day five: biceps and triceps.

3-Day PPL Split

The workout also fits right into a classic push/pull/legs split:

Day one: StrengthLog’s Chest Workout, shoulders, and triceps
Day two: back and biceps
Day three: lower body

Feel free to come up with your own ways to use this chest day workout in your training!

Track StrengthLog’s Chest Workout in the StrengthLog App

Give this workout a go, and you’ll be on your way to gaining strength and putting lean muscle mass on your chest. We can’t guarantee a colossal chest like that of Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we do guarantee to put you on the right path to the powerful, big chest you’ve always wanted.

This chest day workout along with 80+ other strength training workouts and programs are available in the StrengthLog workout tracker. Regardless of your fitness level or goals, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

A workout log is the best way to keep track of your progress.

Remember that progressive overload is the key to consistent gains over time. To continue making progress, you must gradually increase the demands on your muscles.

A training log helps you stay consistent, set and achieve specific goals, track your progress over time, identify patterns in your training, and hold yourself accountable to your fitness goals.

StrengthLog is 100% free to download and use as a workout tracker and general strength training app. All the basic functionality is free – forever. It’s like a personal trainer in your pocket.

Download StrengthLog for free, keep track of your weights and reps, and try to beat your previous numbers each workout.

Want to give premium a shot? We offer all new users a free 14-day trial of premium, which you can activate in the app.

>> Click here to return to our list of training programs and workouts.

Good luck with your chest training!