How to Build Pectoral Muscle Mass

When trying to build muscle, the key to continually making progress is to change things up. You can’t do the same exercise over and over and still gain muscle. The following exercises will help you develop the muscles in your chest and pack on overall muscle mass.

Things You'll Need

• Dumbbells
• Barbells
• Adjustable weightlifting bench

Instructions

1. Grab a pair of dumbbells and a flat bench. Keep your feet flat on the floor and hold the dumbbells above your chest. Steadily raise them upwards until your elbows are almost locked, then slowly lower (1 repetition). Repeat this 8-12 times (1 set), then rest 1-2 minutes before repeating twice more (for a total of 3 sets).

2. With dumbbells, find a decline bench and repeat the above step. For some this exercise is easier, so in the future you might want to use heavier weights than you did in Step 1. The dumbbells should come to rest just slightly below your nipple.

3. Still using dumbbells, use and incline-angled bench, keep your feet flat on the floor, and slowly raise the dumbbells above your chest until your elbows are almost locked, then slowly lower until the weights are around chest level and approximately 1 inch above your nipple.

4. Lie down on your back on a flat bench that uses a barbell. The motion is the same as described in Steps 1-3 above, except you don’t want to lower the weight all the way down to your chest. Stop the bar at about 1 inch above your chest, then raise it back up. Perform 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

5. Find an incline bench with a barbell and perform the exercise as described in Step 4, lowering the bar just above your nipples as in Step 3. Do 3 sets of 8-12 repetitions.

Tips & Warnings

• If 8-12 repetitions is too difficult, that's OK. Slowly work your way up to that repetition range, and once you're comfortable with that, you can slowly increase the weight.

• By performing some of the exercises above on one day and the resting on another, you are able to spur more growth in your chest because your muscle fibers won't be able to adapt as quickly as they would if you were simply doing the same routine over and over again. You can also perform the exercises out of order and lower the weight and doing a higher number of repetitions. The key is to keep your muscles "on their toes."

• Always consult a physician before starting any new exercise program.