How to Build Chest Muscle Mass

Balance chest muscle development by exercising the shoulders, back, arms and legs.

The chest muscles are comprised of the pectoralis major, located on the front of the rib cage and the pectoralis minor, located underneath the pectoralis major. The "pecs" are a muscle group that definitely gets noticed, and there are several exercises that can help you build muscle mass in this region. Train your chest 1-2 times per week, and focus on training the upper, middle and lower portion of your chest.

Things You'll Need

• Weight set

Instructions

1. Ensure you're eating a well balanced diet that includes muscle building foods. According to Men's Health Magazine, some foods that will help you build muscle are beef, fish, almonds, eggs, yogurt and salmon.

2. Work out your chest 1-2 times per week, and incorporate different exercises into each workout. The bench press is a versatile exercise that can help you build chest muscle mass quickly. Do bench presses every week, but switch it up so some days you're doing sets of incline, flat and decline bench presses, which work your upper, middle, and lower pecs, respectively. Use both dumbbells and barbells too. Dips are another exercise that will help you build chest muscle mass. Dips work your lower pecs, shoulders and triceps. Flyes are an another exercise that will help you build muscle in your outer pecs. You can also do flyes in a flat, incline or decline position to build muscle in different parts of your chest. Lastly, pushups are an exercise you can do without weights. They're one of the best exercises for building muscle in your chest. Pick three to four of these exercises, and do 12 to 15 total sets of 8 to 12 repetitions each week. Go to failure with each set, which means you should struggle to do your last repetition. Consider working out with a partner to prevent injuries when going to failure.

3. Eat a balanced meal with protein and carbohydrates after every chest workout. According to the Mayo Clinic, to help your muscles recover and to replace their glycogen stores, you should eat a meal that has protein and carbohydrates within two hours of your workout session (Reference 5).

4. Chart your progress. One of the keys to building muscle mass is to get progressively stronger. The more weight you can lift, the more muscle you can build. To build chest muscle, keep an exercise journal. Record each exercise you do with each workout, and try to make slight improvements with every single workout. This means you should add more weight or do more repetitions every workout.

References

• Men's Health: Chest Exercises
• Lee Hayward: Top 5 Chest Exercises For The Best Chest Workout
• Project Swole: The Top 5 Best Chest Exercises
• Men's Health Magazine
• Mayo Clinic: Eating and exercise: Time it right to maximize your workout

Resources

• Vince Del Monte Fitness: Top 4 High Protein Muscle Building Foods