The ONLY 2 Exercises That Actually Grew My Chest

Does your chest refuse to grow no matter how many exercises you try? I’ve been there. But over the last year, that changed. My chest has grown faster than ever. I’ve even got new stretch marks from the growth. And all it took was focusing on 2 key chest exercises (hitting the upper chest, mid chest, and lower chest) that actually fit my genetic structure. Do these best chest exercises, and I guarantee you’ll start experiencing the same chest growth I did in no time. So, what was my chest workout? Well, it didn’t include the bench press, and here’s why…

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Part of this has to do with the fact that the barbell locks your arms into a fixed position. So no matter what I tried with my form, I could never really get my chest to properly activate based on how my bones are structured. What did I do instead? First, I switched from a barbell to dumbbells. This gave me the freedom to adjust my pressing angles, which allowed me to better activate my chest. Second, I changed the bench angle to an incline for significantly more upper chest development without sacrificing mid chest growth.

But “incline” doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone. If you have a steep sternum angle, a flat bench acts more like a decline press because your chest fibers are angled downwards. In this case, you’d have to use a relatively high incline of about 30 to 45 degrees. But if you’ve got a flat sternum angle, like me, it only takes a slight incline to unlock the upper chest. So for my body type, setting the incline just one or two notches up was the sweet spot to maximizing my chest activation.

But there was one more key factor I was neglecting. The bottom stretch. So as much as it hurt my ego, I decided to let go of the big 95s and grab the smaller 65s instead, and they did way more for my chest than ego-lifting those 95s ever did. But, to continue forcing chest growth, once I nailed down my form and could really feel my chest working, I slowly started progressing the weight again.

Now, since the first of the best chest exercises focused primarily on my upper chest, I now needed a second exercise to really target the mid and lower chest, especially the outer portion. For years, I relied on the pec deck machine. But while it’s great for isolating the chest, it’s hardest at the end of the movement, during the squeeze. But the latest research suggests that exercises challenging your muscles in the stretched position tend to deliver more growth, especially in the distal parts of the muscle, which in this case would be the outer chest.

So, instead of the pec deck, I created my own seated cable fly. If you execute it properly, it not only challenges your chest in that deep stretch but it also maintains tension throughout the full range of motion, even at the end during the squeeze. But remember, just swapping the exercise isn’t enough. There’s three key tweaks I made to get the most growth out of it.

First, I placed a half foam roller behind my back. This helps open up the chest to unlock that deeper stretch we’ve been talking about. Second, I adjusted the cable setup. I set the cables at shoulder height and scoot my butt forward on the bench. This aligned the tension directly with my mid and lower chest. Lastly, I had to stop my shoulders from taking over. I imagined a string attached to my sternum, pulling my chest up during the entire movement as I simply focused on squeezing my biceps into the sides of my chest. Then once the reps got tough, as soon as I felt my shoulders creeping forward, I knew my chest hit failure and I was just cheating my way to more reps, so I’d end it there.

What if your gym’s packed and the pec deck is the only chest fly available? No problem. Here’s how to make it more effective: first, do as many full reps as you can to focus on the squeeze. But after you hit failure, shift your attention to the stretch by cranking out as many half-reps as possible in that stretched position.

Some of you might be wondering—can you really build your entire chest with just these 2 chest exercises? Well, I’ve recently decided to push my chest training to the next level by experimenting with a much higher volume approach based on some new research. My goal is to turn my chest into a strong point by next year, and I’m tracking every step to find what works best. I’ll be sharing these updates on my channel, so if you want to stay ahead with the latest strategies, keep an eye out. But the short answer is yes. If you’re executing these 2 exercises with the right form but also doing enough volume and properly progressing them, you can see incredible chest growth.