When your goal is to build bigger pecs as soon as possible, getting creative with exercise selection is not only unnecessary, but in most cases counterproductive. Machines certainly have their place in a hypertrophy routine, but anyone who tells you he got a big chest by doing only the pec deck is either (a) a liar or (b) a pec deck salesman. Adding size requires focusing on the most basic lifting equipment in the gym: barbells, dumbbells and benches.
The following six-week chest-building routine has you training the pecs twice a week and hitting the muscles from top to bottom with incline, flat-bench and decline exercises – four of them free weight pressing moves and one cable flye thrown in as a burnout finisher. The reps top out at 10 to encourage heavier weights and promote hypertrophy, and volume bumps up to 16 sets per workout in weeks 4-6 to maximize mass. Nothing fancy, nothing cute. Just simple and effective.
CHEST BUILDING ROUTINE
Perform twice a week with 2-3 days between chest workouts.
Weeks 1-3
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS |
| Bench Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Incline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Dumbbell Decline Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Decline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
Weeks 4-6
| EXERCISE | SETS | REPS |
| Dumbbell Decline Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Bench Press | 4 | 10, 8, 6, 6 |
| Incline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Decline Barbell Press | 3 | 10, 8, 6 |
| Incline Cable Flye | 3 | 10, 10, 10 |
