How Many Chest Exercises Per Workout?

Lifting weights is considered an important component of a complete exercise program to complement the widely known positive effects of aerobic training on health and performance. From a health perspective, the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that all adults perform muscle-strengthening exercises for all major muscle groups, which certainly includes the chest. [1]

Training the muscles of the chest is also important for improving performance both inside the gym and out. For example, bench press strength is correlated with increased club head speed in golf and punching power in boxing. [2,3] Additionally, appropriately training the chest in the gym increases strength and muscular hypertrophy. [4] While these relationships are well understood, the question remains: how many chest exercises should we incorporate into a single workout?

The answer to that lies in your goals. The number of chest exercises you should include in your workout session directly correlates with what you aim to achieve through working out. Essentially, you would need to perform 3 – 4 chest exercises per workout if your goal is growing your chest through muscle hypertrophy and 2 – 3 exercises if you’re aiming to build strength.

Exercise Program Prescription

When it comes to prescribing how much lifting someone should do in an exercise program, there are three main components: intensity, volume, and frequency.

Exercise Intensity

Intensity refers to the weight used for an exercise in either absolute or relative terms. It is typically defined in the literature as a percentage of 1-Repetition Maximum (1RM), e.g. 75% 1RM for 5 repetitions. For strength improvements, the current scientific evidence suggests that higher intensity, e.g. greater than ~60 to 70% of someone’s 1RM,  tends to work better than lower intensity. [4] For maximal strength performance however, even heavier loads (> 90% 1RM) should be used for some of the training. [5] For muscle size, the intensity range is much larger, e.g. ~30% to 90% 1RM, and still produce similar improvements provided the sets are taken near failure. [4] In sum, exercise intensity describes how heavy the weight is and influences the types of adaptations someone is likely to get from training, though there is considerable overlap in intensity ranges used for strength and size. 

Exercise Volume

Volume refers to the total number of repetitions performed for a particular muscle group or movement in a given time period, which is typically limited to a single training session or training week. For example, if a lifter squats 4 sets of 6 repetitions in a session, the session volume is 24 reps. If they do this workout twice in a week then their weekly squat volume is 48 reps. At present, the scientific literature suggests that there is a graded dose-response relationship between training volume and training outcomes like strength, hypertrophy, and health metric improvements, e.g. blood pressure, body fat, etc. [6] In other words, exercise volume determines the magnitude of training adaptations. The higher the training volume is, the larger the training effects are likely to be.

Exercise Frequency

Frequency refers to how often a person exercises a particular muscle or muscle group in a given time frame. By convention, frequency is usually assessed per week.  For example, a person doing one chest exercise per week has a training frequency of one for the chest muscles, whereas a person performing two chest exercises per week has a training frequency of two. The frequency goes higher and higher the more chest exercises someone does in a single session and/or the more often they exercise their chest in the course of the week. In general, as the frequency increases for a particular movement or muscle group, training volume typically – though not always- increases.

Given the dose-dependent relationship between training volume and exercise adaptations described above, the impact of different training frequencies must be done carefully by comparing programs with the same weekly volume, but different frequencies. If the frequency of an exercise program goes up, thereby increasing exercise volume, we would predict a greater improvement in strength, muscle size, and so on. However, we couldn’t determine if this was due to the changed frequency itself or the increase in volume.

For example, a recent meta-analysis reviewed 22 studies on exercise frequency and initially found that there was a graded dose-response relationship between training frequency and strength improvements. When volume was equated between the programs however, no significant effects were found. Additionally, the studies included in the review that did have the same volume and only differed in training frequency did not show a significant effect on strength development. [7] Another study using machines found similar results, as training the chest press and hack squat 1-time per week produced the same hypertrophy and strength results as training the movements 3-times per week with the same total weekly volume. [8]

Taken together, these data suggest exercise frequency doesn’t seem to matter unless it changes exercise volume. However, the data presented so far is limited to exercise sessions with volumes less than 10 to 12 sets per muscle group. Less than a handful of studies have looked at whether higher volume programs respond differently to altered exercise frequency, but the results don’t seem to indicate much of a benefit to increasing exercise frequency for strength or hypertrophy when the volume is greater than 10 to 12 sets per muscle group or movement. [9,10]

Doing a higher number of sets in a single session (low frequency)  likely produces more fatigue than spreading the same number of sets over many days (high frequency). [10,11] As fatigue goes up, it becomes harder to improve skills and movement efficiency through motor learning, which are important to strength performance. [11,12] Additionally, splitting up the same amount of training into more sessions (high frequency) may be a practical strategy to keep the amount of time spent training manageable.

How Many Chest Exercises Should You Do Per Workout?

On average, you would need to perform 3 – 4 chest exercises per workout if your goal is growing your chest through muscle hypertrophy and 2 – 3 exercises if you’re aiming to build strength.

The exact amount of chest exercises you should do per workout ultimately depends on your fitness level, goals, and preferences.

Chest Training for Beginners

For folks new to lifting weights, we want to train the chest and the other muscles in the body in a manner that builds a broad range of physical skills and adaptations. To do this, we’ll use a range of different rep schemes and exercises to build strength, muscular endurance, power, and muscle mass. In short, we recommend avoiding early specialization, e.g. getting as strong as possible in a single rep range on a single or small number of exercises. By avoiding early specialization, we can reduce the risk of injury and improve long-term gains in performance and health. [13,14]

With respect to exercise dosing, the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend performing muscle-strengthening exercises twice per week, for 1 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 repetitions for each muscle group, with a weight that gets the individual within 1 repetition of failure. [1] Additional data corroborates this recommendation for older adults to improve strength, whereas the recommendations for youth tend to skew towards a higher number of sets per exercise and reduced number of repetitions per set, e.g. 5 sets of 6 to 8 reps per exercise. [15,16]

While the recommendation to start at 2 to 3 sets per exercise is reasonable for beginners, the rep ranges provided are made up and not based on experimental evidence. Additionally, the above guidelines provide little insight into how many exercises should be done for a given muscle group or movement for each session or week. Finally, the recommendation to take each set to 1-repetition shy of failure is also made up, as recent data shows that strength and hypertrophy increases are similar when sets are performed to somewhere around 4 to 5 repetitions shy of failure. [17-20]

With that in mind, the Barbell Medicine Exercise Guidelines for resistance training look like this:

• Exercise Selection– Select 1 to 3 exercises based on your preferences to train each of major muscle groups of the body.
• Volume– Complete 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 20 repetitions of each exercise
• Intensity- Use a weight that gets you within ~4 to 5 repetitions of failure for each set at the designated rep range.
• Frequency– Perform 2 to 3 exercises for each muscle group over two to three sessions per week.

Let’s put these guidelines into practice!

Exercise Selection For Beginners

We group exercises into squat, press, row, and hinge movement categories in an effort to organize programming and make sure we don’t miss any muscle groups. Chest exercises fall into the “press” movement category in this framework. Within these categories, we break down each movement category further using the approach below:

• Primary – These are multi-joint (e.g. compound) exercises that can be done relatively heavy through a large range of motion, thereby using a lot of muscle mass. We typically program them for 3- to 8-repetitions.
  • Examples of Primary Press/Chest Exercises: Barbell bench press (flat or incline), smith machine bench press (flat or incline), barbell overhead press*, or similar.
• Secondary – These are also multi-joint exercises, but usually use less weight and/or less muscle mass than primary movements. We typically program them for 6- to 10-repetitions.
  • Examples of Secondary Press/Chest Exercises: Dumbbell bench press (flat or incline), decline bench press (dumbbell or barbell), hammer strength machine bench press (any angle), overhead press (dumbbell or barbell)*, dips, or similar.
• Tertiary – These tend to be single-joint (e.g. isolation) exercises that are lighter and use less muscle mass. We typically program them for 8- to 15-repetitions or more.
  • Examples of Tertiary Press/Chest Exercises: Push-ups, dips, flyes, cable crossovers, overhead press (dumbbell or barbell)*, or similar.
• *Note that while overhead presses don’t train the muscles of the chest as much as the other options here, they do train similar muscles and improve pressing strength.

Using this approach, we are training with a variety of different rep ranges, intensities, and movements in an effort to develop a diverse range of adaptations including maximal strength, strength endurance, muscular hypertrophy, and more. As noted above and in our Beginner Prescription Program, we are doing this intentionally to avoid early specialization.

We recommend doing 1 chest exercise per day if using a full-body training split. If using a body-part split with a dedicated chest or “press” day, we recommend doing all of these exercises in a single day. In the section below, we’ll lay out a sample pressing program targeting the chest muscles.

The Bench Press

Movement Category: Primary

Programming: 3 sets of 4 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

• Lay down on the bench with your head slightly in front of the barbell if viewed from the side. This helps ensure there’s enough room for the bar to move up and down without hitting the rack.
• Grab the bar with an overhand grip, using a grip width that’s about 1- to 2-hand widths’ outside your shoulders.
• Before lifting the bar out of the rack, fix your eyes on a point on the ceiling somewhere just in front (towards your feet) of the bar and pull your shoulder blades back into the bench.
• Lift the bar out of the rack and let it settle just over the shoulder joint.
• Take a big breath and hold it.
• Bring the bar down to touch your sternum, approximately 2 to 3” forward of where the bar started over the shoulder joint. In this position, the elbows and humerus should be angled at ~ 30 to 45 degrees relative to the torso.
• Press the barbell up and back so that it ends up directly over the shoulder joint. 

While performing a bench press, always make sure that your butt  is touching the bench and that your feet are on the ground, pushing down into the floor to keep you stable.. If you’re an absolute beginner, don’t hesitate to ask your trainer to spot you, as they can help you avoid unnecessary injuries.

The Dumbbell Bench Press

Movement Category: Secondary

Programming: 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

• Pick up the dumbbells with your hands facing in and with a neutral grip.
• Sit on the bench with the dumbbells’ ends inside your hip crease. Lay back and hold the weights near your chest to position yourself.
• Once you’re ready, take a deep breath, and then press the dumbbells to lockout at the top. Lower the dumbbells slowly and with control until the handles are roughly the same level as your chest.
• Push the dumbbells back up to the beginning position while contracting your chest. Lie down flat on a bench and keep two dumbbells in each hand just at the side of your shoulders.
• Press up both of the dumbbells to maximum height until both your arms are straightened out. Hold the position for a second.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells back to shoulder height and hold the position for a second.

Dumbbell bench presses are similar in execution to regular bench presses, but use less weight and a bit less muscle mass contribution from the trunk and legs, i.e. less leg drive and arch.

The Push Up

Movement Category: Tertiary

Programming: 3 sets of as many reps as it takes get within 2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

Weight: Bodyweight

• Take a quadruped (table-top) position. Make sure your hands are under your shoulders, your knees below your hips, and your toes are tucked. Your arms should be straight, and your head in a neutral position facing the floor.
• Straighten one leg at a time, lifting the knees off the floor.
• Once you’re in a plank position, retract the shoulder blades and unlock your elbows to gradually lower and approach the ground. Keep your body in a straight line.
• Keep going down until your chest touches the floor.
• Push back to the starting position of a plank by straightening your elbows and pushing the ground with your hands.
• Protract your shoulder blades at the top to finish each rep.
• Aim to repeat this process 15 times and keep your core engaged throughout the repetitions.

Push-ups can also be done loaded with a weighted vest, chains, or plates placed on the back. If using weights, we would recommend 3 sets of 12 reps at RPE 7-8.

Progressive loading

It’s important to note that in beginners and advanced lifters alike, using the correct weight is important to ensure you get the results you’re working so hard for. Building strength and increasing size requires continually challenging our muscles, and this is achieved through progressive loading.

As people increase their fitness and get stronger, the weight or reps completed must increase to match. When you can complete the prescribed workouts at a particular weight, you should consider adding weight the next time you do the workout if you’re feeling strong during your warm-ups. While it’s not possible to add weight every time you exercise, we want to increase the load as your fitness improves. By matching the training to the individual’s current fitness level, we can be sure that the body is receiving the right signal to improve strength and size.

Yet, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. The number of exercises, sets, reps, and the exercises themselves will branch off once the lifters gain enough experience to choose whether they would like to continue working on their strength or prioritize another goal like hypertrophy training.

Chest Training for Strength

Strength is defined as maximal muscular force production measured in a specific context. For example, both a 1RM bench press and max-rep push-up test someone’s strength, but in different contexts. Different contexts require different muscular and neurological adaptations for maximum performance. In the gym however, most people probably are talking about increasing their 1RM, e.g. maximal absolute strength, when they are talking about getting stronger.

For the chest specifically, one of the best ways to test maximal strength is the barbell bench press. Strength development is specific, as explained by the Specificity of Adaptation to Imposed Demand (SAID) Principle, which suggests that the main adaptations developed from exercise are specific to the training performed by the individual. This means that in order to improve the strength of the chest, as determined by bench press performance, we’re going to need to bench press. We’ll also need to do other movements that are similar to the bench press with respect to range of motion, joint angles, movement velocity, and contraction type, as these are likely to transfer over to bench press strength better than exercises that are unrelated.

For maximal strength development, we need to make sure we use enough weight so that the muscles are required to produce high amounts of force in an efficient manner. We know that heavier loads (e.g. higher intensity) does this better than low loads. [4] This is somewhere around the 60 to 70% of someone’s 1-Repetition Maximum (1RM), though even heavier loads (> 90% 1RM) should be used to improve maximal strength. [5]

Finally, the volume and frequency of training for maximal strength in a more experienced lifter are likely to be higher than in a beginner. There’s also going to be significant variation in how people will respond to a given training program.

We recommend doing 1 chest exercise per day if using a full-body training split. If using an upper-lower split, we recommend doing the primary chest exercise (bench press) on one upper day and then doing both the secondary and tertiary chest exercises on the second upper day.

We do not recommend this program for someone new to lifting weights. In the section below we’ll lay out a sample pressing program targeting the maximal chest strength, though we acknowledge that people will have to tailor the training to their own needs.

You can also refer to our best strength training programs article for more exercise options.

The Bench Press

Movement Category: Primary

Programming: 1 set of 1 rep. 4 sets of 4 repetitions.

Weight:  For the single-rep set, use a weight that leaves you  2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8. For the sets of 4, use a different weight that leaves you 3 to 4 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 6-7.

• Lay down on the bench with your head slightly in front of the barbell if viewed from the side. This helps ensure there’s enough room for the bar to move up and down without hitting the rack.
• Grab the bar with an overhand grip, using a grip width that’s about 1- to 2-hand widths’ outside your shoulders. (See below)
• Before lifting the bar out of the rack, fix your eyes on a point on the ceiling somewhere just in front (towards your feet) of the bar and pull your shoulder blades back into the bench.
• Lift the bar out of the rack and let it settle just over the shoulder joint.
• Take a big breath and hold it.
• Bring the bar down to touch your sternum, approximately 2 to 3” forward of where the bar started over the shoulder joint. In this position, the elbows and humerus should be angled at ~ 30 to 45 degrees relative to the torso.
• Press the barbell up and back so that it ends up directly over the shoulder joint.

Grip width is mostly personal preference, as some prefer closer or wider hand placement. In general, the wider the grip width, the more the elbows will be “flared” directly out to the sides and the higher on the chest the bar will touch. Similarly, the closer the grip is, the lower the bar will touch on the chest and the more the elbows will be “tucked” into the sides. Check out this video for more in-depth instructions.

Close Grip Bench Press

Movement Category: Secondary

Programming: 4 sets of 6 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 3 to 4 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 6 to 7.

• Lay down on the bench with your head slightly in front of the barbell if viewed from the side. This helps ensure there’s enough room for the bar to move up and down without hitting the rack.
• Grab the bar with an overhand grip, using a grip width that’s narrower than your normal bench press grip. In general, we recommend people start with their index finger at the start of the knurling on a standard power bar.
• Before lifting the bar out of the rack, fix your eyes on a point on the ceiling somewhere just in front (towards your feet) of the bar and pull your shoulder blades back into the bench.
• Lift the bar out of the rack and let it settle just over the shoulder joint.
• Take a big breath and hold it.
• Bring the bar down to touch your sternum, approximately an inch lower than where you normally touch your standard bench press. In this position, the elbows and humerus should be angled at ~ 15 to 30 degrees relative to the torso.
• Press the barbell up and back so that it ends up directly over the shoulder joint.

Try to keep your elbows tucked close to your side during the rep to get the most out of this exercise.

Floor Press

Movement Category: Tertiary

Programming: 3 sets of 10 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 3 to 4 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 6 to 7.

• Lay down on the floor with your head slightly in front of the barbell if viewed from the side. This helps ensure there’s enough room for the bar to move up and down without hitting the rack.
• Grab the bar with an overhand grip, using your standard bench press grip.
• Before lifting the bar out of the rack, fix your eyes on a point on the ceiling somewhere just in front (towards your feet) of the bar and pull your shoulder blades back into the floor..
• Lift the bar out of the rack and let it settle just over the shoulder joint.
• Take a big breath and hold it.
• Bring the bar down to touch your sternum the same way you do a normal bench press.  Pause briefly when your upper arm contacts the floor.
• Press the barbell up and back so that it ends up directly over the shoulder joint.

These two exercises are great for targeting the pectoral area, shoulders, and triceps, but can add a much-appreciated variation for those who grow bored with repetitive training. Namely, the floor press is a great option for those who’d like to try out strengthening their chest muscles, but who don’t have access to a bench.

Chest Training for Hypertrophy

An increase in muscle fiber size – termed hypertrophy – is the main process by which skeletal muscle growth increases. Atrophy is the process by which skeletal muscle size decreases. In both cases, it is the size of a muscle fiber that changes predominantly, not the number of muscle fibers.  The increase in the number of muscle fibers – termed hyperplasia – is an area of active debate within exercise science. There is some evidence that it may potentially occur in adult humans in response to exercise in humans, but the research isn’t definitive and the contribution to muscle hypertrophy appears to be relatively small. [21,22]

While the differences between training for strength and hypertrophy are real, there is considerable overlap between the two. For example, both use resistance training to load the musculoskeletal system through a relatively large range of motion, use a variety of rep ranges, and employ a similar proximity to failure in order to generate adaptations in the muscle, nervous system, bony skeleton, and more. Thus, it’s no surprise that good strength training programs tend to produce an increase in muscle size and, similarly, good hypertrophy programs increase strength in the lifts trained given proper nutrition, sleep, and so on.

When prioritizing hypertrophy, there will tend to be greater exercise variation, more single-joint (isolation) exercises, higher volume, and the sets will tend to go closer to failure. We recommend doing 4 to 6 chest exercises per week for intermediate lifters who are prioritizing hypertrophy, though some – including advanced lifters- may require more exercises and/or more volume.

If you’re not sure where to start, check out five of our favorite exercises to help you efficiently grow your pectorals and surrounding muscles. You can also refer to our best hypertrophy programs article for more exercise options..

The Incline Bench Press

Movement Category: Primary

Programming: 4 sets of 6 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you  2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

• Lie down flat on your back on an inclined bench. Place your hands about 1 to hand widths’ outside what would otherwise be shoulder-width on the barbell.
• Fix your shoulders by pinning your shoulder blades together and pressing them onto the bench. Take a deep breath. Let your spotter help you with the lift-off so that your upper back remains firm.
• Allow the weight to settle, and make sure your upper back is still tight after lift-off.
• Take a breath and let the bar descend gradually by unlocking your elbows. Bring the bar down in a relatively straight line to the upper part of the sternum and touch the chest.
• Next, push the bar upward again in the same straight line while pressing your body onto the bench, pressing your feet firmly on the ground, and extending your elbows.

While many claim that the incline bench press focuses more on the upper pecs and shoulders than flat bench press exercises, this is not really supported by evidence. [23-26] That said, the incline bench press is a fine pressing exercise that can be included in either your chest workout or your full-body routine. The angle of the bench press is mostly personal preference. We recommend a ~30 to 45 degree incline relative to horizontal.

The Dumbbell Bench Press

Movement Category: Secondary

Programming: 4 sets of 10 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

• Pick up the dumbbells with your hands facing in and with a neutral grip.
• Sit on the bench with the dumbbells’ ends inside your hip crease. Lay back and hold the weights near your chest to position yourself.
• Once you’re ready, take a deep breath, and then press the dumbbells to lockout at the top. Lower the dumbbells slowly and with control until the handles are roughly the same level as your chest.
• Push the dumbbells back up to the beginning position while contracting your chest. Lie down flat on a bench and keep two dumbbells in each hand just at the side of your shoulders.
• Press up both of the dumbbells to maximum height until both your arms are straightened out. Hold the position for a second.
• Slowly lower the dumbbells back to shoulder height and hold the position for a second.

Dips

Movement Category: Secondary

Programming: 4 sets of 8 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 2 to 3 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 7 to 8.

The bar dip is a great isolation movement that targets the pectoral muscles. It can bea calisthenic exercise, meaning that the resistance necessary is provided by your own body weight. Alternatively, it can be performed with weight. 

• Hold onto the bar handles and keep yourself elevated with shoulders level.
• Tuck your legs under you and cross your ankles over one another.
• Lower yourself slowly as much as possible (for most trainees, this will be at about a 90-degree angle at their elbows) and hold for a second at your lowest position.
• Slowly raise yourself until your arms are straightened out again.
• Continue repeating this movement until failure.

Cable Chest Fly

Movement Category: Tertiary

Programming: 4 sets of 12 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 1 to 2 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 8 to 9.

Cable flies are great for activating different muscle groups in the chest, but the movements should be executed at different angles in an attempt to prioritize hypertrophy in different areas, though it’s not clear that it makes much difference.Let’s first look into how the basic movement is performed before we go into further detail.

• Similar to the cable bench press movement, you should start the movement off with both handles by the sides of your chest.
• Take a big step forward with one leg and keep your chest upright.
• Make sure the pulleys are adjusted at shoulder height.
• Open up your arms on both sides, keeping a slight bend at your elbows.
• Take a breath and on the exhale, swing your arms forward until they join at the front. When extended, your arms should form a 90-degree angle with your body.
• This movement is likely to prioritize the growth of  your middle chest.
• To prioritize the growth of your upper chest, lower the handles to waist level, but otherwise keep the movement the same. .
•  
• To prioritize the growth of the lower chest, adjust the pulleys to overhead height, but otherwise keep the movement the same.

Again, it’s unclear whether different techniques or cable heights will actually produce differential growth in the pectoralis major and/or other muscles. Play around with different versions of this exercise to find the variant that fits your needs the best

Dumbbell Flyes

Movement Category: Tertiary

Programming: 4 sets of 15 repetitions.

Weight:  Use a weight that leaves you 1 to 2 reps short of failure, e.g. RPE 8 to 9.

The flat dumbbell fly is an excellent pick for individuals who want to train their chest but also want that extra kick for their shoulders and biceps. It activates the upper and lower pectoralis major, as well as the anterior deltoid and biceps brachii, making it perfect for muscle hypertrophy across the whole chest and shoulder area when performed in high volumes.

• Lie down on the bench with dumbbells elevated in each hand with your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle.
• Press the dumbbells up to maximum height, shoulder-width apart, until your arms are straightened out. This is your starting position.
• Slowly open up your elbows to each side, lowering them laterally until you feel a stretch in your pectoral muscles. Make sure to avoid lowering your dumbbells below chest height, as this could result in an injury.
• Keep your arms straightened out and slowly swing them up back to the starting position.
• Squeeze your pectoral muscles and hold the dumbbells at the top for a second.

One key thing to remember is that while the number of exercises we’ve mentioned for beginners and lifters focusing on hypertrophy or strength training is a general recommendation,, the weights they train with and the number of sets and reps they need will vary based on their current fitness level, strength, and response to the training. .

Also, while we have provided suggestions for exercises that can be performed in each case, these too are not written in stone, and trainees can customize their program according to their personal needs and preferences.

Why You Should Avoid Doing Too Many Chest Exercises Per Workout

Muscular hypertrophy and strength have been shown to have a dose-dependent relationship with training volume. [6,27] In other words, greater amounts of training volume tend to result in greater amounts of strength and hypertrophy, but only to a point. While it may be tempting to do way more chest exercises and a ton more reps, we must be careful not to overdo it, as the amount of total training stress must be tolerable by the individual so as not to outstrip their recovery resources.

For example, we know that lifting weights at challenging loads generates a strong signal within the muscle to make more muscle, a process called muscle protein synthesis. Increases in muscle protein synthesis rates are helpful in repairing the muscle protein breakdown that occurs with resistance training. When more muscle protein is being synthesized than broken down, muscle size increases, which is called muscle hypertrophy.

While some believe that muscle protein breakdown from lifting weights is key to causing the muscle to grow, the scientific evidence shows that very little muscle growth takes place when levels of muscle protein breakdown are high. Instead, muscle growth seems to mostly happen when relatively little muscle protein breakdown occurs from training. [27] Reduced levels of muscle protein breakdown from exercise occur if the program is well-suited to the individual’s, e.g. not too much or not too little stress,  and as they get used to the demands of the program.[28]

Increasing the training stress too quickly out-paces the individual’s level of adaptation and generates excessive fatigue. This lowers performance potential and increases injury risk. Conversely, if the increase in stimulus occurs too slowly, fitness adaptations will not develop at their maximal rates, if at all. Fortunately, there is a fairly wide “sweet spot” of training stimulus. When viewed over a long training career,  it is not critically important to “optimize” rates of adaptation, nor is there any way to ensure such “optimization” given the number of variables involved. Remember, it’s all about matching the dose of training to the individual, not just doing “more”.

Recovery Is Key

We also want to underline the importance of recovery when it comes to exercise in general, which includes chest exercises. In the gym, recovery demands are determined by the training stress. Specifically, the exercise program’s exercise selection, volume, intensity, and proximity to failure (RPE) heavily influence the training stress experienced by the individual. The program must be matched to the individual’s current fitness levels and recovery resources. Recovery is heavily influenced by nutrition, sleep quantity and quality, current fitness levels, external (to the gym) stress, and environmental factors.

Outside of those considerations, it doesn’t seem to really matter whether someone does all their chest exercises on one day or spreads it out over many days. Similarly, training multiple days in a row versus putting a dedicated rest day in between training the chest doesn’t seem to influence strength or hypertrophy gain. [7-12] It’s mostly personal preference.

We’ve laid out some general concepts on how to structure chest training. Now, let’s talk a little bit about why you should train your chest..

The Importance of Building Your Chest Muscles

The chest muscles are also referred to as the pectoral muscle group and are divided into two main muscles; the pectoralis major, which makes up the upper part of the chest, and the pectoralis minor, which lies underneath. The pectoralis major spans nearly the whole part of the upper chest, from shoulder to shoulder, while the pectoralis minor are smaller, triangular muscles that work to support movements in the pectoralis major.

Many people work out their chests for purely aesthetic purposes, e.g. a broader chest can help them achieve better proportions. However, there’s so much more to building your chest muscles than a nice physique — without a strong chest, executing upper-body pressing movements would be very difficult..

This is especially true for those interested in strength sports, as improved pressing strength aids them in a variety of different ways In the following sections, we will delve into a few benefits of strengthening the pectoral muscles.

Enhancing Overall Upper Body Performance

Strengthening the pectoral muscles will improve an individual’s functional strength in the upper body, allowing them to easily undertake tasks where they may need to utilize power in their chest, shoulders, arms, and back. This is especially important for lifters, as many programs focusing on maximal strength, such as powerlifting or strength-training programs that prioritize the bench press, a lift that requires a lot of strength in the upper body.

Injury Prevention

Strengthening the pectoral muscles by lifting weights may reduce the risk of shoulder and upper body injuries in lifters, specifically while they’re performing bench presses.[30] Lifters activate the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoid and the medial deltoid muscles while performing bench presses, which serve as the key stabilizers of shoulder joints. Training these muscles could help lifters perform overhead lifts without getting injured.

In addition, strength training appears to be very safe, with an injury rate of 2-4 injuries per 1000 participation hours. This is far lower than other sports like American football, wrestling, and soccer, which have injury rates of 9.6, 5.7, and 8.5 injuries per 1000 participation hours. [31,32]

Additional Health Benefits of Chest Exercises

Training your pectoral muscles can improve your sports performance, but it’s far from the only benefit it has to offer.

Improved Breathing

Training the upper body, including the  chest muscles, may improve respiratory function and breathing in some individuals. For example, in a group of male smokers – half who lifted weights including the chest press and half who did not- respiratory function improved significantly. [33]

In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), muscular dysfunction influences patient symptoms, functional capacity, quality of life, health care utilization, and overall mortality. In these patients, resistance training reduces markers of systemic inflammation, increases muscle strength and hypertrophy, improves muscle endurance, and improves functional capacity and quality of life. [34]

Functional Strength

We use our upper bodies to take on a variety of tasks in our daily lives. Even simple actions such as carrying, pushing, or throwing objects can be made easier through consistent training of pectoral muscles.

Enhanced Caloric Expenditure

Skeletal muscle mass makes up ~40% of most adults’ body weight, accounting for 80% of an individual’s resting metabolic rate. [35,36] The muscles of the chest are quite large relative to many other muscles, which leads some to believe an increase in muscle mass from training the chest would increase someone’s resting metabolic rate. The increase in resting metabolic rate  would presumably increase someone’s total daily energy expenditure, but this probably isn’t true based on scientific evidence.

One kilogram of muscle uses ~ 13 Calories per day, whereas one kilogram of fat uses 4.5 Calories per day. [37] In order to make a significant difference in total daily energy expenditure, someone would have to gain a lot of muscle mass. For example, gaining 10-kilograms of muscle typically takes years and would increase total daily energy expenditure by ~ 85 Calories per day.

Rather, the mechanisms behind lifting weights are far more complex, involving changes at the level of the muscle, endocrine system, the brain, and more tend to result in improved body composition for those who regularly lift weights.

Reduced Back Pain

Back pain is one of the most common reasons people see their doctor.  The large majority of back pain in this setting is nonspecific. Acute back pain (<4 weeks duration) has a great prognosis, with 70 to 90 percent resolving spontaneously within seven weeks.

The current guidelines suggest avoiding bed rest and staying active, which includes an exercise routine as tolerated. In a study of 45 adults with chronic low back pain, patients managed with a 16-week, whole-body, progressive resistance training program using a variety of free weight and machine-based exercises demonstrated improvements in strength, pain reduction, and quality-of-life measures that weren’t seen in those only doing aerobic training. [38]

Better Cardiac Health

Lifting weights provides a wide variety of heart-related benefits, including improved function via higher levels of strength, muscle mass, and decreased fat mass. For example, in those with stable coronary artery disease, resistance training combined with aerobic exercise outperforms aerobic exercise alone for improving strength, work capacity, maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max), and reducing body fat, without an increase in adverse events. [39-41]

Resistance training also improves risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as lowering blood pressure and blood cholesterol levels. reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. [42,43] 

There are a number of other ways that lifting weights, including training the chest muscles, can improve cardiac health. In short, there are a lot of benefits from lifting weights outside of just getting stronger and building muscle. Who wouldn’t want that?

The Takeaway…

Keeping chest muscles toned and strong is crucial for weightlifters. Considering that the training up your chest is such a central part of successful lifting, it may seem like a good idea to overload it with as many workouts as possible. But this is not necessary, as quality training trumps the number of exercises done, and with the correct programming, it’s possible to achieve your fitness goals with up to four chest exercises per training session. So, to recap what we covered today:

• Beginners should do one chest exercise per day if using a full-body training split. If using a body-part split with a dedicated chest day, they should do two to three chest exercises in a single session.
• Lifters aiming to maximize strength should do one chest exerciseper day if using a full-body training split.  If using an upper-lower split, we recommend doing one heavy chest exercise one upper day and then doing two chest exercises on the second upper day.
• Lifters aiming to maximize muscle growth could maximize hypertrophy by doing four to six chest exercises per week for intermediate lifters, though some – including advanced lifters- will need more. It doesn’t seem to matter how this is broken up.

If you’re interested in building strength or muscle in your chest but don’t want to go through the trouble of planning out your program, we may have just the thing for you. At Barbell Medicine, we’ve got a team of licensed professionals who can craft both your training program and diet plan to help you reach your personal fitness goals.

Take a look at our catalog of evidence-based training templates that our team has carefully crafted to help our clients reach various fitness goals, and if you can’t find what you want there, reach out to us for a personalized training program that we will put together just for you.

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