In this article, we will discuss the best chest and shoulder workouts. It is not enough to exercise only one muscle group. Our body has many different muscle groups and each one require special attention for them to grow. A well-rounded upper body workout will engage major muscle groups such as the pec muscles and triceps. This increases strength and development of physique of the upper body, giving us more explosive workouts.
Let’s look at the best exercises for the chest and shoulders:
Chest Exercises
Chest exercises are important for bigger and stronger pecs, which are the muscles located in your upper chest region. These muscles are responsible for lifting your arms across your body and keeping your shoulders down. You might also want to pay attention to these exercises if you’re looking to improve your posture, or if you have some extra fat around your midsection that you’d like to get rid of.
If you want a buff chest, here are the 3 best chest workouts.
Bench Press
Bench pressing is an essential exercise for those who want to bulk up and gain muscle mass. The Bench Press is an easy exercise and can be performed with a barbell or dumbbells.
To do a bench press:
- Lie on your back on a bench press bench, making sure the bar is over your chest.
- Hold the bar with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lift the bar off the rack and position it over your chest.
- Lower the bar to your chest.
- Press the bar back to the starting position.
This exercise works the pectoralis major and the anterior deltoids muscles. The pectoralis major is the main muscle of the chest, and the anterior deltoids are the front portion of the shoulder muscles.
Dumbbell Incline Press
The dumbbell incline press is a variation of the press used primarily to work the chest. It involves lying on an incline bench and using dumbbells. It’s your standard incline chest press, with one caveat: you raise the dumbbell on an upward diagonal line instead of straight up and down.
To do the perfect dumbbell incline press:
- Choose two dumbbells according to your level of strength.
- Lie down on your back on an incline bench, keeping your head and neck supported. Hold the dumbbells with your arms extended straight above your chest.
- Without moving your upper arms, slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest.
- Pause briefly when your elbows are bent to 90 degrees, then press the dumbbells back to the starting position.
The dumbbell incline press improves chest muscles by working them through a range of motion that is slightly more than what is achievable with a regular bench press. Additionally, the use of dumbbells instead of a barbell allows each arm to work independently, providing a greater degree of muscle stimulation.
Machine Flys
Machine flys are an awesome chest workout that targets a ton of chest muscle groups. They mainly work the inner pecs and the front area of the chest but they can be an isolating exercise if you do them properly. You will want to use as much weight as possible while getting good form and squeezing at the end of each rep. Make sure your shoulders don’t come up too high or round your back when doing this exercise.
To do this workout:
- Adjust the weight you are using on the machine fly so that it is challenging but still manageable.
- Sit in the seat and place your hands on the handles.
- Push the weight away from your body and extend your arms.
- Keep your back pressed against the seat and your abdominal muscles drawn in.
- Slowly bring the weight back to the starting position.
Using machine flys can help to improve the chest because they target the pectorals muscles. By using them, you can build strength and size in the chest muscles.
Shoulder Exercises
When it comes to shoulder workouts, there are a lot of parts to the shoulder that gets worked out. Depending on what you want to do, there’s always a routine that targets each part of your shoulder. However you slice it, though, shoulders are one of the more popular muscle groups in people’s workout routines.
Here are 3 effective shoulder exercises:
Barbell Overhead Press
The Barbell Overhead Press is a great exercise for strengthening and building a nice set of shoulders. It’s one of the best shoulder exercises because it’s relatively easy to get the form right and tough to do wrong. When performed with proper form, the barbell overhead press offers an impressive combination of size and strength that makes it more than worth your while.
To do this workout:
- Grip the barbell with an overhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Bring the barbell to shoulder height, with your palms facing forward.
- Press the barbell overhead, extending your arms fully.
- Pause briefly at the top of the lift, then slowly lower the barbell back to shoulder height.
The barbell overhead press improves the shoulders because it strengthens the muscles that support the shoulder joint. The exercise also helps to improve the range of motion in the shoulder joint.
Overhead Press
The overhead press is a great exercise you should be incorporating into your shoulder workout routine. This exercise primarily works the shoulders but also involves the triceps and upper back along with the stabilizing muscles of the ankles, hips, and core muscles. The amount of muscle worked depends on whether it is performed on an elevated platform, the angle at which you are pressing the weight, the resistance used, and the speed of movement.
To do an overhead press:
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a weight in each hand with your arms bent by your sides.
- Keeping your core engaged, lift your weights straight up over your head, extending your arms fully.
- Pause for a second at the top of the lift, then slowly lower the weights back to the starting position.
The overhead press is a compound exercise that targets the shoulders, biceps, and triceps. It is a great exercise for improving strength and size in the shoulders. The overhead press also helps to improve stability and mobility in the shoulder joint.
Dumbbell Lateral Raise
If you are looking to get nice, round and full shoulders this is the exercise for you. Dumbbell lateral raises are the classic way to improve the shape of your shoulders. The bigger your shoulders the wider your v-taper will look. When doing lateral raises always remember that is it important to keep your elbows in a tucked position or they will be adding size not to your delts but rather to your arms.
To do a dumbbell lateral raise:
- Select two dumbbells of a weight that you can comfortably lift.
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and hold the dumbbells at arm’s length by your sides, with your palms facing your thighs.
- Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, press your hips back and bend your knees to lower your body toward the floor.
- Pause when your thighs are parallel to the floor, then press yourself back to standing.
- Explosively press the dumbbells above your head, extending your arms fully.
- Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
The dumbbell lateral raise is the best exercise to develop and tone the shoulders. The deltoids, or shoulder muscles, allow you to rotate your arm inward and outward. Lateral raises are done with a straight arm to work the external deltoids.
Conclusion
Hopefully, learning these chest and shoulder exercises will help improve your strength and boost your confidence. The most important thing is to just have a good time with them! Either way, you’ll always get the most out of exercise if you pay attention to the details. Remember to warm up first, and stretch properly afterward. Above all else, don’t push yourself too hard; listen to your body and train safely.