Join the classic duo of chest and triceps, the gym-goer’s favorite start-of-the-week combo. Athletes, bodybuilders, and powerlifters swear by this powerful pairing, and there’s a good reason – it delivers results. Since triceps play a significant role in chest exercises, combining them in one session makes perfect sense.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the top chest and triceps exercises for maximizing muscle hypertrophy. Say goodbye to a flat chest and hello to a sculpted, three-dimensional chest that would make Mr. Schwarzenegger proud.
Stay tuned as we unveil the ultimate chest and triceps workout for explosive growth. Get ready to elevate your gains to new heights!
The Advantages of Combining Chest and Triceps Training
Have you ever wondered why it’s advantageous to train chest and triceps together in the same workout? Let’s explore the science behind this strategic pairing. When we perform chest exercises like bench press, incline press, chest dip, or chest flies, the triceps come into play as the secondary movers.
By incorporating triceps exercises after chest workouts, we can take advantage of the pre-fatigue effect. Since the triceps are already somewhat fatigued from the chest exercises, we don’t need excessive sets to stimulate muscle hypertrophy effectively.
However, it’s crucial to follow a specific sequence. Completing chest exercises before moving on to triceps ensures that the triceps, acting as secondary muscles in chest movements, won’t limit the weight lifted during chest exercises.
Since compound movements like bench press and incline press are pivotal for muscle development, prioritizing them at the beginning of the workout and leaving isolation exercises for later optimizes your overall training session.
Muscle Building Strategies for Beginners
When aiming to build muscle, several key factors come into play. We’ll focus on the main two because mastering these alone will lead to significant muscle gains.
There are two main aspects to consider: diet and training. To effectively build muscle, we must consume more calories than we burn daily, creating a calorie surplus. This surplus provides the necessary energy (food) for muscle development. Without adequate energy supply, mastering all other muscle-building principles won’t lead to significant muscle growth. On the other hand, in training, our focus should be on promoting muscle hypertrophy through a principle known as progressive overload. This involves gradually increasing the intensity of our workouts over time, forcing the body to continually adapt and meet the growing demands of the training stimulus.
Without applying progressive overload, the following scenario unfolds:
- In Week 1, we perform chest presses with 14kg dumbbells, completing 3 sets of 8 reps. The exercise feels quite challenging, and we have to exert significant effort to finish the last few reps;
- Moving on to Week 2, we once again use the same 14kg dumbbells for chest presses. Surprisingly, this time it feels much easier to complete 3 sets of 8 reps;
- Week 3 arrives, and we repeat the same routine with the same weights, sets, and reps. However, it now feels even easier than Week 2.
What’s occurring is that the body recognized the challenge in Week 1 and adapted accordingly by developing stronger and larger muscles to cope with the demands. Unfortunately, Weeks 2 and 3 did not stress the body sufficiently, and as a result, the body did not see any reason to further adapt or change.
To achieve continuous improvements in muscle strength and hypertrophy, we must consistently push our body and progressively increase the training stimuli each week, compelling the body to adapt and grow in response to the increasing demands.
Anatomy of the Chest Muscles
The chest region comprises three main muscles:
| Muscle | Description |
|---|---|
| Pectoralis Major | Largest and most superficial muscle in the chest region. Consists of clavicular and sternal heads. Both heads attach to the upper part of the arm. |
| Pectoralis Minor | Situated beneath the pectoralis major, the pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular-shaped muscle. It attaches to the scapula (shoulder blade) and originates from the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ribs. |
| Serratus Anterior | The serratus anterior muscle originates from the 1st to 8th rib on the side of the chest and attaches to the scapular medial border. Although not strictly a chest muscle, it is grouped with the chest muscles due to its proximity to the pectoralis on the ribs. |
Optimal Chest Exercises for Effective Muscle Building
When designing your chest workout routine, it is essential to adopt a strategic approach by targeting the chest muscles’ upper, middle, and lower regions. Different exercises tend to emphasize specific regions, so incorporating a variety of movements is crucial to ensure each area receives sufficient training volume.
- Upper Chest Focus: Incline-Based Exercises;
- Middle Chest Focus: Flat-Based Exercises;
- Lower Chest Focus: Decline-Based Exercises.
Bench Press
Commencing with the quintessential chest exercise, the bench press takes the spotlight. This mighty exercise, renowned as one of the big three, engages a substantial portion of the chest fibers while also working the triceps, deltoids, and core muscles.
In addition to the bench press, there are several effective alternative exercises to consider:
- Dumbbell bench press;
- Chest machine press;
- Press-ups (also known as push-ups);
- Smith machine press.
Since the bench press is performed on a flat surface, its primary emphasis lies on the middle chest, with reasonable activation of both the upper and lower chest regions. By incorporating these alternative exercises, you can achieve a comprehensive and well-rounded chest workout, targeting various muscle groups for optimal development.
Incline Dumbbell Press
Exercise number 2 is the incline dumbbell press. To perform this exercise, the bench is positioned at a 30-45 degree angle. This incline angle targets the upper portion of the chest, focusing on the clavicular head.
The use of dumbbells provides the advantage of a deeper stretch compared to the barbell bench press, as there is no limitation caused by the bar stopping at the chest.
Additionally, dumbbells allow for more natural movement of the wrists and elbows, reducing the risk of injury compared to using a barbell.
For those seeking alternative exercises, consider the following options:
- Incline barbell press;
- Incline machine press;
- Incline Smith machine press.
Chest Dips
While dips are commonly recognized as excellent triceps exercises, they are equally effective as chest builders, a fact not known to everyone.
The key distinction between the chest dip and the triceps dip lies in the movement angle. By leaning forward during the dip, we place significant emphasis on the chest muscles. Conversely, maintaining a perpendicular body position to the floor shifts the focus towards the triceps.
Understanding this distinction allows us to utilize this popular exercise to specifically target the lower chest muscles.
For those seeking alternative exercises, consider the following options:
- Bench Dips;
- Machine Chest Dips.
Chest Fly
The chest fly allows you to fully stretch the chest and take the muscle through the full range of movement.
In contrast to the previous 3 exercise, this exercise is an isolation exercise where you can really focus on targeting the chest leaving you with a great pump.
Our favourite variation is cable flies. They allow for constant tension throughout the movement maximising mechanical stress placed upon the muscle throughout the strength curve.
Alternative exercises include:
- Dumbbell chest fly;
- Resistance band fly;
- Machine chest fly.
Triceps Anatomy
To achieve increased arm size, it is essential to prioritize triceps training. As their names imply, the triceps consist of three muscles, whereas the biceps are composed of two muscles.
Remarkably, the triceps make up approximately 65% of your upper arm, with the remaining 35% allocated to the biceps. Therefore, if your goal is to develop substantial arms, placing emphasis on the triceps becomes crucial.
The three triceps muscles are:
- The long head;
- The lateral head;
- The medial head.
Lateral head exercises:
- Bench press;
- Incline press;
- Tricep pushdowns;
- Weighted dips;
- One-arm cable extensions;
- Bench Dips.
Long head exercises:
- Overhead triceps extension;
- Close grip bench press;
- Weighted dips;
- Skull crushers;
- Kickbacks;
- Cable rope extensions.
Medial head exercises:
- Close grip bench press;
- Cable rope extensions;
- Triceps pushdowns.
Top Triceps Exercises for Effective Muscle Building
Just like chest training, it’s essential to incorporate a diverse range of exercises in our triceps workouts to effectively target all three heads of the triceps muscles. By varying our exercises, we can ensure comprehensive and balanced development, leading to optimal muscle building and strength gains in the triceps region.
Triceps Pushdown
The triceps pushdown is a widely favored and effective exercise for good reasons. It efficiently targets all three heads of the triceps, making it a fantastic choice for adding mass to your arms.
When performing this exercise, the choice of attachment is entirely up to you. You have options like using the rope, which allows for a slight flare at the bottom, or using a straight bar or a V-shaped bar. The variance in triceps activation between these attachments is minimal, so you can opt for the one that feels most comfortable to you.
For those seeking alternative exercises, consider these options:
- Straight bar pushdown;
- V bar pushdown.
Skullcrushers
The Skullcrusher exercise entails lying on a bench, positioning the upper arms perpendicular to the body, and lowering the weight just above your head while keeping the elbows fixed in place. Subsequently, you lift the weight back up again.
Due to the elevated starting position of the arms, this exercise primarily targets the long head of the triceps, the largest head.
For variety and effective triceps training, consider these alternative exercises:
- Overhead dumbbell triceps extension;
- Overhead cable triceps extension.
Tricep dips
We have added chest dips to our list of favorite chest-building exercises, and now we’re introducing triceps dips as well to our preferred triceps workout routines! The reason behind this addition is that, as mentioned earlier, a slight adjustment in form allows us to focus either on the chest or the triceps during the exercise.
By maintaining a perpendicular torso to the floor, we primarily target the triceps during dips. These exercises are highly effective in building muscle and can effectively engage all three heads of the triceps.
However, we advise against including chest dips and triceps dips in the same workout routine, as they are quite similar. Despite the ability to adjust the form for emphasis, both variations still recruit both the chest and triceps muscles to some extent. So, it’s best to give each muscle group adequate attention in separate workouts.
For those seeking alternative exercises, consider these options:
- Bench Dips;
- Assisted triceps dip machine.
Beginner Chest and Triceps Workout
| Exercise | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|
| Chest Machine Press | 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
| Incline Machine Press | 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
| Machine Chest Dips | 3 sets x 8-12 reps |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 sets x 10-12 reps |
| Skull Crushers | 3 sets x 10-12 reps |
Advanced Chest and Triceps Workout
| Exercise | Sets x Reps |
|---|---|
| Barbell Bench Press | 4 sets x 5-8 reps |
| Incline Dumbbell Press | 4 sets x 8-10 reps |
| Chest Dips | 4 sets x 10-12 reps |
| Cable Flies | 3 sets x 12-15 reps |
| Triceps Pushdown | 3 sets x 10-12 reps |
| Skull Crushers | 3 sets x 10-12 reps |
Conclusion
Presenting the ultimate chest and triceps workout for optimal muscle building! Now, when chest Monday arrives, you’ll be fully equipped with a plan to make the most out of your training session. These workouts are suitable for both males and females, as the muscle-building principles apply universally.
Enjoy the journey and remember, if you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments. We’ll be sure to respond as promptly as possible to assist you on your fitness journey.