Almost every man I know at the gym wants great pecs, so it’s no surprise I get lots of questions about which chest exercises are best. While the pec muscles are functional in our daily activities, I think most men like to target this group because benching is a such popular display of strength. And let’s face it! Well formed pecs just look good!
The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recently sponsored a small study at the University of Wisconsin’s Department of Exercise and Sport Science. Fourteen healthy male volunteers aged 19 – 30 put nine chest exercises to the test. They were: the barbell bench press, bent forward cable crossover, seated chest press, incline dumbbell flys, and the pec deck, plus four body weight only exercises including dips, suspended push-ups, stability ball push-ups, and the standard push-up. One repetition maximum (1 RM) was determined for the first five exercises. Electromyocardiography (EMG) was used to measure muscle activation.
Here are the results:
The pectoralis major showed the most activity in the barbell press. Close behind was the pec deck machine, followed by the bent over cable fly. Significantly less than the barbell press was the seated chest press, followed by inclined dumbbell flys, and then dips. Next were the pushups: suspended pushups, stability ball push-ups, and then the lowest EMG value being the standard push-up.
I am not surprised that the barbell press scored highest, since you are lying flat and prone, and are pressing weight directly against gravity. The next two with the most activity (pec deck and cable fly) are performed with minimal elbow movement, causing the triceps to engage less, and leaving the pecs to do more work, so no surprise there either.
The subjects used 80% of their 1 RM for the machine exercises. No 1 RM could be measured for the body weight exercises, and only five repetitions of each were performed, so it would seem logical that the body weight exercises showed lower EMG values, even though they are all great exercises.
Too bad the researchers did not include the flat dumbbell press. It would have been nice to see how that stacked up.
Regardless of how these exercises rated in terms of muscle activation, if you have a shoulder, or other injury, not all of these exercises may be for you, and should be performed as tolerated, or recommended by your healthcare professional.
While they have their place, and are popular, I personally don’t care for machines that may lock the user into one plane of movement (such as the seated chest press and pec deck), and do not use them. I generally will start with free weights, then move to cables, and like to finish up with body weight exercises, and will perform super sets, or giant sets, depending on how many muscle groups I am working.
Body weight exercises offer flexibility, engage lots of accessory muscles, and are great for core work, as anyone who has ever tried P90X or Insanity would vouch for.
When designing your exercise program, variety is the spice of life! Mixing up your workout by changing exercises, equipment used, weights, and reps, will keep you, and your muscles from getting bored.
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