How to Get Bigger Chest Muscles (Pecs)

Co-authored by Christopher Carreiro

Last Updated: December 16, 2024 Approved

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Who doesn't want bigger pecs? To strengthen your chest muscles and make them pop, focus on doing chest-enhancing exercises, using the right workout techniques, and eating a healthy muscle-building diet. Follow along after the jump to learn how to get bigger chest muscles in no time at all.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Exercises to Get Bigger Pectorals

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1
Do push ups. This often-neglected exercise focuses on building up your shoulder and upper chest muscles.^{[1]
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Christopher Carreiro
Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Interview. 2 March 2021.} Lie face-down on the floor and start with your hands about shoulder-width apart, with your legs stretched behind you. Push your body up from the floor with your hands until your elbows are straight, then lower yourself until your arms reach a 90 degree bend.^{[2]
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Monica Morris
Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Interview. 6 December 2019.}
- Do 3 sets of 15 push-ups, or as many as you can before growing fatigued. Add more reps as you gain strength.
- Push ups also work your triceps and shoulders (deltoids).
- Try this variation: elevate your legs by placing your feet on a block or step before doing the exercise. This puts emphasis on your shoulders and upper chest.
2
Get into bench pressing. This is the most popular chest building exercise of all time, and for good reason.^{[3]
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Christopher Carreiro
Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Interview. 2 March 2021.} Load a barbell with weights appropriate for your strength level. Remember, it's always better to start too light and adjust than to risk injury by starting too heavy. Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Lower the barbell down to chest until you reach about 1" from your chest, then lift it straight above your chest.^{[4]
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Expert Source

Monica Morris
Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Interview. 6 December 2019.}
- To build muscle mass and hypertrophy it is best to do between 8-12 reps of 1-3 sets.
- You can also do incline bench presses by using an inclined bench. This is the same as bench pressing, only it focuses more on your upper pectoral muscles. Decline bench presses focus more on your lower pectoral muscles. Most people don't perform this exercise but it is essential in obtaining a full and rounded chest.
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3
Do bar dips. Stand in front of a wide-grip parallel bar. Pull the bar down and slowly raise it back up. This can be a strenuous exercise that gives you some trouble in the beginning. But it’s one of the best pec workout movements you can do to build lots of chest muscle fast.^{[5]
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Expert Source

Monica Morris
Certified Personal Trainer

Expert Interview. 6 December 2019.}
- Once you’ve mastered this movement, you can try a more advanced exercise for building your chest like doing a pull-up or chin-up.
- Reader Poll: We asked 618 wikiHow readers and 58% of them agreed that the best exercise for building upper-body mass is a pull-up. [Take Poll]
Lie down in the push up position and push up. Hold for 3 seconds, then transfer all your weight to your right hand and foot. Stick your left hand and foot up in the air as if you are doing a sideways jumping jack. Hold for 3 seconds. Repeat with your left hand and foot. Again, hold for 3 seconds.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Techniques to Remember When You Want to Build Muscle

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Don't overwork your muscles. Many people make the mistake of lifting weights every single day, thinking that the more they work out, the bigger their muscles will get. This is actually detrimental to muscle growth; your muscles get bigger on the rest days in between workouts, when the tissues repair themselves. To make sure you're not overworking your muscles, follow these tips:
- Work out your chest muscles no more than once or twice per week. On the days when you aren't working out your chest, work other muscle groups, like your legs, arms, and back.^{[6]
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  basic workout tips for}
- Don't work out for longer than 30 minutes in a session. You'll risk damaging your muscles, and you might have to sit out for a while instead of working on building strength and mass.
2
Work out as hard as you can. When you do work out, you need to go all in. Challenge yourself to lift as much weight as you can without risking muscle, tendon, ligament, or joint damage. To find out how much weight you should be lifting, try doing reps with different weights. You should be able to do 8 - 10 reps without having to put the weights down, but you should be sweating and panting by the end of the set.
- If you can't do more than 5 or so reps without stopping, you're lifting too much weight. Scale back. As you get stronger, you can start lifting more weight. ^{[7]
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- If you can do 10 reps without feeling a burn, add more weight. You need to challenge yourself if you want to get bigger.
3
Use the right form. Have a personal trainer or instructor show you how to do your exercises using the right form. You should generally start with your arms fully extended, and use your muscles, not momentum, to complete each motion.
- Using the wrong form can cause muscle, tendon, joint, and ligament damage, so make sure you know what you're doing.
- If you can't complete a motion with a particular weight, it might be too heavy for you. For example, if you can't straighten your arms while you're bench pressing, ease off on the weight.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Dietary Habits that Increase Muscle Mass

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Don't eat too many calories. People often believe that to get big muscles, you need to eat a lot of calories. You do need to be eating enough calories to give you energy through training, but not so many that your body has to work on burning fat instead of building muscle. Being lean helps the muscles you're working so hard to build look more visible.
- Stay away from empty carbohydrates like pasta, white bread, cakes, cookies, and other baked goods. Choose foods with more whole grain instead.
- Don't eat too many foods that are processed or fried, and limit fast food and snacks.
2
Eat plenty of protein. Protein is a building block for muscle, and you're going to need a lot of it if you want a big chest. You can get your protein from a multitude of sources - not just meat. Consider these options:
- Lean meats like chicken, fish, lean beef, and pork.
- Eggs and full-fat dairy.^{[8]
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- Nuts and beans.
- Kale, spinach, and other vegetables that have protein.
- Tofu and soy
3
Consider taking supplements. Many people who are working on building muscles take creatine, a powdered amino acid that is mixed with water and ingested three or more times daily. It is considered safe to consume by the FDA, since it's composed of the same protein that our bodies produce naturally to build muscle.
- You may also consider taking a protein shake supplement it is one of the most beneficial supplements to gaining muscle and leading an overall healthy life.

Sample Exercises and Routines

Exercises to Build Pecs

Routine to Build Pecs (Beginner)

Routine to Build Pecs (Intermediate)

Join the Discussion...

How do I bulk up as a skinny guy?

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WikiValleyJammer490

People have told me I'm built like a twig! I wanna gain muscle and get big. I know diet and excercise are important but I don't know what I shoul... Read More

Brendon Rearick
Personal Trainer & Strength Coach

Number one, you need to lift heavy. And it should be heavy with good form, between 8 and 12 reps. That's where you're going to get the most hyper... Read More

WikiValleyJammer490

Thanks for all the tips, everyone! im definitely planning on trying some of these new workouts, but i was wonderig if anyone has any nutrition ti... Read More

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Question

How long does it take to get a bigger chest?

Michele Dolan
Certified Fitness Trainer
Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.

Michele Dolan

Certified Fitness Trainer

Expert Answer

Your pectoral muscles can enlarge in size in a matter of 4 to 8 weeks, if you do the right workout and eat right. Remember however, other factors will affect your overall muscle development, such as genetics, hormones and lifestyle. Follow this workout to see results.

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Question

How do I gain mass in my chest quickly?

Michele Dolan
Certified Fitness Trainer
Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.

Michele Dolan

Certified Fitness Trainer

Expert Answer

Do push ups, the bench press and pec flyes, working out to failure on each exercise. Do this twice a week, with a least two days rest between workouts, for 8 weeks. If you don't consume enough calories, drink a protein supplement before and after your workout. Get your BMI below 24, so the chest muscles won't be hidden by fat if that is an issue for you.

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Question

What foods should I eat to get a bigger chest?

Michele Dolan
Certified Fitness Trainer
Michele Dolan is a Fitness Trainer based in Sidney, British Columbia. She has been a personal trainer and fitness instructor since 2002, and was certified as a Personal Trainer by the British Columbia Recreation and Parks Association (BCRPA). Michele is also a Registered Clinical Counselor, and uses her 20+ years of fitness coaching experience to help clients understand their mind-body connection. She is a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC) and Certified Clinical Counsellor (CCC), certified by the British Columbia Association of Clinical Counsellors and the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association. In her work, Michele uses the tools of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectic Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Processing Therapy for Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. She practices and teaches mindfulness and acceptance in all of her coaching work. She holds a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology.

Michele Dolan

Certified Fitness Trainer

Expert Answer

Consuming enough protein (20% of your overall calorie content) will help provide your body with the right nutrition for building muscle.

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Tips

Don't stop working out just because you don't see results in a week. Over time change will come.

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Drink plenty of water.

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Listen to music while working out!

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The advice in this section is based on the lived experiences of wikiHow readers like you. If you have a helpful tip you’d like to share on wikiHow, please submit it in the field below.

If you are finding dips too easy, put a backpack on and fill it with about 20 pounds of weights and try the dips then for a real burn!
Have someone spot you when doing heavy bench press for safety and to maximize the amount of weight you can use.
Eat a lot of calories to build mass, then do weights and cardio to cut the excess mass away.
Play sports that use your pecs, like throwing a football or rowing.

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Warnings

Don't over exercise yourself, it can cause serious injury.

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Though dips are good for your pecs they are hard on your shoulders. Use caution when doing dips to avoid shoulder injuries.

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Don't start with too much weight. Always start small, otherwise you might risk injury.

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Always consult your doctor before starting any exercise program.

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