How To Get A Bigger Chest At Home

For many gym-goers, chest training starts and ends with the bench press. Or, if they're not big on barbells, press-ups. Now those are both fantastic exercises, but for a truly pecs-tacular chest you need to extend your exercise repertoire. The good news is that below you'll find a training plan containing a variety of chest exercises that will hit your muscles from different angles. Follow it to the letter and you'll be the proud owner of a bigger, stronger chest in no time.

You'll be training four times a week throughout the four-week plan, but it won't all be chest work. There's little point in sculpting perfect pecs if the rest of your body doesn't keep pace during that time. Two of your weekly workouts are chest-focused, while the other two are full-body training sessions.

The chest sessions are workouts 1 and 3 on the plan and they differ in their approach to chest-building. The first session increases strength using a high number of sets but fewer reps. The second uses bodybuilding principles to form a workout where you do fewer sets but a higher number of reps with the aim of increasing size alongside strength.

All four workouts are made up of five moves. The first two exercises are big, compound lifts done as normal sets. Go heavy with these and push yourself as hard as possible. Then the final three moves are a tri-set, so you rattle through the first set of 3A, then the first set of 3B, then the first set of 3C with minimal rest between them. Rest, then start the second sets. Do the workouts in order, sticking to the sets, reps, tempo and rest periods detailed, and you'll add serious size and strength to your chest, while also building bigger arms and shoulders.

The workout plan below really requires a gym, because it uses a barbell with weight plates, dumbbells, a weight bench, a rack and a pull-up bar. Unless your home gym is impressively well stocked, you might also want to check out the home chest workouts underneath the plan for something you can do when gyms are closed.

Tempo Training

To get the full effect from these workouts, you need to stick to the four-digit tempo code for each exercise. The first digit indicates how long in seconds you take to lower the weight, the second how long you pause at the bottom of the move, the third how long you take to lift the weight, and the final digit how long you pause at the top. X means that part of the move should be done explosively. The accumulated time under tension increases your heart rate to burn fat and break down muscle tissue so it's rebuilt bigger and stronger. Keep each rep smooth and controlled so your muscles – not momentum – do the work.

Who Is This Workout Suitable For?

This is a training plan for experienced gym-goers. You'll be working out four times a week with heavy weights to strict tempos, so you should already know your way around the weights room and understand what doing a tri-set involves. If you take on this workout plan as a beginner, even if you get through the first session or two you'll probably find that the DOMS involved puts you out of action for the rest of the week.

If you're already visiting the gym several times a week but aren't satisfied with the results, especially when it comes to your chest muscles, then this plan is perfect for you. You'll still be maintaining your other muscles while focusing on your torso to produce the impressive pecs you're after in four weeks.

How To Fuel Your Training

Success in this training plan will come not only from following the workouts below to the letter, but by backing up your gym efforts in the kitchen. Even if you nail every rep of the workouts, you won't get the results you want if you're not fuelling your training in the right way.

That starts with eating enough protein to repair and rebuild your muscles after a workout. It's a good idea to get your protein requirement from your diet, which is easier than you might imagine and will also help ensure you have a healthy, well-rounded diet. However, many people do prefer the convenience of supplements like protein shakes or protein bars for getting 20g of protein in after a session.

Outside of protein, it's important to maintain a healthy diet in general, starting with getting at least five portions of fruit and veg a day (note: no matter how much juice or how many smoothies you chug, the drinks' lack of fibre means that in total they can only ever count as one serving a day). Also make sure your energy reserves are topped up by eating carbohydrates, aiming for wholegrain varieties to maximise the fibre you get from your food.

If all that sounds like a lot of effort, there's also the option of using a healthy meal delivery services. Some will send a variety of healthy meals at once that you can reheat and eat when you wish, while others will deliver daily and cover all your meals and snacks with a menu designed to fit your precise training goals. These are, of course, more expensive than cooking for yourself, but it's certainly no more expensive than a takeaway habit and a whole lot healthier.

How To Warm Up For This Workout

Before you crack on with the workouts, it's important that you take the time to prepare your body. Not only will a thorough warm-up help you perform at your best when you tackle the lifts, it will also reduce some of the muscle soreness you'll feel the next day. That's not a small thing, because chest DOMS really is no fun at all.

It's not only the chest you'll be working in the sessions below, so your warm-up needs to prepare your whole body. That means jumping on the treadmill for five minutes of slow jogging won't do, because it won't properly warm up the muscles you're about to use.

Start with this short warm-up routine for the gym, which involves seven dynamic stretches that hit the whole body, then move on to warm-up exercises specific to the workout you're about to do. These could even be the same exercises you're going to do in your workout, just done with a very light weight or no weight at all. This will get your body used to the movement patterns involved and prime the relevant muscles to fire when you add weight.

Workout 1: Chest 1

1 Bench press

Bench press

Sets 5 Reps 5 Tempo 10X0 Rest 60sec

Lie on a flat bench holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start.

2 Incline bench press

Sets 5 Reps 5 Tempo 10X0 Rest 60sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start.

3A Incline dumbbell press

Incline dumbbell bench press

Sets 4 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 20sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand by your shoulders. Brace your core, then press the weights up until your arms are straight. Lower them back to the start.

3B Incline dumbbell flye

Incline dumbbell flye

Sets 4 Reps 10 Tempo 2111 Rest 20sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a dumbbell in each hand above your face, with your palms facing and a slight bend in your elbows. Lower them to the sides, then bring them back to the top.

3C Press-up

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Get into position with your feet together and hands underneath your shoulders. Brace your core so your body is straight from head to heels. Bend your elbows to lower your chest, then press back up powerfully.

Workout 2: Total body 1

1 Squat

Barbell back squat

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Stand tall with a bar across the backs of your shoulders. Keeping your chest up and core braced, squat down as deep as you can. Drive back up through your heels to return to the start.

2 Chin-up

Chin-up

Sets 5 Reps 8 Tempo 2010 Rest 60sec

Hold a bar with an underhand grip. Brace your core, then pull yourself up until your chin is higher than the bar. Lower until your arms are straight again.

2A Overhead press

Overhead press

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 20sec

Hold a bar with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. Keeping your chest up and core braced, press the bar overhead until your arms are straight. Lower it back to the start.

2B Bent-over row

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2010 Rest 20sec

Hold a barbell with an overhand grip, hands just outside your legs. Bend your knees slightly, brace your core, then pull the bar up, leading with your elbows. Lower it back to the start.

2C Good morning

Barbell good morning

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 2111 Rest 60sec

Stand tall holding a light barbell across the backs of your shoulders, feet shoulder-width apart. With your core braced, bend forwards slowly from the hips, as far as your hamstrings allow but not past horizontal. Return to the start.

Workout 3: Chest 2

This uses the same moves as Workout 1 but with different protocols – low sets and high reps to focus on increasing muscle mass

1 Incline bench press

Sets 3 Reps 12 Tempo 4010 Rest 60sec

Lie on an incline bench holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start.

2 Bench press

Bench press

Sets 4 Reps 12 Tempo 4010 Rest 60sec

Lie on a flat bench holding a barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Brace your core, then lower the bar towards your chest. Press it back up to the start