Exercise scientist Dr. Mike Israetel is an accomplished physiologist who continues to explore the intricacies of strength training. In his latest effort, shared via YouTube on September 16, 2024, Dr. Israetel laid out his five favorite chest-building exercises, providing justifications for his answers along with form cues.
With a massively successful YouTube channel exceeding over 2.5 million subscribers, Dr. Israetel’s knowledge of exercise mechanics, body positioning, and workout techniques has turned him into not just a star, but a powerful authority in the realms of fitness.
Exercise Scientist Dr. Mike Israetel Revealed His Top-Five Movements For Building The Chest
From competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to trying his hand at bodybuilding, Dr. Israetel isn’t afraid to put his money where his mouth is, which means he’s constantly creating and crafting new and innovative ways to achieve a pump.
We all know chest training takes practice and sustained mind muscle connection, which can make hitting the body part a difficult endeavor. Luckily, Dr. Israetel, who implements science-based lifting techniques, walked us through how to approach, perform, and conquer chest training for a better physique.
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“Today I want to share with you my top five favorite exercises for one of the most important muscles in the human body — the anal sphincter — wrong video, the chest, but it’s a close second. Let’s get into it.”
Before jumping into the first exercise, Dr. Mike Israetel explained that just because these movements are his favorite for building the chest, doesn’t mean they are the only effective exercises.
“These are five of my personal favorite chest exercises that means all of them are really good on strict biomechanical grounds and they’ve all seen a ton of real-life warfare in the gym and have been vetted,’ said Dr. Israetel. “That doesn’t mean they are the only five effective chest exercises.”
Quick Breakdown of Exercise Scientist’s 5 Favorite Chest-Building Movements
- Dumbbell Flys
- Cambered Bar Bench Press
- Incline Barbell Bench Press
- Deficit Pushups
- Machine Chest Press
Exercise #1 Dumbbell Flys
Getting started, Dr. Israetel emphasizes that they aren’t ranked in any specific order and starts with dumbbell flys, praising them for easy set up and execution.
“This is not a tiered list,” shares Israetel. “The dumbbell flye, it’s simple, it doesn’t require a lot of equipment and it’s technically not a super crazy exercise to execute.”
Form cues
-Lower shoulder blades
-Arch lower back
To ensure proper form, Dr. Mike Israetel highlighted the importance of keeping the elbows from locking out, which will make repetitions more comfortable.
“His elbows are not going to be locked out but just shy of lock-out. You can even do flys considerably shy of lockout but it kind of turns into a press at that point. So 15 degrees on each arm from lock-out is really good it’ll be nice and comfy.”
Exercise #2 Cambered Bar Bench Press
Next, Dr. Israetel moves into a cambered bar bench press, explaining that achieving a deep stretch under high tension is optimal for growth.
“The cambered bar is a rare bar, it’s actually really cheap you can get it online for like $250,” jokes Dr. Israetel.
“You descend to below hand position to below your chest, we know from lots of studies now and lots of real world experience that a deep stretch under high tension is probably one of the best ways to grow muscle. The cambered bar bench press does exactly that.”
He urges lifters to practice caution while performing this movement in a slow and controlled manner.
“It is not the safest position in the world. It’s not dangerous. But you have to be careful. So when we’re doing this exercise we’re going to be lowering the weight under control and then slowing down the lowering process towards the bottom.”
“You’re going to go as deep as you possibly can until things just aren’t moving anymore and then when you come up, you’re going to come up not with an explosion but you’re going to come up nice and slow.”
Form cues
-Arch back
-Pinch shoulder blades together
-Lift chest
*Two reasons to pause at the bottom:
1. Reduced risk of injury
2. Emphasize the stretch for more muscle growth
Exercise #3 Incline Barbell Bench Press
His third go-to chest-building exercise is the incline barbell bench press, which in essence, can hit every part of the chest if you can adjust the bench.
“Incline barbell press. I’ve done this with a close grip, I’ve done it with a medium grip, I’ve done it with a wide grip, all are super awesome.”
“If you have the setup in a commercial gym and it’s just one incline that’s good enough, if you have a bench and a rack like we have you can do low incline, medium incline, high incline, no wrong answers,” he said. “You’re going to bring the barbell out and as you come down with the barbell you’re going to try to touch right around your clavicle.”
Form cues
– Touch bar near your clavicles
– Can be higher if more comfortable
Exercise #4 Deficit Pushups
Dr. Israetel stressed that you don’t want to let your hips ‘sag down’ during deficit push-ups as this could unintentionally hit other areas of the body.
“There’s a temptation here with deficit push-ups to let the hips sag down and if they sag down and your genitals touch the ground before your chest does, it’s giving your genitals a good workout but what about your chest? Plus you probably give yourself several genital workouts a week, or a day, or an hour.”
To make this exercise more demanding, he advocates for a pause before exploding upward to complete a rep.
“We’re going to stop with a gentle pause and come back up and if you want to make this exercise extra challenging and you’re particularly strong, don’t go all the way to lock out every single time, go two-thirds the way to lockout and come back down, down slow, up fast, every single time.”
Exercise #5 Machine Chest Press
Lastly, he credited the chest press machine, adding that keeping the height of the bar at armpit height is best.
“The first thing about a chest machine setup is choosing where to put that bottom part of that seat for you. You don’t want to come up so high that you have to reach super low at the bottom of the press.
You don’t want to go so low that you’re kind of doing some guillotine skullcrusher situation. Most people going right into their armpit height for that bar path is probably pretty good.”
Form cues
-Align handles at armpit height
-Adjust based on individual taste
Dr. Mike Israetel doesn’t just offer unsolicited workout advice, he makes it a point to examine anyone who boasts an impressive build. He has broken down the workouts of popular names in the industry such as Hugh Jackman and even Navy SEAL ultramarathon runner David Goggins. But he also has dissected and offered insight into bodybuilding superstars, such as Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, and Jay Cutler.
When it comes to science-based training, Dr. Israetel not only provides educational content but makes it easy to understand, meaning it’s packed with value. Feel free to try his top five favorite chest-building movements the next time you hit the gym.
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