Monday is every bros favorite day. It’s International Chest Day.
But I have an important question for you.
Are you warming up before you hit those heavy bench presses? Or are you forgoing a warm up so you can grab the first available bench you see?
When I say warm up, I don’t mean repping out 15 reps with an empty bar and then adding two 45-pound plates and doing a “warm up set” of 135 pounds. I’m also not talking about static stretching, either.
Dynamic warm ups are the best way to get the blood flowing into your muscles and to prepare them for the onslaught of destruction you’re about to deliver to them. Beyond preparing your muscles, though, warming up will help your central nervous system fire more efficiently.
If you want to push more weight and grow a bigger, sexier, chest add a couple of these chest warm up exercises to your favorite day of the week.
Dynamite Warm Ups for Ultimate Gains
Plyo Push Ups
Looking for a boost to your power and strength levels that will last through your entire workout?
Performing a couple sets of plyo pushups are a great way to activate your fast-twitch muscle fibers which when activated help you put more power behind the bar.
The more power you generate, the more muscle fibers you’re able to recruit, and that means more muscle breakdown and repair aka gainz.
Complete 2-3 sets of 10 reps while you wait for a bench to clear.
Incline Dumbbell Flyes
Dumbbell Flyes are an excellent way to get the blood flowing into your pecs. For myself and my clients, I prefer incline flyes. They place less stress on your shoulders and you feel the squeeze more at an incline.
Shoulder injuries are the most common cause for bros having to step away from their favorite lift–the bench press.
No one wants to stop bench pressing, no one.
Adding in an exercise that warms up your shoulders as well as your chest is important to preventing injury.
To get the most bang for your buck, at the top of the movement bring your pinkie fingers toward one another. You’ll feel a bigger squeeze in your pecs. Which will help activate more of your glorious chest muscles for those heavy bench presses.
Perform 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps with light weight, no need to exceed 15-20 pounds here.
Svend Press
For years, I struggled to feel my pecs “squeeze” on lifts like the bench press or flyes. No matter what angle I tried to hit them from, I felt nothing.
This is a common occurrence for many bros, even though we’ll never admit it publicly.
If you want your chest to grow, you have to be able to feel those sweet chesticles squeezing into each other.
Nothing will teach you how to squeeze your pecs together like this movement.
There are those who like to use this exercise at the end of a workout. However, if you’re not able to feel your pecs squeeze while flat bench or incline bench pressing, this is an excellent way to get those pecs warmed before you hit the heavy stuff.
Plus, these SOBs will help you build a chest as big as Captain America’s.
Dips
Bodyweight dips are one of the best ways to warm up your triceps, shoulders, and chest before you hit the bench.
You don’t need to add weight to these either. Weighted dips will build a bigger, stronger chest, but our goal here is get the blood flowing into your chest, shoulders, and triceps.
If you do too many dips, you can wear yourself out quickly. Perform 2 sets of 10-12 reps.
This will be a challenging movement for some and in that case use an assisted dip machine. Here are a couple of tips for how to keep yourself safe while you perform dips.
- Maintain vertical forearms on the way down and the way up.
- Lock your elbows at the top and tuck 45° at the bottom. Don’t let them flare out.
- Push your shoulders down and back. Avoid rolling them forward or shrugging them.
Foreplay for Gains
Bros, I didn’t warm up for years. I’d hit the gym, hop on the bench, and start pressing until my muscles gave out. It wasn’t my muscles that gave out, though. My shoulders got cranky, my strength decreased, and I had pain that made lifting weights a challenge.
Proper warm ups will keep you in the game longer, prevent injury, and help prime your muscles and nervous system to perform at their highest level.