Build a Big Chest Without the Bench Press

Let me start with a confession.  I don’t bench press anymore. 

This is a relatively new phenomenon for me.  I don’t get much value out of the bench press.  It is for anatomical reasons.  I am a tall, narrow man with long arms and narrow clavicles.  The act of pressing with a barbell puts undue stress on my pec minors.  They tighten up for days afterwards, and it is quite painful and time consuming to treat them.  

In the spirit of getting more done in the gym, I have eliminated the bench press from my personal routine.  Many people could benefit from doing the same. 

As men we feel the need to show our strength through our bench numbers.  The first thing you are asked as a fitness professional is “How much do you bench?”  I’m sure this is in good spirit, but we need to rethink how we develop our chest.

How many people do you know that have injured their shoulder as a result of benching? How many people in your gym have torn a pec from bench pressing?

There are safer, less impactful ways to develop your chest.  You can use these exercises in conjunction with a bench program, or in place of benching.  

One Arm Dumbbell Press

I am a huge fan of unilateral (weight being held in one hand) exercises.  They can correct muscular imbalances and put a larger amount of stress on your core, resulting in a more complete full body exercise. 

You will need to set up with a wider foot stance than you are used to. Engage your foot on the floor- that means pull it back slightly towards your hips and actively squeeze your glutes.  This will allow your core and glutes to become more involved in maintaining stability during the exercise.

Put your empty hand in the air, or out to the side, just don’t use it to cheat.  

You’re going to have to keep your glutes and core braced to maintain balance throughout this movement.  It adds an element of danger..I mean fun…to the exercise.

Squeeze Press

This is almost exactly the same as a standard Dumbbell press, with one important caveat: the weights are in contact with each other the whole time, and you are actively squeezing them together.  I wonder how it got its name?

The act of squeezing the dumbbells together puts all the stress on your pectorals, particularly the inner part.  By bringing the hands this close together you are able to maintain tension on the pectorals throughout the entire range of motion. This can be done on a flat bench, an incline or a decline. 

Alternating Dumbbell Press

This exercise will have two difficult aspects- the actual pressing motion and the extension of the opposite arm.  By keeping the non-pressing hand extended you are adding extra stress to the pectorals.  It will seem easy at first, but wait until you switch arms.

This exercise will help teach you how to build shoulder integrity and stability.  The shoulder needs to be stable to maintain control of the weight both during the pressing and holding part of the exercise.  If you find it hard to keep the non-pressing arm extended you need to drop the weight a bit. 

This can be done by alternating arms each rep, or my preferred method of only switching after 10 reps.  

Kettlebell Pushup with Shoulder Tap

This can be done with any dumbbell, kettlebell or push up handle.  Keep your glutes and core braced to maintain balance. 

This is the bodyweight equivalent of a unilateral press. By keeping one hand elevated you are testing your shoulder stability, and forcing your muscles to contract in a greater range of motion.  The shoulder touch is simply there to torture you.

It’s hard, no one likes this one.  

The bench press is an exercise with diminishing returns.  It produces great results in those who are just beginning to strength train, but the results slow to a trickle for more advanced lifters.  It puts undue stress on the shoulders and can create many impingements and imbalances. 

It is very satisfying to be able to press a large amount of weight, but it should not be the only exercise in your chest development arsenal.  Give these exercises a try the next time you plan on bench pressing.  And don't forget that the best exercise for chest development is still the push up.