We Tested 16 Chest Exercises, These Are Best For Growth
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 พ.ย. 2022
- Here's Betty: a $12,000 EMG machine who is going to help us determine what the best chest exercises for growth (from upper chest to middle chest to lower chest exercises) ACTUALLY are. EMG stands for electromyography, and it’s a way of measuring the electrical activity produced by muscles when they contract. To make sure I run this experiment evaluating my list of chest exercises as best as possible so that we, and you, could actually trust the data (i.e., that these are the best exercises for a bigger chest), I called up a few colleagues and they led me to John, a Master’s student specializing in EMG.
Vote on the shoulders exercises you think will come out on top (winners get a FREE Built With Science program and ALL entries get a discount code):
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Take a deeper look into the data here:
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Click below for a step by step plan training plan that reveals all the best exercises you should do for each and every muscle group:
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It was time to prep the experiment to find out what the best chest exercises for growth really are-and think about all the variables we had to control. First variable: subjects. Everyone’s bodies are slightly different, and the more subjects in study, the more reliable the data. So, I wanted at least 3 subjects in total. Luckily we had Alex and Raza. Raza is more of a beginner so I thought it’d be interesting to see how his results compare to mine and Alex’s. Next, weight. we had to figure out how much weight we’d be using on each chest exercise to ensure that they were equally as challenging. A week before the test date, we all spent a whole day in our gym and figured out our estimated “1 rep max” for each exercise. On test day, we’d use 70% of this weight for each of the exercises.
Plus, we came up with a wager. Before we conducted the experiment to find out what the best exercises for a bigger chest are, the three of us wrote down on a piece of paper what exercises we think will end up being the top 2 for each area of the chest. Once we got the results, we’ll compare them to each of our lists and the person who gets the least exercises correct will be dunked into a human body sized Canadian Tundra Death Trap!
Here are all the chest exercises we tested:
Push-ups
Banded push-ups
Standing cable fly
High to low cable fly
Seated cable fly
Chest dips
Barbell bench press
Incline barbell bench press
Flat dumbbell press
Incline machine press
15 degree incline dumbbell press
30 degree incline dumbbell press
45 degree incline dumbbell press
Decline dumbbell press
Pinch press
Pec deck machine
Note: with several variables and just 3 subjects, it’s hard to detect any statistical differences. That said, I did average the data and found some really interesting findings that align with a lot of other research. So, let’s start with the best upper chest exercises. The top two exercises were both incline dumbbell presses, just at different bench angles. We tested 15 degrees, 30 degrees, and 45 degrees. The lower inclines of 15 degrees and 30 degrees came out on top.
Next, middle chest exercises. The first winner is the decline dumbbell press, but not the typical version you see at the gym. We used just a very slight elevation by placing a weight plate underneath the front of the bench. Usually this helps emphasize the lower chest the most. But to my surprise, it did an excellent job of activating the mid chest for all 3 of us. The other winner was the seated cable fly. In this case we put the cable handles at chest height.
Finally, the lower chest exercises. Here I expected high to low cable flyes to win, because tension from the cable aligns well with the lower chest fibers. While it did end up scoring well, seated cable flyes came out on top. This might be because it’s a more stable setup, with the tension from the cable still aligning quite well with the lower chest. The other winner was once again the decline dumbbell press, suggesting that the very slight decline aligns the press very well with both the middle and the lower fibers of the chest.
Who got dunked? Watch the video! That said, I got really emotional during the ice plunge. After hitting 100,000 subscribers on TH-cam, I founded Built With Science which stemmed from a bigger vision I always had in mind: to build a legacy that would bring a more scientific and research-backed approach to the fitness industry and weed out the BS and “bro-science” that plagues the industry. This little science experiment was a big step towards realizing that. I’m excited for where this leads and I appreciate you joining me on this journey.
•Top 3 exercises for each chest muscles•
Upper Chest:
01: 15° Incline Dumbbell Press
02: 30° Incline Dumbbell Press
03: Barbell Bench Press
Middle Chest:
01: Seated Cable Fly
02: Decline Dumbbell Press
03: 15° Incline Dumbbell Press
Lower Chest:
01: Seated Cable Fly
02: Slight Decline Dumbbell Press
03: Flat Dumbbell Press
Thanks Jeremy 🤞🏼
Champ.thanks
thank you good sir! God bless ya!
Life saver
Why flat dumbell press for lower chest but not flat for middle chest 🤔
EMG does not indicate muscle activation.
I hope you've enjoyed creating it as much as I watching as I hope you'll keep creating this kind of video in the future!
Loved the part where he took a beginner 👏 even the beginners can get better understanding
I agree! Loved to see the candid parts of this video!
Would love other body parts as well!!
me, reading 2 times „creatin“ instead of creating
This is one of the greatest videos you have made so far, thank you for sharing this with us. I hope you had a ton of fun doing it as I had watching it!
This is the wright direction, I love this.
I understand your a beginner but don’t listen to this guy he uses his bs science and shitty studies to scam beginners into thinking he knows what he’s doing just look at him he’s small asf
Defiantly bro
Wright?
@@bobdarrick2628like a lite
Top exercises - seated cable
Gyms: 1 out of 100 has it ( I never saw a guy who moved seats to cable machines - never)
I will not make fool of myself in gym.
Plus if this one is the best exercise than why the demonstrator has less muscle than me?
much love jeremy. been watching you for a long time and that ending got me a little emotional. your success is so deserved and hoping more comes your way! 💞
it’s so surreal to see jeremy’s evolution over the years as far as content and energy goes.
yeah, but as for his physique, I'm not very impressed with the result.
@@okidoke4822 do you know what his goals are though?
@@jaycoops7125 doesn’t matter much tbh
@@OMAR-vk9pi fair enough
It's also surreal how he made zero gains
Are you gonna make a series testing different muscles each episode? And then combine them all into the best exercises for the entire body?
I hope so he will!
That's a great idea!
Please do this, thank you !
This would be insane max efficiency
Yes!!! That would be sick!!!
The amount of work and knowledge you are providing is so surreal, love your videos thanks man
His editing is unbelievable. Creativity off the charts. All the subtle sound effects and visuals. Can't imagine how much care and attention goes in to every minute.
Dude I haven't watched your videos in a while, seeing your growth in this video is inspiring as hell. You're doing something truly special man. Always have fun and keep going. Thank you for everything.
This made my heart smile! ❤ Thanks for watching and showing love! Congrats you won a prize!!! Helpline is projected above feel free to reach out for personal guidance through telegram;
Exercises Ranked:
9:11 Upper Chest List
10:58 Middle Chest List
12:10 Lower Chest List
11:38 for lower chest
I wonder if the pinch press exercise is a good warmup exercise to get your upper chest muscles activated before doing an incline dumbbell bench press. It won't grow the muscle directly, but it'll help connect the mind and body to which muscles you want to feel being activated.
W mans
@@johngomez7118 I would not over-complicate things in this way. If an incline bench chest press activates the muscle the best and you feel you need a warm-up for that exercise, then simply warm up with an incline bench chest press just with much lighter weight.
@@johngomez7118 muscle.mind.connection is unnecessary ..
Amazing job, Jeremy! As a physician, I love your evidence-based approach to fitness. Your channel and Jeff Nippard’s are the best out there. Interesting to note how the barbell bench press ranked low compared to other movements, but it’s nice to know that it pretty much activates all regions equally. I hope you are publishing a paper!
Dumbell is usually better than barbell when it comes to muscle activation, but the benefit of the barbell its thats its easier to progressively overload.
I all ready know that
That is 100% fact
Publishing a paper with from just 3 sample size?
@@lapnguyen2898 huh ?
Amazing video. This is a huge step forward in your already amazingly helpful content. I still love the shorter, focused videos, but this is a nice change of pace to watch more in depth and entertaining content. Really nice job, Jeremy!
Great video! Love the direction you are going with your channel. I’ll definetly be adding slightly declined bench to my routine.
Jeremy became like a big brother for 4.8m people. Amazing motivation and a nice example how to live life. Started watching by accidant and you really changed my life not only by creating all these cool videos but even by motivating me to start the workout channel on YT to help people like you helped me to change my life. Best wishes from Ukraine you are great bro
Hi Jeremy, just like to say thanks very informative and so inspirational, I'm 60 next birthday and didn't touch a weight until 5 months ago, I got covid and it knocked me for 6, out of breath and fatigue, just wanted something to get me back on my feet while confined to the house so found a pulley wheel in the shed and with a bucket of water and a length of rope started exercising and found it helped and adding water to the bucket as I got stronger, now 5 months on I built my own lats machine have a bench, bellbar and alsorts, my two sons also join me too. Sorry to waffle on, have been following you since my journey started, you've been great help in guidance and information, so many thanks again for all your help, best regards
That's some truly badass stuff sir. I'm sure your family is proud of you.
I geeked out on this video so much! This is totally something I’d do. Love it & thank-you so much for your time & effort. This is truly why you shine. 👍🏻
Awesome video guys! Great blend of the data (as always) with funny vlog feel. Genuinely laughed and feel informed! Keep up the great work!
This is far the best video Ive ever watched about working out. Fun, knowledge, science all together.
Hope this EMG series go on with other exercises too.
Thanx Jeremy.
every aspect of body building, every question we ask ourselves, every interrogation we have on how to perform and maximise our efforts are answered on this youtube channel
by far the most useful youtube channel you can get on this topic
thank you so much Jeremy, and all this is free content, free knowledge, truly documented
Thank you again
going to the workout has changed my life, beyond every aspiration i had
i love it beyond words, hard to explain, it gave me ...something i've never had
i have done many things to my body over the years
going to the workout is by far the best decision of my life
it cures almost all of my addiction, many of my fears
i was addict to opioids for years (heroin) , i'm still on methadone treatment
i was stuck on 30 mg for years without decreasing, it was just impossible
since 4 months now i go to the workout, i am at 15 mg of methadone now and for the first time, i can see hope, and i'm starting to believe that i can make it
Thanks for all this help man
sorry for my english, i wish you the best
This was great. I was at first going to try to multitask while watching this but like you said in the end of the video about making the videos more entertaining I completely agree with that. All of your videos have been great but its also exciting to see you grow in your career and adventure through life with a purpose. Good work keep it up!
This is an awesome video man! You made this video more interesting!
Jeremy, Please more series like these! Love the Betty!
love this format, can’t wait for delts and legs
I’ve seen some of your videos in the past. Subscribed, finally! I was actually looking for a shoulder workout and came across your other video first. I want to get back in the gym and make it part of my lifestyle again for the New Year and beyond. I know I’d have to put in the work. With your science, I hope to see quicker results. 🤙🏼
Came here from the shoulder exercise with the same concept as this one that you posted a couple days ago. Please continue making videos with this concept as I think they are extremely helpful!💯
I would love to see this used on deadlifts and leg exercises… would be interesting to see the amount of muscle activation between sumo and conventional deadlifts
Emg will show the word pussy on sumo deadlifts
Hmm yes yes interesting, but perhaps I prefer coffee over tea. How about you?
@@brx926 NPC comment
@@MASTERCHIEF2434 Hey you there! Get out of here, now! There's a great storm coming!
@@MASTERCHIEF2434 Ah yes indeed splendid! I am surely pleased to see that you went away and hid from the great storm.
Hey Jeremy, it would be interesting if you do the same for the different variations of the Deadlift exercice, like conventional, sumo, RDL,... and see what muscle activation will look like for each, I'm very curious about this
Good idea
Check out Ryan Humiston on YT he also did many different variations on different muscle groups to see which exercises have the best muscle activation
Yes!!! Great idea
Yes it is a great idea 💡
Still waiting for this...
Very helpful video! Thanks for the hard work and excellent delivery!
This is one of your best videos so far. The story, the scientific process, the result, they were all wrapped together in one solid video. Amazing job!
I have a question he said the perfect exercise to grow your mid chest is sated cable fly and it’s the same exercise to grow your lower chest so the technique is different or same ?
This was great man! As a Fellow STEM, more of this is needed. Please do more experiment videos, like does the body have a preferred fat % percentage range? And if so, how to determine the amount of muscle mass needed to make you look close to shredded at all time with that safe amount of fat?
Need more of these!! For arms and shoulders please 😇
Just found this channel. Perfect balance of science and humor. Sparked lots of ideas for my next workouts. Thank you!!
Your videos are the absolute best man. Crazy to see how much you’ve blown up. Keep it up💪
Already a big fan of the content you put out, but I found this so refreshing. Seeing new faces coupled with your obvious passion really made this an enjoyable experience to watch and I’m excited to see it continue - Betty is a beauty!
That is a good point
@@travisandrews3909yxjhh
The amount of effort that goes into your vids. 🔥🔥
Really a joy, this video! I’m smiling cuz there is so much info and positive vibe in this clip! Great work!!
I don't comment often, but dang this was the best video i've seen in a while, and all your other videos are amazing themselves too. Hope you do this with other exercises too! I would love to see videos about new programs you can do with this too! Super excited!!!
This is insanely well done video. Please make this a series for all other muscle groups as well.
This made my heart smile! ❤ I appreciate your comment! Congrats you won a prize!!! Helpline is projected above feel free to reach out for personal guidance through telegram
This is such a big step! I appreciate the science-backed information you provide, but actually doing the science yourself is really impressive! Looking forward to more content like this! Perhaps you can use the EMG to see what kind of exercises effectively target the back muscles :)
This made my heart smile! ❤ I appreciate your comment! Congrats you won a prize!!! Helpline is projected above feel free to reach out for personal guidance through telegram
Great study sir! Thanks for doing these videos!
Currently starting to get into working out and your videos are awesome and helpful
Dude you are becoming the leader in all things fitness now, with the science and the research behind you. You have all our trust keep up the hard work bro.
Let me tell you just how well timed this video is. Less the 3 hours ago at the gym, I was deciding to redo my chest/push routine. I do a 4 day split, different group per day. I switched from machines to cables to work on stabilizers. I am NOT a pro in any fashion, but even I could tell the machines where doing part of the work. Now the issue is in some excercizes, cables are a burden, and get in the way. This vid coming out when I decide to redo it is perfect timing.
Great work Jeremy and Guys. The details in your videos are epic. And good luck!!!
Great stuff. Very informative.
some videos in your sub feed you watch, and some you consume. I absolutely consumed this one. Some of your best work yet, Jeremy! Hoping for a Back version soon.
Congrats Jeremy - you are easily my go-to for all things muscle. You don’t reek of “influencer”, you haven’t gone down the path of “now I’m going to show you my lifestyle” like others have, and you just seem to be so authentic.
Keep it up!
This made my heart smile! ❤ Thanks for watching and showing love! Congrats you won a prize!!! Helpline is projected above feel free to reach out for personal guidance through telegram;
Soo good to see you doing your own research and testing and providing us the valuable inputs.
Thank you Soo much @JeremyEthier
Good Luck.
This is very high quality stuff. Thank you!
I've been really looking forward to this one! Love the sciency approach!
This made my heart smile! Keep going! The best is yet to come! I appreciate your comment. ❤Thanks for watching and showing love. Congrats you won a prize! Helpline is projected above! Feel free to reach out on telegram to claim your prize! 🎁
Excellent video, you are always raising the quality standards. Just a clarification, the machine shown there is a Fly Machine, not the Pec Deck Machine (where the arms are at 90 degrees), the Pec Deck Machine takes the use of the arms and shoulders out of the equation and allows you to maximize chest activation, according to a study (which I don't remember right now) the real Pec Deck Machine is the best of the best. A video where you compare the Barbell Bench Press, Pec Deck Machine and Fly Machine would be great.
Thank you!! Very informative i like the way you approach the results💪💪💪
Beautiful Video Jeremy & Team!!
This has really inspired me.
I'm part of the BWS Family and have just started out recently. I will make you proud coach!
✌
I am currently doing a transformation based on alot of stuff from this chanel. And I can really recommend diving deep and watching some videos here before you make your routine. Inspiering, educational and now also fun. Brilliant bud! Love from Norway! Cable exercises did well here and the same will go for shoulders. the standard ones for each head.
This made my heart smile! ❤ Thanks for watching and showing love! Congrats you won a prize!!! Helpline is projected above feel free to reach out for personal guidance through telegram
You've come a long way, congrats on the success you have had and i hope it continues!
Great video. When you did the ice bath in the rain in the parking lot...I knew you had to be from Vancouver. Nowhere in the world rains like it does than in Vancouver. Nice to see a local boy having great success on TH-cam. I keep watching and getting workout tips. Thanks!
I love the way this guy explains things. He's someone I trust
It would actually be super interesting to perform these measurements using different chest machines from different manufacturers. Nice video dude 💪
This was a very fun video. Informative, and funny. 🤣
I will try the decline dumbell press.
Very informative absolutely love your videos!
Really great work... I appreciate the great work you guys did... really Impressive... an advice that you could have placed a sensor on the triceps muscle as well it also works as a secondary stabilizing muscle
You deserve so much more Jeremy. The amount of effort, dedication and you love you put in to your craft is amazing. Crazy how far you've come. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us. We truly appreciate it.
We truly appreciate it, amen! 🙏💪
amazing video. you're adding so much value. thank you
What a King for giving us this top quality content. Keep up the great work bro!
Video Summary:
The video showcases a science experiment testing 16 chest exercises using an EMG machine to calculate muscle activation. The incline dumbbell press and seated cable fly were found to be the most effective for the upper and middle chest, while the decline dumbbell press and seated cable fly were the most effective for the lower chest. The experiment is part of the creator's pursuit of a research-backed fitness approach.
- 00:00 The creator explains how he came across the science of muscle hypertrophy and the importance of research in fitness.
- 02:42 The experimenters prepared for their chest exercise study by controlling the variables, finding their estimated one rep max, and predicting the best chest exercises.
- 05:21 To accurately compare chest exercises, they gathered the NVC value which represents the maximum activation muscle can reach, and tweaked the form to activate the right muscles.
- 08:02 Incline dumbbell presses at 15 and 30 degrees are the best for upper chest growth according to the experiment.
- 10:43 The best chest exercises for growth based on the test results.
- 13:40 The video creator reflects on his vision for a legacy of scientific and research-backed fitness, and thanks his viewers for their support.
Generated by Monica AI. Get yours now! 👉 monica.im?r=338103
My guess:
Upper chest: 45 degree incline dumbell press + Incline machine press
Middle chest: Barbell Bench + Flat Dumbell press
Lower chest: Seated + standing Cable Fly
Edit:
I'm surprised that the Barbell Bench press scores so low on everything. Very cool to see all the results!
Well, not on upper chest. BB bench press was on top3 on that one! 👌
I do flat dumbell press
What a great video. Subbed. Great content!
Very good video! Great work. Thanks!
Hands down. No more listening, no more try this or that. We backed by science now! Thanks to you guys. I’m more motivated than ever to make a transformation! 🤘🏼
You’ve stepped it up to another level. You’re going to great places man!
Great episode, watched every second and it was very informative
I'm new to this channel, and wow this was really interesting. I checked out the full results on your site. It's interesting how everyone responded differently to different exercises. For me personally, my favourite exercises are bench press, pec dec machine, standing cable fly's and chest press machine. Great data! Looking forward to shoulders!! 💪💪💪
A lot of my gym bros have been hating on my preference for hammer curls over the standard bicep curl, so I’ll be staking out the channel until you guys make it to arms. Earned my sub easily!
Ryan Gosling awakened uhhh something else in me
Such an awesome and informational video!!
This is a fantastic project. I'm surprised this hasn't been done thousands of times over with all the money that goes into sports science.
Is probably done but not published, they wouldn't be able to sell the same amount of supplements
It's done and published once, and that's it. In the scientific world, there's no interest in repeating already published studies. That's why.
Yes it is
Thats the gym where the magic happens for me, upper - low to high, mid - bbell bench, low dips, thank you Jeremy for this unreal content, been following you for years now and you’ve clearly evolved.
this video is amazing. I love all your videos because they are backed up by science and experiments. keep them videos coming.
i thinl that's the mozt organized video i've watched in my life, more than any school lesson and scientific study, even if u think the editing part wasn't that difficult, i think it was very clear and well organised as i haven't ever seen, good job man. Today u gained a sub and u will soon build the legacy u were mentioning in the final part of the video. Now i'm going to watch all the videos that are in ur channel, keep it up and never stop man!
So dumbbell press plus a bench is all you need.
Bro, this is a solid video. Great research, great enthusiasm to provide quality content and information to your viewers. This was by far one of the most informative Chest Exercise videos I've watched.
Good job brother. Keep up the amazing work. I've never seen content as heavy as this on TH-cam. Great job.
You are of great service to Beginners in the fitness game, as well as Experienced Fitness junkies.
Amazing! 🌟
Please make these videos for every muscle group! Thank you!
The 24 hour fitness in San jose CA had pneumatic machines, it was the easiest and great way I've ever found to determine my one rep max. Wish more places had them.
isnt that one of those big ass yellow things
Ryan Humiston did this 6 months ago, and continues to make vids with his EMG. Granted, you tried to make your version more statistically relevant. Thank you for pointing out that max muscle activation does not necessarily correlate with max hypertrophy.
Love the content.
Doing an amazing job.
Amazing vid guys, great work for real. You came at this from all angles💪🏼🧠
These videos are so helpful and enjoyable to watch and I learn a ton from them. I train mainly calisthenics exercises with rings bars and increase my body weight when needed but I’m curious how those exercises compare to the ones you test so if y’all ever test the calisthenics exercises it would be incredibly helpful 💪🏼
I was actually surprised how low the chest dip scored for the lower chest. Along with me guessing flat dumbbell press over the decline press for mid chest, I at least got 4 right. ✅
Straight bar dips is probably better for chest. Parralel bar dips likely hit triceps more
Very well done, keep it up!!!
Thanks for your Videos Jeremy they have been a lot of help in my fitness journey! 👍🏽✅💪🏽
We need more this kind of stuff,so that we can know that the exercises are really getting us to somewhere or it's just targeting other random muscles more..would be waste of time and effort..
This was the best Jeremy Ethier video ever
Yeeehhh I got that vibe best ever more like this jezza
Jeremy you’re an inspiration! Been with you doing this since v1!
This video is so good! Perfectly executed too. Props my man
Upper:
1- 15 Degree Incline DP
2- Pec deck machine
meddle:
1- BB Bench press
2- flat DP
lower:
1- Dips
2- High to low cable fly
upper chest 9:12
mid chest 10:59
lower chest 12:10
Thank you Brother
Wow, your videos are getting better and better. Super interesting and also very entertaining!
For a fitness science video, this was super fun to watch and easy enough to follow along. Been following Jeremy for over a couple of years and am just now learning he is half Filipino which is part of my genetics too. I appreciate all the research, analysis and experiments done by the Built By Science team. Cheers to everyone’s health and wellness!
•Top 3 exercises for each chest muscles•
Upper Chest:
Incline Barbell Chest Press
30 Degree Incline Dumbbell Press
Mid Chest:
Flat Dumbbell Press
Barbell Bench Press
Lower Chest:
Chest Dips
HIgh to Low Cable Fly
I've followed you for 4 years now and it is exactly because of what you show in this video: your dedication to science. Coming from a scientific field myself, you were so trustworthy to me because you're presenting the evidence clearly. And your editing skills have seen as much gains as the people you've helped in the gym. Pair that with your positive, calm, encouraging demeanor that's not trying to sell you something through sheer loudness and you've got yourself one force of nature in the modern fitness community :) Keep rocking!
Great work. Keep it up!