This 8-week chest workouts are a mass building workouts of chest, if your chest muscles are weak, it will help you to increase the thickness and width of your chest.
The chest workouts training program builds thickness (strength) and width (endurance) of your chest muscle. This will help to gain 1–2 inches of chest size and around 8 pounds (3.63 kg) of muscle mass if you follow the exact workouts and diet plan for the proper results.
The routine for these chest workouts is very simple. On Monday you will do chest-strength training (maximize growth and strength) and on Thursday you will do chest-endurance training (improved fast-twitch muscle fiber development). Meaning, the focus will be on two different muscle fibers.
Chest muscles functions
The pectoralis major is the large muscle that covers the front half of your chest. One of its functions is to turn your hand inward. Its other function is to help pull your hand forward and down. Pectoralis minor occurs directly below the pectoralis major. It is attached to your third, fourth, and fifth ribs at the bottom, and above all, it is attached to the front of your shoulder blades. It helps to pull your shoulder blades down, and when you have to push with your hands, it helps to keep your shoulders down1.
Six different sets of muscle fibers have been identified within the pectoralis major muscle, allowing parts of the muscle to move freely by the nervous system2. Pectoralis injuries can occur during weight lifting, as well as other bodybuilding exercises that place excessive pressure on the shoulders and chest.
8 weeks chest workouts schedule for thickness and width
| DAYS | WORKOUTS |
|---|---|
| Monday | Chest Strength Training |
| Tuesday | — |
| Wednesday | — |
| Thursday | Chest Endurance Training |
| Friday | — |
| Saturday | — |
| Sunday | Off day |
On Monday, the focus’ll be on the fast-twitch muscle fiber, in which you’ll hit 8–6 reps with heavyweight lifts. On Thursday, slow-twitch muscle fiber involve with a rep-range of 15-12. The rest period will be around 3 minutes on Monday and 1 minute on Thursday.
Chest Workout for Thickness (Strength)
| EXERCISES | SETS x REPS |
|---|---|
| 1. Warm-up: | |
| Lightweight barbell press or Lightweight Dumbbell press | 2 x (15-20) |
| 2. Barbell incline press | set-1 x 8 reps, set-2 x 7 reps, set-3 x 6 reps |
| 3. Dumbbell bench press | set-1 x 8 reps, set-2 x 7 reps, set-3 x 6 reps |
| 4. Barbell decline bench press | set-1 x 8 reps, set-2 x 7 reps, set-3 x 6 reps |
| 5. Push-ups with weight | set-1 x 8 reps, set-2 x 7 reps, set-3 x 6 reps |
Note: Increase weight in every set. The rest period will be 3 minutes in between sets.
Chest Workout for Width (Endurance)
| EXERCISES | SETS x REPS |
|---|---|
| 1. Warm-up: | |
| Lightweight barbell bench press or Lightweight dumbbell bench press or Lightweight dumbbell fly | 3 x (15-20) |
| 2. Dumbbell incline fly | set-1 x 15 reps, set-2 x 12 reps, set-3 x 12 reps |
| 3. Dumbbell flat bench fly | set-1 x 15 reps, set-2 x 12 reps, set-3 x 12 reps |
| 4. Dumbbell decline fly | set-1 x 15 reps, set-2 x 12 reps, set-3 x 12 reps |
| 5. Pec Deck fly or Mid-angle cable fly | set-1 x 15 reps, set-2 x 12 reps, set-3 x 12 reps |
Note: The rest period will be 1 minute in between sets. Increase weight in every set.
Combine workouts schedule for all weak muscles
Now it is to be noted here that this chest workouts must be combined with any other routine, not that you are doing only this workouts plan and not training your other muscles. You have to do back, shoulders, arms (biceps, triceps, and forearms), legs, and also train the abs muscles.
| DAYS | WORKOUT-1 | WORKOUT-2 |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Chest (strength) + Abs | Arms (strength) + Shoulders |
| Tuesday | Back (strength) | Back (strength) |
| Wednesday | Arms (strength) + Shoulders | Chest (strength) + Abs |
| Thursday | Chest (endurance) | Arms (endurance) + Legs |
| Friday | Back (endurance) + Cardio | Back (endurance) + Cardio |
| Saturday | Arms (endurance) + Legs | Chest (endurance) |
| Sunday | Off day | Off day |
8 weeks diet plan
Before follow the diet plan first calculate your daily calories’ requirement, since everyone has height, weight, and age are different, so they need different calories. (Our BMI, BMR, Calorie, and Macros calculator app).
The diet plan of this chest workouts is caloric surplus, if you want, you can also do it with caloric deficit program. Since it’s mass building workouts, it will be good if you follow the muscle gain diet plan of this workouts program.
The 8 weeks diet plan based on 2800+ calories are given below, you can add or remove few macronutrients as per your daily calories requirements.
Breakfast Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Quinoa | 1/2 cup |
| Whey protein | 1 scoop |
| Banana or Apple | 1/2 |
| Walnuts | 14g |
| Cinnamon | 1 pinch |
Snack Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Whey protein | 2/3 scoop |
| Berries | 1 cup |
| Non-fat milk or Soy milk | 2/3 cup |
| Peanut butter | 1 spoon |
| Flaxseed (grounded) | 1 spoon |
| Honey | 1 spoon |
Lunch Meal
For veg:
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| For veg: | |
| Fresh paneer | 80g |
| Rice | 1 cup |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
| Orange | 1 |
For non-veg:
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Whole egg | 1 |
| Egg whites | 3 |
| Rice | 1 cup |
| Peanuts | 14g |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
| Orange | 1 |
Snack Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Whey protein | 2/3 scoop |
| Oats | 2/3 cup |
| Almonds | 14g |
| Apple | 1/2 |
| Cinnamon | 1 pinch |
Dinner Meal
For veg:
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Fresh paneer | 80g |
| Whole wheat bread | 4 slices |
| Green veggies | 1 cup |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
For non-veg:
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Tuna can or Chicken breast (cooked) | 60g 90g |
| Whole wheat bread | 4 slices |
| Green veggie | 1 cup |
| Ketchup | 1 spoon |
1 Hour Before Bed Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Casein or Whey protein | 1 scoop |
| Non-fat milk | 200ml |
| Peanut butter | 1 spoon |
Pre-workout Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Pre-workout with supplements: | |
| Neurocore by MuscleTech | 1 scoop |
| Cold water | 200ml |
| Pre-workout without supplements: | |
| Coffee | ½ tablespoon |
| Hot water | 240ml |
Post-workout Meal
| INGREDIENTS | QUANTITIES |
|---|---|
| Post-workout with supplements: | |
| Whey protein | 1-2 scoop |
| Carbo plus | 2-3 scoops |
| Cold water | 400ml |
| Post-workout without supplements: | |
| Option-1: | |
| Boiled egg whites | 6-8 |
| Banana | 2 |
| Option-2: | |
| ProteinX | 1.5-2 scoops |
| Non-fat milk | 240ml |
| Banana | 2 |
- Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. Anatomy, Thorax, Pectoralis Major Major. Francesca Solari; Bracken Burns. Available here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525991/[↩]
- Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Pectoral Muscles. Mirza A. Baig; Bruno Bordoni. Available here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545241/[↩]
