Chest workout at Home with Barbell

Working out in the comfort of your own home is the best. There are no lines for the bench press when you do your chest workout in your garage. For many of us, that is the dream. 

Not sure where to start with your at-home chest workout? The good news is if you own a bench press or a rack and an adjustable bench, you have everything you need for a great chest workout at home.

Add in a pair of adjustable dumbbells, and you’re set!

In this article, I’ll cover bench press variations, techniques, and workouts you can do from your home gym.

Barbell Workouts

As much as I love kettlebells, the barbell will always be my first love. There is something about gripping the knurling and feeling the cold steel in my hands. You can go heavy with the barbell and test your strength. You can use it to develop explosive power with Olympic lifts like the clean and power clean. You can use it to build muscle and muscular endurance. There’s nothing you can’t do with a barbell and some determination.

Barbells are great for developing the pectoral muscles. The best barbell exercises are the classics. The barbell bench press using a flat bench, the incline bench press, and the decline bench press. These three exercises form the basis for the perfect chest workout at home with a barbell.

What muscles does the bench press work?

Bench press: Pectoralis major; pectoralis minor

-Focus: Sternal head (mid pecs)

Incline bench press: Pectoralis major; pectoralis minor (upper chest)

-Focus: Clavicular head (upper pecs)

Decline bench press: Pectoralis major; pectoralis minor

-Focus: Sternal head (lower pecs)

To build a stronger chest, you need to understand bench press mechanics.

The first is the bench press setup.

Bench Press Setup

The setup (starting position) is important. It sets the stage for your bench press performance. Conducting a bench press doesn’t only involve the chest but the whole body.

The National Strength and Conditioning Association defines this as the 5-points of contact. The 5 points of body contact with the bench and ground ensure a stable position while lifting the weight.

5 Points of Contact

Start by lying supine on the bench (on your back, face up).

1. Place your head on the bench

2. Place your shoulders and upper back on the bench

3. Place your butt flat on the bench

4. Place your left foot on the ground

5. Place your right foot on the ground

After you got your setup down, it’s time to choose your grip. The different grip options can target different areas of the chest.

Bench Press Grip

Altering your grip on the barbell can help work the pec muscles from various angles. This is important for total muscle development and hypertrophy.

You can apply the below grip options to all the exercises below. Each grip width will use what’s known as the closed grip. To use a closed grip, wrap your thumb around the bar. This prevents the bar from rolling, which could cause a severe injury if you use a heavier weight.

Neutral Grip

The neutral grip is the most common grip for barbell chest exercises. Grip the bar at shoulder width. This is where the bar transitions from smooth metal to rough knurling on most barbells. The neutral grip will work the primary muscles of the chest.

Wide Grip

Grip the bar a few inches past shoulder-width. A wide grip on your bench press movements can help work the outer pec muscles attached to the rib cage.

Close Grip

A close grip involves bringing your elbows closer to your body. You will place your pinky fingers closer to the bar’s smooth surface. This grip incorporates the triceps more than a neutral or wide grip.

A note on pronated vs. supinated grip

A pronated grip is also referred to as an overhand grip. You will place your palms above the bar. A supinated grip is known as an underhand or reverse grip. You will put your palms under the bar to use a supinated grip.

For barbell chest exercises, you are going to use a pronated grip. A supinated grip is best used for pulling exercises like pull-ups.

You may also enjoy these articles!

• Top 5 Upper Body Exercises at Home (+ 5 Sample Workouts)
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How to Lift the Weight

You need to focus on the two muscle actions to get the most out of your lift.

The eccentric muscle action and the concentric muscle action.

Eccentric

The eccentric part of the lift is the lowering phase. Lowering the weight in a controlled manner causes micro-tears in the muscle fibers. The body then repairs these tears by adding more structural proteins to the fiber. This, in turn, causes the fibers to grow and muscles to get bigger.

Concentric

The concentric muscle action is the pushing part of a lift. Research shows that exploding through the concentric movement recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibers. Fast-twitch muscle fibers, or Type II muscle fibers, are larger and more powerful than slow-twitch or Type I muscle fibers. Recruiting these fibers can increase strength and muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth).  

Breathing

Your breathing pattern is an integral part of any lift. Beginner lifters tend to hold their breath when lifting. This can cause a rapid increase in blood pressure, dizziness, or even fainting.

It’s essential to breathe when lifting. For the bench press, focus on inhaling during the eccentric action. Then, exhale through the concentric movement. The optimal time to exhale is through the sticking point. The sticking point in most lifts is the transition from eccentric (lowering the bar) to concentric (raising the bar). It is the most challenging part of the lift. A powerful exhale will help you explode from the sticking point back to the top of the movement.

A 2-3 second inhale while lowering the bar will allow you to lower the bar in a slow, controlled manner. Slow and controlled increases the chest muscles’ time under tension.

Time under tension is an essential aspect of weightlifting.

Time Under Tension

As you may already know, I love to cook. There are many similarities between cooking and lifting weights. If the setup, grip, and breathing mechanics are the ingredients, then the time under tension is the heat. You can put all your favorite seasonings into a pot of tomato sauce, but it doesn’t become marinara until you turn on the heat and let it cook.

That’s what time under tension is to your resistance training. You need to let your muscles cook under the weight. And, like cooking, you don’t want your time under tension to be too short. If you rush through the reps, it might need to be longer to stimulate muscle and strength growth. If you take too long, you may not do enough reps to work eccentric and concentric muscle actions.

You can increase your time under tension to optimal levels in a few ways. 

1. Slow down the eccentric muscle action as discussed above. Slowing the lowering phase of the bench press is the easiest way to increase time under tension. You don’t need to take 20 seconds to lower the bar. Two to three seconds of controlled movement is all you need.

2. Stop short of complete extension when performing a lift like a bench press. Extending your arms transitions the tension from the pecs to the elbow and shoulder joints. Maintaining a slight bend in the arm will keep the tension in the pecs.

3. Pause at the moment of maximum contraction. Think of squeezing your biceps at the top of the curl range of motion. A brief squeeze at the end of each rep enhances tension in the muscle. This is referred to as establishing the mind-muscle connection.

Mind-Muscle Connection

The mind-muscle connection is simple. Focus your attention on the muscle group you are training.

Arnold Schwarzenegger popularized the idea of the mind-muscle connection in the film Pumping Iron. Arnold explains how he puts his mind inside the muscle group he is training. Research shows focusing on the muscle group can improve motor unit recruitment. The higher the recruitment, the greater the muscle contraction. 

The easiest way to do this is to focus on contracting the muscle throughout the lift. Then, squeeze the muscle at peak contraction, as discussed above.

The steps below to complete a bench press include these time under-tension strategies.

Step 1

Start position: Lay on the bench with your feet flat on the ground. Your upper back should be flush against the bench. Keep a slight arch in your lower back.

Step 2

Eccentric lowering phase: Remove the bar from the rack. Use a tight, closed grip. Retract your scapula (shoulder blades) by imagining pulling the bar apart. Lower the bar in a slow, controlled manner. If it helps, you can count to three as you lower it to keep a three-second cadence. Allow the bar to touch your chest. 

Step 3

Concentric lifting phase: Explode upward, pressing the bar up and slightly back. This movement pattern will keep the tension in your pecs and less in your shoulders.

Step 4

Mind-muscle connection: Stop short of full extension. Keep tension in your chest throughout the movement. Focus on contracting your chest throughout the movement by using the mind-muscle connection.

Types of Bench Press

Bench Press 

The flat bench press is the classic barbell chest lift. It’s considered one of the big five exercises in strength training. It is a great exercise to build your chest training routine around. The bench press is also a traditional marker of strength.

Incline Press

The incline bench press is one of the best chest exercises to build the chest muscles that attach to the clavicle. Developing these muscles can give the pecs a full appearance.

Decline Press

The decline bench press is a great way to build the lower chest muscles that attach to the rib cage and the inner chest muscles that attach to the sternum.

If you don’t have a bench that adjusts to a decline, that’s okay. You can take a flat bench and put a 25 or 45-pound weight plate under the bench. You don’t need a steep decline as you see on decline bench presses at most gyms to achieve the desired results.

Now that you know the three primary barbell chest lifts, let’s look at some chest workout options you can incorporate into your routine.

Chest Workout at Home With Barbell

Option 1: Chest Day

This option is for those who like working 1-2 muscle groups in a single workout. This is known as a bodybuilding or “bro” split. The most common version of this split is a day dedicated to 1-2 muscle groups. For example, a day for the chest and triceps, a day for the back and biceps, and a day for the legs and shoulders. This home chest workout is for you if that’s your jam.

The sets and reps in this workout are geared toward hypertrophy (chest growth). If your goal is muscular endurance, keep the sets the same, increase the reps, and use lighter weight.

Exercise 1: 3 x 10-12 bench press

Exercise 2: 3 x 10-12 superset incline bench press/incline chest fly (dumbbells)

Exercise 3: 3 x 10-12 superset decline bench press/push-ups

Rest between sets: 1-2 minutes

Load: Moderate

*Note: If you don’t have a pair of dumbbells, substitute the chest fly diamond push-ups.

You may also like these other articles!

• 23 Best Exercises for a Home Dumbbell Workout (No Bench)
• 9 Best Triceps Workouts at Home With Dumbbells
• Lower Chest Workout With Dumbbells Beginner’s Guide

Option 2: Chest as part of a full body workout (strength)

If you want a full-body workout in a single session, this option is for you. Most full-body routines include 1-2 exercises per muscle group. The below workout is meant to be the chest part of a larger workout.

The sets and reps for this option best coincide with a strength-focused workout. If your goal is hypertrophy, increase the reps and use a moderate load and shorter rest periods.

Exercise 1: 3 x 3-5 bench press

Exercise 2: 3 x 6-8 incline chest fly (dumbbells)

Rest between sets: 3-5 minutes

Load: Heavy

*Note: If you don’t have a set of dumbbells, substitute the chest fly diamond push-ups.

Option 3: Chest as part of a full body workout

This option is for you if you like metabolic conditioning workouts that increase your heart rate and challenge your muscular endurance. This training style uses lower weight and includes 1-2 exercises per muscle group.

If your goal is hypertrophy, decrease reps and use a moderate load. If your goal is strength, decrease reps, and increase the load.

Exercise 1: 3 x 20-25 decline bench press

Exercise 2: 3 x 20-25 push-ups

Rest between sets: 30 seconds – 1 minute

Load: Light

So, what are you waiting for? Start building a bigger, stronger chest today!

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