Just about every bodybuilding “expert” on the internet tells you the same thing regarding advice on “how to build big pecs.” Most of it sounds something like this:

“To build bigger muscles, you need to train heavy. You can work out with more weight while bench pressing to get bigger pecs than when doing isolation movements like flyes. So heavy bench pressing is an absolute must as fundamental exercise to build big pectoral muscles”.

That’s what they’re telling you. However, a close look at what’s going on in gyms around the world may reveal a different story; everyone has their group of guys doing set after set of bench presses who have little to show for it in terms of chest development. Also, any close look at the world of weightlifting can give us a clue. Weightlifters can bench press heavy like no one else. However, many of them have chest development that resembles that of a 12-year-old boy (with a little more hair).

What is the real answer to the ‘how to build big pecs’ question? This is my advice based on 25 years of experience with exclusively natural bodybuilding:

First… Realize that “heavy” is a ‘relative term’

When someone gives you overly generalized bodybuilding advice like “train hard,” it might be time to ask yourself if they’re playing with a full deck or just assuming you’re not. “Heavy” in what context? “Heavy” compared to what? The term “heavy” is relative, if there ever was one.

Let’s start with the question of context. If you can bench press 200 pounds for six reps and struggle on the sixth rep, that’s heavy for you on the bench press. If you’re doing dumbbell flyes instead of bench presses and can only use a fifty-pound dumbbell in each hand for six demanding reps, well, that’s heavy, too, in the context of isolating your pectoral muscles. Aren’t you training “heavy” on flyes due to the fact that they can’t be done with the weight of bench presses? That’s stupid. Your pectoral muscles are working damn near single-handedly to make those dumbbells perform the overhead moves. Bench presses were simply about moving more weight with the help of muscle groups other than the pecs, namely the delts and triceps.

Second, let’s talk about “heavy” in a comparative sense. If you weigh 130 pounds, dumbbell flyes with 35-pound dumbbells can be heavy. For a bodybuilder weighing 230lbs, 80lb dumbbells could be useful for a workout, albeit a “heavy” one. The focus of relativity within the context of comparison for successful bodybuilding should only be towards how heavy the weight will be when you have achieved your muscle building goals compared to what it is in the present.

So, don’t let a generalized “heavy training” of a “brawny head” lead you to mistakenly think YOU are the mental lightweight (pun overloaded).

‘How to Build Big Pecs’: Well-executed aerial moves

It’s amazing that self-styled bodybuilding “experts” on the internet get away with claiming that the answer to “how to build big pecs” lies in using the bench press as a foundational exercise. All it takes is a little knowledge of bodybuilding history to know that the bench press is often not the best recipe for bigger pecs. I looked at a classic article by professional bodybuilder Scott Wilson in 1987 in which he explained how he never gained appreciable chest size until he abandoned the bench press in favor of strict, heavy deadlifts.

And what about the opinion of the late Vince Gironda – “trainer to the stars” and owner of the famous Vince’s Gym? He argued that the regular flat bench press against the chest was almost useless for pec development. Vince hypothesized that using a wider grip on the bench press and lowering the bar to your neck (directly above your shoulders) is the only way to turn the press into a chest-building stimulus.

Personally, the ‘neck-to-neck bench press’ has always provided better chest stimulation than the conventional method. It’s hard on the shoulders though, even when using a Smith machine.

For this reason (among others), I recommend following the path of Scott Wilson if you are struggling with chest growth. Strict, heavy, well-executed flye exercises can be a wonderful “how to build big pecs” move if done with attention to detail in both form and larger training formula.

Using flye moves to build bigger pecs

If there’s one major key to ‘how to build big pecs’ using flyes, it’s to fly with proper form. Too often, bodybuilders default from a strict execution of these movements to one that resembles a combination between an opening and pressing exercise. They do this by rotating the elbow area (even slightly) at the midpoint of dumbbell flyes where the outer pecs might have required maximum force. This tends to reduce stress on the target area, which increases the trainee’s physical comfort and is detrimental to potential chest development.

If you want bigger pectoral muscles, resist the urge to twist your elbows and have the entire movement happen in the front of your shoulders. Just bend your elbows slightly (to avoid hyperextension of the joint) and keep that bend from increasing as you go through the arc of each rep. Don’t lower your arms below the horizontal plane at the bottom of the movement. Try to ‘squeeze’ the pecs at the top of the movement with each rep. Try to slightly arch your back and push your chest out a little with each positive rep, instead of “dragging” your chest in to achieve the reps with less effort.

If the typical “how to build big pecs” advice (i.e. “heavy bench presses”) has left you flat, I suggest you try heavy dumbbell flyes. When combined with an optimal bodybuilding training/recovery strategy, chances are you’ll be pleased with…bulky results.