Building a big and proportionate chest is crucial in competitive bodybuilding or for a desirably muscular physique. The chest is an aesthetic “mirror muscle” that grounds the viewer’s eye toward the symmetry of the overall package.
Many exercises can sculpt the chest, but some do a far better job than others. 2024 Arnold Classic Physique champion Wesley Vissers’s three-exercise approach avoids typical mistakes, like overtraining one chest area or chasing too much variety without structure.
Wesley Vissers’ 3 Go-To Chest Exercises
- Inner Chest Press Machine
- Incline Chest Press Machine
- Chest Flye
[Related: Nick Walker’s Antagonistic Upper Body Training for the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro]
The chest press machine can bias the inner chest to create a denser and fuller appearance, though it’s impossible to fully isolate due to the chest fibers reaching across the pec. It uses a fixed bar path, allowing lifters to focus on range of motion (ROM) and proper form rather than stability.
A deeper ROM can aid joint mobility, potentially helping with flexibility in the shoulders and chest. (1) It can reduce the risk of injuries during other pressing movements. (2)
The stretch is incredible, and the contraction even more.
Increased ROM enhances engagement and has been shown to contribute to improved muscle development and strength. (3)
Keep the elbows at a 45-degree angle and try not to flare them. Push the weight through the chest instead of the shoulders. If you lack access to an inner chest press machine, Vissers suggests using cable flyes.
The incline press biases the upper chest, creating the sought-after “shelf” aesthetic. It’s a valuable movement in chest routines with carryover potential, helping lifters enhance strength in other exercises like the bench press or shoulder press.
A 2020 study in the International Journal of Exercise Science investigated the effects of incline pressing and flat pressing, suggesting both can meaningfully contribute to overall pressing strength development. (4)
Vissers advised using the Smith machine incline bench press, incline barbell bench press, or the incline dumbbell bench press as substitutes for the incline press machine.
Saving chest flyes for last promotes hypertrophy since previous compound exercises have pre-exhausted the muscle fibers. (5) Isolation movements enable the lifter to focus more on the target muscle, ideal for boosting mind-muscle connection and increasing muscle activation and workout efficiency. (6)
Focus on putting your biceps together, not your hands, to torture the chest and maximize growth.
—Wesley Vissers
Vissers’ alternative recommendations for chest flyes are the pec deck machine, cable flyes, dumbbell flyes, and the standing flye machine.
Future Competitions
Vissers silver-medaled at the 2025 Detroit Pro in his most recent outing against Matthew Greggo. He and his coach, Stefan Kienzl, believe that a year away from competing gives him the best chance of winning the Classic Physique Olympia crown.
References
- Reiner M, Gabriel A, Sommer D, Bernsteiner D, Tilp M, Konrad A. Effects of a High-Volume 7-Week Pectoralis Muscle Stretching Training on Muscle Function and Muscle Stiffness. Sports Med Open. 2023;9(1):40. Published 2023 Jun 1. doi:10.1186/s40798-023-00582-8 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37261567/
- Wright AA, Ness BM, Donaldson M, Hegedus EJ, Salamh P, Cleland JA. Effectiveness of shoulder injury prevention programs in an overhead athletic population: A systematic review. Phys Ther Sport. 2021;52:189-193. doi:10.1016/j.ptsp.2021.09.004 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34560586/
- Pinto RS, Gomes N, Radaelli R, Botton CE, Brown LE, Bottaro M. Effect of range of motion on muscle strength and thickness. J Strength Cond Res. 2012;26(8):2140-2145. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e31823a3b15 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22027847/
- Chaves SFN, Rocha-JÚnior VA, EncarnaÇÃo IGA, et al. Effects of Horizontal and Incline Bench Press on Neuromuscular Adaptations in Untrained Young Men. Int J Exerc Sci. 2020;13(6):859-872. Published 2020 Aug 1. doi:10.70252/FDNB1158 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32922646/
- Trindade TB, Prestes J, Neto LO, Medeiros RMV, Tibana RA, de Sousa NMF, Santana EE, Cabral BGAT, Stone WJ, Dantas PMS. Effects of Pre-exhaustion Versus Traditional Resistance Training on Training Volume, Maximal Strength, and Quadriceps Hypertrophy. Front Physiol. 2019 Nov 19;10:1424. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01424. PMID: 31824336; PMCID: PMC6882301. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6882301/
- Calatayud J, Vinstrup J, Jakobsen MD, et al. Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2016;116(3):527-533. doi:10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26700744/
Featured image: @wesleyvissers on Instagram
