Believe it or not, push-ups are one of the best chest workouts for men, which is great news because you can do them just about anywhere. We won’t insult your intelligence by explaining how to do a push-up. What we will say is that your hands should be shoulder-width apart and your legs should be hip-width apart. Also, when you’re performing the actual push-up, your elbows should form a complete 90-degree angle. Last but not least, if anything but your palms and the tips of your toes is touching the floor, you’re doing it wrong.

So you’ve mastered the push-up, but can you handle the suspended push-up? If you’re ready to try, you’ll need TRX straps, which put your hands and body in an unstable suspension. Keeping your feet shoulder-width apart, grab the handles, extend your arms in front of your chest, and put your body at an angle of 45-90 degrees to the floor. Tighten your core as lower yourself toward the floor, stopping when your hands are just outside your shoulders. Bring yourself back and do it again. Your elbows and head should remain in a neutral position throughout.

Any gym regular can tell you that chest exercises and dumbells go together like peanut butter and jelly, but did you know that performing bench presses at an incline reportedly maximises upper pec activation during contraction? To make it happen, set the incline bench at a 30 to 45-degree angle, grab two dumbbells using an overhand grip, and sit all the way back. Keeping your feet flat on the ground, lift the dumbbells above your face, and extend your arms. Next, lower the dumbbells toward the middle of your chest on either side and then lift them up while drawing them slightly closer to one another. Repeat.

While standard bench presses are as common as they are effective, some experts suggest that a close-grip bench press is better for your shoulders. The actions are more or less the same with one main exception: your hands and arms are closer toward the middle of the bar, though still just outside of shoulder-width. From there, you raise, lower, hold, raise, lower… you get the drift.

You know you’re making progress when you can implement a mighty dip routine into your chest workout regimen. When ready, head over to the dip machine or parallel bars, standing dead center between both bars. Put one hand on each bar and lift yourself off the floor, leaning forward until your chest is at a slight downward angle. Next, bend your arms and lower yourself while maintaining the lean, before lifting yourself back to the starting position. Not only are you working your pectoralis major, but you’re also strengthening your triceps and shoulder muscles.

Here’s another ubiquitous chest exercise that never fails to generate results. Sit at the pec deck machine with your elbows at 90 degrees, your forearms on the vertical pads, and your hands on the handles in an overhand grip. Maintaining the 90-degree angle of your elbows, pull the handles backward until you feel the stretch in your chest. Return to the starting position and repeat. Don’t rely on momentum from your hands when performing this exercise, as the energy should be coming from your chest and forearms.

Start this exercise by picking up a plate that weighs between 10 and 45 pounds. Keeping your feet hip-width apart, grip the plate using both hands and put your arms in front of your chest. With your back and arms straight (and your core tight), squeeze your shoulders to draw the plate closer to your chest. When it’s as close as it will go, extend it back out again. Repeat. After 10-15 reps of horizontal plate press-outs, you can mix things up by performing the same exercise in an overhead (i.e. vertical) fashion.

Ahh, the trusty old resistance band pull-apart, which makes for a great warm-up or cool-down routine. Keeping your feet even with your shoulders and your arms fully extended, hold a resistance band using an overhand grip. Next, spread your arms wide as you stretch the band while bringing your shoulder blades together. Spread the band until it’s touching your chest, and then slowly return to the starting position. Repeat.

Ever wonder why all those dudes at the gym refer to their chest muscles as their “pecs?” Well, some of them are doing it because they picked up the term from their bros, but others are actually aware that the chest is comprised of pectoral muscles.