11 Push Day Exercises To Add Size To Your Chest, Shoulders, And Triceps 

Muscles Worked: Chest (pectoralis major and minor), anterior deltoid, triceps

Why do it: It’s a compound exercise that can build serious muscle mass in the chest, shoulders, and triceps. A 2017 Frontiers in Physiology¹ study found that multi-joint exercises such as bench presses can be more efficient for improving muscle strength and maximal oxygen consumption when compared to programs involving single-joint exercises.

How to do it:

1. Load the barbell with your preferred weight.
2. Lie down with your feet flat on the floor and your eyes underneath the bar. 
3. With a firm overhand grip, take hold of the bar. You’ll want your hands to be slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
4. Brace your core, and then unrack the barbell. Slowly bring it down toward your chest.
5. Pause before pushing the bar to the original position.
6. Continue for the desired number of reps. Then, re-rack the barbell.

Expert tip: Instead of traditional barbell bench presses, you can also do incline bench presses or close-grip bench presses. The former places more emphasis on the upper chest compared to regular bench presses, while the latter isolates the triceps because of the closer grip². 

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps

Why do it: Dumbbell bench presses are a fantastic alternative to barbell bench presses. They build muscle in the chest, shoulders, and triceps without needing a barbell and weight plates. Because each hand is working on its own (unilaterally), one hand can’t do more work than the other, which may help fix muscular imbalances.

How to do it:

1. Place a pair of dumbbells on the floor in front of a flat bench. 
2. Grab the dumbbells with a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and sit down. You’ll want to rest the dumbbells on your quads.
3. Lie backward, positioning the dumbbells outside of your torso by your chest region. This is the starting position.
4. Press the dumbbells upward simultaneously until both arms are straight.
5. Hold before lowering the dumbbells in a controlled manner. Repeat for reps.
6. When you’re done, reverse the motion to come off the weight bench (don’t just throw the dumbbells onto the floor!).

RELATED: Best Dumbbells

Muscles worked: Shoulder muscles (anterior, lateral, and posterior delts), triceps, trapezius

Why do it: I love this shoulder exercise because you can do seated dumbbell shoulder presses when you’re able to, but if the bench at the gym is taken, you can also do it standing. As we saw above with dumbbell chest presses, both hands work independently of each other, helping to address bilateral deficits³.

How to do it:

1. In either a standing or seated position, place a pair of dumbbells at shoulder height. You’ll want your elbows to be bent and your palms facing away from you.
2. Engage your core and ensure your chest is sticking up. 
3. Press the dumbbells overhead until both arms are extended. The dumbbells should be close to touching each other.
4. Pause, then return the dumbbells to the original position.
5. Keep going for reps.

Muscles worked: Shoulders, pecs, triceps, upper back, quads, glutes

Why do it: The push press is similar to the military press (which you’ll see below), but you can lift heavier weights because you’re activating your lower body as well as your upper body. Because of the leg drive involved, you may improve your leg power output. This can translate to improvements in activities such as running, sprinting, and jumping.

How to do it:

1. Adjust the J-hooks on a squat rack so the bar is at shoulder height. Add the required weight plates.
2. Get underneath the barbell with your feet flat on the floor. You’ll want the bar resting on your upper chest and your hands in an overhand grip (palms facing the ceiling). 
3. Stand up to unrack the bar. Take a couple of steps backward, re-adjusting your feet if necessary.
4. With your core activated and chest up, dip downward about five inches. You’ll want your knees to be in line with your toes.
5. Drive up using your quads and glutes, and at the same time, press the bar overhead until your arms are straight, then pause.
6. Get back into the starting position by lowering the bar and dipping down simultaneously.
7. Press for repetitions.

Expert tip: Although I’ve described the barbell push press above, you can replicate this movement pattern with dumbbells, kettlebells, or even a resistance band—check out these variations in our push press exercise article.

Muscles worked: Shoulders, triceps, chest

Why do it: Also known as the overhead press, adding this exercise to your workout routine can increase shoulder stability and reduce the risk of injury to overhead activity athletes⁴. 

As a certified personal trainer, I prefer military presses to push presses (which you saw above) on push day, because although military presses activate fewer muscle groups, I like the stricter form. Try both to see which one you like best.

How to do it:

1. Fix the bar on a squat rack or power rack so it’s at shoulder height.
2. Step underneath so that the bar is resting on your upper chest. You’ll want your feet to be hip-width apart and your palms facing the ceiling.
3. Brace your core and stand up, unracking the bar as you do so. Take a couple of steps away from the squat rack.
4. Keeping your head neutral and chest up, press the bar toward the ceiling until your arms are locked out. You may need to tilt your head backward slightly here.
5. Pause, before slowly bringing the bar down.
6. Continue for the desired number of repetitions. Step forward and re-rack the bar when you’re finished.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps

Why do it: The chest fly is an isolation exercise that helps with hypertrophy of your chest muscles. When you perform the movement with a full range of motion, it’ll open up your chest, reducing tightness in the upper body. Also, because you need to retract your shoulder blades to perform the chest fly effectively, you may see improvements in your posture.

How to do it:

1. Sit down on a flat bench with a pair of dumbbells resting on your quads.
2. Lie back, taking the dumbbells with you and position them above your body. You’ll want your arms extended and the dumbbells touching each other.
3. Lower the dumbbells to the sides, ensuring that you have a slight bend in your elbows.
4. When you can’t lower them any further, pause. Then, slowly bring them back up.
5. Repeat for reps.

Expert tip: The above involves doing the chest fly workout on a flat bench. You can adjust the bench so it’s at a 45-degree angle to hit the upper chest more directly, use a chest fly machine found in most gyms, or use a cable machine.

Muscles worked: Deltoids (lateral and anterior)

Why do it: As the name suggests, the lateral raise is a great exercise to isolate the lateral deltoids. To ensure good form, use a lighter weight and focus on the mind-muscle connection⁵. If you want to remove your legs from the equation—and therefore, the ability to cheat on your reps —I recommend you sit down while doing lateral raises.

How to do it:

1. Stand upright, holding a pair of dumbbells. You’ll want your arms by your sides, your feet hip-width apart, and your head neutral.
2. Squeeze your glutes, tense your core, and raise your arms to the sides. Keep going until your arms are in line with your shoulders.
3. Hold for a moment, then bring the dumbbells back down to your hips.
4. Raise for repetitions.

Muscles worked: Triceps

Why do it: Compound exercises such as bench presses and military presses hit the triceps to an extent, but the aim of these pushing movements isn’t to isolate them. This is where triceps pushdowns (aka triceps extensions) come in. You’ll need to use a lighter weight than on a bench press, but doing so will set your triceps on fire.

How to do it:

1. Fasten a rope attachment to one side of a cable machine, then position the pulley in the top position. Choose your desired weight.
2. Stand facing the weight stack with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Grab the rope with a neutral grip (palms facing each other).
3. Pull the rope down so it’s near your chest region until your arms are at a 90-degree angle. This is the starting position.
4. Push down to straighten your arms, focusing on working the triceps muscles.
5. Pause, then return the rope to its original position.
6. Keep going for reps.

Muscles worked: Triceps, chest, shoulders, core

Why do it: If you’re looking for upper body muscle growth using just your body weight, then dips are a great addition to your push day routine. They can also be progressed as you build strength. A 2022 study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health⁶ compared bench, bar, and ring dips. It found that bar dips are an appropriate progression from bench dips. Then, you can progress to ring dips if bar dips are too easy and you want to activate the muscles worked by dips to a greater extent.

How to do it:

1. Step onto the dip station, and take hold of the handles with a neutral grip. 
2. Jump up so your feet come off the platform and your arms are extended. This is the starting position.
3. Slowly bend at the elbows so your body moves toward the ground. Keep going until your elbows are at 90-degree angles.
4. Hold for a moment, then return to the original position.
5. Dip for repetitions.

Expert tip: If unable to do bodyweight dips using parallel bars, use a bench or plyo box instead. Sit on the edge of a flat bench with your fingers pointing forward and place your feet firmly on the floor. Lower yourself down until your elbows are at 90-degree angles, pause, and push yourself back up. 

Muscles worked: Triceps

Why do it: Lifters love skull crushers because they build muscle in the upper arm and can get you stronger at other push day exercises on this list. Increasing the strength and size of the triceps has a direct carryover to bodybuilding exercises such as bench presses and push presses because the final portion of the movement is all about using the triceps. 

How to do it:

1. Add the required weight to an EZ-bar or straight bar.
2. Sit down on a flat or incline bench, resting the bar on your thighs. 
3. Lie back, taking the bar with you. You’ll want to position it above your chest so your arms are extended and your hands are slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
4. Keeping your elbows tucked in, lower the bar to your forehead. Pause, then slowly push the bar back to the top position.
5. Continue for the desired number of reps.

Muscles worked: Chest, shoulders, triceps

Why do it: Push-ups can be done anywhere because they require no equipment. There are many variations so it’s simple to progress or regress standard push-ups depending on your current ability and fitness goals.

A 2019 study by the Sports Medicine International Open⁷ found that push-ups and bench presses (which you saw above) can be used interchangeably. 

How to do it:

1. Begin in the high plank position. You’ll want your palms on the floor, shoulder-width apart, and your arms straight.
2. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes. With your elbows tucked in, bend them so your body moves toward the floor.
3. When your chest is as close to the ground as possible, pause. 
4. Push through your palms to return to the high plank position.
5. Repeat for reps.

Expert tip: If you want to replicate different intensities of bench presses with push-ups, use a weighted vest.