Written by Garett Reid | NSCA, CSCS, CISSN, M.S.E.S.S
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
Name one thing the chest and biceps muscles have in common.
Ding, ding, ding! If you answered that they are the two most popular show muscles in the entire body, you are correct.
Now, there is a multitude of ways you can train these two muscle groups (back and bis, chest and tris, only a chest day - need we go on?). And if you include an upper body day in your split, you may already be semi-used to training the chest and bis together. However, for those of you who work the chest and bis on separate days, we're about to blow your minds.
Why, you ask? Because we're going to show you how to train them together, in one insanely awesome muscle-building chest and bicep workout.
Due to their anatomical position and function, it's uncommon to see them specifically trained together. But due to the crucial roles they play in your overall health, performance, and aesthetics, in addition to the fact that you can alternate exercises so one muscle group gets extra rest (more gains, bro) while the other works, we're not sure why they aren't paired together more often.
So, here at SET FOR SET, we decided to do just that and pair this unlikely muscle combo together. We hope your gym has awesome lightning and mirrors cause you're going to be looking pumped with this workout.
Table of Contents:
- Can You Train The Chest & Biceps Together?
- How Does A Chest & Bicep Day Work?
- Is A Chest and Biceps Workout Effective?
- The Ultimate Chest and Bicep Workouts
- Programming Tips For Your Bicep and Chest Workout
- Chest & Bicep Muscle Anatomy
- How to Include Chest and Bicep Workouts In Your Training Split
- Who Benefits From Training Chest and Biceps Together?
- Best Exercises For a Biceps and Chest Workout
- Benefits & Drawbacks of Training Chest & Biceps Together
- How to Warm Up Before Your Bicep and Chest Workout Routine
- How to Continue Progressing Your Bicep and Chest Workouts
- FAQs
Can You Train The Chest & Biceps Together?
The easy answer to this question is: "You can train anything together." However, that obviously doesn't answer the heart of the question, which is deciding whether training the chest and biceps in the same workout is a good idea.
First things, first. I want to clarify what I mean when I talk about training the chest and biceps, because technically, whenever you train the upper body on the same day, you're training the chest and biceps together.
That's not what this is.
In a chest and bicep workout routine, you will only train the chest and biceps. In other words, you'll perform compound lifts and isolation exercises for your chest and only isolation exercises for your biceps.
And to answer the question, yes, you can, and yes, it is a good idea (for some lifters) to train the chest and biceps together. Let's talk about this more.
How Does a Chest & Bicep Day Work?
When training your chest and biceps together, whether you're performing supersets or not, you will always alternate exercises targeting each muscle group. This strategy enables you to take advantage of a longer recovery time.
Your recovery time can vary depending on how much time you have. If you're short on time, you can superset exercises with as little time as needed. Alternatively, you can also use normal rest intervals and still get extra long recovery between training the same muscle.
Exercise selection can remain the same. Even though you're only using isolation moves for your biceps, focus on your "biggest" biceps exercise to start. But, you won't include chin-ups or bent-over rows here, as then you're also throwing your back muscles into the workout mix.
Is Training The Chest & Biceps on The Same Day Effective?
Yes, if you do it correctly.
In order to answer if a chest and bicep workout is effective, you must look at how it will affect the rest of your workout split. If you're training your chest and biceps together, you're probably also training your back with your triceps and shoulders while saving the legs for their own day.
This will increase the volume and stress placed on your arms, so you will want to monitor muscle recovery a tad bit more to ensure you aren't overtraining them.
Assuming your recovery goes smoothly, this workout routine can be highly effective for muscle hypertrophy.
The Ultimate Chest and Bicep Workout
Now that you understand how a chest and bicep workout works, I want to get right into the workout. Stay tuned after, as I'll get into programming tips, step-by-step instructions on how to perform each exercise, and tips for advancing this routine.
I've included three different workouts here, so you can pick the one that aligns best with your training and goals.
Chest & Bicep Workout:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Incline Bench Press |
5 |
5 |
|
Cable Bar Curl |
5 |
5 |
|
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press |
3 |
6-8 |
|
Rope Hammer Curl |
3 |
8-12 |
|
Cable Fly |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Preacher Curl |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Dumbbell Pullover |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Bayesian Curl |
3 |
8-12 |
Chest & Bicep Machine Workout:
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Hammer Strength Press |
4 |
6 |
|
Cable Bar Curl |
5 |
5 |
|
Hammer Strength Incline Press |
4 |
6-8 |
|
Rope Hammer Curl |
3 |
8-12 |
|
Dip Machine |
3 |
8-10 |
|
Cable Flys |
3 |
10-12 |
|
Preacher Curl |
3 |
10-12 |
Superset Chest & Biceps Workout:
This will be the same workout as the first workout but utilizes supersets. Perform each superset exercise back to back, resting briefly between sets, before performing the superset again.
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Superset 1: |
|
|
|
Superset 2: |
|
|
|
Superset 3: |
|
|
|
Superset 4: |
|
|
Important Variables & Programming Tips for Chest & Bicep Workouts
Although working out the chest and biceps together is unique, the same muscle hypertrophy training principles apply. This includes using a wide range of reps and loads, training to near failure each set, using slow, controlled movements, and altering the exercises.
In addition, here are two more tips to make your workouts as effective as possible.
1) Change Up Your Grip:
Variety is key to muscle hypertrophy and progression. One of the easiest ways to include variety is to change your grip, primarily by altering the width slightly.
When possible, also change grips, like moving from an underhand grip to a neutral grip.
2) Take Advantage of Less Fatigue:
The whole advantage of training the chest and biceps is that it mitigates fatigue in the muscle. But this doesn't mean the workout is easy. Rather, it means you should go harder!
Really push your muscles hard with this split, as it provides you with the opportunity to do so.
Anatomy of Chest & Bicep Muscles
I've talked a lot about how you can group these two muscles together, but let's take a look at their anatomy to get an even better understanding.
The chest and biceps are two muscle groups that have little interaction with one another. In fact, if anything, they're opposing muscles, which makes pairing them all the more interesting.
Chest Muscles:
The technical names for your chest muscles are the pectoral muscles. There are two pectoral muscles, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pectoralis major muscles resemble a fan that is attached to the humerus and fan out across the chest.
Due to its size, function, and anatomy, the pectoralis major muscle has two heads, the clavicular head and the sternocostal head.
The clavicular head, also referred to as the upper chest, is the smaller of the two and sits just below the clavicle bone. Your sternocostal head makes up the majority of the pectorals and sits below your clavicular head.
The pectoralis minor is thinner and lies beneath the pectoralis major. Its origins are located on the 3rd to 5th ribs and inserts on the superior surface of the coracoid process of the scapula. Its primary job is to assist in stabilizing the scapula.
Bicep Muscles:
The biceps muscle is a two-headed muscle that sits on the anterior of the upper arms. This means the biceps have two distinct muscle bellies, the short and long head, that merge into the same insertion point.
The long head of the muscle originates at the supraglenoid tubercle, while the short head originates at the coracoid process of the scapula.
They cross separately cross the shoulder joint separately and travel down the arm, merging together approximately halfway down.
How To Fit Chest & Bicep Workouts Into Your Training Split
Curious how this would work for an entire training week? There are several ways this could possibly be set up, depending on how many days a week you have, but the best way would be to separate your training into 3 days and then just rotate through them depending on how many days you have.
That said, you should train 5-6 days a week if you really want to run this program, which enables you to train your muscles 2 times each week. I suggest rotating through like this:
- Day 1: Chest & Biceps
- Day 2: Legs & Abs
- Day 3: Back, Shoulders, & Triceps
Who Will Benefit From Training Chest & Biceps Together?
So what type of lifter would want to use a workout routine that pairs the chest and biceps?
For one, any lifter who wants to focus on their arms would benefit from a chest and bis routine. If you pair the biceps with your back, like in a back and biceps workout, you're treating the biceps as an accessory.
But when you pair the chest and biceps, the biceps are now being treated as one of the workout's primary muscles. As you're not training your back or including other large upper body exercises, your biceps will be fresh and capable of handling bigger weights, more reps, and greater volume.
In addition, anyone who has tried every other split and wants to try something different will enjoy a chest and bicep routine. Remember that when done in a constructive manner, having variety and providing new stimuli is always a good thing for muscle hypertrophy.
In my opinion, only those who have been training for a sufficient amount of time should try this program. The volume accumulated on the arms with this style of workout will likely be too much (and unnecessary) for beginners.
10 Best Exercises For a Chest & Biceps Workout
You know what the best exercises for a chest and bicep workout are, but let's talk about how to do them. Correct form is the best way to ensure optimal results.
1) Incline Barbell Bench Press:
The incline bench press will be your main chest exercise. I like using this exercise, rather than a traditional barbell bench press, because the majority of lifters don't use an incline enough. Hitting your pecs from this angle puts more emphasis on your upper chest muscles, leading to more fully developed pecs.
You can also perform this exercise using dumbbells.
How to do an Incline Bench Press:
- Set up an incline bench at a 45-degree angle. Situate yourself on the bench with your feet flat on the ground and your eyes under the bar.
- Grab the barbell with an overhand grip slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Unrack the barbell and bring it over your chest with your arms extended.
- Lower the barbell down to your upper chest, just above the nipple.
- As the bar comes down, be sure to keep your elbows tucked at approximately a 45-degree angle.
- Straighten your arms to raise the bar back to the starting position, and repeat.
2) Flat Bench Dumbbell Press:
You're then going to train the flat bench with dumbbells and moderate reps. Dumbbells are great for muscle hypertrophy since they require more muscle activation to stabilize the load.
You can also use a barbell in place of dumbbells for this exercise.
How to do the Flat Bench Dumbbell Press:
- Set up a flat bench, grabbing a pair of dumbbells. Lay down on the bench with both feet flat on the ground and your butt and upper back firm on the bench.
- Your starting position is with your arms extended straight over your chest holding the dumbbells with an overhand grip.
- In a controlled manner, lower the dumbbells down in an arc so that the inner head hits the outside of the chest at nipple level.
- Keep your elbows tucked at a 45-degree angle throughout the movement. Slowly extend your arms back to the starting position.
3) Cable Chest Fly:
A fun fact about me: I love cable chest exercises, and particularly the cable chest fly as it does an awesome job isolating the pecs using horizontal adduction.
There are also several great variations of the cable chest fly (like starting high or low) that you can throw into the mix for some variety down the road.
How to do the Cable Chest Fly:
- Set up cables with single-hand attachments about shoulder height.
- Place one foot forward and grab the handles with a neutral grip.
- Stretch out your arms, keeping a slight bend in your elbows.
- Pull your arms to the front of your body, like you're giving a big hug while keeping the same amount of bend in your elbows.
- Pull until your hands touch, then slowly move the weight back to the starting position.
4) Dumbbell Pullover:
The dumbbell pullover is a classic old-school exercise that uses shoulder extension to move a load from overhead to behind the head, so your arms are in line with your head and body.
Hey, if it's good enough for Arnold, it's good enough for you.
How to do a Dumbbell Pullover:
- Set up a flat bench and a large dumbbell. Lay flat on the bench so your back, neck, and head are supported.
- Pick up the dumbbell, grab one end with two hands, and lift it above your chest.
- Let the dumbbell drop behind your head. Keep your arms extended with a slight bend in your elbows.
- Lower all the way down, continuing to keep a slight bend in your elbows.
- Once you can't go farther, flex your chest and pull the dumbbell overhead. Repeat.
5) Eccentric Cable Machine Biceps Curl:
This is your primary biceps exercise, which uses heavy weights during the eccentric portion of the bicep curl, using either the EZ bar or straight bar.
The eccentric portion is primarily responsible for damaging muscle tissue while also producing the most force. In my experience, the eccentric portion is primarily responsible for muscle growth, so it makes for a great "main biceps" exercise.
How to do the Eccentric Cable Machine Biceps Curl:
- Set up a cable at a low setting, using a straight bar or EZ-bar attachment.
- Select a heavy load. Grab the bar with an underhand grip.
- Cheat to bring the bar up to your chest with fully flexed elbows. This is your starting position.
- Keeping your torso erect, slowly let the load down in a controlled manner. Aim for at least a 5-second eccentric movement.
- Cheat to bring the bar up again, and repeat.
6) Rope Hammer Curl:
The rope hammer curl is one of the most popular cable arm exercises there is. By using a neutral grip, you'll train your biceps and forearms, which will build a set of arms that really pop.
How to do a Rope Hammer Curl:
- Set up a cable machine with a rope attachment.
- Stand facing the machine, grabbing the rope with a neutral grip and your thumbs facing up.
- Move your elbows so they're tight against your torso.
- Keeping your elbows as slowly as possible, curl the rope while trying to separate the rope as much as you can.
7) Preacher Curl (Free Weights Or Machine):
The preacher curl really isolates the biceps by limiting your arm movement. With both the free weights and machine version, rest your arms on a decline pad, which effectively prevents all upper arm movement.
How to do the Preacher Curl:
- Place your elbows on the pad and externally rotate your arms so you have an underhand grip. Your upper arms should rest on the pad.
- Grab the handle of the machine, or hold your free weights, and curl the load up toward your shoulders in a controlled motion.
- Be conscious of keeping your elbow on the mat for the entirety of the movement.
8) Machine Chest Press:
Depending on what your gym has, the machines you use can either be plate-loaded or weight stacks. Chest press machines do a good job of isolating the chest muscles and work great for building muscle.
One thing to note: As each machine is different, you will need to look at the specific directions on your machine. In the how-to section, we've included some universal tips.
How to do the Machine Chest Press:
- Start with the handles at the nipple level with an overhand grip.
- Keep your feet flat on the ground, your butt on the seat, and your back on the back pad.
- Tuck your elbows at 45 degrees for the entire movement. Slowly extend your arms to push the weight out.
- Bend your elbows to return the weight to the starting position.
9) Dip Machine Press:
The dip machine holds your legs and body in place while allowing you to perform a dip motion. You will want to lean forward slightly so your torso is slightly angled toward the ground to hit the chest.
When you get to a point where you want some variety, check out our dips guide for more great variations. And again, review your specific machine for directions, but we've included some good universal tips below.
How to do the Dip Machine Press:
- Grab the handles with an overhand grip.
- Keep your butt firmly on the seat for the entire movement
- Start your set with your elbows bent, keeping your elbows tucked at 45 degrees for the entire movement.
- Push the weight down, extending your arms, leaning forward slightly to hit your chest more.
- Bend your elbows to return to the starting position, and repeat.
10) Bayesian Curl:
The Bayesian curl is awesome for muscle growth. In fact, I love it so much that I also included it in this bicep cable workout. One of the main advantages of this exercise is that it allows you to hit the entire muscle belly for increased muscle mass.
How to do the Bayesian Curl:
- Set up a cable with a single attachment and set the cable at the lowest setting.
- Stand a few feet in front of the pulley, facing away.
- Grab the single-hand attachment and allow it to pull your arm back slightly.
- Curl the load while also bringing your elbow forward slightly.
- At the top of the movement, slowly lower your arm back in a controlled manner.
Benefits of Training Chest & Biceps Together
As training chest and biceps together is a bit unusual, let's examine some of the top reasons why you may want to pair these muscle groups together.
1) Perfect To Superset For a quick and efficient workout:
Because the chest and biceps are independent of each other, one is not heavily stressed when training the other.
This makes them perfect for a superset, which is when you train two muscle groups together in the same rep scheme, ideally ones that do not interfere with one another.
2) Mitigates Muscle fatigue for More Intense Workouts:
As these two muscles don't interfere with each other, they won't fatigue each other. You then have two options:
- You can superset the exercises, which allows for a faster workout.
- You can use the same rest intervals you normally would, which provide extensive recovery by alternating the muscle groups.
We have already spoken sufficiently about supersets and the benefit of a quick and efficient workout. This is an obvious benefit that would appeal to anyone. However, maybe you have time to things slow. Then what?
If you were to alternate your chest exercises with biceps exercises, you would effectively have at least 5 minutes of rest between exercises of the same muscle group. This is a ton of recovery that will allow you to hit every exercise hard.
3) Hit The Biceps Fresh:
Unless you're training your arms on their own day, your biceps are usually trained toward the end of a session after they've already been hit during larger compound lifts. At this point, they're already fatigued and won't be able to lift as much weight or perform as much volume.
With a chest and biceps workout routine, the biceps will be fresh when you train them, meaning you will be able to place exponentially more volume on them as well as heavier absolute weights. This could be a great "shock" and new stimuli to the biceps to elicit greater growth. We're talking more muscle gain.
Hello, big biceps!
Drawbacks of Chest & Bicep Workouts
Unfortunately, training your chest and biceps together has some drawbacks. Let's look at why you may not want to train the chest and biceps on the same day, so you can make the best decision for your resistance training goals.
1) You May Overtrain Your Arms:
As mentioned above, if we're training the chest with the biceps, this likely means you're going to train the back and triceps together and then have an additional day of legs.
If we were then to assume we wanted to train each muscle at least 2 times a week, this means you'd train the chest and biceps twice a week as well as the back and triceps.
This effectively means you'll train both the biceps and triceps 4 times a week since they still become fatigued when training the bigger muscle groups (chest and back).
Training the same muscle fibers 4 times a week can be a lot, so this type of program would need to either be run for a short time or scheduled in a way that would affect the volume of your larger muscle groups.
2) May Affect Training Larger Muscle Groups:
At the same time, if you're putting a heavy load on your biceps in a single day, this could affect your back day workout, since the vast majority of pulling exercises rely on the biceps.
This might not be an issue for those who really want to focus on their biceps or are already pleased with their back. But if you want optimal growth in all of your muscle groups, you could see some lacking results following this training split.
3) Can Limit Your Split:
Training only the chest and biceps during a session can make using optimal frequency difficult. This setup leaves the back, shoulders, and triceps to be trained on one day, and the legs and abs trained on another.
This pretty much requires you to follow a 6-day split to hit every muscle group twice per week.
How to Warm Up Before a Chest and Bicep Workout
Warming up for your chest and biceps workout is just like warming up for any other training session. Follow this warm-up routine to get the most out of your chest and biceps workout.
First, begin with a general warm-up on the treadmill or stationary bike for 5 minutes. Then, grab a resistance band and use it with this circuit. Move quickly through these exercises. One time is enough.
- Banded Chest Press: 10-15 reps
- Banded Chest Flies: 10-15 reps/arm
- Single Arm Chest Press: 10-15 reps
- Push-Ups: 10-15
- Ballistic Push-Ups: 3
How to Continue Progressing Your Chest & Bicep Workout
You should be able to follow this program for 4-8 weeks before you start to see your progress stall. If I had to guess, I'd say you should be able to get closer to the 8 weeks, as this is likely a new training protocol for you.
That said, sooner or later, you will hit a plateau where all progress stops. Instead of trying to just work through it, you can easily make some changes. The easiest way is to swap out exercises. Here are some great alternative exercises you can use for both the chest and biceps.
Chest Exercises:
- Barbell Bench Press
- Incline Dumbbell Press
- Dips
- Incline/Decline Chest Flies
Biceps Exercises:
- Reverse Spider Curl
- Drag Curls
- Incline Dumbbell Curls
FAQs
Remaining questions? I'll answer them here.
Can I train the chest and bicep together?
Yes, combining the chest and biceps into one day is not only possible but can be highly effective! Make sure you know the benefits and drawbacks and have an idea of what training schedule suits you best.
Are chest and biceps a good combo?
It depends on why you're using it. If your goal is to grow your arms or even include more supersets, then pairing the chest and biceps together is a great idea.
Is it better to train the biceps with the chest or back?
If I had to choose one, the best is probably pairing the back and bis as they work together. However, training the biceps with the chest does have its benefits, as laid out in this article.
Can I superset Chest & Bicep Workouts?
Absolutely! In fact, this is one of the primary benefits.
Chest & Biceps: An Unlikely But Effective Training Match
Here at SET FOR SET, we like to go against the grain sometimes, as some of the more effective training methods aren't always what everyone else is doing. And that's exactly why we made this workout to train chest and biceps on the same day.
If you've been looking for something to switch things up, altering your workout routine and pairing these unlikely muscle groups together could be exactly what you need.
Give it a shot. We bet your massive arms will thank you.
Looking for another unconventional, but effective, muscle pairing? Check out our Ultimate Back and Chest Workout!
Prepare to maximize your gains with our exclusive 12-week hypertrophy training program. Choose between a 4 or 5 day training split and gain 2-12 pounds of muscle over 90 days...
Garett Reid
Author