Chest General Fitness Workout - 45min Intermediate
Develop a powerful upper body with this chest and triceps focused routine. By combining heavy barbell work with high-volume isolation exercises, you will maximize muscle fiber recruitment and endurance. This intermediate session is designed to refine your push mechanics while building significant definition.
This workout is ideal for intermediate lifters or athletes in sports like tennis or golf who need a strong, stable upper body. It's perfect for anyone wanting to improve their pressing power on Tonal while increasing muscle hypertrophy.
Equipment
Workout Plan
Rest 90-120s between heavy barbell sets, 60s for handle accessories, and 45s for unilateral work and finishers.
Barbell Bench Press
Chest, Triceps, Abs
Engage the Barbell's digital weight once you have found a steady rhythm at the bottom of the movement.
Close Grip Barbell Bench Press
Triceps, Chest
Keep your elbows tucked close to your ribs to shift the load onto your triceps.
Bench Press
Chest, Triceps, Abs
Focus on Tonal's digital tension to ensure both handles move at the same speed throughout the press.
Single Arm Bench Press
Chest, Triceps, Obliques
Resist the urge to rotate your torso as the cable pulls you toward the side of the machine.
Standing Decline Chest Press
Chest, Triceps
Drive the handles toward your hips to emphasize the lower chest fibers during this high-rep finisher.
Skull Crusher
Triceps
Lower the handles toward your temples while keeping your upper arms vertical and stationary.
Why this order
This workout follows a compound-to-isolation progression, starting with high-load barbell movements to tax the primary movers when energy is highest. It transitions into handle-based accessory work to improve stability and address muscle imbalances through unilateral movements. The session concludes with high-rep finishers to maximize metabolic stress in the triceps and chest.
Want this personalized for you?
This is a template workout. Connect your Tonal and the AI coach adjusts weights to your strength scores, swaps exercises around injuries, and progresses you week over week.
Start Free with AI CoachFrequently Asked Questions
What should I do if my triceps fatigue before my chest?
Reduce the weight on triceps-specific exercises like Skull Crushers using Tonal's weight dial to ensure you can finish the remaining chest sets with perfect form.
Can I use Spotter Mode for the heavy barbell sets?
Absolutely. Turn on Spotter Mode for the Barbell Bench Press to safely push your limits without needing a physical partner; Tonal will automatically reduce the weight if you struggle.
Why are there two types of bench presses?
The barbell version focuses on maximum power and absolute load, while the handle version increases the range of motion and forces your stabilizer muscles to work harder.