A Guide To Chest Exercises

If you want to go straight to the bodyweight exercises, then you are going to have to check out our push up workout page. There are a variety of puh up exercises varying in level of difficulty. There is definitely plenty there to keep you busy and give your chest a great workout.

If you want some exercises to do at the gym with a little bit of equpiment, then keep on for examples below.

Chest Exercises

It is good to work the chest front different angles in inclines so that your work the whole of the pectoral muscle. So including incline and deline work in combination with flat bench work in neccessary.

I am personally a big fan of flyes, so I am going to start off the exercises with those. I just think they give you the biggest bang for your buck and have a great range of motion and you can do it all with dumbbells and a bench.

Decline Dumbbell Flyes

You will need to lay back on a declined bench so that your head and lower than your legs. A 30-45 degree angle works well. Grab the dumbbells and position them with your palms facing upward towards teh ceiling. You will be using a wider range of motion than in a press. Your forearms should extend outward.

Butterfly Machine

You can also do this laying down on a flat bench with dumbbells, but I thought I would use the butterfly machine for this example because I think it is a great machine to use if you have access to a gym.

Adjust the machine so that it is at the proper height for your body size. The pads should be about chest level and your back should be flat against the back pad. With your forearms resting on the pads, squeeze them together using your chest muscles. When they meet in the middle, return to the starting postion

Cable Cross Overs

Another one of the great chest exercises is the cable cross over. You will need to attach handles to both ends of the cable machines. Standing in the middle with legs and waist bent, hole the handles in hand with palms facing downward. Push the handles together towards the ground until the meet in the middle, then slowly release back to starting position.

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press

The dumbbell incline press is a classic pressing exercise for your chest. Set a flat bench at about a 30 degree incline. Grab the proper weight and sit down on the bench and lean back. The dumbbells should start just above your chest with your palms facing forward. Press the dumbbells until your arms are straight (without locking your elbows), and then return to the starting position. You can also do this as a fly if you choose.

Bench Press

The bench press is the most common of the chest exercises used. You could use a barbell bench or you could use a Smith machine. Lie falt on the bench with your feet flat on the ground. Lift the bar off the rack and hold it straight above your chest. Lower the bar towards you until it touches your chest. Then raise the bar back up to the starting position.

If you are going to be pressing heavy weights, make sure you have a spotter to help you. You will need to have absolute control over the bar at all times or your could risk injurying yourself of others. The Smith machine makes sure that the bar does not lean to one side of the other.

Wide Grip/Narrow Grip Bench Press

You can use a wider grip on your bench press, a little wider than shouler width apart. This will focus on the outer portion of the chest muscles. If you use a narrow grip, you will use more of the triceps on the move and can be a great combo exercise. Ther wide grip is pictured below.

If you did not check out the push up workout earlier in this article, now is a good chance to check that out for some great bodyweight exercises. Or, if you want, check out some back exercises to balance your chest exercises.

Pictures courtesy of EverKinetic.