Chest

Chest

The pectoralis muscle is a large flat, fan shaped muscle that covers the entire upper rib cage. It originates from attachments along our bone, collarbones, ribs, and it inserts on each side of your body via a large tendon through your shoulder joint to your upper arm bone.

Push Ups

Barbell Bench Press

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Chest Press

Dumbbell Incline Chest Press

Dumbbell Fly

Cable Crossovers

Pec Deck Machine

Dumbbell Pullover

Push Ups

push up is an effective exercise for developing strength & power in the pectoral muscles, and is performed by lying prone and pressing your body up with your hands so that everything is off the floor but your toes and hands. This version of the push up breaks the whole movement down into several individual stages with a short pause at each stage to increase the time under tension of the muscles

Adopt the standard push up position with elbows extended. Gradually lower the body to the floor, hold for 5 seconds

Once the whole body reaches the floor, reverse the movement. Gradually return to the start position, hold for 5 seconds

Maintain a strict straight line body posture throughout the move. This is one repetition

 

Barbell Bench Press

The barbell bench press is probably one of the most well known gym exercises. It's a core exercise used by power lifters and body builders because it works the chest muscles and triceps hard. It's quite a difficult exercise to master if you are a beginner as it requires some balance and coordination to get it right.

Lie on your back on a bench with feet firmly on the floor. Grip the bar firmly with an overhand grasp ensuring the wrists are straight. Brace the abdominals to maintain a straight back and lift the bar of the rack by extending the elbows.

Position the bar over the chest, breathing in slowly, lower the bar to mid chest level, keeping the hands in line with the elbows. Lower the bar until the elbows are at right angles. Pause briefly, breath out and push the bar back upwards, by extending the arms at the elbows.

Raising the feet off the ground using a step keeps the knees above the hips which helps to keep the back in contact with the bench. When breathing, the correct way to do it is to breathe in when lowering and out when pushing up.

Incline Barbell Bench Press

The inclined barbell bench press targets the upper part of the chest muscle and also the triceps muscle. It's performed in a very similar way to the inclined dumbbell chest press but using a barbell instead. Using a barbell and the correct bench press equipment means that you can handle more weight with your bench press exercise.

Adjust a gym bench to a 45 deg incline. Sit back on the bench with feet firmly on the floor.

Lift the barbell from the rack. If you are using a heavy weight you may need a spotter to assist you. With the arms straight the bar should be positioned directly over the chest, in line with the elbows and palms facing forwards.

Brace the abdominals to maintain a straight back. Breathe in and slowly lower the bar back down to the chest in a controlled movement. Breathe out and press the bar up in a straight line by extending the elbows fully.

Dumbbell Chest Press

The dumbbell bench press is a great alternative to the barbell bench press and is probably easier and safer for newcomers to start with. However it does get more difficult as you progress with the weight as it can be harder to get the dumbbells into position. So for more advanced gym goers, they may find that they can lift more weight with the barbell bench press. The dumbbells however have an advantage because they help to develop equal balance and coordination in the chest and triceps without one side dominating the weaker side.

Take a dumbbell in each hand and lie on your back on a bench with feet firmly on the floor. Curl the dumbbells up from your sides so they are level with the chest.

Brace the abdominals to maintain a straight back and raise the dumbbells by straightening the arms so they are positioned above the chest. Breathing in slowly, lower the dumbbells to mid chest level, keeping the hands in line with the elbows.

Lower until the elbows are at right angles. Pause briefly, breathe out and push back upwards, by extending the arms at the elbows.

Dumbbell Incline Chest Press

The inclined dumbbell bench press targets the upper part of the chest muscle and also the triceps muscle. It's performed in a very similar way to the inclined barbell chest press but using dumbbells for an additional challenge. Using dumbbells works the additional smaller fixator muscles that help to balance the body whilst the main muscle is working.

Position an adjustable bench to a 45 deg incline. Sit at the end of the bench, dumbbells in each hand by your sides.

Lie on your back on a bench with feet firmly on the floor. Curl the dumbbells up from your sides to chest height. If you are using a heavy weight you may need a spotter to assist you.

The dumbbells should be positioned either side of the chest, directly over the top of the elbows, palms facing forwards. Brace the abdominals to maintain a straight back, breath out and press the dumbbells up in a straight line by extending the elbows fully. Pause briefly, breath in and lower the dumbbells back down to the chest.

Dumbbell Fly

Dumbbell flyes directly target the chest muscle and make an ideal exercise to superset or follow a bench press. The only movement is in the shoulders and therefore all the focus is on the chest pectoral muscles, which gives them an intense workout.

Take hold of a dumbbell in each hand and lie back on a bench with feet firmly placed on the floor. Brace the abdominals and back muscles to insure alignment of the spine.

Make sure the small of the back is in contact with the bench. Extend the arms and position the dumbbells together directly over the middle of the chest.

Fix the elbows, with a slight bend. Gently lower the arms to the horizontal position either side of the torso, whilst maintaining the fixed elbow position with the slight bend until the shoulders are fully extended.

Raise the arms back to the original position by horizontally flexing the shoulders whilst maintaining the fixed elbow position. The only movement occurring should be in the shoulders, as they move up and down. The elbows should be fixed with a slight bend. Inclining or declining the bench will target different areas of the chest muscle.

Cable Crossovers

Cable crossover exercises isolate the entire chest muscle. The cable crossover can be used as an alternative to the dumbbell fly or pec deck machine fly. They are also known as cable flies and can form part of a superset with other chest exercises to help fatigue the chest muscles for a more intense workout. Below you'll find a video guide and step by step instructions that describe the correct technique for the cable crossover exercise.

Position the cables at head height or above. Assume a split stance, with back to the cable machine.

Grip the handles and fix the elbows, with a slight bend. Brace the abdominals and back muscles to make sure you keep a straight back throughout the movement, bring the handles together to a position in line with the naval.

Breathe in slowly and return to the start position. Preserve a neutral spine throughout the movement

Pec Deck Machine

 The chest flye machine or pec deck machine as its sometimes known is a great way to isolate and stretch the chest muscles. It's a good way for beginners to work their chest and gain sufficient strength before moving on to more complex movements. There are many different makes and models of pectoral flye machines, but they all do the same job of isolating the chest muscles. Below you'll find a video guide and step by step instructions that describe the correct technique for the chest flye machine.

Adjust the seat height to a position so the handles or elbow pads are slightly lower than the shoulders. Sit in the seat, place your feet flat on the foot rests and back against the back rest.

Select an appropriate weight for the number of repetitions you wish to achieve. Take hold of the handles, or position the elbows onto the pads.

Inhale, and bring the hands or elbows together as exhaling. Breathe in and slowly return to the start position.

Dumbbell Pullover

 It's great for improving the strength of most of the muscles in the upper body through a full range of motion. Both anterior and posterior muscles of the upper body are worked through this exercise thus also boosting the mobility and strength of the shoulder muscle. It's a great exercise available to compliment bench, or lat pulldown.

You will be performing this exercise on a flat bench .Lie on your back with your head at the edge of the bench. Hold the weight in your hands, arms extended above your chest. Try to keep your wrists and arms from flexing. Do not lock your elbow.

This exercise can also be done with two dumbbells. One in each hand. You can position your feet on the bench or on the floor for more stability.