It is hard to deny that a good physique includes an impressive build for your chest muscles. Aside from its great aesthetic appearance, working out your chest muscles will improve the key muscles involved in essential functions for your everyday life, muscles which serve as a foundation to different and complex movements you need to perform every day.
The bulk of your chest consists of two major muscles, the Pectoralis Major and Pectoralis Minor, together they are referred to as the “pecs”. The pecs muscles primarily work on your shoulder region causing your arm to adduct and internally rotate.
Whether you prefer using a machine, free weights or no equipment at all, there are a lot of exercise varieties that activate your chest muscles. You can also perform different variations on the same exercise to help focus on specific muscle fibers within your chest.
1. Dumbbell Bench Press
Bench presses can be performed with either a dumbbell or a barbell. One of the advantages of using a dumbbell however, is that it effectively activates each of the pecs muscles throughout the movement. It also eliminates your tendency to perform unequal efforts by forcing the same weight onto each side (unlike with a barbell, where bias can place more weight on one side than the other).
Dumbbell bench presses also provide a greater range of motion for the muscles to work with, which in turn allows for a good stretch at the bottom end of the range and a lot more contraction as you approach the top end of the range.
How to do it:
1. Lie back on a bench while holding a dumbbell in each hand. Use an overhand grip.
2. Lower each dumbbell to the side of your shoulder. Angle your arms 45 degrees away from your torso. (This is your starting position)
3. Press the weights above your chest by extending your elbows until your arms are straight. Perform this as if you are doing an arc movement with your arms while you press the weight to the top of your chest. (shoulder adduction)
4. Slowly lower the weight back to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
Avoid overextending your elbows, you should feel the tension in your chest muscle as well as in your shoulder muscles but not in your elbow joint. Keep your pecs engaged by performing the movement in an arc movement; do this by bringing the dumbbells closer together as you approach the end range.
2. Standing Shoulder Fly using Cables
This exercise effectively activates your pecs muscles throughout the range, it eliminates the contraction of your triceps muscles and thus provides more work for your chest muscles and a greater increase in muscle growth.
How to do it:
Step 1: Set the cable pulleys on the dual cable machine at chest height and stand in between them, grab the handles.
Step 2: Place one foot in front of the other, and then slightly bend your forward foot. Keep your back straight and your chest up. You should keep the center of your weight forward. Bend your arms slightly. (This is your starting position)
Step 3: Bring your arms together and squeeze your chest muscles. Feel the tension on your chest, stay in this position for about two seconds.
Step 4: Slowly go back to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
You may feel the tension on your front deltoids (shoulder) and that is normal. However, you should be experiencing the majority of the tension and “burn” directed to your chest muscles, allowing you to know that the correct muscles are being targeted.
3. JC Band Press
This exercise is an alternative to your cable machine and can easily be done at home. There are a lot of exercises you can perform with the JC Band.
JC bands (all-purpose exercise bands) are heavy duty elasticated bands, and a useful companion tool in your workout routines. Incorporating banded exercise into your chest routine will enable you to target the different fibers of your pecs more easily.
You will benefit most with JC bands while targeting the upper fibers of your chest muscles, since it is easier to set them up and angulate in such a way that fires up your muscles.
How to do it:
Step 1: Set up your bands on a stable surface, preferably a pole or solid gym equipment where you can hook or wrap the band around.
Step 2: Grip the handles and face away from the place you secured the band, walk a couple of steps forward (away from the band) until you reach a length of band extension where you feel sufficient tension against your movement. Lean your body forward, one foot in front of the other. Keep your back straight (This is your starting position)
Step 3: Bring your arms together and squeeze your chest muscles. Feel the tension on your chest, stay in this position for about two seconds.
Step 4: Slowly go back to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
You may feel the tension on your front deltoids and that is normal. However, you should experience the majority of the tension and “burn” on your chest muscles, allowing you to know that you are targeting the correct muscles.
4. Banded Push Ups
Well, this is essentially a push up with extra steps! If you are having a hard time making your push ups more difficult, you should definitely try adding some bands into the equation.
A study conducted by the ‘National Research Center for Working Environment’ in Denmark, showed that banded push-ups may elicit the same levels of muscle activity as bench press exercises, and result in similar muscle gains. This is essentially beneficial to those who want to prioritize body weight exercises in order to have more control over the range of movement.
How to do it?
Step 1: Loop the band around your hands, and then wrap it around your back.
Step 2: Assume a push up position – get down on all fours, and place your hands wider than your shoulders. Keep your arms and legs straight.
Step 3: Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor. (This is your starting position)
Step 4: Explosively push yourself back up, and then slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
As you go back up you should achieve a full range of motion by protracting your shoulder blades, perform this exercise best by thinking of yourself as pressing the floor away from you as you reach the end range. Perform this exercise on light loads at first to perfect the movement.
5. Barbell Bench Press
Although this exercise allows for a lesser range of motion than the dumbbell bench press will, it is still highly effective in loading your muscles with heavy weights, thus stimulating greater muscle growth or hypertrophy.
How to do it:
Step 1: Lie flat on your back, on the bench. Plant your feet on the ground. Grip the bar just wider than shoulder-width apart. (This is your starting position)
Step 2: Slowly bring the bar down to your chest. Your hands should be directly above your elbows.
Step 3: Push up the bar directly above your chest. Back to the starting position.
What to watch out for:
You should keep your shoulder packed (down and in) and avoid shoulder protraction, which you could do by creating a space under your lower back through slightly arching your body. This allows a more stable and greater push to overcome the heavy load throughout this set.
For safety, perform your workout with a spotter (someone to watch over you) if you are increasing the loads to your bench press.
