Strength-Training Exercises to Work Your Chest

Today, I wanted to give you some strength-training exercises for the chest, one of the major muscle groups of the frontal physique discussed in my recent post entitled A Lesson in Anatomy: Know Your Muscles.

If you remember that post, I explained that you need to know your body's muscles in order to be able to use proper form during your strength-training workouts. In addition, with the lists I am going to provide you, you can construct any number of workout routines. The variety will keep you motivated and will keep your body "guessing", resulting in greater strength gains and better fat-burning results.

In order to work the chest (pectorals) effectively, you can choose from the following 12 strength-training exercises:

1. Flat bench press (middle chest)
   
2. Flat dumbbell press (middle chest)
   
3. Flat dumbbell flyes (middle chest)
   
4. Cable crossovers (middle chest)
   
5. Pec deck machine (middle chest)
   
6. Push-ups (middle chest)
   
7. Incline barbell press (upper chest)
   
8. Incline dumbbell press (upper chest)
   
9. Incline flyes (upper chest)
   
10. Decline barbell press (lower chest)
    
11. Decline dumbbell press (lower chest)
    
12. Decline flyes (lower chest)

In your chest workout, be sure to choose exercises that work each of the middle, upper and lower chest to ensure that the pectorals are effectively trained. On Day 1, do 2-3 sets of 12-15 reps with a weight you can handle. On Day 2, do 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps with a heavier weight. On Day 3, mix it up. Remember to work a major muscle group on non-consecutive days to give your muscles time to recover.

The exercises above are straightforward. Should you want information regarding proper form and a description of any of the above exercises, than comment to this post. I would be happy to describe each of these exercises to you in greater detail.

Later this week, I will provide you with a list of great exercises that work another major muscle group of the frontal physique, the abdominals (rectus abdominis). I will describe some of these exercises in more detail as they are not as straightforward as the chest exercises listed above.

Have a great day!

Sandy Huard, President, Women's Health Supply International