Five Best Chest Exercises To Make The Gym Jealous Of Your Pecs
Men consider their chest muscles
as one of the top show muscles, second only to their biceps. For women,
chest muscles are very important in maintaining the perky appearance of
their breasts. These are the primary reasons why many individuals look
for the best chest exercises that they can use. Well, look no more as
the following list should provide you with everything you need to know
as regards the best chest exercises.
The Barbell Bench Press is
known as the king of all chest exercises for good reason. In fact, if
you were made to choose just three of the best chest exercises, this
exercise should still be on that list. There are several variations of
the flat barbell bench press that you can choose from. In general,
close-grip barbell bench presses are used to work the triceps, while
wide-grip barbell bench presses are considered a standard chest muscle
builder. The middle-grip barbell bench press is the most effective for
strengthening both your triceps and the pectorals; what's best is that
it strengthens your shoulders as well.
The Dumbbell Bench Press ranks
second on our list of the best chest exercises because it is an awesome
way of ensuring that you do not experience any strength imbalance
between the two sides of your body. This exercise is also commendable
because it works with the natural function of the chest muscles with its
focus on moving the weights toward the middle of the body. You may
choose to do incline, decline, or flat dumbbell bench presses. If you
choose flat dumbbell bench presses, you may also choose to use a wide,
medium, or close grip during the exercise.
Explosive push-ups are
also among the top choices of chest exercises. No matter how much time
you devote on bench presses or any other type of chest exercise, you
should never take push-ups for granted. This exercise is an excellent
way of developing power not only in your chest, but also in your
shoulders and triceps. Clapping and plyometric push-ups are the two most
recommended types of push-ups for you to try. There's a bit of debate
going on as regards the position of your head during push-ups. Ideally,
you should hold your head up and look forward when performing this
exercise. But, when you are doing plyometric push-ups by jumping up onto
weight plates, then you probably won't have much choice but to look
down in order to avoid missing your target.
Chest Dips closely
resemble the movement of decline bench presses, except that it works
more on strengthening your triceps for chest pressing. If you have a bad
shoulder, it is advised that you either refrain from doing this
exercise, or stick to shallow dipping. If you feel that your shoulders
are strong enough and you decide to include this exercise in your
routine, then you must remember to lean slightly forward so as to keep
the tension more on your pectorals than your triceps. The most common
variations of this exercise are the assisted, bodyweight, and weighted
chest dips.
Dumbbell Flyes are
not really that important as chest exercises, but they can be very
effective recovery exercises. Of course, you will need to rest for a day
or two after doing intense chest workouts, but that doesn't mean you
should neglect exercising your chest during that period. Dumbbell flyes
allow for a good stretch and increase the blood flow to all areas of
your chest. It is also considered as a key exercise for muscle growth
and flexibility, which is why it is included in our list of the five
best chest exercises. When you perform this exercise, be careful not to
bring your arms completely perpendicular to the floor at the top of the
movement. Rather, you should stop the motion when your arms are about 15
degrees short of being completely overhead. Be sure to control the
entire motion with your chest muscles and front deltoids as well,
instead of with your triceps.
