Chest Strength Workouts

Although there are many exercises that train your chest, different tools and different body positions affect how strong you are and the exercise outcome. According to Dr. Jason Karp, an exercise physiologist who runs the REVO2LT Running Team in San Diego, if an exercise is less stable, the more your abdominal muscles have to work to support your body and posture. When training your chest, train your pulling muscles, like your rear shoulders and back, to balance your body. Otherwise, your body would hunch forward from too much pushing.

Ball Dumbbell Chest Press

Instead of doing a chest press on a bench, do it on a stability ball to increase torso and hip stability. You may not be able to do a heavier weight, but you will increase your stabilization strength, which allows you to lift more weight when you exercise on a bench.
Lie on a firm stability ball on your head and upper back. Lift your hips up throughout the exercise, and place your feet hip-distance apart. Extend your arms above your chest with a dumbbell in each hand. Inhale and lower the weights toward your armpits. When you feel your chest stretch, push the weight back up to starting position.
You can do this exercise with one arm or alternating arms. If you are looking to improve muscular endurance, do 12 to 16 repetitions for two to three sets. If you want to improve general strength, do six to eight reps for three to four sets. If you can do more than the indicated amount easily, use more weight. If you cannot do more than the minimum amount of reps, use less weight. This applies to all exercises.

Standing Cable Chest Fly

Besides your chest and shoulders, this exercise trains core and leg stability. You need a standing cable column machine for this exercise.
Set the handle's height to about as high as your shoulders. Stand facing away from the machine with one leg in front of the other, and grab both handles. Brace your spine and hips, and pull your arms together like giving someone a hug. Keep your elbows slightly bent. Slowly release your arms back to starting position and repeat the movement. On the next set, switch your legs.

Push-ups

The push-up trains not only your chest, but also your abs, hips and shoulders for stability. There are many variations of this exercise you can do. Regardless of the variations, keep your spine neutral at all times. Do not stick your neck out, round your back or stick your buttocks up.
For beginners, you can do push-ups on an incline with a step or a table, or you can do it on the ground on your knees.
For intermediates, do a regular push-up off your knees. Change your hand positions by placing them wider than your shoulder's width or close together. You can also place one hand toward the top of your head and the other close to your ribs. To add a rotation, do one push-up, lift one hand off the ground and rotate your body to raise your arm above you.