The breasts are often referred to as the "pecs" in males and the "bust" in females. Regardless of your gender, you have prominent muscles in your chest known as the pectorals. In females they lie under the breasts and in males they lie right under the skin. To strengthen and tone these muscles, exercises are performed with multiple fitness tools.
Barbells
Barbells are considered free weights for the freedom of movement they allow. A bench press is a common breast exercise performed from a face-up position on a weight bench. To do this exercise, hold the bar straight above your chest and then lower and lift it by bending your elbows and contracting your chest muscles.
The bench itself is another tool used to work the chest. Incline and decline push-ups are performed by placing your hands or feet on the bench. Incline push-ups target the upper chest and decline push-ups target the lower chest.
Dumbbells
In similar fashion to barbells, dumbbells are considered free weights. These tools are used to do chest exercises like chest presses and flys. The chest press is done the same way as the bench press, except that you lower the weights to your sides and push them back up. Dumbbell flys work the inner part of the chest and they are performed from the same starting position as the chest press. To do these, slightly bend your elbows and maintain that bend as you lower the weights to your sides and push them back up.
Stability Ball
Stability balls are round, rubber air-inflated tools that range in size from 45 cm to 85 cm. When it comes to the chest, these are used in multiple ways. Both push-up variations are performed on the ball, as well as chest presses and flys. By using the ball for these exercises, you are forced to contract more muscle fibers than with a stationary bench. Because you are unstable, the exercises are more challenging.
Bear hugs are isometric exercises performed with the ball. To do these, simply wrap your arms around the ball and squeeze forcefully until you become fatigued.
Weight Machines
The chest press and chest fly machines perform the same work as the bench press and dumbbell fly, except that you do not have to stabilize weights. For people new to exercise, these machines are more advantageous than free weights for their ease of use. To perform a chest press, sit in the seat of the machine with your back against the backrest and push handles forward against resistance.
To do chest flys, sit in the same position as for the chest press and push handles in front of your body in an arcing motion with your elbows slightly bent.
Exercise Bands
Exercise bands, or resistance bands, are made of durable rubber tubing or they are flat. Chest presses and flys are performed with the middle of the bands anchored around a post or pinched in between a door and its jamb. The resistance of these bands is adjusted by stepping forward, wrapping the ends around your hands a few times or by simply using a stronger band. The lightest colors have the least resistance and the darkest colors have the greatest resistance.
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