Chest exercises are meant to improve the strength of the pectoralis muscles, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor, which lies underneath. Some people simply want to tone their pecs, while others want to build up big chest muscles. Strong chest muscles are important, both in sports and in everyday functioning, as chest muscles are used for everything from raising your arm to pushing yourself up from a chair or bed to carrying or pushing any object at all.
Pushups
The simplest and yet most effective chest exercise remains the pushup. The key is to keep your back and the rest of your body straight while you stay on your toes and lower your chest to the floor and raise it up slowly. Your hand position can vary, from a wider approach with your hands a couple of inches outside your shoulders to a closer position, with your hands practically touching. That closer technique will also work your triceps more than a wider position.
Bench Press and Flyes
Two standard chest exercises in any gym or health club are bench presses and dumbbell flyes. A bench press can be done with a barbell or two dumbbells, and it can be with the bench flat or at an incline or decline. Just like with pushups, you can use a wide or close grip on a barbell to work different muscle groups. Dumbbell flyes are done by lying on a bench with a dumbbell in each hand and your arms pointed straight above you. Slowly lower your arms straight out to your sides so you're making a "T" shape.
Chest Exercises for Women
Some women may hesitate to do chest exercises for fear of making their chests look bigger or developing a masculine physique. But the reality is that women who tone their chest muscles actually help lift their breasts. Men can develop large pectoral muscles because their body types are just fundamentally different, and because they have high levels of testosterone and low levels of estrogen, which affect muscular development. Pushups, bench presses and pectoral flyes are all legitimate chest exercises for women.
Toning vs. Bulking Up
Chest exercises should be done with a weight that will max you out at about 12 to 15 repetitions. A long-held myth has been that doing many repetitions of a light weight will tone your muscles, while fewer repetitions of a heavier weight will lead to bulkier muscles. The truth is that if you lift a very light weight many times, it's probably too light to help give your muscles much benefit. Conversely, trying to lift even one time a weight that is far beyond your range, can lead to injury and little muscular gain. Part of what makes people build big muscles is consuming a lot of calories and especially a lot of protein. If you don't engage in an extreme diet like that, but you just eat a healthy, well-balanced diet, you're not going to get giant pecs. You will, however, get stronger, more attractive chest muscles.
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