Top 5: Chest Exercises

Chest is an area that most people train frequently and take seriously. Stimulating muscles in new, different ways is important to promote growth, increase strength and reach your goals.

If you’ve been using the same movements to train chest for a long time it might be time to mix it up. Try including some of our Top 5 Chest Exercises in your workouts this week.

Barbell Bench Press

The classic barbell bench press can be a fantastic way to develop both strength and muscle gain in your chest.

There are lots of different variations to explore including; pin press, paused reps, band resisted, lifting chains or even put on our Slingshot and go to town!

Our competition bench press has a spotting platform and we are always on hand to be a spotter if you’re going heavy or just want some extra reassurance during your set.

Coaching Points

• Retract your shoulder blades and push them into the bench to prevent shoulder injuries
• Ensure your wrists and elbows are in line and don’t flare out
• Keep 3 points of contact with the bench at all times; head, shoulders and glutes.

Incline Dumbbell Press

Using dumbbells allows you to vary the incline press and mix up your training each week.

Experimenting with different grips, alternating between unilateral and bilateral pressing and adding in paused reps will have your body working harder than ever before!

Coaching Points

• Retract your shoulder blades and push them into the bench
• Keep your wrists and shoulders in line
• Make sure your glutes and shoulders stay pushed into the bench throughout

Floor Flyes

Flyes can be a dangerous exercise if not performed correctly, by using the floor you can reduce the strain on your shoulders and focus completely on feeling the squeeze in your pecs.

This is the perfect exercise to include tempo training to increase the time your muscles are under tension.

Coaching Points

• Retract your shoulder blades
• Keep your head, shoulders and glutes in contact with the floor at all times
• Keep a slight bend in your elbows for the entire rep

Dips

The perfect exercise to include in a chest superset. By angling your torso forward you can target your chest in the dip perfectly. Experiment with the angle until you feel the tension in your chest.

If bodyweight isn’t enough try using our dip belt to add weight to your dips. Equally if bodyweight is a bit too much right now, add a resistance band in to reduce the strain at the bottom of the rep.

Coaching Points

• Angle/lean your torso forward
• Control your speed on the way down and up
• Brace your trunk to help control your technique

Cable Flys

The cable cross over machine is a fantastic bit of kit when you are trying to challenge your body, and target muscle groups, in different ways.

Changing the height of the cables will allow you to change the exercises up and add in both decline and incline versions of the cable fly.

Coaching Points

• Keep your chest up and in front of your shoulders
• Maintain a small bend at the elbow throughout the rep
• Focus on feeling the squeeze at the top of the rep