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Chest Exercises at Home

Shashank Nakate
Chest exercises are often performed to increase or tone the chest mass. Here is a detailed description of various exercises that can be easily done at home.
Chest exercises are widely used for building bigger pecs, toning the chest, and increasing the chest mass. Though a lot of people prefer working out in the gym, it is not possible for everyone. In that case, one can opt for exercises like push ups, pull ups, dumbbell press at home itself.
However, it is very important to stretch and warm up before doing these exercises to avoid any injury. At a beginner level, these exercises should be practiced only once or twice a week. With time, it can be increased to every alternate day.

Exercises

Push Ups

Push ups are considered to be one of the most effective pectoral exercises. They are used in athletic training, military training, physical education in school, etc. 
Planche push ups, boxer's push ups, guillotine push ups, Maltese push ups, etc. are variations of this exercise.
  • The basic method of doing a push up is to face the ground while lying in a horizontal position, and lift and lower the body with the help of the arms.
  • The planche push ups are quite difficult to perform. They require the total body weight to be transferred on to the hands, while the legs are lifted in the air.
  • Boxer's push ups, on the other hand, are easier, and are performed while wearing boxing gloves. These are done on the knuckles instead of palms.
  • In case of Maltese push ups, the hands are placed near the hips as opposed to pectorals in normal push ups. Also, the distance between the hands in the Maltese push ups is greater than that in other push ups.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Press

  • To perform the flat bench dumbbell press, one should lie back on a bench.
  • In this position, the hands would hang out freely from the bench.
  • Dumbbells should be held in each of the hands and pressed upwards slowly.
  • When the top position is reached, the dumbbells should be lowered back again.

Dumbbell Pullovers

  • This exercise is performed while lying on a bench.
  • The dumbbells should be held in a position above the head and then lowered behind one's body.
  • While lowering the dumbbells, one should feel a stretch in the rib cage.
  • This exercise helps in working up the chest muscles.
  • Doing this exercise on the bench increases the scope for arm movements.

Cable Flyes

  • Cable flyes are performed with the help of cable pulleys that have D-handles.
  • Initially, the weight settings of the machine should be adjusted such that, one can easily perform10 to 15 repetitions.
  • The cable handle needs to be grabbed between the thumb and palm instead of the fingers.
  • One handle should be pulled with right hand, while the other is grabbed with the left hand.
  • When both hands take control of the cable handles (when the arms are fully stretched), both the legs should be taken forward one by one and rested in a stable position.
  • The hands should then be dragged forward in a hugging motion.
  • The movement of hands should be preceded by inhalation and succeeded by exhalation. This completes one repetition of the cable fly exercise.
Exercising regularly is good for maintaining health and staying fit. These mentioned exercises can be easily followed to strengthen the pectoral and adjoining muscles. However, it is very important to consult a fitness instructor before starting out.
Disclaimer: Always consult a physician before starting any physical fitness program in order to reduce the risk of injury.