Chest Press is a strength training exercise that works pectoral muscles of the chest.
You press a weight directly overhead at chest level.
You can use a variety of equipment including dumbbells, barbells, a Smith machine, or even resistance bands.
A qualified trainer is recommended to guide you through appropriate execution, particularly when pressing with heavy weights.
The chest press can be part of an upper body strength workout or muscle building workout in fact.
Chest Press Exercise: Instructions
While you can do the chest lift with a variety of equipment, these instructions use dumbbells, as may be common for beginners.
Lie on a bench or floor with a dumbbell in each hand.
If you use a bench, you may have the feet up on the bench or on the floor, whichever is comfortable for bench height and your body and leg length.
Position the dumbbells at the shoulders with upper arms at about 45 degrees to the body with elbows forward of the shoulder line to avoid stress on the shoulder joint.
The palms should face forward and your thumbs should be wrapped around the handle.
Brace the abdominal muscles, tilt the chin slightly toward the chest and ensure you are in a stable and comfortable position.
You’re ready to lift.
Push the weights upward while exhaling, taking care not to lock out the elbows in an explosive movement.
The weights should follow a shallow arc and almost meet over the top of the chest.
It’s OK to straighten the arms as long as you don’t do it with sudden or explosive force.
The head or shoulder blades should not rise off the bench.
Lower the weights, muscles contracted, while inhaling and controlling the return to the starting position.
To start with, you could try three sets of 10 exercise repetitions of an appropriate weight. You can place the weights down between sets.
Benefits
This exercise targets the main muscle of the chest, the pectorals.
It also uses the anterior deltoids of the shoulder and the triceps brachii of the upper arm.
Building chest support and definition is desirable for a fit look, but building this muscle is also functional.
You need strong pecs for power for sports where you swing a bat, racket, or club.
The chest press also helps you with any daily activities that require pushing or carrying.
It can help restore muscle balance for athletes that primarily use pulling muscles, such as in wrestling, rock climbing, and swimming.
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