3 Exercises to Sculpt Your Chest

If you are like most women, this is probably your least favourite muscle to work. You generally don't see results as quickly as say working your legs but none the less, keeping the balance is important. Having a strong chest can help eliminate chronic neck, shoulder and bicep strain. It can also help with poor posture. And nothing beats a body that is strong, balanced and feels great.

I know you all want to have great looking arms and shoulders as well. Along with working your chest muscles (pectorals), in the following exercises you will be working your triceps and shoulders as well. How can we complain about exercises that will give us such a well balanced, great looking upper body, right?? Well whether you hate em or love em, the following 3 exercises are great to add to your exercise library for chest exercises.

3 Exercises to Sculpt Your Chest

1. Push Up

This is my favourite chest exercise. There are plenty of variations. This is a standard push up. You want to make sure your hands are shoulder width apart and that your hands are under your shoulders. If you are just starting out, stay on your knees. If you are needing more of a challenge, get up on your toes. Either way you choose, be sure to pull your belly button in and exhale as you push yourself away from the floor. Start by doing 2 sets of 5. If that was easy peasy then do 2 sets of 10 and so on. You should feel this is your chest, triceps and a bit of shoulder.

2. Incline Bench Press

This is a slight variation from the flat bench push up. You need to prop up the back of the bench just a little so that you are between flat and 45 degrees. Make sure you keep your back pressed against the bench and you want to press a weight up over your chest and lower until you feel a slight stress in the chest and back up again squeezing your chest muscles. Try and always exhale on the push up.



3. Stability Ball Push Up

This is another one of my favourites. If you really struggle with push ups, this might be the place for you to start. The ball will help support your weight and you can easily control how hard you make your push up by how far out you roll with the ball. For example, the more hips that are supported the easier it will be. As you roll out and have only your shins or feet on the ball, you can get a very challenging chest exercise. Now not only is it a challenge but you need to have balance to complete the exercise. Again always have your belly button pulled in, this helps to protect your back, and exhale as you push up.

Those are 3 great exercises to add to your chest library. You can do them at home or at the gym. Always start out with one set of however many you can do. If you feel good then you can add to your sets and reps. Happy Pressing:)

Committed to your fitness success,
Kelly Parker
www.fitmommakeover.net