Here Are The
7 Best Chest Exercises For Women

The best chest exercises for women to perform involve using all the actions/ functions of the chest muscle in the workout. The chest toning exercises that we will cover here will help you get amazing results!

Best chest exercises
Each chest workout should be based around several compound chest exercises. These include: bench press, incline press, decline press, parallel bar dip and cable crossover-press). All of these exercises involve movement around the shoulder and elbow joints. They all have the chest (pec major) as the prime mover/ agonist, with the deltoids (shoulders) and triceps as the synergists.

How to target different parts of the chest
The incline press emphasise the upper fibres of the pecs, the bench press emphasises the middle fibres and the decline press, parallel bar dips and cable crossover-presses emphasise the lower fibres.

Beginners vs. advanced trainers
Beginners should emphasise more machine exercises because they don't require as much balance and stabilisation compared to the free weight exercises. This makes the correct technique much easier for them to master.

Once they feel comfortable with the machine exercises then they should progress to the free weight exercises with a gradual progression to the more challenging exercises, i.e. machine press to barbell bench press to dumbbell press to dumbbell press on a swiss (fit) ball to one-arm dumbbell press on a swiss (fit) ball.

In saying this though, there is a point where the emphasis is taken away from the targeted muscles and is put more towards stabilisation of the body using the 'core' muscles. This generally occurs when this swiss ball is used. Therefore, if your goal is to use the best chest exercises for women, stick with lying on a bench only.

By doing so, more of the 'neural drive' (stimulated nerves) can go towards innervating the chest muscles as opposed to being shared with the muscles innervating the core muscles.

Correct technique for performing chest exercises
Furthermore, when doing all compound chest exercises whilst lying on a bench always ensure your feet are flat on the floor, there is an arch in your lower back and your scapula (shoulder blades) are retracted (pulled in towards your spine) during the performance of all repetitions.

This body position ensures maximum support for your entire spine therefore reducing the risk of injury. Incidentally, it is the exact technique that powerlifters use when performing maximum lifts on the bench press to ensure their safety so it makes sense to use the exact same technique.

Benefits of isolation chest exercises
When performing the isolation movements for chest (pec dec, dumbbell flye, cable crossover) you should always try to stretch the muscle as much as possible during the bottom position. By doing so will break the muscle fibres down more and further stimulate muscle growth. Keep in mind that this does NOT mean the muscles will actually grow. However, the stimulus is so important.

Safety points
Another important technical point when performing the best chest exercises for women is to ensure that the elbows remain fixed. This is important because if the humerus externally rotates, especially at the 'bottom' position (with reference to the position of the weight) it will put extreme stress on the rotator cuff muscles and this must be avoided at all costs.

Range of motion
On all exercises it is always best to work through the longest range of motion possible. However, on certain exercises like the dumbbell flye, it is not necessary to go through the full range of motion. This reason is because once the dumbbells are in a position directly above the shoulder joint there is no horizontal distance between the resistance (weight) and the active fulcrum (shoulder). This means there is no stress being placed on the muscles and the muscles are able to rest momentarily.

Ideally, by stopping just before this point the resistance remains on the muscles, increasing the intensity of the exercise and maximising the benefits of the exercise.

Here are the best chest exercises for women:

By incorporating these exercises chest toning exercises into your workout routine in combination with the technical aspects described here you will certainly get great results!

These exercises certainly are the best chest exercises for women to perform!

For more detailed information on how to perform these exercises correctly, I recommend getting a copy of Weight Lifting For Beginners.

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