Chest Exercises - Important Points to Remember!

When performing chest exercises there are several very important points to keep in mind to ensure you get the best results possible from every chest workout, maximise the effectiveness of every rep performed as well as reduce your risk of injury.

In this article we will examine aspects of body positioning, breathing and exercise performance in addition to how to structure the chest workout for best results.

Foot Position For Chest Exercises

Firstly, let's consider foot position when performing chest exercises. Since many exercises for chest are performed on a bench we will consider that first. Chest exercises on a bench may include: bench press, incline press, decline press or dumbbell flyes performed on a flat bench or with an incline or decline. Now, with the exception of the decline presses or decline flyes, it is always best to keep your feet flat on the floor about shoulder-width (or slightly wider) apart. This will provide you with a stable base.

Even if the bench has a foot rest at the bottom (as many incline presses do) it is still best to keep your feet flat on the floor. It is especially imperative not to have your feet off the floor when doing any pressing or flying movement (even though Arnold did it in Pumping Iron!).

Back Position For Chest Exercises

The reason why it is important to keep your feet on the floor is not only because it helps you maintain a stable base but it also helps create an arch in your back. The arch is beneficial because it means that the erector spinae muscles that run down either side of the spine are contracted and by being contracted they keep the spine stable throughout the performance of the movement.

Some people may argue that by having your feet off the floor and pushing your lower back into the bench will offer protection to your spine but that is simply not the case.

If you perform decline presses or decline flyes where your feet are off the floor and are under a roller, you obviously have to perform the movement that way. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of either of these exercises and would much prefer to perform dips or cable crossovers to target the lower fibres of pec major.

When performing cable crossovers I recommend using a 'split stance', which is where one foot is forward and one foot is behind. This gives you a wider base of support when performing the movement. This is discussed in greater detail in the article on Principles of Fitness Training.

Hand Position For Chest Exercises

When performing exercises for chest using a barbell your hands should be positioned about 1.5 times shoulder width. The best way to determine the exact width to use is to get someone observing you performing the movement. Then, when you reach the bottom position (when the bar is touching your chest) your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor. This will ensure you will be able to maximise the amount of force you generate during the lifting phase of the chest exercise.

Varying your hand spacing on the bar is sometimes promoted in order to hit different parts of the pec muscle. This is physiologically incorrect. For example, some people think that by having a wider grip they can hit the 'outer pecs' more and a narrower grip hits the 'inner pecs' more. This is simply not the case. A muscle fibre either contracts along its whole length or not at all.

When performing dumbbell flyes keep your hands angled at 45 degrees throughout the performance of the movement. This will ensure you get a good stretch at the bottom position without compromising form and risking injury.

Elbow Position For Chest Exercises

As we have covered in other articles, stretching the muscles against resistance is good because it 'breaks' the muscle fibres down more and therefore stimulates more muscle growth. However, a maximum pec major stretch is achieved by combining the movements of horizontal abduction (moving the arm backwards in a horizontal plane) and external rotation (rotating the upper arm up and back simultaneously) of the humerus. Whilst horizontal abduction is fine, external rotation of the humerus is not and may cause injury to the rotator cuff muscles located within the shoulder joint. Therefore, keeping the hands at 45 degrees with the elbow in a fixed position is definitely the best way to go.

The same rule applies when performing any pressing movements. When you lower the bar down towards the mid-lower portion of your pecs, do not allow the elbows to 'roll' underneath the bar. They should stay directly underneath the bar at all times.

Shoulder Position For Chest Exercises

During the performance of all shoulder exercises, always keep your scapula (shoulder blades) retracted (pulled backwards) and don't allow them to move. This means your shoulders will also stay in a fixed position. Remaining in this position also provides greater stability to your thoracic vertebrae since the rhomboids and middle trapezius muscles will stay contracted.

Performance of Movements and Breathing

When performing all dumbbell pressing movements whether they are for chest or shoulder exercises, it is essential that you keep your forearms perpendicular to the floor at all times. This means you will be able to generate maximum force against the dumbbells and the motion will be an upside down 'U' shape.

When performing flying movements there is no need to bring the dumbbells further in than your shoulders. This is because once there is no horizontal distance between the weight (dumbbell) and the fulcrum (shoulder joint), then there is no resistance on the muscles and one of our goals with training is to maintain the stress on the muscles throughout the performance of the movement.

The reps should always be performed slowly with more emphasis being placed on the eccentric (lowering) phase compared to the concentric (lifting) phase. The rep speed should be: lift in 1-2 seconds, lower in 2-4 seconds. It is always best to breathe in as you lower the weight and breathe out as you lift the weight.

Workout Structure

When putting together your chest exercises here are a couple of points to keep in mind:

Don't put two compound exercises together back-to-back, i.e. bench press followed by incline press

Always follow an isolation exercise with a compound exercise, i.e. dumbbell flyes followed by incline press

Begin your workout with exercises that require more stabilisation and progress to exercises that require less stabilisation, i.e. dumbbell press, near the start, machine press, near the end

These tips should definitely help when it comes to getting the best results from your chest workouts. For more detailed information on how to perform the chest exercises correctly, I recommend getting a copy of Weight Lifting For Beginners. Also, if you would like a list of chest exercises, read my article titled, Chest Exercises For Women.

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