How to do a Chest Workout at Home
Looking to tone and sculpt that chest? Today we will go over a some home gym exercises and for those of you without equipment, we will also cover a basic work out without mechanical aids.
Depending on your specific home gym there is a plethora of choices so I will cover the most common chest exercises at home.
Pretty much everyone’s home gym will have a bench and some free weights so I will give you a breakdown of the basic free weight workout in three easy steps.
1) Lay on your back on the bench width wise; your shoulders and head should hang over the edge slightly.
2) Hold the weight two handed directly over your chest, choose a heavier weight and low reps for muscle building or a medium weight and high reps for toning.
3) With your arms outstretched slowly lower the weight behind your head, take care not to extend to the point of pain you only are looking for a good stretching sensation. Bring the weight back up to the starting position and there you have it, easy as one two three.
Now for the no equipment alternative workout. The best place to start is with a variation on the basic push up.
Lay on a comfortable surface in the prone position. Lift your body the way you would with a standard pushup.
Depending on your fitness level you should either use your toes, or your thigh area just above the knee as the pivot point. Take care not to pivot on the actual knee joint to prevent injury.
Now for the modification; bring your palms in closer to your center. The general idea is activate more central chest muscles than you would with the standard push up, which focuses on arms and shoulders.
The positioning of your palms will greatly alter the targeted muscle group. Do a few reps until you can feel the burn in the area you are targeting. An additional variation on the standard pushup is one using an unusually broad armed stance, which is also helpful for targeting other muscle groups.
Half an hour at least three times a week is suggested for best results.
Good luck in your quest to look and feel your best.