Close Grip Push-Ups. Rotate your hips for power, and pivot your knee as well. We’re pretty sure a few of you out there have flipped through a fitness magazine or scrolled through some bodybuilding or workout sites, inevitably stumbling across images of buff men with protruding, sculpted chests. Adding weight will also open the door to a wide range of other effective chest workouts such as the chest press and chest flies. The 4 Hardest Chest Exercises You Can Do at Home With a Single Dumbbell livestrong.com - Bojana Galic. "Our pectoral muscles play a key role in maintaining our posture and balancing the upper body," says Fitness expert and entrepreneur Holly Dolke. Grab a kettlebell, dumbbell, or water jug, and hold it against your chest with your elbows underneath the weight. How to: Start in a plank position with hands directly under your shoulders, and core and glutes engaged. The higher you place your feet, the harder the exercise. Dolke says. For an added challenge, hold a bear plank position with your knees bent and hovering about an inch off the ground. Dolke says not to feel intimated by the push-up since there are so many variations and anyone can do them at any level with the proper modifications. Then bring the dumbbells back up while exhaling and contracting your chest. Squeeze as hard as you can for 10 seconds, then release and return to starting position for a quick break, and then repeat. says Dolke. Why trust us? For this exercise, you won’t need dumbbells but instead another piece of equipment — either parallel bars or two flat parallel surfaces you can dip between (stable bar stools also work). 14 Chest Exercises For Your Home Workout. These bursts of powerful plyometric movement will have your muscles firing on all cylinders. I love performing these at the end of a workout to get my heart rate up and release the last bit of energy I have!" Moreover, as your body isn’t supported by the bench like in a chest press, it means that other muscles are worked as you have to work harder to stabilize your body weight. 30 seconds chest dips 30 seconds rest… Just like the push-up workout, this one is also three rounds, and form over speed is important! Draw your shoulders back and down, and lift the dumbbells overhead so they are touching in a narrow position and in line with your chest. Chest dips are a fantastic exercise to build a strong chest and some even argue that it is the overall best chest exercise. Make sure to use a wide grip, as this will work your chest muscles more than a narrow grip technique. The last one had your hands lower than your feet, now it is the opposite. It will rev up your metabolism quite nicely. Now raise your one hand and keep it on your back. If you’re looking to build serious pushing strength, an at-home chest workout might be just what you need to add to your exercise routine. Press your feet into the floor and make sure your head, shoulders, and butt all make contact with the bench. Your head, shoulders, and butt should make contact with the bench or floor for the whole movement. This variety of exercise movements work every angle of the chest and engage supporting muscles too. These push-ups, can be executed in a variety of fun and fantastical way, think clap push-ups. Good Housekeeping participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Pause at the top, then return to the start position. "A great variation of a plank, this workout targets the chest, arms, back, shoulders, abs, and legs," Dolke says. Curl your right arm up and across the front of your body to the left side of your chest. Draw your shoulders back and down, and lift the dumbbells overhead in line with your eyes and palms facing forward. So what do these muscles do precisely? Then push the weights back up while exhaling to return to the starting position. Secure your legs at the end of a bench at a decline first and then lie down with a dumbbell in each hand, palms facing each other. … Well, they’re pretty significant when it comes to controlling your arm movements. This narrow grip variation allows you to work the chest and get some tricep action in too. To do this best chest exercises at home, get into a plank position. Tap your left shoulder with your right hand, then return to plank position and repeat on the opposite side. If you’re looking to shed some pounds and tone up, then this is an especially good muscle to train. This next chest workout can be done at home or in the gym, and all you need is a pair of dumbbells. And since the range of motion stops at the floor, you place less strain on your shoulders," she adds. Once you have completed 30 seconds of all five exercises, rest for one minute. Raise your arms shoulder width apart and pulse the straight arms out to the sides. Spread your fingers wide, and press firmly through the palms and knuckles. Then, repeat on the opposite arm. Works on lower chest. The pectoralis minor on the other hand is a small, thin and triangular muscle that sits just below the pectoralis major. Follow along with Chris Heria for this 7Min Effective Home Chest Workout. When you feel confident, slowly increase the weight so the last 3-4 reps are tough to execute. Make sure there’s a 48 hours gap between your regular upper-body workout and chest workout at home. The chest area is made up of two primary muscles—the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor—often referred to as ‘pecs.’ The pectoralis major is the larger of the two muscles, and extends across the upper chest, attaching to the shoulder and the breastbone and has a fan-like appearance. Then lower your arms on both sides in a wide arc until you feel a stretch in your chest and then bring the dumbbells back up. After a few weeks of doing that workout, add variety by switching out some of the moves with these ones. Your head, shoulders, and butt should make contact with the bench or floor for the whole movement. Then exhale as you push them back up together towards the ceiling. RELATED: The Best Resistance Band Exercises for a Full Body Workout. At the bottom of the squat, keep your chest lifted as you press your arms directly out in front of you. Incline Dumbbell Flye. Start with the dumbbells touching overhead in line with your chest. Additionally, as these muscles take up the majority of the chest wall, working them out will burn a considerable amount of energy. Stretch your arms over your shoulder, shoulder-width apart. "A great variation of a plank, this workout targets the chest, arms, back, shoulders, abs, and legs," Dolke says. Set an adjustable bench to a 30 ° -45 ° angle, and lie back on it with a dumbbell in each hand. If the seat has an adjustable height, pick a setting where your arms are horizontal to the ground when fully extended. Try the workout format below and you'll be on your way to that perfect pushup in no time. For this workout, do three rounds of the following eight exercises. This 30-minute dumbbell workout to build your chest is designed as a circuit workout. Grab the bars or place hands on the flat surface and hold your body at arm’s length (arms locked), knees bent so you don’t touch the floor. Believe it or not, slowing down a movement considerably and paying attention to correct form, will deliver great conditioning results. Stefani Sassos is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutritional Sciences from The Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Nutrition from New York University. 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