The best way to train your chest muscles at home

If you don't have time to go to the gym, training your chest muscles at home is a good choice. However, you need to pay attention to the relevant movements and precautions when training your chest muscles at home. The movements should focus on chest expansion, shoulder clamping and independent movements. Try to avoid high-weight pressure training. After all, there is a lack of dedicated guidance at home. At the same time, the sequence of movements is required. The training movements actually have a sequence. The order of training cannot be messed up, otherwise it will hurt your body.

Chest exercises at home

1. Chest expansion

Use the palms of your hands as support points, open your arms as wide as your shoulders or wider than your shoulders, keep your back, waist and hips in a straight line, use your elbows to exert force, and bend your arms. This method mainly exercises

The muscles that are worked are the pectoral muscles, triceps in the upper arms, and abdominal muscles.

2. Shoulder grip

The action is the same as above, except that the distance between the hands is narrower, and the fists are used as support points, with the knuckles facing forward. This method exercises arm strength and can increase wrist strength and fist hardness. When practicing, you should pay attention to the fact that the selected supporting surface can be soft at first and then hard, and your wrists should be kept taut when supporting to avoid sprains.

3. Iron Ox Plowing

Use your fists or palms as a base of support. Place your hands on the ground and open your arms to shoulder width. Keep your toes on the ground and your hands and feet parallel. Push your head diagonally forward, use the forefoot, hands, neck, and waist together, and at the same time lower your waist and stick it to the ground. Then lift your hips, lower your waist, pull your body back, and the movement is complete. Just repeat the forward and backward movements repeatedly.

Chest muscle training precautions

1. Don’t always do the flat bench press first

Many people know the flat barbell bench press, which is indeed a very good chest-building exercise, but it is not the only one. Like any other exercise, as you adapt, the gains you can make from the flat barbell bench press will decrease. So don't just focus on the flat bench press. You have the choice of starting your workout with an incline barbell or a dumbbell bench press. Because you usually arrange the bench press as the first exercise, now you choose to start training the upper chest muscles first, your body cannot adapt to such a change.

1. Don't do the fly as a bench press

   Just think about it and you will know which one is more powerful, push-up or chest press. This is very simple. Maybe you can use 50kg for dumbbell bench press, but I believe there are only a handful of people who can do flyes with this weight. In fact, many people will perform the chest press movement in the form of a bench press when doing flyes, because your body always tends to lift the weight. Once this happens, the original single-joint movement becomes a multi-joint movement, and loses its original isolating effect. I'm afraid this is not possible.

   The effect of chest muscle training is achieved!

   Keep your elbows slightly bent throughout the exercise. You shouldn't use too much weight for this exercise. You've already done the heavy bench press, so why bother repeating it again?

2. Don't schedule chest training after deltoid and triceps training

   People often think of the pectoralis major as a larger muscle, and the multi-joint bench press can effectively stimulate them while also engaging the deltoids and triceps. Remember, the worst thing you should do is to schedule chest training after deltoid and triceps training. Because the previous training has fatigued your deltoids and triceps, and your chest is in good condition, you cannot stimulate your chest to the fullest extent.

   Also, the soreness from previous training will affect your chest training. So when you start trying to add weight to the bench press you're going to feel overwhelmed. Generally, we recommend scheduling chest training two days after triceps or deltoid training. Alternatively, you can schedule shoulder or triceps training after chest training, so that you can effectively stimulate multiple parts in the same training session.

3. Never bench press chest exercises without tightening your shoulder blades

   For many people it's simple: lower the weight to your chest, then push it back up with your arms straight. However, this is only a very superficial understanding. Experts will tell you to squeeze your shoulder blades tighter as you push up and lower, which helps stabilize your shoulders better. This allows your pectoralis major to fully open and stretch, meaning less stress is placed on your deltoids and more stress is placed on your pectoralis major.

   You will definitely feel uncomfortable at first, you can start practicing with a light bench press, and slowly it will feel natural. Do this on all bench press reps, whether using machines or free weights.