Is your chest fighting gravity?

When working the upper body, many women seem to leave out the chest area. I believe they feel that chest workouts are for men, after all, they have the big pecs right?

Why should women train chest, then? Aside from the fact that a well-developed chest gives you plenty of functional strength, it can help lift and fill out the appearance of the upper body.

You may not realize it, but you use your chest muscles daily, whether it's pushing a lawn mower, a grocery cart, or your baby on a swing, a strong chest helps you perform these tasks. If you play tennis, swim free-style, or an sport where you throw a ball, you engage your chest muscles.

Not only will having strong chest muscles help you with daily activities and sports, it will help to give you a natural “lift”.  As we grow older, our muscles generally grow weaker and gravity starts to take over, causing things to begin to droop. Strengthening the chest muscles will help you to defy gravity!

Develop your program by choosing 2-3 compound movements and 1-2 isolation movements to ensure you're getting ultimate stimulation for growth and strength from your chest workouts.

Compound Movements

Bench Press

Variations: Incline, Flat, Decline

Grip Widths: Wide, Normal, Close

Equipment: Barbell, Dumbbell, Smith

Hammer Machine Press

Push Up

Variations: Elevate Feet, Elevate Hands, Weighted, Assisted

Plyometric: Clap, Depth

Hand Placement: Wide, Normal, Close, One Arm

Equipment: Exercise Ball, Core Ball, Medicine Ball

Chest Dip

Variations: Weighted, Assisted

Equipment: Dip Bar, Bench

Medicine Ball Toss

Isolation Movements
Fly

      Variations: Incline, Flat, Decline

Equipment: Dumbbells, Cables

Cable Crossovers

Variations: High, Low

Pullover

Variations: Dumbbell, EZ Bar, Cable

Pec Deck Machine

Workout #1 - Heavy And Hard

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of light to moderate cardio and full body stretching.

Flat Barbell Bench Press

1 set of 10 repetitions

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

1 set of 4 repetitions

Incline DB Bench Press

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

1 set of 4 repetitions

Flat Bench Fly

1 set of 12 repetitions

1 set of 10 repetitions

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

Increase weight on every set. Each set should become increasingly difficult, and ultimate failure should be reached on the final two sets. Rest time between sets should be 2-3 minutes.

Workout #2 - Intensity

Warm up with 5-10 minutes of light to moderate cardio and full body stretching.

Flat DB Bench Press

1 set of 12 repetitions

1 set of 10 repetitions

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

Decline Bench Press

1 set of 12 repetitions

1 set of 10 repetitions

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

Cable Crossovers

1 set of 12 repetitions

1 set of 10 repetitions

1 set of 8 repetitions

1 set of 6 repetitions

Increase weight on every set. Each set should become increasingly difficult, and ultimate failure should be reached on the final two sets. Rest time between sets should be 1-2 minutes.