Chest Exercises - Part Of Circuit Training

Basic Exercise:


The Push Up: Take a face down position on the floor with the weight supported on the toes and the hands. The palms should face the floor and placed parallel to each other. Keep the body parallel to the floor and straight and rigid. Bend your elbows and go down towards the floor such that your chest is about two inches above the floor and your body weight rests only on your toes and hands. Hold the position for about a second and then push by your hands and lift your torso by straightening your elbows and come back to the starting position. The entire motion is to be counted as one push. Do not hold your breath. Breathe in while going down and out while coming up. Do ten to fifty push ups, depending on your capacity.

a. Raised Leg Push Up: The exercise is the same as the push up, except that alternate legs are raised from the floor on each count of going down. This increases the degree of difficulty of the push up while exercising the lower back at the same time.

b. Incline Push Up: Same as the push up except that the hands are not rested on the floor but on a higher level like that of a table or a bed. The higher the level, the easier the push up.

c. Decline Push Up: Same as the push up except that the legs are rested on the higher level. This increases the degree of difficulty of the push up and as the level of the legs gets higher, the shoulders too start getting exercised.

d. Crocodile Jumps: Get into the initial position as for the push up and go down. Without coming up, slightly push the floor with the hands and feet and hop forward in small steps. If inside a room, you can hop forward and backwards in the same manner. This does not exercise the muscles in their full range, but is an excellent way to build up explosive power in the chest.

e. Parallel Dips: Take two chairs or tables at the same level and support your body weight on them with just the hands. Keeping your balance, try and take your body as low as possible while breathing in. When you reach your limit, breathe out and push with your arms and chest and come up. This is a powerful free hand exercise for the lower and inner chest muscles along with the triceps.