The 6 Best Chest Exercises for Women you need to Know

What are the best chest exercises for women? We know that the breast is a vital and important part of us as women. That's the reason why we should include chest exercises in our upper body workout routine.

The chest muscles are a part of our anatomy and support our breasts, expressing femininity and fertility. Nowadays, many women tend to take their physique much more seriously than before.

For the same reason, breast augmentation surgeries have increased markedly.

There is a myth that many people believe that women who practice some sport or fitness activity tend to have larger breasts, but the reality is that it has not yet been fully proven.  Some also say that the more they exercise their chest, the smaller they will get.

But we can attest that this myth is false; this has nothing to do with breast muscle toning or enlargement. Yes, the breasts are in the same area you are training, but they are different components.

The pec muscles are some of the biggest muscles in the human body. Because of the pecs, you can move your arms, flex them, and move them away from your chest. It is of utmost importance that we give the chest some training.

Benefits of doing chest exercises for women

There are many benefits of chest workouts for your body that you should know about due to chest exercises, especially since you already know that it is vital to give mobility to your arms.

They can improve your body posture.

Chest exercises have the wonderful benefit of being able to improve bad posture. This is because chest workouts provide greater vertical stability to support muscles such as the upper back and shoulder. So, if you maintain a bad posture either because of your job or just from bad habits, doing these exercises will fantastically help you.

They can improve your breathing. 

Maybe this is the most important thing, and perhaps you were not aware, but these chest workouts can improve your breathing. This is because this type of exercise helps good breathing practices. After all, the chest tends to inflate or open, and when our chest does this repetitive movement, it releases the diaphragm and facilitates breathing more effectively.

They can give greater firmness to the bust.

I think this is the reason why most women do chest exercises. Doing exercises brings more firmness to the breast area. It stimulates growth as well as gives greater firmness by pushing the breast tissue forward.

Top 6 Best Chest Exercises for Women

You will have likely already heard of chest exercises for women. They are, indeed, many and varied: they can be performed with weights, dumbbells, ropes. However, do you know which ones are the best? Here I present to you a list of them for you to take note of.

Barbell Chest Press

The barbell chest press is viral among men to develop pectoral muscles (I'm sure that all of you have seen men in the gym doing benches because they love working out chest and arm muscles). But it's also extremely beneficial for women, so include it in your chest workout.

I've discovered many women generally prefer a good lower body workout, but it's important to pay attention to your upper body too. The barbell chest press is indispensable for our entire upper body strength, chest muscles in particular, and our entire body.

Correct barbell chest press technique:

1. Place the barbell on a rack and add any additional weight in the form of weights. Don't use too much weight. You could damage your shoulder joint.
2. Lie down so that your head is beneath the barbell. You have to have your knees bent softly, keep your feet flat, and palms facing forward (shoulder width.)
3. Plant both feet flat on either side or directly onto the bench itself.
4. Place hands overhand grip (palms facing away from you), slightly wider than shoulder width-onto chest for starting position.
5. Inhale and bend your elbows to slowly lower the barbell towards you until it touches your chest, your hands reach your shoulder height, and your shoulder blades squeeze together.
6. Exhale, extend your arms, push against the weight with all of your might in a motion that continues past touching to return up above head height before going down again for another repetition.
7. Repeat this process while counting out loud every time I come back up from my last rep or if the set is complete, repeat the cycle twice more before returning the barbell securely on the rack at completion.

Dumbbell Chest Press

The dumbbell chest press is one of the best upper body exercises. It strengthens and enhances your chest muscles. This is a simple exercise to include in your chest workout in which dumbbells are held at chest height, and a backward bend is performed.

Dumbbell chest exercises need to be performed efficiently. The correct technique to perform this exercise is as follows:

1. A dumbbell is placed in each hand (shoulder width) while lying on a flat or incline bench on your back with your knees bent.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your upper arms at chest level.
3. Place your elbows bent to the sides of your body and lift your chest without separating your back from the bench.
4. Push the dumbbells upward, focusing the movement on the pectoral.
5. Slowly lower the dumbbells until the dumbbells reach shoulder height without dropping them and repeat the movement.
6. You don't have to clench your teeth or tense your neck muscles because you could suffer neck injuries.
7. Do 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

The dumbbell chest exercises are effective but require more strength and coordination. There are also variants such as the flyback: You hold the two weights at chest height (one in each hand).

Pullover

The pullover is an excellent exercise for the chest muscles because it is a natural movement. It is one of the best dumbbell chest exercises.

1. You start this movement lying on a bench on your back.
2. Hold a dumbbell in both hands with your arms straight at chest level.
3. Take the dumbbell with a smooth movement as far back as you can. Ideally, the dumbbell should reach the top of your skull from behind without touching it.
4. Return to the starting position.
5. Complete 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

The pullover is a great exercise for your upper chest and the other upper body muscles.

Chest Fly Machine

The chest fly machine is perhaps the most popular among women because it is straightforward to perform and does not require excellent coordination. It is a great exercise to include in your chest workout. You can also perform the dumbbell chest fly.

1. Sit on the chest fly machine with feet hip-width apart.
2. Grab the handlebars with your elbows slightly bent while sticking your chest out as far as you can.
3. Pull your arms back as far as you can.
4. From there, push your arms forward until your hands touch each other (palms facing.)
5. With this movement, you should focus the effort on your chest.
6. Slowly bring your arms back again.
7. Open up the chest and feel the stretch in your back and both your chest.
8. Complete 3 sets of 15 repetitions.

Push-ups

You will be aware that push-ups are a common exercise for working the upper body and the chest muscles in particular. You have to perform them on your chest workout.

The push-ups movement is similar to the chest press, and it works the pectoral muscles effectively.

The only problem is that many people fail to do them in the best way, lose muscle and strength, and become exhausted.

Important tip: You should know that like any exercise, push-ups are a little difficult at first. It is okay if you don't even get the first repetition on your first attempt.

It would be best if you did not stop trying; keep going until you can. It might not be the first day, but you will be able to do more reps at some point.

Technique for doing push-ups in your chest workout:

1. The first thing you should do is place your hands on the floor (shoulder width) make sure your hands are directly under your shoulders.
2. You will rest your toes on the floor. Your feet should be entirely together to stabilize your body better.
3. Keeping your body completely straight, bend your arms until your chest touches the floor.
4. It is essential that while you do the flexing movement of your arms, your head keeps looking forward. Make it as if you were looking at something far away and keep your eyes fixed.
5. The most important thing is to keep your elbows close to your body. This will work not only your chest but also your triceps.
6. To finish, you have to return to the starting position, pushing with strength using your arms. You have to stretch them until complete.

You should avoid making these mistakes when doing them:

A common mistake is to spread your arms too far apart: The position of your arms carries much importance, as the whole exercise depends on it. Ensure your arms are in line with your shoulders so that you work your chest, triceps, and shoulders.

• A common mistake is curving your back: Curving your back is another one of the most common mistakes when performing push-ups, more common in the last repetitions of the exercise when you start to tire. You have to try to keep your body completely straight when going up and down on all repetitions.
• A widespread mistake is not doing the entire movement: This is also one of the most common mistakes, usually when we are beginners. But you have to do the complete movement, i.e., touch the floor with your chest and return to the starting position correctly.

Increase the difficulty over time:

This is of utmost importance; push-ups are a complete exercise for your chest and surrounding muscles. We know that at the beginning, it is somewhat complicated because we lack strength. But often, when you have been doing them for a while, you will be able to perform them with minimal effort.

That is why it is essential to vary to improve the exercise and add more difficulty. By doing this, you will keep your chest muscles well-toned. I will tell you the variation of push-ups you should do.

• If you are a beginner, do push-ups with your knees on the floor: These are the most basic type of push-ups. They are the easiest. If you are a beginner, these are the ones you should start with. You will gain strength slowly but surely. Place your arms in the same way (shoulder width.) The difference is that you will do it with your knees on the floor. In the same way, you must keep your back straight.
• After overcoming the traditional ones, do decline push-ups: This is a perfect variation to show you that you have already overcome the conventional push-up and the kneeling push-up. You have already gained more strength; place your arms on a bench instead of the floor and do the push-ups.
• Push-ups with different declination: These push-ups exert the most force on our arms. You have to place your arms on the floor like the traditional style but elevate your feet on a bench.

Push-ups are the perfect exercise for your chest, plus you will also work your arms and triceps. Moreover, they are also a great help for your abdomen and back as you also pressure them. It is undoubtedly a complete exercise that is highly effective for all people seeking to improve fitness and chest strength.

Dumbbell Chest Flyes

Chest flyes are one of the most popular exercises when you want to work the chest muscles effectively during your chest workout. They are the most commonly used in training routines and are perfect if you have dumbbells and weights.

This is the most common exercise in workouts because it creates incredible development in your chest muscles. There are many ways to make chest lunges; I will explain the most common and effective ones.

Important tip: This is a special exercise to exert pressure on the central part of your body. It is best to be careful the first few times you do it; it works directly on your core muscles.

To perform chest openings, you must use your arms. Your arms will work as levers in this exercise. They must overcome the load that you will use to work your chest.

The chest flies with more weights are the ones we see the most in training. For this one, it is essential to have dumbbells, so it is perfect if you are going to the gym. If you have the dumbbells at home, that is also great.

The dumbbells are essential; they must each be the same weight, this way, you will lift the same load on each side of your chest. It is essential so that there is no imbalance when performing this exercise. We could easily suffer an injury from performing it incorrectly.

Keeping the same weight on the dumbbells will give you more mobility and a simple and natural movement. There is no need to perform any forced posture nor any unnecessary tension.

Technique to perform dumbbell flyes

With this exercise, the technique is everything because it has a relatively high level of difficulty. Performing it correctly can prevent us from injuries as bad as a nasty fracture.

1. The first thing to do is lie down on your back on a bench, which is very narrow. It must be narrow so that it does not interfere with your arms and shoulders in the movement.
2. The second thing to do is to place dumbbells of the same weight in your hands. The palms of your hands should face the center of your body.
3. You have to keep your arms bent vertically to your body, over your chest.
4. Then you should take a deep breath and lift the dumbbells until your arms are fully stretched across your chest. Do it slowly so that your muscles feel the tension.
5. The important thing in this exercise is to keep your arms aligned correctly.
6. To finish the exercise, you must bring your arms back to the starting position correctly. This does not necessarily have to be on a bench, but it is recommended.

Do you only work the chest in the dumbbell flyes?

Earlier, we explained that dumbbell flies are special chest exercises for the chest. They work more than the entire pectoralis of the body; they also work two other things.

Dumbbell lunges work the clavicular area and a large portion of the sternocostal area of your body. When we perform dumbbell chest flies, we can stress all the muscles in our chest. They greatly develop the width across the rib cage, even efficiently working the pectoralis major significantly.

Most common mistakes you should avoid when performing dumbbells.

You must be careful with mistakes in this type of exercise because the chest is a delicate area of your body. Activities performed in the wrong way can leave us with nasty injuries.

A common mistake is carrying too much weight: We must be cautious with the weight we will lift. We can risk our arms not handling the weight and arching our back in the wrong way. Our shoulders can take the brunt of the load to avoid pectoral tears. Use a weight you can handle.

A common mistake is to overextend your arms: This is also one of the most common mistakes when performing opening exercises. What this mistake does is cause more risk of injury to our elbow, and we will not work the pectoral well.

A common mistake is to lower the arms too much: Lowering the arms too much is a terrible mistake. It can be caused by too much weight on the dumbbells. Lowering the arms too much can cause injuries to our shoulders.

Conclusion

In summary, chest exercises for women are fantastic to make the breasts look much firmer. They will give you more presence in your upper body chest area, improve your bad posture if we have it.

Also, enhance our breathing as they release our diaphragm. The best chest exercises for women are push-ups and chest openings. You should be careful with your technique when performing these exercises because you can suffer serious injuries if you do them incorrectly.