It is usual that when training we focus on working the abdominal area, buttocks, and legs, and forget about performing chest exercises for women, although it is one of the areas that most suffer the effects of the passage of time, of our vital situation (pregnancy, lactation, menopause …), hormonal changes, etc.
Why don’t we work our chest enough? Maybe we have the typical gym “musculitos” in the head doing bench press while screaming doing the last repetition of the failure and you think… this is not for me. The truth is that there are two aspects to consider: the first is that the chest can be worked in a variety of ways, enjoyable and without the need to “give the show” in the gym, and the second is that we all like to keep that firmness in the chest and wear a beautiful cleavage.
Today’s post can help us achieve this goal by knowing some simple chest exercises for women that not only tone our chest to combat sagging, loss of volume and the appearance of the dreaded stretch marks but will also make us work other muscles of the shoulder, arm, and abdomen – also involved in the pectoral action – and that will favor the creation of muscle and fat loss.
At this point, we can ask ourselves … What chest exercises for women are better? This simple question has certain nuances in its answer. It depends. We have to take into account that you have to individualize when making routines, taking into account factors such as our state of form, material and available means, possible injuries or pathologies, etc. Therefore, what can work for one person may not work for another. Each case must be treated in a personalized way. The best advice is to use a personal or technical fitness trainer to design the individualized plan that best suits you.
Recommendations when performing exercises to tone a woman’s chest
- Train chest at least twice a week.
- Spend about 15 minutes to chest exercises tone your chest.
- Perform 3 sets for each exercise, about 12 to 15 repetitions (and about 30 seconds of rest between each series).
- Combine strength exercises with aerobics, for a global work of the body that helps us promote muscle building and fat loss.
- Take into account the correct performance of chest exercises to be more effective and reduce the risk of injury.
- Combine the exercise with a diet based on real food and trying to respect about 8 hours of rest a day.
- Keep in mind that with chest exercises we will NOT increase in size. Our main objective is to recover firmness and elasticity in the muscle fibers and work the chest so that it does not look dropped or flaccid.
Here are some exercises to tone a woman’s breast in a general way and, although some of them are described adapted to the physical level of who is going to do it, in case of doubt of its execution or adaptation to our level, we should consult a professional fitness sector that can advise us more individually.
5 chest exercises for women
The following selection of chest exercises for women can be done at home or in the gym with simple material such as fitball, rubber, dumbbells and, in some cases, only with the body weight itself.
1. Chest Funds
It is an exercise to tone the chest of a well-known woman and is that it is the traditional push-ups. You should try to perform a good technical execution to guarantee a better job and minimize the risk of injury. The ideal is to do it horizontally but if you are not able because of your physical condition, you can start with inclinations on the wall, for example. Once we adopt the body we can make them on the floor, supporting the knees. And if we already have a good physical condition. We can perform many variants where we will involve other muscles, apart from the chest itself.
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2. Scissors
It is performed standing, with the legs open at approximately shoulder width, stretching the arms parallel to the ground and making a horizontal scissor movement.
3. Press with dumbbells on the floor
This chest exercise for women at home is performed stretched face up with the back well supported. The legs bent and the feet flat on the floor, we grab two dumbbells – the same weight always. And we hold them at chest height forming An angle of 90º with the arms. Next, we raise the dumbbells to fully extend the arms, and return to the starting position. You have to perform the exercise with the maximum muscular control possible to execute it correctly and avoid injuries.
4. Tilt openings
For this exercise to tone the woman’s chest, we must stand with our feet together. And a dumbbell with appropriate weight in each hand – you must be able to perform several repetitions with some ease. We tilt the trunk to form a 90º angle with the legs and let the arms straight forward. In that position, we begin the movement that consists of raising the arms laterally with slight flexion of the elbows and until they reach the line of the shoulders. We inspire in the rising phase and expire in the descent phase.
5. Bridge with alternate chest press
In this last chest exercise for women, we place ourselves on a mat on the back with the knees bent. And the feet fully supported on the mat, and with a separation equal to the distance of the hip. Next, we will perform a pelvic lift by squeezing the buttocks firmly. At the same time, and with a dumbbell in each hand, we will raise the arms one by one, alternately. Remember that the weight of the dumbbell has to adapt to our physical condition.
At the end of the routine of chest exercises for women. We will perform stretching to avoid injuries and work flexibility. And don’t forget to hydrate properly!