Balance is essential to any strength training program, which means that you should train the back of your body – laterals, rhomboids, hamstrings, etc. – as well as the front of your body – pectorals, quads, etc. It is absolutely essential to focus on all muscle groups and movement patterns to build functional strength across the entire body.

More often than not, people tend to avoid exercises that target comparatively weaker areas in the body. For instance, if you find it hard to perform push-ups, you might be likely to skip pressing-type movements, which in turn makes it more difficult to strengthen the area. The benefits of having a strong chest include being able to perform certain exercises with ease and improved everyday movements.

What exactly are chest muscles?

As known as pectoral muscles, there are two different chest muscles – pectoralis major and minor.

Pectoralis major is a thick muscle that extends to the upper arms and pans across the chest to the collarbone and the middle bone of the chest. It is often confused with the shoulder muscles since it extends to that area.

Pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular-shaped muscle beneath pectoralis major. It extends from the rib cage to the shoulder blade.

Both these muscles help you bring your arms close together to the center of your body for actions such as clapping or pushing them out in front such as in a chest press exercise. They also help you in the process of breathing during inhalation.

Benefits of Chest Workouts

Working on your pectoral muscles helps you with movements that require pressing. It could be pressing your body off the floor or pushing a heavy door. Chest workouts at home or the gym make you strong all over as you will notice an improvement in how much weight you can lift or push.

A strong chest helps in holding things in front of your body, which means working your chest will make front squats, goblet squats, and other lower-body exercises easier for you. Sometimes the upper body can burn out faster than the lower body when you’re doing lower-body exercises. When it comes to everyday movements, chest workouts enable you to pick heavy boxes and stuff. Moreover, strong chest muscles stabilize the shoulder and shoulder blade thus reducing the risk of shoulder injuries. Strong pecs help improve your posture as well, especially if you spend a lot of time on your laptop or phone.

If your pectoral muscles are tighter than they should be, they can add to the hunched-over posture and limit your range of motion. The traps have to work harder as well, which wouldn’t be the case if you did chest muscle workouts.

Best Chest Exercises

A chest workout should consist of exercises that work the pecs for various angles. Chest press on a bench or the floor, standing cable chest press (or with a resistance band), and push-ups are some of the best exercises.

In the beginning, if you’re unable to do regular push-ups from the ground, try its variations. However, experts suggest that elevating your hands is a better option than dropping your knees to the ground because in the latter position you put pressure on your knees and it is not good for core stability.

Keep in mind that you do not need a separate day to work on your chest muscles unless your goal is bodybuilding. You can include pec exercises and pushing exercises in your regular daily workouts at home or the gym. Including three pushing exercises for three strength training sessions every week is more than enough.