Village Gym’s Beginner Guide On Chest Exercises For Women
Your chest and torso muscle groups are just as important to focus on as other more popular areas of the body to exercise; such as the thighs, biceps, or core. Today, we’ll break down the best beginner chest exercises for women in our handy guide designed to help your progress no matter where you are on your fitness journey.
This guide will focus on exercises you can do to get into for first time fitness goers, or if you are getting back into exercising after a long hiatus. We’ll cover everything you’d need to know about the exercises we feature on here, but always consult with professionals to ensure you have a workout routine perfectly tailored to your wants and needs.
Let’s begin!
An Overview Of The Chest Workouts For Women We’ll Cover
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Push Ups
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Chest Flyes
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Dumbbell Chest Press
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Incline Dumbbell Press
Keep reading to find out more about each one of these exercises with detailed instructions for you to follow.
1. Push Ups
Push ups are a classic workout exercise that are hugely beneficial to the chest muscles and various torso muscle groups. If you have no experience in working out and your core strength could use improvement, these exercises are ideal for you. Not only will they help tone your body, they’ll also help with arm and shoulder strength.
The best bit about push ups is that they can be completed anywhere, be it in a gym environment or at home - so no matter how or where you choose to workout, push ups can easily be incorporated into your routine.
How to do push ups:
[insert video example]
Step by step instructions:
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Start on all fours with your palms face down against the ground, shoulder width apart. Your legs should also be a shoulder width apart. Your torso and chest should be running parallel to the ground. Your arms should be straight.
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Extend your legs backwards one at a time, extending them to their full length but keeping them a shoulder width apart. You should be balancing on the balls of your feet and once both legs are extended, you should be holding your body up parallel to the ground.
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Keeping your back straight, gently lower your body by bending your arms and bringing your face down towards the ground. Get as close to the ground as you are able to while keeping your back and legs straight.
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Once you’ve reached this point, begin pushing down through your palms to raise your body back up to its original position. Keep your legs and back straight throughout this process. This is one repetition.
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Complete as many repetitions as required.
Top Tip: if you are struggling with a regular push up, try widening your feet to give you more stability. If you are finding that your arms aren’t strong enough yet for a full repetition, perform the push up in step one’s stance on all fours to build arm strength. This will help you progress to a full body push up.
For those looking to tone their shoulders, you should read our detailed blog about incorporating shoulder exercises into your workout routine.
2. Chest Flyes
Chest flyes are another great chest exercise that you can work into your routine. They are designed to help you train your primary torso muscles (also known as the pectoralis major) which will help with overall bodily strength and with toning your upper body.
Chest flyes are relatively easy to do but do require dumbbells. If you don’t own your own set of dumbbells yet, that is fine, as your local Village Gym will have dumbbells that you can use.
How to do chest flyes:
[insert video example]
Step by step instructions:
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Before you begin, you’ll need to choose the right weight of dumbbell for you. This varies from person to person and will depend upon what's most comfortable for you as well as what your overall fitness goals are; whether you’re working for strength or endurance. For beginners, 1kg - 3kg should be fine.
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Lie down on a flat workout bench, with your torso facing the ceiling and a dumbbell in each hand. Keep your arms extended in front of your chest towards the ceiling with your palms facing in towards one another.
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Collectively lower your arms out to either side in a semi-circular fashion until your arms are level with the bench and at a 90 degree angle to the bench. Always keep a slight bend in your elbows.
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Now, raise your arms back up towards the ceiling in a semi-circular fashion to their starting point. This is one repetition.
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Complete your desired quantity of repetitions.
Top Tip: if you are training your torso for strength, use a slightly heavier weight and do a few repetitions. If you are training for muscular endurance, use a slightly lighter weight and do a higher number of repetitions.
3. Dumbbell Chest Press
A dumbbell chest press is very similar to chest flyes but they work your chest muscles in a different way. If you are looking to implement a comprehensive workout for your chest muscle groups, then pairing these two exercises is a great starting point to consider.
It is worth noting that the chest press machine is also available to help you with this movement, and will offer more options for improving chest strength or endurance. With dumbbells, the process is similar.
How to chest press;
[insert video example]
Step by Step Instructions:
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Much like the chest flyes, begin by choosing your appropriate weight and lying face up on a flat workout bench. Keep a dumbbell in each hand but start with your hands at chest level, elbows bend, and arms completely coiled inwards towards your body. Your palms should be facing in towards one another.
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Push the dumbbells directly upwards towards the ceiling from chest level until your arms are fully extended. Exhale during this process and be sure to lock your elbows at the top of the press.
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Hold them in this position briefly, and then slowly descend them back to their starting position, inhaling as you do so. This counts as one repetition.
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Repeat as many times as desired.
Generally, a set consists of 10 repetitions and for a workout routine you’d want to include around 3 sets. If you are training strength, you should do around 8 repetitions with a heavier
weight. If training muscular endurance, you should do around 15-20 repetitions with a lighter weight.
4. Incline Dumbbell Press
Due to the way the upper torso is designed, from a muscular stand point, many of the exercises you’ll do to improve these muscles will be different variations of the same exercise. It is worth noting that while they are slight variations, these variations are designed to place pressure on different muscles with the goal being to give you a holistic approach to a chest workout.
The next exercise is a variant of the dumbbell chest press. The incline dumbbell press works in a very similar way but you are inclined, changing what muscles you’ll use to lift the weights.
How to do an incline dumbbell press:
[insert video example]
Step by Step Instructions:
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For this exercise, you’ll want to select the appropriate weight like you would for both the chest press and chest flyes. However, you’ll also want to adjust the incline bench to about a 45-degree angle. Now sit down and take a dumbbell into each hand.
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Lie back on the bench with the dumbbells at chest level, palms facing forward. Keep your back supported by the bench but maintain a natural arch in your lower back.
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Press the dumbbells upward while exhaling, extending your arms fully without locking your elbows. Bring the dumbbells close together at the top but avoid letting them touch. Be sure to engage your core as you do so and contract your chest to make your muscle groups work.
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Now lower the dumbbells back to their starting position. Keep your elbows at a slight bend throughout the movement and aim to feel the stretch in your chest as you lower the dumbbells.
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Repeat for as many repetitions as desired.
Generally, 8-12 repetitions in each set is good for a beginner, depending on the weight and goal of your exercise.
Train Your Way With Village Gym
Working out at home and tailoring your own fitness journey to your needs is a great first step, but professional and curated advice for your journey exists with Village Gym.
Village Gym has everything you’d need to get and stay fit, be it for chest workouts or any other kind of workout plan you envision. From expert personal trainers to state-of-the-art machines, you won’t find a better equipped gym and environment to reach your personal goals within.
Browse our different membership options and find your closest Village Gym and book a tour. We’re more than happy to take you through our facilities!
FAQs About Chest Exercises
Are Chest Workouts Good For Women?
Yes. Chest workouts are just as vital for health and well being for women as they are for men. A holistic approach to fitness should include chest exercises.
What Does Chest Workouts Tone For Women?
Chest workouts will strengthen your pectoral muscles that form your torso; just like chest workouts do in men. This will help with body definition and overall torso strength.
How Can Women Build Chest Muscles Fast?
A tailored workout schedule and the dedication to follow through with every stage of this schedule will help you build your chest muscles quickly. For the best results, work with a personal trainer.
Do Chest Workouts Lift Breasts?
Chest workouts will help you develop stronger pectoral muscles, and this in turn can provide the appearance of fuller and perkier breasts. It is worth noting, however, that working out will not change the size or shape of your breasts.
