Lie on a bench and place your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, hold a barbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows straight out from your body, slowly lower the bar until it touches your chest. Once the bar touches your chest, exhale and, without bouncing, raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie on a bench and place your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward. Hold each dumbbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows straight out from your body, slowly lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest. Once the dumbbells touch the outermost parts of your chest or reach the lowest comfortable position, exhale and raise them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Adjust an incline bench to your desired angle. A 45-degree angle is recommended for beginners (Different angles will stress the pecs differently). Lie back on the bench with you feet either on the floor or on the bench platform if there is one provided. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, hold a barbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows out from your body, slowly lower the bar until it touches your upper chest. Once the bar touches your chest, exhale and, without bouncing, raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Adjust an incline bench to your desired angle. A 45-degree angle is recommended for beginners (Different angles will stress the pecs differently). Lie back on the bench with you feet either flat on the floor or on the bench platform if there is one provided. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward. Hold each dumbbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows out from your body, slowly lower the dumbbells to the sides of your chest. Once the dumbbells touch the outermost parts of your chest or reach the lowest comfortable position, exhale and raise them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

There are different machines that you can use for this exercise. Basically, you sit upright or slightly angled in a seated Bench Press Machine. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, hold the bar in front of you. This is the starting position. Exhale and push the bar forward until your arms are fully extended. Once your arms are fully extended, inhale and bring the bar back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie back on a decline bench and wrap your feet under the bar provided. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, hold a barbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows out from your body, slowly lower the bar until it touches the lower part of your chest. Once the bar touches your chest, exhale and without bouncing, raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie back on a decline bench and wrap your feet around the bar provided. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing forward. Hold each dumbbell directly above your chest with your arms fully extended and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows out from your body, slowly lower the dumbbells down to shoulder level. Once the dumbbells are at shoulder level or the lowest comfortable level, exhale and raise the dumbbells back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie on a bench and place your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. Hold each dumbbell directly above your chest with your arms slightly bent and extended. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your arms stiff in this slightly bent position, slowly lower the dumbbells out to the side. Lower the dumbbells until they are at least level with your body. Once the dumbbells reach the lowest point, exhale and raise them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Adjust an incline bench to your desired angel. A 45-degree angle is recommended for beginners (Different angles will stress the pecs differently). Lie back on the bench and place your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. With your arms slightly bent and extended, hold each dumbbell directly above your chest and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your arms stiff in this slightly bent position, slowly lower the dumbbells out to the side. Lower the dumbbells until they are at least level with your shoulders. Once the dumbbells reach the lowest point, exhale and raise them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie back on a decline bench and wrap your feet around the bar provided. Using an over-hand grip, hold a dumbbell in each hand with your palms facing each other. With your arms slightly bent and extended, hold each dumbbell directly above your chest and perpendicular to the floor. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your arms stiff in this slightly bent position, slowly lower the dumbbells out to the side. Lower the dumbbells until they are at least level with your shoulders. Once the dumbbells reach the lowest point, exhale and raise them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Attach a loop handle to each of the lower cables between two pulley stands. Place a flat bench between the two stands so that when you lay down and grasp a handle using an under-hand grip with each hand, your arms are at a 90-degree angle to your body. When you are in this position, bend your arms slightly keeping your palms up. This is the starting point. Exhale and, keeping your arms stiff in this slightly bent position, raise the handles until they meet directly above your chest. Once the handles meet, inhale and slowly lower them back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Position yourself between a set of parallel bars and grasp the bars with your palms facing each other. Step up and support yourself with your arms fully extended. Lean your body forwards slightly and bend your legs back for balance. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your elbows out slightly, slowly lower your body down. Lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Once your upper arms are parallel to the floor, exhale and raise your body back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Keeping your arms extended directly above your body with your elbows slightly bent, grasp a dumbbell by placing your palms flat against the inner surface of one of the plates (Wrap your thumbs around the bar for balance). This is the starting position. Keeping your arms stiff in this slightly bent position, inhale and slowly lower the dumbbell towards the ground behind your head by rotating your arms at the shoulder. Lower the dumbbell as far as comfortably possible. Once the dumbbell is at the lowest point, exhale and raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands about 6-12” apart, hold a barbell directly above your chest with your arms extended and slightly bent. This is the starting position. Keeping your arms stiff in this position, inhale and slowly lower the bar towards the ground behind your head by rotating your arms at the shoulder. Lower the bar as far as comfortably possible. Once the barbell is at the lowest point, exhale and raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Lie on a bench with your feet flat on the floor. Using an over-hand grip and placing your hands about 6-12” apart, hold a barbell directly above your chest with your arms extended and slightly bent. This is the starting position. Keeping your arms stiff is this position, inhale and slowly lower the bar towards the ground behind your head by rotating your arms at the shoulder. Lower the bar as low as comfortably possible. Once the barbell is at the lowest point, exhale and raise it back to the starting position. Then, inhale and, keeping your elbows out from your body, slowly lower the bar until it touches your upper chest. Once the bar touches your chest, exhale and, without bouncing, raise it back to the starting position. Repeat for suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

There are different machines that can be used for this exercise. Some have padded armrests and some do not. We will discuss the machine without padded armrests. Adjust the seat so that when you sit, the handles on the moving arms are level with your chest. Adjust the moving arms so that when you extend your arms, with your arms slightly bent, your elbows are as far back as comfortably possible while stretching your pecs. Sit on the seat with your back against the backrest and your feet flat on the floor. Grip the moving arm handles and extend your arms as described above. This is the starting position. Keeping your arms stiff, exhale and, using your chest muscles, bring the moving arms out in front of you until your hands just about touch. After holding this position for a moment, inhale, and slowly release the moving arms back to the starting position. Repeat for the suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Attach a loop handle to each of the upper cables between two pulley stands. Stand directly between the stands with your feet about shoulder width apart. Hold each handle so that your palms are facing down and your arms are slightly bent. Incline your torso slightly, keeping your back straight. Exhale and take a step forward with one leg while, using your chest muscles, move the handles down and towards each other until they meet in front of your waist with your palms facing each other. This is the starting position. Inhale and, keeping your arms stiff, slowly extend your arms up and back until you feel a stretch on your chest. After holding this position for a moment, exhale and slowly return the handles back to the starting position. Repeat for the suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)

Attach a loop handle to each of the lower cables between two pulley stands. Stand directly between the stands with your feet about shoulder width apart. Hold each handle so that your arms are down and slightly bent with your palms are facing forward. Take a step forward with one leg. This is the starting position. Exhale and, using your chest muscles and keeping your arms stiff, move the handles up in front of you until they meet out in front of your chest with your palms facing up. After holding this position for a moment, inhale and slowly return the handles back to the starting position. Repeat for the suggested number of reps.  (Back to Contents)