Our body tends to get flabby as we age. Besides this, fat materials tend to accumulate in the vessels over time. This if not well controlled can lead to different heart conditions. These and many other reasons are why it’s important to exercise our body. to increase our fitness levels. One of the ways of exercising is by doing free weight chest exercises. This next part of the article will be focused on the kind of exercises that can achieve a built and tone out chest.
5 Best Free Weight Chest Exercises For A Healthy Body
- Reverse-Grip Dumbbell press: This kind of exercise will help build muscles in the upper chest. It’s more beneficial when done on an incline press. To make it more challenging, you should start with a standard grip, then rotate as you lift the weight while doing an Arnold press. This exercise is done by sitting on an inclined bench with dumbbells in both hands. Then position the dumbbells in a way that they’re facing you. Ensure that your chest is strong, with a natural arch in your lower back. This is to protect your back from injuries and pain. Press the weight with your hands, then wait for some few seconds at the top of the movement. Lower the weight back towards your chest count on a 3 count. Pause for a full count, then proceed to stretch your chest.
- Dead stop pushup: This is a way of learning how to do a proper pushup. It’s a great way of pushing your pecs and core. This method is a sure way of building a perfect pushup form. It’s best to do this exercise on a hard floor. Doing this from the floor helps to concentrate on your strength, and prevents other groups of body muscles from compensating for bad form. You can apply this movement to other types of pushup you might want to perform. The way to do this exercise is by lying on the floor, ensuring your chest is on the ground. Place your hands beside you, just outside of your armpits, and toes together, in position for a pushup. Now flex your abs, squeeze your gluteus muscles, and block your feet together. The next thing to do is to lift your hands, squeezing your shoulder blades together in the process, then push down into the ground to lift life yourself back up. Ensure your spine is well aligned, and keep squeezing your glutes. Maintain your position even as you’re returning back to the ground in a controlled manner, by bending your elbows back.
- Batwing Fly: You should start this exercise mildly if you’ve not been working out for a while. It’s important, to begin with, light weights to get used to it, then increase the weight as you get better. Also, try to switch between overhand, and neutral grips for variety. This exercise is done by sitting on an inclined bench with dumbbells in both hands. Start by placing the weights on your pecs, and holding them with your hands, as if you were getting ready for a press. Ensure your chest is strong, and try to maintain an arch in your lower back, to prevent injuries. Straighten your arms out to each side, and maintain a strong chest position. You should pause intermittently with your arms extended.
- Weighted Pushup: This is a modified form of a pushup. It’s a straightforward exercise and doesn’t require any skill. Lie on the floor, as if you’re about to do a push-up, then ask someone to place a load on your back when you’re on the floor. This increases the weight you’ve to carry and push up. It forces your muscles to work harder and also keeps the range of your rep sufficiently low that you’ll build some serious muscle. This load can be a metal plate, weight vest, or even a sandbag thrown over your back. This exercise is done by assuming a pushup position carrying a load on your back as mentioned above. Ensure your arms are straight, and your hands are slightly wider than your shoulders. Bend your elbows, and lower your body till it touches the floor. Stop for some seconds, then push your body back up.
- Chest Squeeze Pushup: The main task of this exercise is for you to squeeze a pair of dumbbells together while doing a pushup. Your muscles will get fired up when squeezing the dumbbells. This exercise is done by placing two dumbbells right next to each other. They should be placed in a way that their handles are parallel and touching each other. Assume the pushup position, while grabbing the handles of the dumbbell with each hand. Ensure your arms are straight, and your body forms a straight line from your head to your ankles. Press the weights together with some effort, and lower your body until your chest touches the dumbbells. Push your body back up, and repeat this task.
How Strength Training Fights Disease
Strength exercise does more than just giving us strong muscles. This type of training helps to increase strength, improves our physical look, and also improves our health. Strength training boosts our body’s ability to fight diseases. Below are some of the ways strength training helps us fight diseases;
- Prevents obesity: Obesity is a condition in which the body mass index of an individual is above 30kg/m^2. It’s a condition in which excess fat has been accumulated, up to the extent that it may have negative effects on the health of the person. Obesity causes other diseases, such as diabetes, coronary heart disease and so on. Strength training not only improves the muscle strength but also keeps the body weight in check.
- Stronger cardiovascular system: The heart is one of the most important organs in the body. The heart is made up of cardiac muscles, which pumps blood throughout the body. However, living a sedentary lifestyle can lead to hypertension, which eventually would overwork the heart. An overworked heart can lead to diseases like heart failure, and sudden death.
References
How much of the world do you need for meaningful clinical trials?. (2011). European Heart Journal, 32(24), pp.3057-3063.
Slattery, M. (1996). How Much Physical Activity Do We Need to Maintain Health and Prevent Disease? Different Diseases-Different Mechanisms. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 67(2), pp.209-212.