The Best Workout for a Lower Chest

BySeunggu Han, M.D.

You want to build your lower chest? You’re in the right place. Without the right guidance and workout, it can be difficult to get the desired results. This article provides the best exercises to help you target your lower chest and build muscle.

Quick facts: Best Workout For Lower Chest

  • ✅ Increasing strength in the lower chest can be achieved through exercises such as dips and decline push-ups. (Source: Bodybuilding.com)
  • ✅ Including exercises specifically for the lower chest two days a week is a great way to build strength in the lower chest. (Source: The Health Science Journal)
  • ✅ Compound exercises such as the bench press, push-ups and dips can be effective in working the lower chest. (Source: Muscle and Strength)
  • ✅ Muscle fibers in the lower chest are recruited more when doing close grip movements. (Source: Stack)
  • ✅ Slow and controlled reps with lighter weights can be beneficial to building lower chest strength. (Source: Healthline)

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Introduction

The lower chest is an often neglected area when it comes to working out. This area consists of the sternalis and the pectoralis minor muscles, both of which are important in providing stability and power in pushing movements. To properly target and strengthen these muscles, it’s important to understand the specifics of their anatomy and how they respond to different types of exercises.

In this article, we’ll discuss the best workouts for a lower chest, emphasizing exercises that isolate them as much as possible while still allowing you to do a variety of other moves. We’ll be focusing on:

  • Push-up variations
  • Cable flies
  • Step ups
  • Dips
  • Cable pullovers

With these exercises combined with proper form, you can build up your lower chest for better strength and balance overall!

Exercises for a Lower Chest

Strengthening and toning your lower chest muscles has many benefits. Doing exercises that focus on the lower chest muscles can help you build strength, improve your posture, and balance out the development of your chest muscles.

Let’s take a look at some of the best exercises for strengthening the lower chest muscles:

Push-Ups

Push-ups are one of the best exercises for targeting your lower chest, as they hit all three portions of the pectoralis major muscle. To perform this exercise correctly, start in a plank position with your feet hip-width apart, hands beneath your shoulders, and your core engaged. As you are lowering down towards the floor, be sure to keep your elbows tucked close to your sides while maintaining a straight back and neck. Once you reach the bottom of the push-up pause for a moment before pushing back up through the arms and returning to the plank position.

For an extra challenge, increase intensity by elevating one or both legs off of the floor as you reach for each repetition during a push-up. Doing so will add extra resistance in upgrading from regular push-ups to plyometric (jump) push-ups which use explosive movements to work more muscle fibers. Push-ups can be performed anywhere with no equipment and it is recommended that beginner should aim for

  • 5 sets of 10 repetitions

initially before progressing further in their training program.

Incline Push-Ups

Incline push-ups are a simple, yet highly effective exercise to target the lower chest muscles. To perform this exercise, you start in a plank position with your feet on the floor and your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart on an elevated surface, such as a bench. From this position, you lower your body until the chest touches the elevated surface before returning to the starting position. A key point to remember while performing an incline push-up is to ensure that your elbows stay close together throughout each rep.

Incline push-ups can be included in any chest workout routine and also help develop strength throughout other areas of your body, including arms and core muscles. When performed consistently as part of a workout regime over time, incline push-ups can lead to increased muscle size and definition in the lower chest area.

Decline Push-Ups

Decline push-ups are an effective exercise for building and strengthening the lower chest. To perform a decline push-up, place your feet on an elevated surface and place your hands on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Keeping your core engaged and chest up, slowly lower yourself down until your chest nearly touches the floor. Exhale as you press back up to the starting position. When done correctly, decline push-ups target the lower part of your pecs more than a standard flat push-up would.

Additionally, performing decline pushes with dumbbells can also increase resistance and challenge your muscles further. To make this exercise easier, you can reduce foot elevation or try performing it on a bench instead of the ground.

Dumbbell Flys

Dumbbell Flys is a great exercise for working the lower chest area. This exercise involves using two dumbbells of equal weight and lying flat on your back with a slight arch in your back, feet on the floor, legs straight and arms extended out to the sides with palms facing up.

Keeping your arms slightly bent at the elbows, bring your hands together in front of your chest, keeping the arms parallel to the ground. The movement should be a fluid one as you inhale and bring your hands together towards each other in an arc-like motion. Use weights that are comfortable but challenging enough to complete 8-12 reps per set with movements that are controlled and challenging as you exhale. Be sure to keep tension on the muscles throughout each repetition.

To make it more challenging, pause at points throughout each repetition or use a lighter weight while focusing on slower movement speed to work time under tension.

Cable Crossovers

Cable Crossovers are a great exercise for targeting and developing the lower chest muscles. Using a cable machine, start by standing in the middle of the two pulleys and hold each handle in front of you. With your arms bent slightly, bring both handles together with your hands crossing in front of your body. Keeping tension on the cables, squeeze your chest together and slowly bring the handles back to their original position.

Cable Crossovers are often used as an isolation exercise to finish off a chest workout. However, they can also be incorporated into supersets with other exercises to increase intensity and activate more muscle fibers. To maximize results, make sure you keep proper form throughout the exercise:

  • Shoulders down
  • Chest pulled back
  • Squeeze together at full contraction

Workout Routine

Getting a strong lower chest can be tricky, but with the right workout routine you can make some serious progress. Making sure you are targeting the right muscle groups is essential for achieving the results you want. In this article, we will cover the best workout routine for developing a lower chest.

Warm-Up

Warm-ups are an important step in any workout routine, especially for the lower chest. Oftentimes when we don’t warm up before working out, the strain on our body can cause an injury. To prevent this, it’s important to perform a warm-up routine prior to any exercise. For this particular lower chest workout, some good warm-up exercises would be:

  • Light cardio such as jogging or running in place.
  • Some dynamic stretching such as arm circles or jumping jacks.

This will get the blood flowing to your muscles so that you have more energy during your workout and can prevent injury at the same time. Additionally, performing a warm-up will reduce muscle soreness after a hard session and improve your performance in the gym overall.

Exercise Sets

Exercise sets are an important part of any workout routine. Exercises sets refer to how many times you repeat a particular exercise and the number of repetitions you do within each set. When it comes to a lower chest workout routine, a combination of exercises is used to target various muscle groups in the chest, including the lower pecs. Common exercises for this area include dips, flyes, and push-ups.

When determining exercise sets for your workout routine, it’s important to consider your goals and current fitness level. Generally speaking, you will want to complete 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions per exercise. This is considered an ideal range because it allows you to target both muscular hypertrophy (building muscle) as well as strength and endurance gains depending on your specific goals. Ultimately, training should be tailored specifically for each individual’s abilities and needs in order to maximize results.

Cool-Down

Cool-Down is an essential part of any workout. Cool-Down helps prevent any muscle soreness that can occur after physical activity by gradually decreasing your heart rate and allowing your body to transition back to a resting state. After completing a workout routine targeting the lower chest, it’s important to cool down in order to prevent injuries and fatigue.

A cool-down should generally consist of stretching and light cardiovascular activity such as walking or jogging. Stretching should focus on the areas you worked such as the pectorals and triceps. Additional stretches can be done for other muscles used during the exercise, such as those in the neck, shoulders, core, and legs. Dynamic stretching can also be beneficial for warming up for an upcoming workout or lasting flexibility gains throughout the entire day.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the best workout for a lower chest is a combination of compound and isolation exercises targeting the pectorals. This may include barbell or dumbbell presses, flys, chest dips, and cable crossovers. The key to achieving effective lower chest development is to use light weight, high reps and progressive overload.

As always, it’s important to warm up properly before beginning your workout session and to focus on maintaining good form throughout all exercises. Additionally, stretching after each set may help reduce soreness and improve muscle elasticity. Finally, eating a balanced diet and getting enough rest are essential in order to see results from your workout program.

FAQs about: Best Workout For Lower Chest

Q1: What is the best workout for lower chest?

A1: The best exercise for lower chest development is the dip. This exercise works the chest and triceps simultaneously, giving you a great lower chest workout.

Q2: How often should I do lower chest workouts?

A2: It is recommended to workout the lower chest twice a week, with a minimum of 48 hours rest in between sessions.

Q3: What other exercises can I do to target my lower chest?

A3: Other exercises that target the lower chest include the decline pushup, weighted dips, and cable crossovers.

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