Working the chest muscles, though important, are not something I equate to the back muscles. The general public has become more hunched over with a rounded back and closed chest than open chest and upright. When looking at a clients posture or even looking at yourself in the mirror, you may notice a slight to dramatic roundness in your shoulders.

So when it comes to working out the chest, I do it half as much as the back because most of us need to be opened up. That’s not to say that working the chest muscles should be ignored. Being able to push or hold ourselves up is very important, especially as we age.

There are many ways to target the muscles known as our pec major. The bench press is a popular exercise. Using cables for a chest press is effective. Push ups are a great chest exercise using your body weight. I have an instructional video on how to do them here. https://www.synergywellnesslv.com/personal-training/

This article will focus on using dumbbells for chest press on a stability ball because it allows other muscles to engage also. Woo-hoo!

If you do not have a stability ball, you can lay on a mat or a workout bench.

Chest Press on a Stability Ball

Using anywhere from 8lb to 12lb dumbbells depending on where you’re at. You can increase weight by 2% once you can easily complete 3 rounds of 12.

• Sit upright on the stability ball
• Hold the weights close to your chest, walk your feet out and you lay back on the stability ball with your neck and head supported and hips aligned with spine, not dipped down
• Press up through your heels to allow you to engage that booty
• Bring your arms up over your chest, palms facing out
• With control, bend your elbows and extend your shoulder as your arms abduct horizontally
• Do not let your shoulders hyper extend. Keep your elbows in alignment with your shoulders and bent at 90 degrees
• From here, engage your chest muscles, press the weights back up to starting position.

Repeat 10 – 12 reps for 3 rounds.