Best Functional Training Chest Exercises You Must Do

Functional training is now a popular trend in the fitness industry, particularly because of the results it produces. It adapts and develops exercises which allow individuals to adopt and maintain a healthier lifestyle which would allow them to perform daily activities more easily, without injuries. The body is pushed to its limits while moving the body through functional movements while using body weight for resistance, the motive being to improve aspects of functionality such as picking a heavy piece of furniture, carrying your kid, pushing, pulling, etc. One part of the body which both men and women strive to maintain is the chest. A functional program for the chest can be great way to cut, rip, and shape to get the definition you want.

Let’s take a look at some of the best functional exercises to shape and define your chest:

Incline Bench Press

While this is not functional training per se, there is some benefit for performing an incline bench press for chest functionality. Anytime you lift something above your shoulders or push forward on something, you are using your chest muscles, especially the upper portion of the pecs. Alternatively, gather a stability ball and a pair of lighter dumbbells to start.

Position your body as if you are sitting on an incline bench so the ball is positioned at your lower back and perform an incline press as you normally would. You should be angled upward to mimic an incline bench.

Perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps and increase your weight or reps as necessary.

Cable flies

This is the most effective of all chest exercises. The arm adduction across the body is predominantly the chest pulling the arm. One version of the fly is to perform it standing using a cable cross. The cable cross is great for generating varying forces to make the exercise difficult.

If your arm is shaking, so is the handle and cable, which makes the exercise much harder to control. Maintaining control with the cable cross will not only make the chest stronger, but it will help keep a high level of functionality in the shoulder area.

To make this exercise more functional, add a stability ball to the mix and try performing a seated chest fly on a stability ball. Perform 3 sets of 10 reps for starters and add reps or weight as desired.

Medicine ball push-ups

One of the most functional exercises is the push-up. The push-up is an exercise used to help the individual get up from the ground, which would be very difficult without upper body strength to assist.

A push-up using a medicine ball makes the exercise more challenging. Start by lowering a straight body into a push-up position, but place both hands safely around or on top of a medicine ball. Make sure to have a controlled handle over the ball to avoid slips, falls, and subsequently injuries.

Alternatively, you can place your feet on the ball with your hands on the floor and perform a push-up in this manner. Either way you choose, you will get a good workout. Start with 3 sets of 10 until comfortable with more reps and sets.

Dips

This may actually be one of the hardest exercises (aside from pull-ups).  Dips require a lot of triceps and chest strength and are a very functional exercise for climbing over walls or raising the body up with an assisted device. Using a dip bar, raise the body up so the body is hanging and the arms are holding everything up and have a slight forward lean.

Lower down so the elbows stay back and close to the body. Maintaining this elbow positioning is crucial for proper form. Perform with 3 sets of as many as you can safely perform and adjust the reps and sets as necessary.

Speak to your trainer before incorporating the above exercise into your regimen or visit Gympik.com to find the best trainers in your city. Also find some of the best gyms in Noida like Gold’s Gym in Noida Sector 12, and Addiction Gym in Sector 26.