With all the current focus in popular culture on developing a booty similar to a peach and a core that is as sturdy as a rock, you may have intensified your routine of squats with weights and attempted all the top-notch ab workouts found on the internet. Consequently, prioritizing the strength training of your upper body, particularly your chest, has likely taken a backseat.

However, according to Hayden Steele, a certified personal trainer and the mastermind behind the Shock Training app, working out your chest should not be seen as an optional exercise. This applies whether you engage in resistance band chest workouts or utilize dumbbell exercises. Steele emphasizes the importance of incorporating chest exercises into your training regimen, even though people often fixate on aesthetics and fail to consider the practicality of daily life. He asserts that pushing movements are just as vital as any other type of movement.

It serves as a reminder that significant effort from your chest muscles is required for pushing a loaded grocery cart or a heavy lawn mower. The same goes for activities like throwing a softball or swinging a tennis racket. While striving for a strong and shapely butt may boost your appearance and self-confidence, you should not neglect your pecs, as they are frequently utilized throughout the day. Even if training them does not result in a visible benefit that is worthy of Instagram, they should not be sidelined in favor of other muscle groups.

Fortunately, you do not require a bulky and pricey set of dumbbells or a fully-equipped home gym to achieve an effective chest workout. Resistance bands can be utilized to perform classic chest exercises such as presses and punches. In fact, they offer certain advantages that free weights cannot provide, as per Steele. Below, he outlines the main benefits of resistance band chest exercises and presents a resistance band chest workout that will undoubtedly become an integral part of your upper-body routine.

The Advantages of Resistance Band Chest Exercises

To begin with, these flexible bands offer a greater range of resistance options compared to dumbbells or kettlebells, enabling you to perform a wider variety of chest exercises.

Because liberated masses depend on gravity, they can only afford impediment in a vertical plane — the course of gravity,” he clarifies. “Unalike unrestrained masses, bands don’t depend on gravity for hindrance. This amplifies their potential for application in further operational movement blueprints that imitate day-to-day existence, as well as sport-specific endeavors.

Let’s suppose you were going to perform a standing chest press with dumbbells, for instance. As you stretch out your arms in front of you, gravity will be pushing the weights downwards towards the floor. Despite the fact that you’re moving in the path of motion that would typically engage your chest muscles, you end up engaging your deltoid muscles in the shoulder, says Steele. Conversely, if you execute it with a resistance band, “the band directly opposes the plane of motion, so it’s actually going to provide the chest resistance during that movement,” he says. You’ll still get some deltoid work with a band, in addition to some extra triceps training, but your pecs are going to be exerting most of the effort, adds Steele. Therefore, the next time you’re performing horizontal-plane exercises such as standing presses and punches, discard your dumbbell and transform it into a resistance band chest exercise to ensure that you’re training the muscles you actually want to target.

Furthermore, resistance bands create a matching resistance profile, signifying that when your muscles are at the weakest point of range (think: the bottom of a floor chest press), there’s more elasticity in the band and less resistance, so the band is at its weakest point as well. And when you’re at your strongest (think: your arms are fully extended in the press), so is the band, says Steele. If you were to perform this move with dumbbells, the weight is equally heavy at the bottom of the range (when your muscles are weak) as it is at the top, which can put you at a greater risk of injury at that bottom point, he adds. Translation: Eliminating the weights and tackling a resistance band chest workout instead can help you remain strong and free from injury.

12-Minute Resistance Band Chest Workout

To acquire all the benefits of resistance training while keeping your upper body injury-free, try Steele’s preferred resistance band chest workout that’s guaranteed to ignite your pecs.

How it works: Perform each resistance band chest exercise for 30 to 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds before proceeding to the next move. Repeat the resistance band chest workout circuit a total of 2 times.

You’ll need: a TheraBand or a tube resistance band with handles.

Standing Endurance Band Pectoral Press

This pectoral exercise using resistance bands will provide you with the same advantages as a standing press you would perform on the cable crossover machine, but you won’t need to occupy your living space with equipment.

A. Stand with feet at a distance equal to the width of your hips. Envelop the resistance band around your back, beneath the shoulder blades, and bring the two ends beneath the armpits towards the front of your body.

B. With the elbows bent at a 90-degree angle at the height of your chest, grasp the handles of the band or the point where the hands join the band, with an overhand grip (palms facing downwards). Step your right foot back into a stance known as the split squat. In order to commence, slightly tilt your torso forward at the hips.

C. Exhale and elongate your elbows, pushing your hands away from your chest until your arms are completely extended.

D. Inhale and reverse the movement, flexing your elbows to return to the starting position, ensuring that you stop once your hands align with your chest. Maintain tension in the band throughout the entire motion. If there is inadequate tension, readjust your hand position by moving them further down the band.

Repeat for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds, followed by a 15-second rest period.

Endurance Band Alternating Punches

If you desire to incorporate a touch of cardiovascular exercise into your workout, engage in a quick session of alternating punches using resistance bands to elevate your heart rate. The set-up for this chest exercise with resistance bands is similar to the standing chest press mentioned earlier, but instead of extending both arms simultaneously, you will alternate the pressing of each arm.

A. Stand with your feet positioned at a width equivalent to the width of your hips. Wrap the resistance band around your back, beneath the shoulder blades, and bring the two ends beneath the armpits towards the front of your body.

B. With your elbows bent at 90-degree angles, grip the handles of the band or the point where the hands connect with the band, using an overhand grip with your palms facing downwards. Step your right foot back into a split squat stance.

C. Extend your arms directly in front of your chest, while ensuring that your hands are shoulder-width apart at the starting position.

D. While inhaling, promptly turn your left elbow outward to bring your hand towards your chest, while maintaining tension in the band throughout the entire movement. Stop once your hand is aligned with your chest. (In case there is insufficient tension, readjust your hand position by moving them further down the band.)

E. While exhaling, rapidly extend your elbow and push your hand away from your chest until it is fully extended. Repeat this process, alternating sides, while maintaining speed throughout the exercise.

Repeat for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds, followed by a 15-second rest period.

Pectoral Press on the Floor with Glute Bridge using Resistance Bands

This chest exercise with resistance bands effectively targets your body in the same way as a chest press utilizing a dumbbell or barbell. To intensify the movement, consider raising your hips up into the position known as a glute bridge and maintaining that posture throughout the entire session.

A. Commence lying supine on the floor with a resistance band encircling the posterior and positioned beneath the shoulder blades. Bring the two extremities beneath the armpits and out in front of the torso. Flex the knees and firmly plant the feet on the floor at a distance equivalent to the width of the hips.

B. With the elbows flexed at 90-degree angles in proximity to your sides, grasp the handles of the band or the location where the hands make contact with the band. Elevate the hips off the ground, assuming a glute bridge position, thereby creating a straight alignment between the knees, hips, and shoulders. Initiate with the elbows pointing outward, wrists in a neutral position, and actively engage the core.

C. Gradually exhale, apply force to the arms, and extend the elbows towards the ceiling, elongating the band as the arms fully straighten.

D. Slowly inhale and lower the arms until the upper arms are roughly parallel to the floor.

Repeat this sequence for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds.

Modified Resistance Band Push-up

Push-ups may not be your preferred exercise, but they undoubtedly generate intense activation in your pectoral muscles, especially when paired with the inclusion of a resistance band. This resistance band chest exercise serves as a prime exemplification of the band’s corresponding resistance profile. As you descend towards the floor, the band gradually acquires more slack; conversely, when you push back up, there is an escalation in tension, as elucidated by Steele. (By the way, if you deem yourself prepared to execute a full push-up, consult these guidelines to refine your technique.)

A. Initiate by assuming a modified plank position, with the band looped around the posterior beneath the shoulder blades. The terminations of the band should be positioned underneath the hands, with the latter directly under the shoulders. Additionally, the knees should be placed on the floor. Elevate the feet off the ground and sustain this position.

B. Activate the core musculature by posteriorly tilting the tailbone and retract the navel towards the spine. Stabilize the latissimus dorsi by depressing the shoulder blades, moving them away from the ears.

C. Flex the elbows to achieve an angle of 45 degress with the arms in relation to the body. Gradually descend the body, ceasing the descent approximately 3 inches above the floor. Throughout the movement, ensure that the core remains engaged and the body maintains a straight alignment from the head to the knees.

D. Push away from the floor to return to the starting position.

Repeat this sequence for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds.

Resistance Band Bench Press

If you intend to incorporate a resistance band workout into your gym routine or possess the good fortune of owning your own bench in the comfort of your abode, this resistance band chest exercise is an absolute necessity. In addition to invigorating the pectoral muscles, this bench press variation stimulates the deltoids, triceps, latissimus dorsi, trapezius, and rhomboids. (If access to a workout bench is unavailable, attempt executing this movement on a smaller, robust coffee table, a piano or dining room table bench, an aerobic step platform, or even a park bench.)

Resistance Band Chest Press on a Foam Roller

It turns out that foam rollers are not merely meant for recovery, and they can actually provide significant benefits to your resistance band chest workout. The inclusion of a foam roller in your floor chest press exercise transforms it into a core exercise as well, according to Steele.

Wrap the resistance band around your back, beneath your shoulder blades, and bring the two ends under your armpits, out in front of your body. Hold the handles of the band, or the point where your hands meet the band, with an overhand grip and your palms facing downwards. Keep your feet flat on the floor and carefully lie face-up on the foam roller, parallel to your torso. Begin with your elbows bent at 90-degree angles, your wrists in a straight position, and engage your core.

Exhale and gradually extend your elbows to press your hands towards the ceiling, thereby lengthening the band as your arms straighten.

Inhale and slowly lower your arms until your upper arms are approximately parallel to the floor.

Repeat this exercise for a duration of 30 to 45 seconds, then rest for 15 seconds.