Chest

Deep Breathing – This is the one exercise that should be done everyday, when possible, outdoors or in front of an open window. Stand with your feet at shoulder width apart, hands down at your sides. In one motion, rise up on your toes, raise your arms straight out in front of you and then up and out to the sides and back while leaning back a bit and drawing in a deep breath. Slowly exhale while returning to the start position. Repeat this 20 times. This will expand your rib cage, adding to the size of your chest. It also gets oxygen flowing through your body and clears your head. I step out onto my deck each morning and do these before leaving the house.

Isotonic - Chest expansion. Stand in front of an open doorway and place your hands on the door frame above. Keeping your elbows flexible, lean forward, as though falling face forward, while taking in a deep breath. Exhale while using your arms to push yourself back to the start position. Perform 10 repetitions. As well as expanding your rib cage, this exercise also works your lats.

Top of the door too high for you? Brace a broomstick, or a dowel, or a pipe across a doorway a few inches or so above your head, stand back from the broomstick a foot or more and perform the exercise.

Contributed by Woz

Isotonic - While seated, put your feet together and spread your knees apart. Place your hands on the outsides of your knees and then push your knees together. Use your knees as resistance to the inward pushing of your hands, placing tension on your pectoral muscles. Repeat 10 times. Isometric - On the last repetition, push your knees together and hold them together, pushing as hard as you can for 10 seconds while flexing your pectoral muscles.

Alternative: For an effective isometric, lean forward and press your knees together using the insides of your elbows.

Contributed by Ancient Guy

Isometric - Sit towards the edge of a chair with your feet and knees approximately 16" apart. Lean forward and place the palm of your right hand on the inside of your left knee with your forearm almost parallel to the floor. Now push against your left knee as forcefully as possible while providing resistance with your left leg, and hold for 10 seconds.

Isotonic - Raise your left arm straight out in front of you, bend at the elbow and bring your left hand across your chest towards your right shoulder. Place the fist of your right hand into the palm of your left hand and push your right arm straight out and then bring it across your chest in arc motion, as far to your left as possible. Think of performing this exercise on a one-arm butterfly machine. Keep your elbows at shoulder height. Perform 10 repetitions. Repeat with your right arm providing resistance to your left arm. This works the mid level range of your chest muscles as well as your shoulders.

Contributed by SAL225 The Pushup Forum

Revised by Chris

Isometric - With elbows out at shoulder height, place the palms of your hands together at mid-chest with the fingers of your hands pointing upwards. Push against the palms of your hands and, at the same time rotate your hands so that your fingers are pointing away from you while, at the same time extending your arms straight out in front of you. Bring your hands back to the start position, all the while maintaining the inward pushing tension against your palms. Continue this for 10 repetitions, and then hold for 10 seconds in both the beginning and finish positions

Contributed by NICK

Isometric - While standing, place your hands on your hips, fingers pointing down. Press the palms of your hands against your hips as forcefully as possible. Hold for 10 seconds.

Isometric - Put both hands together, palm to palm, at waist height. Push together as forcefully as possible. Hold for 10 seconds.

Alternative: Similar to CH-6. From the position of your compressed hands at your waist, bring your hands straight up while rotating them until your hands are at your chest, fingers pointing upwards, all the while maintaining isometric pressure.

Contributed by EvilTeuf

Isokinetic - Squat down on your haunches, place your hands on the outsides of your knees, and then push your knees together as far as you can. Hold for 10 seconds.

Stretch - Envision a cable cross-over machine for your pectoral muscles. While standing, reach way out to your sides and up, and grab hold of the "handles". Pull your arms down towards your mid-section, crossing your arms in front of you, and continue moving your arms as far as possible, prescribing an arc. Tense the muscles of your pectorals while doing this, and then really "crunch" them at the furthest extent of your arms crossed in front of you. Perform ten repetitions, alternating which arm is in front of which with each rep. At the end of the ninth and tenth repetitions, flex and crunch your pecs for ten seconds each.

Isotonic -

1. Stand within a doorway.

2. Raise one arm to shoulder level, straight out to the side -- just as if you were in the top position of a lateral raise. Keeping your arm straight, place the palm of your hand against the wall on the side of the doorway.

3. Push your hand against the wall as hard as you can, contracting the working pec. Then, keeping the arm straight, twist your body towards the working arm while maintaining full tension.

5. You’ll then twist the body back, while still maintaining the tension, and keep repeating for reps.

You can also use a ball for this exercise. If you are using a ball, put it under the palm of the raised hand and press it against the wall (check: your palm is facing the wall, your arm is raised as if doing a lateral raise, the ball is between your palm and the wall). You can also just do this exercise against a wall without standing in a doorway.

What I like is that, as with an isometric move, you can use maximal force. But unlike an isometric move, you get to smoothly and continuously work through the entire range of motion, just as if you were using a weight. You can make the movement as easy or tough as you want, and it really sets the pecs on fire.

Contributed by whiffet

Isotonic - The One Arm Doorway Push-up/Inner Pec Focus

Standing about arms length away from a doorway, place one hand on the side of the doorway, adjust your angle of lean according to what's comfortable (30-45 degree probably) Now when you approach the point of "dipping" below the plane of the doorway (head crosses over to other side), roll the opposite side of your body inward toward the working arm, so if you are working your right arm, your head and shoulders will be rotated toward your right once it is at the bottom of the move, think of peeking around the door if this helps picture it, then roll back to the standard squared shoulders as you push back off. This really focuses on the entire pec, and notably the inner pecs which are generally missed in a push-up.

Contributed by CaptKronos

Isometric - The One Arm Doorway Push-up/Inner Pec Focus

I positioned myself in the doorway, straddling the opening (one foot on either side, or one foot in each room as it were). I placed a hand flat on either side of the jamb, without using the fingers to hold on to anything, and pressed inwards. Again, nothing unique there. But, I decided to lean back and simultaneously perform a row back to standing, relying on my ability to squeeze inwards hard enough with my palms not to lose my connection to the jamb and fall over. Pretty intense pec contraction!

Contributed by Tobywan