Your chest muscles are some of the largest and most powerful muscles in your body, and they are also the most often neglected when you go on the road and are away from your regular gym. Because it can be hard to train chest muscles without dumbbells or barbells, many people let this part of their weightlifting regimen slide when they are on vacation, leading to sagging pectorals in just a few weeks. Fortunately, elastic exercise bands can be used to work out the chest muscles easily and quickly. You can even do a version of the that is just as hard--if not harder--than the original. In this article, we will discuss chair bench press with an elastic exercise band.
Instructions
1. Sit in the chair. Both of your feet should be flat on the floor and your back should be straight. If the chair does not have a straight back, that is okay as long as you make yourself maintain good posture.
2. Wrap the elastic band around the back of the chair. You should be holding one handle in each hand. The band will wrap behind the chair and then run along the backs or tops of your arms.
3. Extend your arms as far as they will go. This should be a controlled, steady motion. If the movement is too easy, loop the elastic band around your hands once on each side and repeat the motion.
4. Return your arms to a ninety degree angle. You will be moving with the pull of the elastic on this part of the exercise. Keep your movements slow and resist the urge to jerk your arms backward.
5. Repeat this exercise as many times as you wish. Most trainers recommend three sets of 10 to 20 repetitions each. However, if you are trying to increase muscle tone you may wish to do as many as 100 repetitions per set, while increasing bulk will require fewer repetitions but much harder resistance.
Tags: your arms, chest muscles, , bench press, elastic band, elastic band around, elastic exercise