Chest workouts should be more than just bench press

The bench press, functionally, isn't a very important lift - it's certainly not any more important then any other pushing exercise.

In real life, there's really no equivalent of lying on your back and pushing a heavy thing off your chest with both arms moving exactly the same angle, speed and time. The barbell chest press only measures pushing strength from a supported back, in a position that rarely if ever happens outside the gym. Even for athletes the barbell bench press is an exercise for integration of arms, chest and shoulders, nothing more. So therefore to use it as your only form of chest exercise is a waste of time. Chest exercises should be done from a variety of angles, standing, using dumbbells, JC bands, medicine balls, stability balls and, yes, even by tossing in the old barbell.

In my days as an athlete, I have seen many a man bench more weight under the barbell - enough to move a house - while laying on their backs. But when it came to doing things on their feet and when being functional counted, these people were generally the worst. So how did the barbell bench press become the default lift of gyms if you wanted to work your chest?

It wasn't particularly popular until after World War II and it seemed to gain its most momentum in the mid-1950s, when a Canadian Olympic weight-lifter attributed his massive upper body to the bench press. Joe Weider, the bodybuilding guru, pushed it like there was no tomorrow in his magazines of that era. A 1957 article in Muscle Power magazine declared the bench press as "The Greatest Exercise of Them All."

Well modern science has proved a long time ago how untrue these statements were. But health clubs of today still promote the barbell bench press as the king of the weight room. Reasons I believe: it's easy to learn, beginners make quick gains, it works muscles you can see in the mirror, and guys think the ladies are really paying attention (just kidding there).

Let's take a science look at the muscle. The chest or pectoralis major is clam shaped; it has an upper (clavicular) and middle (sternocostal) portion. There's also a lower that is mildly interesting because its fibers originate from connective tissues at the top of the abdominal muscles. Functionally, it works along with other portions of the muscle. Each division connects to different points on the body and needs different movements to train it. The pectoralis minor, for instance, lies underneath the pectoralis major. Not being visible, this muscle is ignored by most and this includes bodybuilders. Not good! For the general fitness-minded individual, it is important as a stabilizer of the scapula, holding it close to the back. It also acts to pull the shoulder down and forward.

What does this mean in English? If neglected, it leads to injuries in common everyday tasks outside of the gym. This is one of the main reasons that multiple chest exercises are needed.

Push ups and those exercises using the stability ball are great exercises for the chest and, ladies, this means you to. With the use of a stability ball anybody can do a push up regardless if they have never been able to.

For the more advanced, try doing push ups with your hands directly on the stability ball. Doing single-armed dumbbell chest presses on the stability ball are excellent and, if done correctly, you will feel those abdominals as an added bonus. Find a gym with a Freemotion Standing Cross Cable machine. Have a professional show you the many uses of this equipment from a standing position. Standing Alternating or single armed JC Band presses are also good. The reason: you are on your feet and there is no back support so all the muscles that are needed are allowed to participate in the movement.

At our facility, we train a competition firearms expert who for years prior did nothing but traditional bodybuilding training. It's been our joy to watch her improve in her profession by leaps and bounds. Her favorite exercises: the standing single-armed chest movements. In her words: "Those functional strength movements did more for me then any lie-down barbell bench press ever could."

Remember life outside the gym is one functional movement after another, so the more functional the movement the better. Mix that chest routine up a little and watch the magic.

Herb Duncan, co-founder and CEO of Nexlev Wellness Centre in Ahwatukee Foothills, is a certified personal trainer with an emphasis on human movement science.