Upper Chest

Instructions:

• Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand.
• Your arms should be fully extended at your sides, your palms facing in.
• Your feet should be about hip-width apart, and your upper back upright with your lower back maintaining a natural inward curve.
• Squat down with your butt first keeping your shins close to perpendicular to the floor until your thighs are approximately parallel to the floor. -You should be looking upwards, your upper torso slightly leaned forward and your lower back slightly curved inward or straight.
• Now stand up to the starting position forcing your hips in and your head up squeezing your hamstrings and buttocks and not just your quads.

Don'ts

• Don't allow your back to hunch over at any time. Try to keep good posture with your upper back straight and your lower back slightly arched.
• Don't allow your knees to move farther forward than your toes.
• Don't squat down farther than your quadriceps being parallel to the floor.
• Don't bounce or jerk your body in an attempt to gain momentum.Always move in a very slow, controlled manner.

Quadriceps: The large group of muscles on the front of the upper leg, often referred to as the thighs. Your quadriceps are so named because they are a group of four (quad = four) different muscles: the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedialis. The quadriceps run along the front of the thigh, starting at the hip joint and ending at the knee joint. The quadriceps' primary function is to flex the hip and extend the knee, very important in walking, running, jumping, climbing, and pedaling.

Click on a muscle group and view a video demonstration and written instructions for each exercise for that muscle or muscle group.

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