Isometric Chest Squeeze

How to do it

1. Stand or sit tall with your elbows bent to about ninety degrees and your hands together in front of the chest, palm to palm.
2. Keep the shoulders down and back and the forearms roughly parallel to the floor.
3. Press the palms together as hard as you can, feeling the chest tighten.
4. Hold the squeeze without letting the hands move, breathing steadily.
5. Release slowly, then repeat.
6. Try the same squeeze with the hands higher and lower to feel different parts of the chest.

Common mistakes

• Holding the breath. A hard squeeze tempts you to strain; breathe steadily throughout.
• Shrugging into the press. The shoulders stay down and the effort stays in the chest; shoulders that rise are taking over.
• Letting the hands drift. The palms stay exactly where they started; if they move, one arm is pushing the other rather than both pushing together.
• Squeezing with the hands only. The push comes from the upper arms driving inwards, not from the fingers gripping.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Pecs

Secondary

• Shoulders
• Triceps