11 Resistance Band Chest Exercises (FREE Sample Workout)
Can you really build your chest just by using resistance bands? With the right exercises, yes, you can.
Resistance bands offer a lot of variation when incorporating them into your chest workouts. You can use them for a full-body workout, but in this article, we’ll focus on resistance band exercises targeting the chest.
Bands are a great addition to any gym bag because they are portable. I take our Garage Strength Powerlastic Bands every time I travel. In the unlikely event there isn’t a gym where I am traveling, or I don’t have time to make it, I can always find a way to get a quick pump with resistance bands.
Now let me share some of my favorite resistance band chest exercises with you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Banded Floor Press
Banded floor press is an easy choice to replace regular bench press. Since this movement provides the support of the floor, you can use a thicker band with more resistance.
Banded floor press is going to primarily target your triceps and middle chest. If you are looking for a bigger stretch in the chest, you can move to a bench so that your arms are not stopped by the floor.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the hand behind your back so that the band stretches across your upper back with your hands still in the loops.
- Lay flat on the ground with your knees raised. The resistance band should be pressed against the floor by your shoulder blades.
- Press up to a locked out position and return to the starting position. Depending on the resistance of the band, do this for 4-5 sets of 12-20 reps.
2. V-up Banded Press
This is a more challenging way to do a banded chest press. The v-up banded press allows you to get more range of motion in your chest muscles, while also working your core. This exercise will work your delts, upper chest, middle chest, and triceps.
Pro tip: To get the most out of each pressing exercise, hold and squeeze each rep at the top. This will help maximize tension in the bands and offer a better challenge.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the hand behind your back so that the band stretches across your upper back with your hands still in the loops.
- Lay flat on the ground with your legs straight. The band should be pressed against the floor by your upper back.
- When you’re ready to begin your set, lift up your legs and upper back into a v-up position.
- Press forward and up to complete your reps while holding the v-up position. This variation is more difficult because you have to hold the v-up position, so start with 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps.
3. Banded Chest Flys
Chest flys are a great way to really stretch out and isolate the chest muscles. The placement of the band anchor point will determine what chest muscles you target.
If you incorporate banded floor presses into your routine, you’ll find that banded chest flys are a great accessory to get that extra ROM.
When you place the resistance band higher on a rack and finish your rep in a low position near your waist, you’ll target more of your pectoralis minor. When you anchor the band lower on a rack and finish in a higher position, you will target more of the lower fibers of your pec major.
How to Do
- Place the middle of your band around the anchor point you choose. I’d recommend a pole, power rack, or any sturdy vertical object that the band can fit around.
- Place your hands through the loops of the band and face away from the anchoring object. Make sure that the band is coming from behind you and not in front.
- Distance yourself from the anchor until you have good tension in the bands.
- Raise your arms to about shoulder height and make sure they are almost completely straight.
- Bring your hands together and fully lengthen your arms to complete a rep.
- Then separate your hands and return to the starting position in a controlled manner to feel the stretch in the chest.
4. Standing Crossover
Crossovers have a similar setup to chest flys, but they are going to differ slightly to target the upper and inner chest muscles. You will cross your hands over one another to get a deeper contraction.
When you banded crossovers, alternate which arm crosses over the other every rep to maintain symmetry in your chest.
How to Do
- Place the middle of your band around the anchor point you choose. Again, use a pole, power rack, or any sturdy vertical object that the band can fit around.
- Place your hands through the loops of the band and face away from the anchoring object. Make sure that the resistance band is coming from behind you and not in front.
- Distance yourself from the anchor until you have good tension in the bands.
- Raise your arms to about shoulder height with a slight bend in them.
- Bring your hands together as if you were doing a fly, but go past the finishing point and cross one wrist over the other.
- Do the same thing with the following rep except you will cross over with opposite wrists.
5. Banded Incline Press
Banded incline press is an alternative to barbell or dumbbells incline press. You can combine resistance bands with free weights to make the incline press more challenging at the top of the contraction.
I like to use this with our athletes with a double bounce or ¼ rep variation at the bottom which will lead to more high threshold motor unit recruitment.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the hand behind your back so that the band stretches across your upper back with your hands still in the loops.
- Lay on an incline bench so that the band is pressed in between your upper back and the bench.
- Once set, press forward and up to target those upper chest muscles. Again, squeeze at the top for the best contraction and return back to the starting position. Same as the banded floor press, do 4-5 sets of 12-20 reps.
6. Banded Triple Trize
The triple trize complex is a combination of tricep, shoulder, and chest isolation work. You’ll feel this most in your triceps and inner chest. I wouldn’t recommend this being one of your core lifts at the start of your chest workout, but it is a great finisher to get a massive PUMP!
This complex puts three exercises together: tricep extensions, tricep eccentric into a press, and a close grip press.
This complex puts three exercises together: tricep extensions, tricep eccentric into a press, and a close grip press.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the hand behind your back so that the band stretches across your upper back with your hands still in the loops. You can also put it under the bench you are using for added tension.
- Lay on a flat bench with the bands coming from behind you or from under the bench.
- Start with your arms fully extended.
- The first movement, the tricep extension, requires you to hinge at the elbows and control the resistance bands to about forehead level - almost like doing a skull crusher.
- After completing your set of extensions, you’ll move onto the second movement; the eccentric portion of a tricep extension into a close grip press
- Finally, you’ll end with a group of close grip presses.
- So each group of movements individually. An example set is 9 tricep extensions into 9 eccentric presses into 9 close grip presses.
7. Underhand Band Pulls
Underhand band pulls are another variation of chest flys.They differ from traditional flys because your palms need to be facing up instead of facing each other. They will target your upper chest muscles when you squeeze at the top of the contraction.
How to Do
- Place the middle of your band around the anchor point you choose. You want to have the band toward the bottom of a rack or pole.
- Place your hands through the loops of the band and face away from the anchoring object. Make sure that the resistance band is coming from behind you and not in front.
- Distance yourself from the anchor until you have good tension in the bands.
- Keep your arms lowered by your sides to start with your palms facing forward.
- Then pull the bands up while keeping your arms straight and palms facing up. Pull the band up to about chin height then lower your arms back to your side.
8. Banded Explosive Push Up
A resistance band push up is one of the first exercises a trainer may recommend when you want to increase the difficulty of push ups. One step further is to make them explosive and actually push yourself off the ground.
Doing explosive push ups with a resistance band will help establish those fast twitch muscle fibers in your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Being able to absorb the weight of your body and control yourself down with the resistance from the bands will also recruit more high threshold motor units during your workout.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the hand behind your back so that the band stretches across your upper back with your hands still in the loops.
- Get into a plank position with your hands shoulder width apart or maybe slightly wider. Make sure to keep your back straight and core tight.
- Lower yourself to the ground until your chest barely touches the floor.
- Push up very fast through your hands enough that they come up off the floor.
- Land your hands back on the ground and absorb the force through your chest and triceps.
- Repeat as needed to complete the set.
9. Banded Dips
Bands can be used two ways for dips. One way is to assist with dips and help people that cannot do their full bodyweight yet. We will be covering the second way.
The second way is to wrap the bands across your back to actually increase tension and make dips harder to do. The band provides resistance on your triceps and back, actively pushing you down. Banded dips target your triceps, shoulders, and lower chest muscles.
The second way is to wrap the bands across your back to actually increase tension and make dips harder to do. The band provides resistance on your triceps and back, actively pushing you down. Banded dips target your triceps, shoulders, and lower chest muscles.
How to Do
- Hold the ends of your chosen resistance band in each hand through the loops. If you need more tension, you can fold the band in half and put one hand through the overlapping loops and the other through the bent portion of the band.
- Place the band behind your back so that the band stretches across your shoulder blades with your hands still in the loops.
- Place your hands on your dip platform and step into the elevated starting position if there is a step.
- Lower your body by bending at the elbows and engaging the triceps, shoulders, and chest to control the descent.
- Once your elbows are at a 90 degree angle, push yourself back up and repeat this until you hit the target number of reps.
10. Banded Single Arm Saw
The banded single arm saw is a great accessory movement if you are looking for an exercise that focuses on time under tension. The single arm saw isolates one side of the chest at a time and the goal is to maximize contraction throughout the movement.
When you do the single arm saw, you don’t always have to keep your arm tight to your body. You can add more range of motion to the movement by pulling the up and away slightly.
How to Do
- Place the middle of your band around the anchor point you choose. Again, use a pole, power rack, or any sturdy vertical object that the band can fit around.
- Place one hand through the loops of the band and stand to the side of the anchor object. Make sure the side you are holding the resistance band with is closest to the anchor point.
- Distance yourself from the rack so there is enough tension on the band before you start the saw.
- Start with your hand in a fist directly in front of your sternum.
- To start the saw, pull your elbow to the side, away from your body.
- Then bring your fist past your sternum, while keeping your forearm as close to your body as possible. Push your fist about 4 inches past your sternum and squeeze your bicep into the side of your pec to get the best contraction.
11. Rotating Single Arm Press
The last exercise that makes the cut in this article is a dynamic movement that takes a bit of coordination. The rotating single arm press almost looks like a punch, but is instead a controlled press with the chest.
This movement works your balance, dynamic truck control, and incorporates the chest during the pressing motion.
This movement works your balance, dynamic truck control, and incorporates the chest during the pressing motion.
How to Do
- Attach the end of your band to an anchor point like a rack or a pole.
- Hold the other end of the band in one hand and distance yourself from the anchor point.
- Set up in a staggered stance in which the leg opposite to the hand that is holding the band is forward.
- With the arm that is holding the band, pull your shoulder back like you are going for a punch.
- Once the arm is cocked back, rotate your core to be square and forward as you press forward through the resistance band.
- Complete the rep by bringing your arm back to the cocked position and rotating your core back.
Sample Chest Workout
Bands to Use
The HAF band stands for Heavy as F**K band. This is one of the heaviest resistance bands you will find and is compact enough to stow away in your gym bag for easy access whenever you want to get a quick pump in.
The HAF Band is ideal for strong muscle group use such as chest, bicep, and tricep exercises, as well as supplementing barbell exercises such as bench and squat. We suggest that you have a good strength base to make the most use of this band.
- Resistance weight: 125lbs at medium tension
- Length: 5 feet
The strength band is an all-purpose medium strength resistance band that anyone can find a multitude of uses for. It is best used for accessory exercises such as shoulder, back, hip flexor, and core exercises.
- Resistance weight: 55lbs at medium tension
- Length: 6.5 feet
The mobility band is a lightweight resistance band ideal for warming up and mobility exercises. Use the band to warm up your shoulders, hips, and any other muscle group or joint that needs a little blood flow.
This band can also be used for more difficult bodyweight exercises to add a little extra resistance for those that want a challenge.
- Resistance weight: 20lbs at medium tension
- Length: 4 feet
Conclusion
Resistance bands come in handy both in the gym and on the road. Using them in addition to gym equipment can make your workout more challenging or more manageable, depending on how you use them. For your chest, it’s enough if you just use the bands themselves.
Try a few of these exercises the next time you want to up the volume on your chest day or are in a pinch and need a quick pump. Pick up some Garage Strength Powerlastic Bands today so you can do all these exercises and be confident that you are choosing the right band for each exercise.
Tag us @Garagestrength on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook if you film yourself getting SWOLE with these exercises. PEACE!
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Yo, It's Dane
Welcome to the Garage Strength Blog, where it is my goal to provide you with the experience and knowledge I've gained in the strength and conditioning world over many years of learning from both successes and failures. I train elite-level athletes in a multitude of sports from the high school to professional levels, already producing 5 Olympics and 30+ National Champions. If you want to be the next champion I train, check out my strength programs below!
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