11/12/14

Exercise of the Week: Tall Kneeling Alternating Chest Press

When people think in terms of horizontal pressing exercises most think of different dumbbell and barbell variations along with the many push up variations.  And if you were going to use all those variations you would have plenty of different choices to sprinkle throughout your training programs depending upon the situation.

Another horizontal pressing variation I've been using more of lately are cable press variations.  With the cable you're getting a different mode of resistance in addition to more freedom for the scapulae to move along with some lower body and core stability work.

With the following exercise, the tall kneeling alternating cable chest press, you're going to get a few things you wouldn't get from an alternating dumbbell bench press: recruitment of the glutes for stability and working the core in terms of resisting extension and rotation through the lumbar spine.

Don't expect to load the weight up on this exercise unless you really want to butcher it.  So it's not going to be a primary exercise that Hans & Frans would use to "pump you up", but it is a nice accessory exercise.