--- title: "Lower chest exercises" description: "Dips, decline presses and flyes plus machine variations. See what actually shifts the emphasis onto the lower chest." locale: en url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest" count: 24 type: muscles code: LOWER_CHEST --- # Lower chest exercises The lower chest is the same muscle as the rest of it, just with fibers attached lower on the sternum and ribs. You load them harder when your arm travels down and forward relative to your torso - that is, in dips with a forward lean and on a bench set to decline. In practice this list comes down to two things: dips and decline. The rest is variations of grip, tempo and equipment. If you are after one movement, dips give you the most - you can add weight on top of your bodyweight, and their variations take up a good share of this list. ## Why is almost everything here a dip? Because the dip is the only movement that puts your arm exactly where this category wants it: torso leaning forward, arms traveling down and slightly back. The descriptions in the atlas come back to this on every version, always with the same line about the lean - without it the same movement turns into a triceps exercise. The second thing is load. The dip is the only bodyweight chest movement you can add weight to directly, and it shows in the list: next to the plain version sit weighted variants, paused ones and weighted ones done slow. The rest of the equipment-free exercises have no such path. Beyond dips you are left with the decline bench and a few machines. There are not many, because a decline bench is equipment that not every gym owns and that basically nobody has at home. ## How much of this list is really lower chest? Less than the name of the category suggests. The chest is one muscle whose fibers run at different angles into a shared attachment on the arm. Where you put your arm changes which of them work hardest, but it does not switch the rest off. Anyone who benches flat or does push-ups is already loading the lower fibers. The practical conclusion is that lower chest is an emphasis, not a separate workout. You see it most clearly in dips, because there the forward lean changes the angle a great deal. With the push-ups on this list, raising your feet or dropping to your knees mostly changes how much of your bodyweight sits on your hands - that is a matter of difficulty, not of which part of the muscle works. The short answer for anyone who wants one thing: dips with a forward lean. If dips are still out of reach or your shoulders complain, the decline bench does the same job in a version that is easier to control. ## Common mistakes - **Staying upright on dips** - The description of every dip version repeats the same thing - without a slight forward lean the triceps takes over the work. If you want to load the chest, you have to lean it in first. - **Shoulders riding up to your ears** - The atlas tells you to keep them down and away from your ears. When they ride up, your bodyweight starts hanging off the joint instead of resting on muscle. - **Decline without locking your feet in** - Your feet belong hooked under the pads, otherwise you slide down mid-set. Head below your hips and a bar over your face is the worst possible moment to go looking for a spotter. ## By equipment - [Bench](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/bench) - 9 exercises - [Dumbbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/dumbbell) - 8 exercises - [Machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/machine) - 5 exercises - [Dip bars](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/dip-bars) - 4 exercises - [Other](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/other) - 4 exercises - [Barbell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/barbell) - 1 exercises - [Resistance band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/resistance-band) - 1 exercises - [Smith machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/smith-machine) - 1 exercises - [Suspension trainer](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/suspension-trainer) - 1 exercises - [Weight plate](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-chest/weight-plate) - 1 exercises ## All Lower chest exercises - [Chest Dip (On Dip Station)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-dip-on-dip-station) - Lower chest · Dip bars - [Barbell Bench Press Decline](https://hi.fitness/exercises/barbell-bench-press-decline) - Lower chest · Barbell - [Dumbbell Decline Bench Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-bench-press) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Chest Dip Weighted](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-dip-weighted) - Lower chest · Dip bars - [Machine Chest Press Decline](https://hi.fitness/exercises/machine-chest-press-decline) - Lower chest · Machine - [Dumbbell Decline Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-fly) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Smith Machine Press Decline](https://hi.fitness/exercises/smith-machine-press-decline) - Lower chest · Smith machine - [Chest Dip Machine](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-dip-machine) - Lower chest · Machine - [Dumbbell Decline Alternate Bench Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-alternate-bench-press) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Decline Hammer Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-hammer-press) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Hammer Strength MTS Iso-lateral Decline Press Both Arm](https://hi.fitness/exercises/hammer-strength-mts-iso-lateral-decline-press-both-arm) - Lower chest · Machine - [Hammer Strength MTS Iso-lateral Decline Press Single Arm](https://hi.fitness/exercises/hammer-strength-mts-iso-lateral-decline-press-single-arm) - Lower chest · Machine - [Hammer Strength MTS Iso-lateral Decline Press Alternate Arms](https://hi.fitness/exercises/hammer-strength-mts-iso-lateral-decline-press-alternate-arms) - Lower chest · Machine - [Decline Kneeling Push Up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/decline-kneeling-push-up) - Lower chest · Other - [Decline Chair Push Up Diamond](https://hi.fitness/exercises/decline-chair-push-up-diamond) - Lower chest · Other - [Suspension Trainer with Grips Decline Push-up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/suspension-trainer-with-grips-decline-push-up) - Lower chest · Suspension trainer - [Dips Between Chairs](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dips-between-chairs) - Lower chest · Other - [Chest Dip with Pause Bodyweight](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-dip-with-pause-bodyweight) - Lower chest · Dip bars - [Chest Dip Weighted Slow](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-dip-weighted-slow) - Lower chest · Dip bars - [Chest Press High to Low Cable Resistance Band](https://hi.fitness/exercises/chest-press-high-to-low-cable-resistance-band) - Lower chest · Resistance band - [Dumbbell Decline One Arm Hammer Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-one-arm-hammer-press) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Dumbbell Decline Twist Fly](https://hi.fitness/exercises/dumbbell-decline-twist-fly) - Lower chest · Dumbbell - [Svend Press Decline Bench](https://hi.fitness/exercises/svend-press-decline-bench) - Lower chest · Weight plate - [Decline Push Up Against Wall](https://hi.fitness/exercises/decline-push-up-against-wall) - Lower chest · Other