Isolation · Chest
These 9 exercises are the isolation (single-joint) exercises for the chest in the GymStreak library, beginner to intermediate level, using dumbbell, chest fly machine and cable machine. Good places to start: Dumbbell Fly and Incline Dumbbell Flyes. By level: 3 beginner and 6 intermediate.
Written by the GymStreak coaching teamUpdated
01
Isolation chest exercises move a single joint, so the chest do most of the work. Use them after your compound lifts, with moderate to high reps and controlled form, to add focused volume. The loads are lighter, so they're a good place to practise a slow lowering phase and a full range of motion, and they add little fatigue to the rest of your workout.
02
Flat presses load the whole muscle; incline presses shift more of the work to the upper portion, and decline presses and dips to the lower portion. Flyes and cable crossovers train the arm-across-the-body action with less help from the triceps. Keep your shoulder blades set back and down on the bench, lower the weight under control, and stop each set with a rep or two in reserve while you learn the movement.
03
Start with one pressing movement you can load progressively, such as a barbell or dumbbell bench press or push-ups, then add a fly or an incline variation. If you train at home, push-up variations (incline, decline, diamond, wide) let you change the angle and difficulty without equipment.
BeginnerIntermediateAdvanced
Beginner isolation dumbbell exercise for the chest.
Beginner isolation dumbbell exercise for the chest, also working the shoulders.
Beginner isolation chest fly machine exercise for the chest.
Intermediate isolation cable machine exercise for the chest.
Intermediate isolation cable machine exercise for the chest.
Intermediate isolation dumbbell exercise for the chest, also working the shoulders.
Intermediate isolation dumbbell exercise for the chest, also working the shoulders.
Intermediate isolation cable machine exercise for the chest, also working the shoulders.
Intermediate isolation cable machine exercise for the chest.
Free GymStreak calculators that go with chest training.
Guides from the GymStreak blog on this topic.
GymStreak's AI personal trainer builds a workout plan from your goal, schedule and equipment, shows every exercise with an animated demo and logs your sets.
