Up until the rise in the popularity of the bench press in the late 1950s, the standard of strength was the press. Pressing a large weight overhead builds the shoulders and triceps, and, performed correctly, recruits a great deal of both upper-body musculature, such as your back.

The dumbbell bench press works your shoulders, triceps and chest muscles while engaging your rotator cuff and upper back muscles as stabilizers. Unlike the barbell version, the dumbbell bench requires each side of your body to lift an equal amount of weight.

Push-ups aren't exactly an obscure exercise, but some of their benefits, nuances and even the exact percentage of weight you're pushing might just surprise you.

A push-up-only workout won't get your ripped, but push-ups will help you on your journey to getting a fit body.

The decline bench press is an effective exercise for training several muscles of your upper body, but it is not an exercise that is necessary for every fitness regimen. Although the muscles strengthened in the decline bench press are important, you can use a number of other exercises to strengthen these muscles.

Figure in the weight of the bar when bench pressing. Exactly how much that weight is depends on the type of bar you use.

Your shoulder is actually made up of three separate joints -- the acromioclavicular, glenohumeral and sternoclavicular joints -- of which your collar bone, or clavicle, is an intricate part. These joints provide movement for a bench press, which typically strengthens your chest, shoulders and triceps muscles.

Chest pain in your upper-left chest during exercise and lying down can occur for various reasons including coronary artery disease and high blood pressure. Chest pain related to cardiac or heart-related functioning, results in symptoms such as tightness in your chest and crushing pain.

The shoulder's large range of motion and shallow socket in part make it and surrounding soft tissue susceptible to injuries. Improper bench press technique, lifting weight that is too heavy and overtraining can further increase your risk of injury.

Push-ups are certainly challenging, but they don't count as cardio exercise. Cardio is movement that involves elevating your heart rate for an extended period.

The bench press is a multi-joint movement and key strength development exercise for the pectoral (chest) muscles, shoulders, and triceps.

Isolating each side of your pecs is easier than you think — just change up your approach to chest training.