The chest is very important as the second most shown off muscle group after the bicep. For this reason, whether you are a weight lifter, strongman, athlete, or just into physical fitness, a workout routine that trains the chest is going to become a priority at some point. The pecs (short for pectoral muscles) are one of the major muscle groups involved in power lifting.
Increasing chest mass improves the overall performance of several other muscle groups, mostly in the arms. If you are having trouble with other areas try switching to the top 5chest exercises and watch as those trouble areas begin to show improvement again.
Include a mix of exercises in which you press, lift, and pull to work your upper, middle, and lower chest muscles. If you’re a beginner, start low and slow: 1 to 3 sets of 6 to 8 reps. Increase to 8 to 12 reps as you build strength. Be sure to rest for 60 to 90 seconds between exercises.
When lifting weights—whether it’s machine, kettlebells, barbells, or dumbbells—avoid injury and pain by hefting just enough weight to fatigue you after your first set of reps. If you’re struggling, reduce the weight. There’s no magic beginning number. The weight should match your body size, strength, and experience.
CHEST'S ANATOMY
Chest muscles can be divided into 3 separate parts
Ø The Pectoral Major
Ø The Pectoral Minor
Ø The Anterior Serratus
The Pectoralis major is a thick, fan-shaped muscle, situated at the chest (anterior) of the human body. It contributes maximum part of whole chest .Workout Targeting the Pectoral Major develops a amazing toned up chest muscles .
Pectoralis major muscle tears are an uncommon sporting injury, most commonly seen in Power lifters, wrestlers, rugby and American football players. The injury is characterized by pain in the chest wall and loss of strength of the muscle.
The Pectoralis minor is a thin, triangular muscle, situated at the upper part of the chest, beneath the Pectoralis major in the human body.It doesn’t contribute much part of the chest but for complete and good shape of chest, its training must not be neglected. You can exercise it without much additional effort because nearly every workout that engages the Pectoralis major also works the Pectoralis minor.The Anterior Serratus inserts along the entire anterior length of the medial border of the scapula(shoulder blades).It basically aids in the upward movement of our. The Anterior Serratus is occasionally called the "big swing muscle" or "boxer's muscle" because it is largely responsible for the protraction of the scapula — that is, the pulling of the scapula forward and around the rib cage that occurs when someone throws a punch.
The Anterior Serratus also plays an important role in the upward rotation of the scapula, such as when lifting a weight overhead. It performs this in synchronous with the upper and lower fibers of the trapezius muscles.
Barbell Bench Press
This is the universal test of strength. When an average person asks you how much you lift, they are almost always asking you how much you can bench press. This exercise is great for building a strong, powerful chest. As an added benefit, the bench press also develops the triceps.
- Lie back on a flat bench. Using a medium width grip (a grip that creates a 90-degree angle in the middle of the movement between the forearms and the upper arms), lift the bar from the rack and hold it straight over you with your arms locked. This will be your starting position.
- From the starting position, breathe in and begin coming down slowly until the bar touches your middle chest.
- After a brief pause, push the bar back to the starting position as you breathe out. Focus on pushing the bar using your chest muscles. Lock your arms and squeeze your chest in the contracted position at the top of the motion, hold for a second and then start coming down slowly again. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
- When you are done, place the bar back in the rack.
Dumbbell Bench Press
This chest exercise is similar to the barbell bench press except it uses dumbbells for weight. The dumbbell bench press is a great tool for not only building muscle, but for developing your stabilizer muscles. You will notice immediately that you cannot put up as much weight with dumbbells as you can with barbells. That’s OK, though, the dumbbell bench press is a great exercise in its own right.
- Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand resting on top of your thighs. The palms of your hands will be facing each other.
- Then, using your thighs to help raise the dumbbells up, lift the dumbbells one at a time so that you can hold them in front of you at shoulder width.
- Once at shoulder width, rotate your wrists forward so that the palms of your hands are facing away from you. The dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest, with your upper arm and forearm creating a 90 degree angle. Be sure to maintain full control of the dumbbells at all times. This will be your starting position.
- Then, as you breathe out, use your chest to push the dumbbells up. Lock your arms at the top of the lift and squeeze your chest, hold for a second and then begin coming down slowly. Tip: Ideally, lowering the weight should take about twice as long as raising it.
- Repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions of your training program.
Pec Deck
Also known as the “Butterfly,” this is an isolation exercise that focuses exclusively on the chest muscles. The Pec Deck hits the chest hard and is a favorite of many bodybuilders. The advantages of the pec deck are numerous: it hits the chest hard without tiring other muscles, it is safe to do alone, it takes seconds to set up the machine and it feels great in action.
Dumbbell Flyes
Dumbbell flyes use a motion that is similar to the pec deck. The difference is that dumbbell flyes are performed while lying on a flat bench and with dumbbells for weight. This is one of my favorite exercises but many people will tell you that dumbbell flyes are dangerous due to a potential for shoulder injury. Careful form is a must with this exercise.
- Lie down on a flat bench with a dumbbell on each hand resting on top of your
- thighs. The palms
- of your hand will be facing each other.
- Then using your thighs to help raise the dumbbells, lift the dumbbells one at a
- time so you can
- hold them in front of you at shoulder width with the palms of your hands
- facing each other.
- Raise the dumbbells up like you're pressing them, but stop and hold just before
- you lock out.
- This will be your starting position.
- With a slight bend on your elbows in order to prevent stress at the biceps
- tendon, lower your
- arms out at both sides in a wide arc until you feel a stretch on your chest.
- Breathe in as you perform this portion of the movement.
- Tip: Keep in mind that throughout the movement, the
- arms should remain stationary; the movement should only occur at the
- shoulder joint.
- Return your arms back to the starting position as you squeeze your chest
- muscles and breathe
- out. Tip: Make sure to use the same arc of motion used to lower the weights.
- Hold for a second at the contracted position and repeat the movement for the
- prescribed
- amount of repetitions.
Cable Crossovers
Also known as “cable flyes,” this is another exercise that isolates the pectoralis muscles. Cable crossovers use the same basic motion as dumbbell flyes, except they are performed standing up and use a cable machine for resistance. One of the advantages of cable crossovers is that they keep continuous resistance on your muscles throughout the full range of motion.
Pushups
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Yes, the basic pushup is a great chest building exercise. For people who are new to weightlifting, pushups are a great alternative to loading up benches with heavy weights. For experienced lifters, pushups serve as a great warmup exercise and as a tool for shredding the pecs between heavy lifting sets. There are many pushup variations that can be used to challenge even the strongest lifters.
Iso-Lateral Bench Press
The iso lateral bench press mimics the motion of the barbell bench press except it is performed while seated at a machine. The iso lateral press comes in handy for those days when you don’t have a spotter or would simply like to change things up. Stability is not an issue for this exercise, so it is easier to throw more weight around on an iso lateral bench press.
- These chest exercises can be used by men and women to sculpt the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor muscles. Although all muscle groups are equally important, the chest is one of the most noticeable.Men benefit from chest exercises by developing a large, powerful frame. With a strong chest, every piece of clothing looks great. T-shirts stretch horizontally across your chest, you look like an alpha male in dress shirts and you turn heads at the beach.Women benefit from chest exercises by developing lean muscle and dropping fat. Contrary to many people’s first impression, chest exercises do not turn women into hulking powerlifters.Chest muscle building is fun because there are so many chest exercises to choose from. Do not be afraid to try new exercises and mix things up frequently. You can never go wrong by adding new chest exercises and constantly pushing yourself on the exercises you know well.
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