Everyone wants to have a perfect body. Since ancient times, people appreciated a beautiful and slender torso. To achieve at least some results, you need to work hard on yourself. The basis of a beautiful figure is the muscles of the chest of a man. Developed muscles are important not only for aesthetics. In almost all strength exercises, it is she who plays a significant role. Therefore, the question will be appropriate: how to build chest muscles? There are many exercises that will help in this matter. We will tell about all the nuances in the article.
Common mistakes
Usually the question "how to build chest muscles" is asked by beginners. Before you start your first training session, it would be nice to deal with common mistakes so that you don’t have to repeat them later. It is better to learn from the mistakes of others than from your own.
The pectoral muscle is very hardy. Therefore, one of the most common mistakes is overtraining. Constant exercise and the pursuit of results can lead to nothing. Exhausting workouts without rest adversely affect the body. Muscles will grow only when the whole body is restored from physical exertion. During classes, microtrauma is formed in the muscles. When the body is resting, new fibers are synthesized in their place, which leads to an increase in volume. You can even observe regression and decrease in muscle mass, if you do not give time for recovery.
The amount of rest depends on many factors: the way of life, the quality of sleep, food, the weight used in exercises, the presence of stress, and others. Therefore, all this is individual. Some will have enough and one day of rest, while others and a couple of days are not enough.
Another common mistake in chest muscle exercises is the wrong technique. Very often, beginners go to the gym to do it, having no idea how to perform the exercises correctly: "Everything is clear there, too." This approach will definitely not lead to the desired results and will not allow to achieve absolute success. And in some strength exercises it can even be harmful. Therefore, at the initial stage, it would be nice to deal with a coach who will clearly explain and show everything.
Also, do not immediately take large weights. Chest muscle training should begin gradually. It is desirable to increase the mass a little. So the body will gradually get used to the loads.
How to build chest muscles: basic rules
It is better to save time and effort and not make the mistakes mentioned above. But there are also a few rules that are key to success in bodybuilding. Each of the items should be treated with a certain attention. Success in strengthening your chest muscles depends on following all the rules. Now we will give important points that should not be omitted.
Nutrition
Muscle growth will only be when there is something to build from. The body cannot synthesize new tissues if it lacks protein. This rule works not only with exercises for the muscles of the chest, but also in bodybuilding in general. Therefore, it is important to plan your diet so that it contains more calories than it will be spent. Then you can achieve success and muscle growth. If you do not follow this important rule, the weight can, on the contrary, decrease. The body will need energy, which it will draw from fat and muscle tissue.
Load increase
In addition to proper nutrition, the physical part is also an important point. It is important that the progress of the loads occurs throughout the classes. It should be gradual. This means that after some time you need to increase the working weight, the number of approaches or the time between them. Do not make hasty changes. It is necessary to increase the weight of shells slowly so as not to severely injure muscle fibers.
Recovery
One of the important and pleasant points is rest. Each training system has time to recover. And it’s not just that. During physical exertion, microtraumas occur. If you hurry, they will not have time to recover, which will not lead to an increase in muscle mass. Therefore, it is important to always remember about rest.
Anatomy
Before you start training, you need to know what to download. The breast itself consists of several types of muscles. Even by name, you can determine that the main one is the big muscle. She is the largest. The large muscle is attached to the clavicle on one side and on the shoulder on the other. It is sometimes called the top. With it, the hand can be bent and unbent. She is also responsible for the rotation inward.
The pectoralis minor muscle is located under the pectoralis major. It goes as auxiliary and duplicates all the functions of the latter. But you should not forget about it, since both the upper and lower muscles of the chest are important for a beautiful torso.
There is another element that is sometimes forgotten. During physical exertion, breathing quickens. To pump more oxygen, the transverse muscle of the chest is activated. It is attached to the xiphoid process and is responsible for the function of deep breathing. Exercise complexes help to train the transverse chest muscle, which gives more endurance during endurance exercises.
Training Features
The pectoral muscle group is one of the most important areas. Therefore, there are some features associated with her training. These muscles are involved in many strength exercises. Therefore, it is important to make such a training so as not to overload it much. It is better to adhere to such tips:
- Many triceps exercises also involve the pectoral muscles. Therefore, you should not download both of these areas in one day. “Doing” triceps and chest at different times is very beneficial. So these two muscle groups will be involved constantly, but with a different load. This approach will give more effect.
- In order for the body to be able to recover sufficiently, it is not necessary to conduct training, especially for beginners, more often than 2 times a week.
- Do not do too many approaches. For exercises on the pectoral muscles enough up to 10 times. This means that in one training session you can do 2-3 of their varieties.
- Do not rush. Twitching and movement with amplitude will not bring the desired effect. It is necessary to perform the exercise clearly and measuredly, to feel how the muscles work. Then you can do it right.
- Most suitable for beginners are basic simulators for chest muscles. This includes all kinds of bench presses and push-ups on the uneven bars.
How to build lower chest muscles
To make it easier to train this area, you need to divide it into 2 parts. Each trip to the gym should include exercises on both the top and bottom of the chest. The most effective for the latter will be:
- bench press with the bench tilted down;
- pullovers;
- pushups;
- breeding dumbbells with a lowered bench;
- push-ups on the uneven bars.
Pullovers
This is a very effective exercise for the pectoral muscles. To do this, you will need a bench and a dumbbell that is suitable in mass. The technique does not require specific training. A man lies on a bench, and a dumbbell is taken with both hands and starts up behind his back. The goal of the exercise is to smoothly pull the load up so that the hands become perpendicular to the surface. The movements should be soft so as not to get stretched.
Such an exercise is good in that it is designed for 2 important muscle groups - triceps and lower chest. That is, only these elements will be pumped, which will give greater efficiency from training.
Barbell and Dumbbell Presses
They should be performed not on a horizontal bench, as usual, but on an inclined one. For the lower chest, bench presses with a barbell will be useful. For focused training of the lower area, it is worth doing exercises on an inclined bench. So this area will be better involved.
The same is true for dumbbells. When the back is tilted, the range of motion will change. This affects the load distribution on different parts of the muscles.
Pushups from the floor and on the bars
Everyone knows exercises with their own weight. Push-ups from the floor and on the bars also well engage the desired area. If necessary, they can always be diversified. Changing the grip and width of the hands, it is easy to achieve a greater load on a particular area.
Upper chest
This part is also worth taking care of. Many exercises will coincide with the previous ones:
- bench press on a raised bench;
- lifting a barbell or dumbbell, holding them in front of you;
- army bench press;
- breeding dumbbells on a raised bench;
- push-ups from the floor head down.
Bench press on a raised bench
With exercises with a barbell and dumbbells on the bench, everything is clear. If you raise the surface literally by 35 degrees, then the back will no longer be perpendicular to the arms. Thus, the load on the upper part of the chest increases, in contrast to the standard execution, where everything is strained evenly. All the same applies to working with dumbbells.
Head ups
This is no longer a simple exercise that everyone has known since childhood. For its implementation, serious preparation will be required. For beginners, it is better not to take up the push-ups upside down. For them, it is necessary to develop good endurance and training of muscles, which comes only with experience.
You can perform this exercise in a rack near the wall. It will be easier to keep your balance. But it is worth noting right away that push-ups are difficult for two reasons: you will have to lift more weight while narrowing a large number of working muscle groups. If with standard performances almost the entire torso is involved, then here only the shoulders, triceps and part of the chest.
It is also worth noting that this exercise is associated with a health risk. With the wrong execution technique and insufficient level of preparation, a shoulder injury can be obtained. That is why beginners should not take up push-ups upside down.
For a change, you can try changing the width of the hands. This will give different variations in the loads on certain areas.
Climb in front of you
This exercise is good for the entire chest as a whole. It also involves shoulders and a bit of abs. The correct execution technique is also important here. The back should always remain flat. Rocking and jerking when moving up are not allowed. The hand should be clearly fixed. Only the elbow joints move. The projectile should go smoothly to a horizontal position (in order to become parallel with the ground). After that, you can smoothly lower it to its initial state.
If you perform this exercise with dumbbells, that is, there are 2 grip options: from above and neutral (palms facing each other). It is also worth understanding that the hands should go strictly parallel: you do not need to close them in front of you.
Army bench press
A very good exercise for muscle development. It involves the deltas, upper chest and triceps. It is important to perform it correctly, otherwise its effectiveness will be significantly reduced. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the performance technique.
Before doing it, it is better to have a good workout, as this exercise involves many joints. It is they who, when lifting large weights, suffer the most. You need to take the bar slightly wider than the shoulders. Then get up. The back remains straight, the knees are slightly bent, the legs are wider than the shoulders.
The bar must be gently pushed up. In order not to injure the elbow joints, do not unbend them to the end. When lowering, the bar should not touch the chest or shoulders. Exhale to do when lifting the bar.
Army bench press can be done with dumbbells. Then it is performed sitting with a flat back. Dumbbells should follow a wide path and touch slightly above your head. Then they can be lowered down, but again make sure that they do not lie on the shoulder or chest. Thanks to this, the muscles will always be tensed. Even in the lower position of the projectile.
Sports nutrition
A real bodybuilder should think about purchasing special supplements, since it is not always possible to pump up chest muscles with physical exercises alone. It is very difficult for an ordinary person to compose a menu for himself so that all important elements in sufficient quantities are included in it. Sports nutrition makes it more balanced.
To build new muscle fibers, you need a lot of protein. Its reserves can be replenished by taking protein. This powder contains a lot of protein and amino acids, which are the bricks of muscle tissue.
There are all kinds of protein that are designed for different needs. The most popular is whey. It is well and quickly absorbed. Therefore, it can be drunk even during training. Protein helps close the protein window that opens in the body during heavy physical exertion.