It is no secret that in modern reality the cult of a healthy body is gaining more and more popularity, and more and more attention is being paid to physical form. Every year new trends appear in this regard, and new phenomena acquire the status of a cult.
A beautiful, well-developed torso is one of the most important conditions for good physical fitness today. In terms of the number of efforts made during training, he can only compete with the muscles of the legs and buttocks, which are now no less fashionable to train.
From the lessons of anatomy
From this point of view, the torso is the upper body, excluding the head and arms. Starting from the neck, it ends at the level of the lower lumbar region and is, in fact, the most accurate indicator of human complexion.
Other understanding
Nevertheless, in modern Russian, the torso is not only the part of the body itself. By this definition it is also customary to understand the variety of sculptures depicting it. The most popular such manifestations of art were used in antiquity, when the cult of a beautiful body was maximally developed.
Inner and outer beauty
For the ancient Greeks, aesthetics was very important, maximum attention was paid to the beauty of the form. That is why such a huge number of various sculptures depicting the human body have survived to our days. Antique torso is one of their most popular varieties.
The thing is that for the Greeks, the external beauty was equivalent to the beauty of the internal, and accordingly, the aesthetic properties of not only objects, but also of people were of great importance. An ugly face or body were characteristic signs of a bad character and a dark mind, which is why the features of the image of the negative characters of Ancient mythology are associated with.
Male and female options
As a rule, when mentioning the term in question in this article, a guy’s torso appears in the mind, which is not surprising, since such ideas are directly related to the cultural characteristics of human development.
The same Antiquity was characterized by much greater attention precisely to the male appearance, not to mention the fact that in many countries a woman up to the 19th century was considered an object of inanimate and undeserving attention.
The man, on the contrary, was supposed to be the embodiment of strength and courage. And accordingly, to have a powerful physique and well-developed muscles (including the upper body).
The question of ideal proportions
Of course, in this respect there is a fair amount of subjectivity, without which one simply cannot do. However, if you look back into the past - you can notice certain trends in relation to aesthetic assessment. After analyzing the features of the sculpture that has survived to this day, we can say that in the days of antiquity, a relatively dry body with well-developed muscles and exact proportions was considered ideal.
In the Renaissance, which revived the culture of the image of the human body, the requirements for the aesthetic component in this regard were less stringent. Sculpture and painting of the Renaissance, as a rule, is characterized by a rather smooth image of the human body, not devoid of a certain percentage of body fat.
If you look at the typical female torso of this era, the fact of preference as a model of ladies with obvious overweight becomes obvious. Especially if you compare forms with fashionable today.
Antique sculpture of modernity
Despite the fact that the days of ancient Greece ended long ago, the legacy of this era remains with us to this day. Torso mannequins are a vivid confirmation of this. In the modern world, they, in addition to the aesthetic function, also have an exclusively practical purpose: the correct form best demonstrates the merits of cut and material.
Another area of use of such devices is martial arts, in which mannequins of this type are used to practice strikes.
Ideal today
As mentioned earlier, in our days the cult of a healthy, beautiful body is becoming increasingly popular. Many of us are ready to spend days in the gym for the sake of achieving the perfect result. And what is he, in fact, from himself?
If we analyze the photos of the torso, which occupy the first positions in the network, two main trends can be distinguished: a large amount of muscle mass and the desire for very distinct forms. Of course, this rule is more likely to apply to men, because for the fair sex much more necessary today is a taut belly with barely traced cubes of the abdominal region.
In the case of men, the torso muscles should be expressed as well as possible. This is especially true of the muscles of the thoracic and abdominal regions, the development of which is given maximum attention today.
Errors in training programs
As a rule, when it comes to the development of the muscles of the upper body, various pull-ups, push-ups and twists come to mind most often, designed to rid the body of excessive fat deposits and indicate a distinctive relief with a wave of a magic wand. A person who is far from the world of bodybuilding and proper training, most often begins with just such a program and, quite naturally, does not get the proper result.
For the correct, organic development of the muscles of the upper body, an integrated approach is needed, including several varieties of dumbbell and barbell presses and high-quality exercise using a block simulator and bars.
No less important in this regard is the system for performing these exercises: their selection, combination, and the number of repetitions and approaches during execution. In fact, one and the same version of the effort, depending on the conditions, can be used both for building muscle mass and for the drying process. The key role in this regard is played by the number of repetitions and the speed of one or another exercise.