The development of the so-called pectoral muscles plays an important role in the training of each athlete. But the fact is that in everyday life they almost do not take part in work due to a change in the lifestyle of a modern person. That is why exercises for the chest are performed by everyone who visits the gym. However, newcomers to the sport may not know how to properly perform these actions.
The article provides information on what the exercises for the chest are, and what is the technique for their implementation.
General breast anatomy
The chest is a whole complex of different muscles, large and not very. In terms of volume, they are second only to the back and legs. For this reason, exercises for the chest are included in the top three base of the entire training program.
The very structure of the breast implies a division into 6 main muscle groups. They can be conditionally divided into the following zones:
- Upper chest. These include large pectoral, round and collar muscles.
- The central part of the chest. As a rule, these are internal and external pectoral muscles.
- Lower chest area.
And now let's get acquainted with what exercises for the chest should be performed.
Chest exercises
The chest consists of a large group of muscles: pectoralis major, minor, subclavian, anterior dentate, external intercostal, internal intercostal, hypochondrium, transverse muscles of the chest. All of them form a beautiful and aesthetic appearance of muscle tissue.
How to build chest muscles on your own? The basic chest muscle exercise is a bench press with a barbell or dumbbells. This exercise allows you to work out the chest muscle tissue well. If you want to pump up the upper chest, do a bench press with a barbell on an inclined bench.
Be sure to do stretching exercises on the muscles of the chest: wiring with dumbbells in the supine position or raising arms on a special simulator.
In order to work on mass, apply a method called the pyramid. It implies an increase in the mass of the projectile in the subsequent set while reducing the number of repetitions.
If you are doing 4 sets of breasts, try doing 12 repetitions in the first, 9 in the second, increasing 2.5 or 5 kg, in the third - 6 reps, lifting another 2.5-5 kg, and in the fourth - 4 reps with maximum weight. The maximum weight should be such that the partner helps you to do the last two repetitions. Such a system will very quickly make your breasts large and massive.
Both men and women can perform chest exercises equally. Only the weight of the barbell or dumbbell will differ. By the way, it is not necessary to go to the gym at all - if you have equipment at home in the form of a bench, barbell and dumbbell, then you can easily perform exercises for the chest at home.
And now it’s worth more familiarizing yourself with the technique of doing the exercises.
Bench with dumbbells on a horizontal bench
This exercise for the chest for women and men is characterized by some performance features that are associated primarily with the difficulties that arise when using large weights. It is advisable to have sufficient training experience and use the help of a trainer or partner. How to properly perform these exercises for the chest for men and women?
To do this, it is necessary to lie flat on the bench, with your feet resting on the floor. Take dumbbells in your hands and spread them apart. Bend your arms, lower the dumbbells parallel to the chest. Straighten them again by lifting the dumbbells up.
Bench press on a horizontal bench with a barbell
This exercise for expanding the chest is the most popular and affordable answer to the question of how to build chest. Bench press on a horizontal bench using a wide grip - an effective exercise that allows you to develop chest muscles, in particular the largest bundles of pectoralis major muscles. However, for maximum results, the bench press should be combined with other exercises to strengthen the chest, which will be described below.
The technique of the exercise is as follows:
- Sit with your back on a horizontal bench.
- Take the barbell with your arms spread shoulder-width apart.
- Bend your arms, lowering the bar to the chest.
- Bend your arms back to their starting position.
If this exercise is performed correctly for the chest muscles in men and women, the chest muscles, as well as the triceps brachii, deltoid and trapezius, are mainly involved. Location on a horizontal bench allows you to achieve maximum loading of these muscle groups. In no case do you need to spread your arms too wide, because in this case you run the risk of overloading the muscles of the chest, which can be fraught with injuries.
The amplitude of the exercises for the back and chest should be maximum, since in this case the effectiveness will be greatest. Try not to raise your back from the bench while lifting the bar. Do not neglect the technique for the number of lifts.
Bench press on an incline bench
This chest exercise is similar in effect to the previous one, but allows you to achieve greater power through the use of heavy working weights. You will learn how to pump up the chest, while not only increasing the volume of muscles, but also ensuring their careful study. In addition, the bench press on an inclined bench with its head up effectively affects the front deltas and triceps, as well as the upper chest as a whole.
The description of the exercise for the beautiful chest is as follows:
- Sit on an incline bench.
- Take the barbell with a grip slightly wider than your shoulders.
- Bend your arms, lowering the bar to the chest.
- Slowly unbend them.
With the correct implementation of this exercise, the chest muscles are mainly involved, as well as the triceps brachii, deltoid and trapezius. An inclined bench, in this case with an upward slope, allows you to distribute the load on all these muscle groups so that a significant part of it falls on the lower pectoral muscles.
The tilt of the bench can vary from 20 to 45 degrees. With a bench tilt of 45 degrees, deltas are perfectly worked out, and at lower angles, the lower and upper pectoral muscles. So when doing the bench press on an inclined bench, you can choose the tilt you need to work out a particular muscle group.
Dumbbell bench press head up
The exercises presented in this section will help you increase the volume and give the pectoral muscles a pronounced shape. The bench press with dumbbells above the head up allows you to focus the load on the upper chest, as well as work out the muscles of the upper shoulder girdle, including the arms. To effectively pump up the chest with this exercise, you must carefully choose the weight of the dumbbells. If you are overweight, you will not be able to make a bench in full amplitude.
Lie on a bench whose headrest height is adjustable. Set the slope to about 45 degrees. Pick up a dumbbell. Keep your hands with dumbbells behind your head, bend at the elbows. Then straighten them and repeat this exercise.
Bench press on an incline bench
We continue to consider effective exercises for the muscles of the chest. This exercise allows you to effectively work out the lower parts of the pectoralis major muscles, connecting also the triceps and the front parts of the deltoid muscles. The bench press on an inclined bench upside down allows you not only to pump up the chest by forming its lower part, but also to provide stretching of the large muscle, making it more elastic.
Description of exercise:
- Settle down on an incline bench.
- Take the barbell with your arms spread shoulder-width apart.
- Slowly bend your elbows, touching the barbell of your chest.
- Also, slowly stretch your arms.
With the correct implementation of this exercise, the chest muscles are mainly involved, as well as the triceps brachii, deltoid and trapezius. If you use a too heavy bar, then at the bottom of the exercise you will involuntarily pause.
It is worth paying attention to the fact that during this exercise the blood rushes to the head, since the head is below body level. Therefore, in order to lower blood pressure, it is necessary to perform a powerful exhalation after completing the raising or lowering of the bar. After completing the exercise, in no case continue to lie on the bench. You need to get up, and the body itself normalizes blood pressure. This exercise almost completely repeats the bench press lying on an inclined bench with a downward slope.
Breeding dumbbells from the chest while lying
Doing exercises, do not forget to work on stretching the muscles. A key exercise for stretching your chest muscles is wiring. The exercises for the chest presented in this section will help focus on working out the large muscle and increase its volume.
Breeding dumbbells in different directions in the supine position is considered a basic exercise, due to which the lungs become more voluminous, and the muscles become elastic.
Lie on a straight bench. Pick up a dumbbell. Bring your arms outstretched with dumbbells right in front of your chest, and then part. Hands should not be bent at the elbows.
By the way, similar movements can be performed in a standing position.
Exercises to build chest muscles
If you really want to stand out with your torso among your peers and attract attention from the opposite sex, then the information below will be very useful for you.
A remark should be made: excessive development of the chest muscles, which does not correspond to the development of their antagonists - back muscles, often leads to an undesirable appearance of stoop. But you want to look beautiful? Therefore, exercises for the development of the pectoral muscles must be alternated with exercises for the parallel development of the latissimus dorsi and neck.
Such exercises as a “gun” and pulling up on the horizontal bar, when performed correctly, are accompanied by deep breathing, which undoubtedly positively affects the mobility of the chest.
We present to your attention several exercises that will tell you how to properly pump your chest. All of them are accompanied by deep breathing. By the way, these exercises for the chest for children are also ideal.
Exercise 1
Starting position - we stand on the right foot on the step, the left foot rests on weight. The dumbbell is in the right hand, near the shoulder.
Rhythmically, slowly squat on one leg, raising your chest high. Between all repetitions, several deep breaths must be taken.
Exercise 2
Perform without rest, immediately after the first exercise. Starting position - lying with your back on a horizontal bench, hold dumbbells in your arms straightened in front of your chest. Take a deep breath - get straight arms behind your head. Exhale - and at the same time return your hands to their original position. Need to do 20 repetitions.
Exercise 3
The third exercise is to build beautiful chest muscles. Lie back on a bench. Hold dumbbells in arms outstretched in front of the chest. Exhale - and spread your arms to the sides. Inhale - take them back. The exercise must be uniformly and smoothly. The elbows can be slightly bent. Follow three approaches.
Exercise 4
Exercise in order to pump up the bottom of the chest. Starting position - lying with your back on a bench. Hold the dumbbells in your arms apart. Move your arms from a lateral position: behind your head - towards your hips. Three sets of 10 reps must be completed.
Exercise 5
Starting position - focus on the dumbbells. Try to spread your arms as wide as possible. Keep your back straight.
In other words, roll out. It is necessary to perform three approaches 5 times.
Exercise 6
This exercise is to pump up the central muscles of the chest. Starting position - lying with your back on an inclined board. Hold dumbbells in bent arms. Hands are at the shoulders. Bend and extend your arms at the same time. Raise your elbows to the sides. Perform three sets of 10 times.
Exercise 7
Starting position - lying with your back on an inclined bench. Feet are located above head level, keep dumbbells in bent arms at shoulders. Bend and extend your arms. Raise your elbows to the sides. During inhalation, return your hands to their original position, exhale - to their final position. Three approaches need to be done.
Training errors
Exercises for working out the muscles of the chest have long gained universal popularity due to their effectiveness. But people often make typical mistakes that interfere with muscle growth in this group. They are as follows:
- Race for the scales. Regardless of the fact that the chest muscles respond well to work with large loads, it is worth remembering that in all the basic exercises, triceps and deltas take a key part of the load on yourself. For this reason, it is better to work them out with smaller weights and modified equipment.
- Use only bench press. It is believed that this is the best exercise for the pectoral muscles. But this is not so. The classic bench press is very ineffective for the development of the chest. Instead, replace it with wiring, or work on a bench with different slopes.
- Beat. Another common mistake in doing a bench press. Beating helps an athlete more easily lift heavy weight and, accordingly, do more repetitions. But during the beat, the impulse component begins to reduce the load on the chest muscles, resulting in an increased risk of injury.
- Use only one type of bench press. If you train your chest muscles only with a bench press, you need to alternate its different types. The narrow grip is designed to work out the inner zone. Changing the angle is necessary to create an emphasis on the upper or lower muscle group.
- "The simulator is for wimps." Exercise machines are characterized by an unnatural fixed range of motion, which is why many are considered not particularly effective for study. But this is not so. With proper operation of the simulator, you can significantly improve the performance of the lagging muscle group or concentrate all attention on their individual bundle.
We have examined the basic exercises for working out the muscles of the chest, as well as the techniques for their implementation. Remember that training should always be comprehensive. Do not load only one breast.