Authored by Victor Roffel in Exercise
Published on 10-29-2009
The pectorals are probably one of the most sought after body part for males. A big chest somehow indicates that a man has complete dominance over his environment. One might go so far as to say it is the indication of an alpha male.
Chest anatomy
To build a perfect chest, you must first understand a watered down version of chest anatomy. The pectorals are made up by the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. Each muscle has different functions for the body.
The pectoralis major brings the humerus across the chest. Chest flyes are a great example of activating the pectoralis major. The pectoralis minor contracts when your shoulders are brought forward over your chest. Pressing movements best activates this muscle.
The chest is essentially only made up of the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. There are no such individual muscles that define upper chest and lower chest. That’s why there is no way you can ‘isolate’ them. You can at best emphasize them by using different exercises.
The workout
Push up on rings – 4×8
The push up stresses the chest more than the bench press. That’s right, unless you are performing the bench press incorrectly; the bench press uses the triceps a great deal more than the chest. Performing the push up on rings also shifts the tension more to the chest as opposed to the triceps. This makes the exercise very effective for chest development.
Set up two gymnastic rings at a low level. Perform a push up by holding the rings. Descend slowly while focusing on your chest. Stop until your chest passes your shoulders and push back up explosively.
Incline dumbbell presses – 3×10
Because this movement is done on an incline bench, the upper chest is emphasized. Dumbbells are used instead of a barbell because the pectorals are stretched more during the bottom part of the press. Using a barbell also activates the triceps a little more than the pectorals.
Set up an incline bench with an angle about 45 degrees. Take two dumbbells and kick it up to the starting position of the exercise. Take note to perform this exercise with your elbows out. This will stretch the pectorals a great deal more. Push the dumbbells up and together at the top of the movement. Lower the dumbbells slowly until you feel a good stretch on the pectorals. Repeat for the designated number of repetitions.
Chest flyes – 3×12
As said previously, the chest flye stresses the pectoralis major. Start by setting up a flat bench and two dumbbells. Take the dumbbells and lie down on the bench with your arms straight up. Bend the elbows a little and lower the dumbbells to the side as much as you can while aiming for a good stretch. The more the stretch, the better the stimulation to the pectoral muscles. Move the dumbbells back to the starting position and repeat.
By following this workout religiously for a month, you will start to see noticeable changes in your chest. Keep the rest of your training and nutrition tight as well. It will be pointless to have a big chest with lagging body parts everywhere else.
