A novice guide to developing a good size chest.
Your pectoral muscle group is rather large and can become very powerful if your train it correctly. It has been designed mainly as a pushing mechanism. The chest muscles respond well to heavy compound movements such as the bench press. The large white, slow twitch fibres can grow to a considerable healthy size. A man who achieves a good size chest looks powerful.
Bellow is a training programme that will give you an idea on how to develop a strong and desirable chest.
The press up.
This form of exercise is great for total failure. It will force plenty of blood deep inside your muscle fibres. Your set and rep range depends on your personal fitness levels but a good way to push yourself forward is just to add one rep every day to your routine.
Example: if you can do 10 press-ups. Try and get to 11 the next day.
The positioning of your hands while in press mode will determine which part of the chest you are training.
Close position. Medium position. Wide position.
The close hand position will develop your inner chest region. This also benefits the development of your triceps and inner shoulders muscles.
The medium hand position will centre your body position and hit the majority of the pectoral muscle group. A great all round position for complete development.
The wide position will develop the outer chest, close to the shoulders. This position will also catch the outer shoulders and back area.
The press up is a great starter exercise and will help you with balance, control, and strength for weight lifting.
The bench-press.
If you get started in the gym and decide that you would like to add as much muscle to the chest as possible. Then the Bench Press will become one of the main exercises you will use to develop the chest area on your body. The positioning of your hands as above will also have the same effect. However, you can also position the bar at different intervals on the chest.
Example:
Upper chest. Middle chest. Lower chest.
The positioning will work out the desired area of chest. Training using this method will pre- exhaust your chest for the next movement. With this, what you're doing is tiring the muscle by lifting heavy weights for your desired rep and set range. This is also known as a compound movement because it will add size to your chest.
Flys.
The movement of the Fly exercise is designed to stretch and squeeze your pectoral muscles. Always start with light dumbbells. This will help prevent injury and keep the movement strict for the heavier rep range to come. The key to this exercise is to control and stretch the muscles on the way down. Once you feel the full stretch, force the dumbbells back to the top of the movement. Now focus all your effort in squeezing the pectoral muscles together. This is a great all round movement for that massive look.
Cable cross overs.
Using cables help shape your chest while adding depth and character. Once again take your time with the movement. It's not a race to complete each rep and finish a set. The cable movement will also help with your shoulders and biceps. Bend you knees slightly and keep your feet, shoulder width apart. This helps you isolate the movement solely on the chest area.
Peck deck.
The peck deck machine is a great finishing exercise. It allows you to completely break down those last deep inner muscle fibres. This type of movement will help you complete each set until complete failure.
Tips:
* Try and vary your routine. You don't always need to start with the bench press. Try working backwards or starting with an exercise you don't particularly like.
* Change your set and rep range. Aim for 20 reps on every set. This will limit your weight range but will work the muscle in a different way.
* Don't train heavy every time you go into the gym. You don't need to be lifting as much weight as possible in a particular session. This will only play havoc with your joints later on in life. Try 8 weeks of heavy then 8 weeks of medium weight.
Then 8 weeks of light. Again this will change your rep and set range, depending on how you're pushing yourself.
* Train to failure. Keep lifting the weight beyond the desired rep range. Don't stop once you hit the number in your head. Keep going and feel the burning sensation within your muscle. Even when your mind shouts out to stop. Keep going. This hurts and you are going to feel it in the morning, but this type of training will make you grow.
* Keep a good eye on your diet.
* Change your gym. Different gyms have different machines and weights. This variation will train your muscles slightly different. This system allows the muscle memory to change and slow down the adaptability of your muscle density.
