Having a beautiful chest is not at all just a women's issue. "Hero chest instead of chicken breast" is the goal of many men who go to the gym several times a week or even daily to delight with a beautiful man chest. However, the path to male "breast happiness" means hard work. The chest actually consists of only one large muscle. In weight training, however, a distinction is made: middle pectoral muscle, upper pectoral muscle, lower pectoral muscle, saw muscle; these are all muscles in the chest area that want to be trained. As part of pectoral muscle training, there are many different options. Popular exercises to build chest muscles include push-ups, pull-overs, bench presses, and flyes. Some exercises are accompanied by dumbbells that you hold in your hands during the workout, which intensify the effect of the workout due to the weight. Well-known strength equipment for chest muscles are, for example, a bench press machine, butterfly, crossover, pull-over. In any well-equipped gym you will find these strength machines in the strength equipment section. Although in strength training the pectoral muscles tend to be trained by male gym-goers, it is increasingly becoming a big issue for women as well. For example, women should place their hands rather closer to the barbell during bench presses to train the inner portion of the pectoral muscles for a toned chest.
Importance of the pectoral muscle after, for example, breast surgery
Women will realize how important the pectoral muscle is when, for example, they have their breasts enlarged with silicone implants and the implants are placed behind the muscle. In this case, the pectoral muscle is first cut. Until the pectoral muscle has healed and grown back together completely, women will notice that even the smallest movements with their arms (combing their hair, for example) tend to become more difficult and they feel the pectoral muscle with every movement.
Chest muscle training for home without equipment
There are a number of simple exercises that both man and woman can do from the comfort of home. Push-ups, for example, can be done at any time from home. In doing so, you will train not only your chest muscles, but also your arms and legs at the same time. Depending on how wide and at what height the hands are placed, you train different muscle groups here. That is why it is recommended to do push-ups with different arm positions. If you want to increase the intensity, place your feet on a chair, for example, so that they are placed higher. If the other way around you rather put your hands higher (for example, a bench), then decrease the intensity of the workout.
When doing push-ups, you should pay attention to your wrists. To make them nice, it is best to put push-up grips.
Also, the so-called "flying" is a popular exercise in strength training, which everyone can do comfortably from home and without equipment. This exercise is even seen rather rarely in the gym, because it is very popular as a workout for home. The focus of this exercise is again on the large pectoral muscle. In the "flying" you lie down with dumbbells on a flat bench, to emergency oh without bench on the floor. The dumbbells are now stretched upwards (above the chest). Do not really stretch your arms to protect your elbows. Now, with the dumbbells in hand, lower your arms down in a controlled manner and to either side until your arms are level with your torso at your sides. As you inhale, lower the dumbbells; as you exhale, return to the starting position. Perform the movements slowly and in a controlled manner. This exercise is virtually the same as the movements on the butterfly machine.
As a beginner, you should have a fitness trainer show you all exercises before strength training the chest muscles - regardless of whether you train with new or used strength equipment for the chest muscles in the gym or independently at home.
So, as part of your fitness program, do not neglect your chest muscle, which is responsible for the movement of your arms and also has an important function in chest breathing.
Published on: 4 March 2014