Chest Workouts Bodybuilding - Top 6 Most Effective Exercises
One of my favorite all time lines from a television sitcom is "Would you rather have rock hard pecks or saggy man breast?" Well think about it, which would you rather have? Men aren't supposed to have breast so let's figure out how to get rid of those saggy man breast and build some rock hard pecks and massive chest muscles.Follow these top 6 exercises to build your chest muscles and in no time you will have massive and impressive chest muscles.
Tip 1: Do not lock your elbows when you are at the top of the movement as this can put excessive strain on your joint. Keep elbows slightly bent.
1. Bench Press - This is an exercise that allows you to lift the most weight and is very popular in gyms. Unfortunately many people perform them incorrectly which results in a number of injuries.
Start by lying on the bench face up with your feet flat floor. Keep your abdominal muscles tightened so that your lower back is flat and protected. Keep your shoulder blades pinched together and focus pushing the barbell towards the ceiling with your chest muscles. Then slowly lower the weights back to the beginning position; do not let your upper arms go past the point where they are parallel to the floor as you can damage the shoulders.
Tip 2: Lifting the weight should be fast 1-2 seconds and lowering about 3 seconds. Much of the muscle building power of resistance exercises comes from performing this technique. So once you have lifted the weight, don't waste the rest of the exercise and just drop it.
2. Seated Chest Press - Very much like the bench press with the exception that you will be using a weight machine for this exercise. Because of using a machine this exercise is a bit safer than a normal bench press.
Adjust the seat for your height so the handles are level to the middle of your chest muscles. Focus on you chest muscles and squeeze as you push the handles forward. Slowly bring the handles back just to the point where the weights are about to touch weight stack (don't let it touch), then push back out again and repeat.
3. Dumbbell Flies - This exercise is very similar to the bench press and safer for those that do not have a spotter. It is also an exercise that forces you to use stabilizer muscles to keep the dumbbells under control.
Lie on the bench and hold the dumbbells out to your sides making sure to keep your elbows slightly bent. Now move the weights up in an arcing motion over your chest, then lower back to starting position and repeat.
Tip 3: Dumbbell flies will build the inner chest giving it a clear separation.
4. Cable Crossovers - This exercise is similar in motion to the dumbbell flies, the difference here is that cable crossovers keep tension on the pectoral muscles throughout the motion.
Stand with the pulleys locked into a position above your head, take a pulley into each hand and pull down so that you are now in a "T" shape. Standing with one foot in front of the other focus on the chest muscles as you bring your arms together in front of you. Hold this position for a second, then slowly release.
Tip 4: You should lower the weights with control so that it takes about 3 seconds to return to the starting position.
5. Pushups - A great way of working the chest muscles as well as the arms and building core strength. You also don't need any equipment to do this exercise.
Get down on the floor on your hands and knees, place your hands just a further than shoulder width. Now straighten your legs and push your feet up onto your toes, keeping your body straight. Bend your elbows and lower into the pushup position. Push back up to the beginning plank position and repeat.
Tip 5: Make sure to keep your head and neck in alignment with the rest of your body through the movement. Hold your stomach in tight to support your back and if you feel the need for support then you can do a modified pushup by placing your knees on the floor.
6. Straight Arm Pull Overs - This exercise is great for building the pectoral muscles and expanding the rib cage.
Lie on your shoulder crossways on a mat so that your head is hanging. Hold a dumbbell with both hands over your chest and slowly lower in back over your head in an arcing motion, then raise it to the starting position and repeat.
Always remember to help avoid injury, before doing any exercises you should stretch your muscles and be warmed up. You should also stretch the muscles after working out as resistance training tends to shorten the muscles and you want to avoid this. A good way of stretching these muscles is to hang from a bar to stretch your entire body. The weight of your body will act as weight and you will feel a stretch in your chest muscles.
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