Chest muscles

[Santa]

Hey, I was just woundering whats best for chest muscle growth: press up's or using weights? If weights, what kind (ie dumbells)? Also how many am I suppossed to do a day etc, accounting for a day break inbetween? Im a quite sporty person, and would say I can push myself quite well on exercise, so I guess if you could give me some tips on how to build on the after the beginners bit...

Today I did about 60 Flat dumbell flys, and 30 dumbell presses. I did sets up 20, with breaks inbetween. Whats the harm in say doing like 20 sets a day? If you have breaks inbetween...

 

Also another issue - im about 153 pounds, 5'11" and 17. According to BMI's etc, this is average, but alot of people I know are underweight, so i feel the need to tone up even more to kind of have a better body... my body is already naturally toned though, and theres a slight 4/6 pack and pec's etc, but they dont stand out much...

[whitefang]

Hey Santa,

 

IMPORTANT! - Check with your doctor before starting an exercise program.

 

 

The chest muscle or pectoralis major is a multi part muscle with lower mid and upper sections. It is a pushing muscle. It covers the rib cage above the midsection in the main part of the body. It is one of the strongest muscles in the body.

 

 

Why train the chest muscle for size and strength?

 

 

Men and women alike can look and feel more attractive by increasing the chest measurement. Increased strength certainly makes those pushing activities easier. Bodybuilders also want to train the chest as it is a major portion of the physique.

 

 

Training the chest

 

Barbells, dumbbells, pulleys and the peck deck are frequently used to build and shape the chest. Lets start with the more common barbell routines.

 

 

1. Flat bench press = 3 sets of 12-20 repetitions for size; 2-8 reps for strength with heavier weight.

 

2. Incline bench press = Same.

 

3. Decline bench press = Same.

 

 

Laying flat on a bench setup for the bench press, lower the weight to the chest and press it up again. Breathe out on the first movement, in on the second. Do your sets and reps accordingly. Moving to the Incline bench, which inclines raising your shoulders up at an angle from your hips, perform the exercise otherwise in the same manner as before. The decline bench puts your shoulders at a decline from your hips. Perform the exercise the same otherwise. You will note varying degrees of difficulty from one angle to another; adjust your weights accordingly.

 

For dumbbells, lay on a flat bench and press the lighter dumbbells, of equal weight, up over your head and together and then lower them, breathing as in the previous exercises.

 

At a pulley cable apparatus, do what are called pulley or cable flies. You will want to stand between the cables equally and facing out away from the machine. Bring the cables together till your hands almost touch, then let them apart gradually till you achieve a full range of movement. In this way you both stretch and strengthen the chest muscles.

 

The peck deck is a machine at which you will be seated. You will place your forearms up against each of two pads in front of you. You will then push with the chest muscles forcing the pads together in the middle, then slowly let them come back to each side.

 

To train for strength, simply do any of these exercises using heavier weight and performing between 2 and 8 repetitions per set.

 

Hope this information helps

 

- whitefang

[Santa]

Not really... seems like you just copied and pasted some information and havnt ansered the questions... thanks though for replying.

[whitefang]

Appologies #-o i did copy and paste, from a site i can give you the URL if you want, but there are loads of sites offering information try searching on google for them. I think you'll find what your looking for there.

 

- whitefang

[Rage]

Mate...use the exercises white fang has pasted 3x a week. For ultimate size i would go for a 5x5 routine (5 reps of 5 sets) or for more definition gor for higher reps with lower sets.

 

I also do as many pushups as possible....i found the best way to do these is not all at one but to do say 20 pressups every hour of the day you are awake. This means that if you wake at 7 and go to sleep at 11 you will be performing 320 pressups per day!!!

 

Instead of doin one, do both! (I do)

 

Also get at least 8 hours sleep per night, rest your muscles and eat LOTS of protein

 

Also alternat your grip on the barbell and use bumbells aswell, perform dumbell flys aswell and work all other muscle groups (as the body likes to grow evenly) Hope this is of help.

[Fisch]

Yo Santa,

The BEST chest workout (pecs) in my opinion is simple flies, using freeweights, back on the bench, keep your arms at about 90 degree angles and drop your biceps so they are horizontal with your chest (or lower but not to the point of pain/ripping), push in with your pecs not your biceps, make sure your arms never leave their 90 degree angle and keep the weights over your chin and nowhere else, if you want to get big, squeeze fast while breathing out, and ease down as slow as possible breathing in, going for a weight that you can burn out on after about 3 sets of 12. For starters this is around 25-30lbs. This is the type of exercise that if you burn out completely and drop the weights you will injure yourself (rip your pecs) so get someone to spot you if u want to burn out. This exercise takes alot o support muscles to so be careful.

-Fisch

[Rage]

12 reps is way too many reps if you want big gains (this will mainly give definition)..........

 

Heavy weights and low reps (higher sets) will give the best gains

[A4B4]

I can't exactly say which exercise is best for your chest, but do make sure you exercise all or most of your muscles, not just your chest muscles. If you want to work on your chest muscles, ensure you work on your back muscles as well. Just like the saying about triceps and biceps: "Biceps are for show, triceps are for go," strong biceps, though impressive, will not function properly without strong triceps. It really doesn't look too good to see a person with a strong chest hunched over because their back muscles aren't strong enough to oppose their chest muscles.

[Fisch]

Yea rage is right 12 is too many reps maxing out at 5-6 would be the proper weight for best gain