Training pectoral muscles
The largest muscle of the chest is called pectoralis major in Latin. This muscle is attached to the humerus and is located in the direction from the chest bone to the clavicle. The main function of the pectoralis major muscle is to provide movement of the shoulder and arm.
Under the big muscle on the chest is a small one. They have the same functions, small size and triangular shape.
Training the chest muscles does not require regular multiple repetitions and approaches. Systematic overloading of this group of muscles does not give the desired results. Training the chest muscles should have some features.
Features of chest muscle training
If you specialize in pectorals or they lag behind in General development, you need to alternate them with triceps training. It is not recommended to load them on the same day, since the triceps are loaded during breast work and Vice versa.
While working with the triceps, the pectoral muscles are partially involved, this training provides minor loads. This is why alternating chest and triceps workouts are so useful — the muscles are subjected to different loads each time, which prevents muscle adaptation and creates the desired supercompensation of various parameters.
For beginners in bodybuilding, breast training should occur no more than twice a week. The minimum break between loads on the chest muscles is 2-3 days. For a beginner, just 1-2 exercises of 2-3 approaches are enough. To increase muscle mass, use 10-12 repetitions, to increase strength indicators — 6-8. Who is over 40, no more than once a week.
Best of all, the chest is worked out using basic exercises. One of them is a bench press. In this case, both an inclined and horizontal bench is used. Another good exercise is push — UPS on the bars. For those who have been doing bodybuilding for less than two years, the use of isolation exercises is not recommended.
The eccentric phase of chest exercises is performed slowly. To enhance the effect, use "negatives". However, you can use this technique no more than 1 time for every 3-4 sessions that fall on the chest.
Basic exercises for training the chest muscles
The bench press of a barbell or dumbbell is one of the most popular basic exercises. This exercise is a complex, aimed at the work of several large muscles, including the chest.
Bench press is perfect for beginners. Also, the professionals are successfully using this exercise.
Taking the neck with a wide grip helps shift the load on the chest muscles. In order to change the impact zone on certain areas of the body, the bench press is performed at different angles. Raising the head of the bench helps to shift the emphasis to the upper chest, lowering-the emphasis on the lower part of the chest. By adjusting the slope of the bench, you can direct the load to the desired area of the chest muscles.
Push-UPS on bars are focused on the development of the triceps, outer and lower chest muscles. Athletic bars are quite popular sports equipment, they can be found not only in sports halls, but also on street sports grounds, parks, stadiums, etc. When using this projectile, it should be noted that training the chest muscles requires widely spaced bars - from 70 cm to 80 cm. With a narrower arrangement of bars, the power emphasis shifts to the triceps.
Push-UPS from the floor are very similar to bench presses. In this exercise, you can also adjust the tilt of the body and, accordingly, the ability to influence a certain group of chest muscles. The great value of this exercise is that it does not require a simulator or sports equipment. Push-UPS from the floor can be done with weights: you will need the help of a partner or a normal backpack with a load.
Raising your arms with dumbbells is one of the best ways to train your chest muscles. This exercise works in isolation on the chest muscles, involving the middle, upper, outer and inner part of this muscle group. For greater efficiency, the exercise is performed slowly. Reading is unacceptable.
Crossovers are a combination of hands on blocks, the purpose of which is to pump the lower, inner, middle and upper chest muscles. There are special simulators for performing crossovers. They are very popular, so they are available in almost all gyms.
Some athletes prefer crossovers to working with dumbbells. And this is quite understandable — working on the cross-server gives a large load when reducing the position. Comparing crossovers with bench presses, we will also find the advantage of the first: bringing the hands together on the blocks contributes to a greater stretch and increase the amplitude of movement. For the sake of fairness, it should be said that for many athletes, push-UPS or bench presses are more suitable. But there is a category of people who, due to the anatomical features of the body, the chest muscles do not respond well to presses. It is for this type of people that crossovers are ideal.
Pullovers help to train the front serrated muscles, the lower part of the back broadest muscles and the lower part of the chest muscles. Pullovers give excellent muscle pumping and chest expansion.
Army press (standing press) is designed for pumping the upper part of the chest muscles, triceps and shoulders. You can optimize this exercise using dumbbells and barbells. Recently, this exercise has lost its popularity due to the appearance of complex action simulators.
