Massive pectoral muscles form a beautiful athletic torso and give the impression of a person as a self-disciplined athlete, persistently moving towards his goal. Therefore, beginners, disappointed in “universal” training programs, are constantly trying to find out from professionals how to pump up a man’s chest in the gym or at home. The secret of success lies in constantly increasing the working weight and using the optimal vector of movement for the best contraction of the trained muscles. But not all beginner athletes can do basic exercises with free weights. And the question of how to pump up a guy’s chest remains open for inexperienced athletes. To train properly, you need to know what muscle groups the muscles consist of, what functions these groups perform and in what exercises they develop best.
The chest muscles consist of the pectoralis major and minor muscles. The triangular (fan-shaped) large muscle provides the appearance of the chest, helps with breathing, and is involved in bringing the arm to the body.
The large muscle is conventionally divided into three parts: upper, middle and lower. The central beam works under any load, but to work out the remaining areas, special exercises, different grips and inclination angles are used. The pectoralis minor muscle is located under the major muscle and repeats its functions. 
Specifics of chest muscle training
The chest muscles cannot work completely in isolation: the exercises always involve the muscles of the arms, back and shoulders (). Professionals believe that the chest should be trained on the same day as the back, since these are antagonistic muscles: while one of them contracts, the second resists and does not allow the first to realize its 100% potential. But after the load, the antagonist muscle gets tired, and the resistance becomes less strong, which allows the athlete to lift more weight.
The most effective exercises for men to visually enlarge their breasts are classic basic exercises with sports equipment or in simulators. Exercises for isolated beam development are suitable for experienced athletes and are used after the basic ones in a limited number.
To stimulate the growth of the pectoralis major muscle, you do not need to do a lot of exercises every workout. Muscles increase in size when new heavy weights are lifted. By training with your own weight, you can count on strengthening your muscles and, but not on their growth.
Rules for training chest muscles
Useful information for beginners:
- Heavy bench presses put a lot of stress on the shoulder ligaments, so you can't ignore the warm-up.
- The chest can be trained 2-3 times a week. Rest between workouts - at least two days.
- For beginners, it is enough to do 1-3 exercises, 2-3 approaches each. The number of repetitions in one approach is from 6 to 15. To build muscle, do 10–12 repetitions with weights, and to increase strength, do 6–8 repetitions.
- When selecting exercises, you need to concentrate on developing the upper chest, and devote only 30% of your workout to the lower part of the pectoral muscles, which grow quickly.
- Increase the weight of the weights when the weight used allows you to do the required number of repetitions per set with the correct technique. For example, if a set should have 15 repetitions, then with a new weight their number will decrease to 12. When with the new weight it is possible to do 15 repetitions in a set, then the weight is increased again and the repetitions are reduced.
- Low reps and high repetitions do not build muscle.
- The maximum effect will be achieved by “negatives” - training in which the weight is lifted (positive phase) by an assistant, and lowering (negative phase) is done independently at a slow pace. Negative reps are great for when you stagnate in your training. Out of 3-4 chest workouts, you can do one such unusual workout.
Arnold Schwarzenegger paid special attention to the pectoral muscles from the very beginning and always practiced chest exercises at the beginning of his workout. He started with 1-2 warm-up exercises and then increased the weight and decreased the number of repetitions. Between sets (a series of continuous repetitions of a single exercise), the athlete stretched the muscles worked to improve blood flow and maintain joint flexibility. But the main secret of a bodybuilder’s success is extreme concentration on performing each movement (neuromuscular connection).
The best men's chest exercises
The most effective exercises for the pectoral muscles are performed with a barbell and dumbbells. The barbell is less traumatic for the joints, especially when heavy weight is used. But dumbbells allow you to focus on individual bundles and engage stabilizer muscles.
Basic exercises
- . The exercise is performed lying on a bench. The barbell must be held in your hands above your chest, lowered down and squeezed to the starting position. The higher the head, the greater the load on the upper bundle of the pectoralis major muscle, and vice versa. With a narrow grip, the load falls on the inner muscles and triceps, and with a wide grip, the load falls on the outer chest.
- . Push-ups can be done outside the gym. At the lowest point you need to touch the floor with your chest. A weighted backpack or stacks of books placed under your arms will make the exercise more difficult to lower down deeper. By changing the inclination of the body and the width of the arms, you can shift the emphasis of the load. Push-ups upside down with your hands widely spaced in front of the shoulder line will help you work out the top bun. In this case, the feet should be on high support. Classic one-arm push-ups allow you to draw the chest muscles.
- . In push-ups on the uneven bars, the body should be tilted forward, and it is necessary to lower until the hands are at the level of the armpits. Elbows should point to the sides. You should not round your shoulders, slouch, or raise your shoulder blades. The ideal distance between the parallel bars is 70–80 cm. If the gap is smaller, the load will shift to the triceps.
Isolated exercises
- . In the starting position, the dumbbells are above the shoulders. Raise your arms slightly bent at the elbows to the sides until the dumbbells are at shoulder level or slightly lower. Keep your feet firmly on the floor to avoid loss of balance. If you raise the head end of the bench, the load will shift to the upper chest. On a horizontal bench, the middle of the chest is worked out, and with the head end of the bench lowered, its lower part is worked out.
- (crossover). An exercise in a standing position is indispensable when training for relief and is a great help for those whose muscles do not respond to the classic bench press. When bringing your palms together, your body should be tilted forward. A similar reduction can be done while lying on a horizontal bench.
- . The exercise is performed lying on a bench with a dumbbell or standing at the machine. Holding the movable lever of the cable machine, you need to pull the bar down, bringing your elbows closer to the oblique abdominal muscles. In the lying exercise, the dumbbell should be held above the chest with both palms by the upper disc. Slowly move your straight arms behind your head in a wide arc and return to the starting position. When working with a dumbbell, the muscles are stretched more, but the machine provides stability and allows you to lift more weight.
- . The barbell should be held with an overhand grip (hands shoulder-width apart). The barbell is pressed up at a slow pace without swinging. At the lowest point, the bar should not touch your chest. The dumbbell press is performed so that at the top point they come close and almost touch. Lifting weights works the upper pectoral muscles.
Exercises must be chosen based on your goals and physical fitness. For example, bench press, flyes and pullovers work the top bun and are suitable even for women. Beginners can do push-ups, dumbbell and barbell presses. For one exercise, three sets of ten repetitions each with minimal weight are enough. The same exercises can be performed at home by replacing the bench with a fitball.
For the results to be noticeable, you need to eat right (5-6 times in small portions), drink at least two liters of clean water daily and consume enough protein - the main building material of muscles. Don't pay attention to just one muscle group - train others while your pecs are recovering. In your free time, swim, ride a bike, go for a massage and don’t forget about stretching.
Hello bulls, eurybadi! Today we will talk about tits! Yes, yes, let's discuss all their advantages, sizes, shapes, colors. Well, maybe not entirely, and not just for women, as you might assume.
Because men also have breasts, and when they go to the gym, they constantly think about how they can develop this part of the body? How to make it powerful so that you can, like Tarzan, pound your ribs with strong fists and shout: “I’m the coolest man in this town”!
Girls, in turn, try to maintain their shape, that is, to ensure that their breasts do not sag. And there are many more factors working against them than against men. This is not only age or buns (although they just make breasts more voluminous), but also pregnancy, as well as breastfeeding.
In general, do you want to know how to pump up your breasts? I'll tell you.
Without anatomy, nowhere
I'll start with what I mentioned earlier. You can’t argue against genetics and you can’t change the anatomical features of your body. But without training these muscles, you simply cannot achieve a beautiful physique.
It is clear that a man with developed pectoral muscles looks beautiful. How to determine whether you have already pumped up this muscle group enough? Very simple: they should be visible when your arms are raised.
Girls are often afraid to pump this part of the body, worrying that everything there will burn. Don't be afraid of negative results. But it’s still worth warning. There are no muscles in the chest; in fact, it only contains glandular and fatty tissue.
However, underneath the mammary gland is the pectoralis major muscle, and if it is tightened, your breasts will become taller and more attractive. But you won’t be able to pump up your tits as effectively as men.
If we look at the chest, we see that we have a lower part and an upper part, as well as an outer and inner part of the pectoralis muscle.
It is mistakenly believed that these are different muscle groups. The anatomical atlas will clearly show us that this is a single segment. In addition, we also have the pectoralis minor muscle, but it is trained simultaneously with the major muscle.
After we have dealt with this part, one logical question arises...
How to pump up the pectoral muscle?
The most difficult part to pump up is the upper chest. It is not difficult to pump up the outer part, because we work with it in all presses and wide grips.
It is also difficult to work with the so-called undercut, that is, the line under this muscle or the lower part of the chest. Problems may also arise with the middle part of the breast, especially if it does not meet and there is a divergence or hole in the middle.
The most difficult thing to pump is the collar or pigeon chest, when the muscles reach almost to the neck.
Girls, naturally, usually care very little about this issue. It is most important for them to pump the middle part of the pectoral muscles.
There are several types of different exercises, but if we simplify, we can talk about two types. These are information and presses. At the same time, during such exercises we bring our elbows inward.
It is also very important in what conditions you practice: at home, in the gym or on the street.
Workouts at home
In general, in our home arsenal there is not such a large number of exercises. You can use double chair push-ups with your legs bent and one-arm push-ups, which will give us the most resistance.
As a burden, attract relatives, pets, string bags with potatoes or bags of bricks. My friend, for example, rocks with a suitcase filled with her husband's tools.
The biggest challenge here will be providing adequate load. For example, regular push-ups will not give you the necessary development of the pectoral muscles.
To be able to pump it up, you must push at least your own weight, and even better, much more.
How do you know what weight you need to use?
If you can do a set of no more than 10 repetitions, then this is exactly what you need. With more repetitions of 15 or 20, it is necessary to urgently increase the additional weight.
What else can you do at home?
Of course, you can also use dumbbells. This can be raises and flyes, bench presses, and with completely different angles, even with your head down or up.
If you have a barbell, great! Do barbell presses on a flat or incline bench while lying on the floor. These can be various pullovers with dumbbells; more about them below.
The only drawback of such training will be that in order to achieve excellent results, you will have to come up with serious tricks with additional weight.
Experts say that during home workouts you can easily pump up your biceps, triceps, latissimus muscles, and deltoids. But the legs and chest muscles can be beautifully pumped up only with a trainer or an experienced partner.
Exercises in the gym. Bench press (basic exercise).
Exercise Mission:
pump the bottom, middle and top of the chest.Level of training: any.
Number of approaches:
This exercise is considered the best for increasing chest strength and mass.
Technique:
1) Lie down on a horizontal bench, the position of the bar should be above your head. Your buttocks, shoulders and head should be pressed against the bench, your back should be slightly arched in the lower back, your feet should be positioned slightly wider than your shoulders and resting on the floor.
2) We take the barbell with a wide overhand grip, that is, the palms are directed away from ourselves, the distance between the palms is wider than the position of the shoulders.
3) Remove the bar from the stops and press it to the top point. At the very top, arms are straight, just don’t block them at the elbows, place the bar above the middle of the chest.
Having completed all three points, you will come to the starting position of the exercise. If you can’t remove the bar yourself, ask a partner to do it.
4) Then take a deep breath and lower the barbell to the lowest point of the chest. Don't pause at the bottom.
After the bar touches your chest, fix your breathing and press the bar up to the starting position, slightly diagonally to the racks.
5) After going through the hardest part, exhale. And at the highest point, take a short break and tighten your chest as much as possible. Then start repeating.
6) Lower the bar slowly or at a moderate pace, and push from the chest at a fast or moderate pace. When pushing the barbell up, do not spring it or arch your lower back.
Dumbbell bench press (basic exercise).
Exercise Mission:
pump the middle, bottom and top of the chest.Level of training: any
Number of approaches: 3-5 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) Place dumbbells on the sides of a horizontal bench, so that the dumbbell bars are parallel to the bench.
We sit on the bench so that your head, shoulders and buttocks are pressed tightly against the bench. Make sure that your back is arched in the lumbar region, and your feet are positioned wider than your shoulders and firmly planted on the floor.
2) We take dumbbells with an overhand grip, that is, so that the dumbbells look at each other, bend our arms at the elbow joints and lift the dumbbells to chest level, and then, turning our hands at the wrists, squeeze the dumbbells up.
At the top point, the arms are straightened, and the dumbbells are located above the middle of the chest.
3) From the starting position, inhale and fix your breathing, lower the dumbbells in a wide arc to the sides of the chest. Make sure your elbows are straight to the sides.
4) As soon as the dumbbell bars reach the level of your chest, without any pause, push them up, also in a wide arc, until they hit each other at the top point. Anyone who has done this exercise knows this pleasant ringing sound.
5) At the most difficult stage, exhale forcefully. At the top point, the dumbbells should be brought together. That's all - this is one repetition. Do the required number of times.
6) Adjust the weight of the dumbbells to suit you, do not try to load yourself to the maximum.
Incline barbell press (formative exercise).
Exercise Mission:
pump up the upper chest. Expand and lift the top of your chest.Level of training: any
Number of approaches:
Technique:
1) Set the back of the bench somewhere at 35-40 degrees, horizontally. We lie down on the bench, pay attention to the hips, shoulders and head, they should be pressed tightly to the bench, and the feet should be resting on the floor and located slightly wider than the shoulders.
2) We grab the barbell with an overhand grip so that the distance of our palms is slightly wider than our shoulders.
3) Remove the barbell and lower it to the chest, to the upper part. Then inhale, fixate the breath and press the bar upward. Throughout the entire exercise, your elbows should point to your sides.
4) Exhale after passing the heaviest part of the climb or at the top point. At the top, your arms are straightened, and your chest muscles are as tense as possible, just don’t lock your arms at the elbows.
5) From the top point, inhale and fixate your breath, smoothly lower the bar to the lower part of the chest, as soon as it comes into contact with the chest, begin to push the barbell upward. Do the required number of repetitions.
Reverse Incline Bench Press (formative exercise).
The purpose of this exercise:
pumping the lower and middle parts of the pectoral muscles.Level of training: average and above.
Number of approaches: 3-5 sets of 8-15 reps.
Technique:
1) Lower the bench 30-40 degrees below the horizontal level. We lie down on the bench and rest our feet on the support bolsters.
2) The head, shoulders and buttocks should be pressed tightly to the bench, the back should be straight.
3) Grasp the barbell slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Remove it from the supports and pull it up until your arms are straight.
4) Then inhale and fixate the breath. Smoothly lower the bar to your lower chest. When lowering and lifting, make sure your elbows are facing to the sides.
5) As soon as the bar touches your chest, immediately press the barbell up, bringing it to the starting position.
6) After overcoming the heaviest part of the climb, exhale.
7) Perform the exercise as one continuous, smooth movement, without jerking or long stops.
8) Do not try to load yourself with maximum weight. Make sure you are breathing correctly. After completing one set, get up from the bench and walk around, do not stay on it.
Incline dumbbell press (formative exercise).
Exercise Mission: pump the upper and middle sections of the pectoral muscles.
Level of training: any.
Number of approaches: 3-5 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) Raise the back of our bench up by 45 degrees. Lie down on it and spread your feet wider than your shoulders, resting them firmly on the floor. Press your hips, shoulders and head into the bench.
2) Take dumbbells with an overhand grip and lift them to shoulder level, preferably closer to the deltoid muscles.
The palms are directed upward, by the way, the gaze is also directed upward. This pose is called the starting position - the lowest point of the exercise.
3) From the starting position, take a deep breath and hold your breath, pull the dumbbells up. It is necessary that at the highest point they are located strictly above the shoulders.
When raising and lowering dumbbells, watch your elbows; they should move in the plane of your shoulders and point to the sides.
4) Also, after overcoming the most difficult section, we exhale.
5) At the top point, take a short pause and strain the chest muscles as much as possible. Afterwards, take a deep breath and hold your breath, smoothly lowering the dumbbells to your shoulders.
6) As soon as the dumbbells reach chest level, change the direction of movement and squeeze the dumbbells upward.
7) Perform all repetitions smoothly and at a moderate pace. Don't stop at the bottom point. Maintain a natural curve in your spine and do not lift your head and shoulders off the bench!
Dumbbell incline press (forming exercise).
Exercise Mission: pump the bottom and inner edge of the pectoralis major muscle. Participates in lifting and trimming the bottom of the chest.
Level of training: average and above.
Number of approaches: 3-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) We lower our bench down 45 degrees. We lie down on it and rest our feet on the support bolsters.
2) Pay attention to the position of your head, shoulders and buttocks, they should be pressed against the bench, keep your back straight.
3) Take the dumbbells with an overhand grip and push them up until your arms are fully straightened, so that at the highest point they are above the chest and practically touching each other.
4) From the top point, inhale and fixate the breath, smoothly lowering the dumbbells to the edges of the chest, while the elbows move strictly to the sides.
5) Once the dumbbells are close to your chest, without stopping, push them up. At the top point, bring the dumbbells together so that they click against each other.
6) After going through a difficult section, as with all exercises, exhale and press the dumbbells.
7) At the top point there is a short pause and strong tension of the pectoral muscles, then one or more repetitions.
8) You need to exhale forcefully - this reduces excess pressure. After the set, get up and walk to normalize blood circulation.
Press in the simulator (formative exercise).
Exercise Mission: pumps the front delts (partially), the middle part, the lower part and the upper part of the chest.
Level of training: any.
Number of approaches: 3-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) Find the desired simulator, you can see what it looks like in the photo. Adjust the height of the handles. Their correct position is when they are located at shoulder level, maybe a little lower.
2) We sit down in the exercise machine, pressing our head and back tightly to the exercise machine, position our legs a little wider than your shoulders, and your knees should form a right angle.
3) We grab the handles with an overhand grip, that is, palms facing forward, grip shoulder-width apart, maybe a little wider, see what’s more comfortable for you.
4) From the starting position, inhale and hold your breath, squeezing the handles away from your chest.
5) After passing the heaviest section, exhale; you can also exhale when your arms are straightened.
6) When your arms are straightened, at the top point, take a short break and fix your breathing, smoothly returning to the starting position.
7) Lower the handles to chest level as soon as they approach it, without pauses or long stops, press the handles away from the chest.
8) If you are working in a machine that allows you to take a neutral and straight grip, alternate it, once straight, once neutral.
Lying dumbbell flyes, dumbbell flyes at an angle (isolation exercise).
Mission: work and pump the middle and inner edges of the pectoralis major muscle.
Level of training: any.
Number of approaches: 3-4 sets of 8-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) We sit on a bench located horizontally or at an angle of 30-45 degrees, so that the head, shoulders and buttocks fit tightly to the bench, and the legs rest on the floor and are spaced slightly wider than the shoulders.
2) Take dumbbells and lift them up so that they are located above the chest. In the upper position, the dumbbells almost touch each other, and the elbows are slightly bent. Maintain the angle at your elbow until the end of the exercise.
3) Then inhale and hold your breath, spreading your arms to the sides, moving the dumbbells in a vertical plane.
4) Raise your arms until the dumbbells are at chest level or lower. Having brought them to the limit, begin to lower the dumbbells, due to the tension of the pectoral muscles, perform the movements along the same trajectory along which you lowered them.
5) After overcoming the most difficult section of the climb, exhale.
6) At the top point, when the dumbbells almost touch each other, take a short break and strain the pumped muscles as much as possible.
Information about the butterfly simulator (isolation exercise).
Mission: work the inner edge and middle parts of the pectoralis major muscle.
Level of training: any.
Number of approaches:
Technique:
1) We find a “butterfly” exercise machine, adjust the seat to suit you, the adjustment is made in such a way that when you sit down and grab the handles, the upper parts of your arms and shoulders are at the same level, and your forearms and elbows fit snugly against the thrust pads.
2) We sit down in the exercise machine so that the back is flat and pressed against the back, the head should also be pressed. The legs are positioned slightly wider than the shoulders, and a right angle predominates at the knee joint.
3) From this position, inhale and fixate your breathing, begin to bring the stops together. After overcoming the most difficult section, exhale.
4) Bring the supports as close to each other as possible; as soon as this happens, take a short break and tighten your chest muscles as much as possible.
5) Relax your muscles and spread your elbows until they are level with your shoulders. From the bottom point, mix again.
Mixing in a crossover through the upper blocks (isolating exercise).
Exercise Mission: pump the bottom, middle and inner edge of the chest.
Level of training: average and above.
Number of approaches: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) Take the D-shaped handles of the crossover, which pass through the upper blocks, with an overhand grip. We stand in the middle of the machine and take a small step forward - this will allow you to keep your body more stable.
2) Maintain a natural curve in the spine, tilt the torus a little forward, 15-30 degrees.
3) Spread your arms to the sides as wide as possible and lower them down a little, but at the same time the load should be removed from the supports, and your elbows should be at the same level as your shoulders and slightly bent, with your palms facing the floor. Perform movements only in the shoulder position.
4) Take a deep breath and fixate your breathing, pull the handles with your muscles until they touch, or even more, so that they go beyond each other (crossing your arms).
5) As soon as you reach the handles towards each other, exhale, try to tense your chest muscles as much as possible. Then return to the starting position.
Crossover mixing through lower blocks (isolating exercise).
Mission: pump up the upper and inner edge of the chest, front delts.
Level of training: average and above.
Number of approaches: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions.
Technique:
1) We also take the D-shaped handles and attach them to the crossover cables, only now not on the upper cable, but on the lower one. We grab the handles with an overhand grip. We ourselves are located in the middle of the simulator and, as in the previous exercise, we take a step forward.
2) Tilt your torso forward by 10-20 degrees, slightly bend your legs and arms at the elbow joints, maintain this position until the end of the set.
3) Then take a deep breath and fixate your breathing, using your muscles to pull the handles until they are brought together in front of your stomach, slightly below chest level. At the top point, the handles should touch each other.
4) Take a short break, exhale and return to the starting position.
What can you do outside?
If you have a horizontal bar and parallel bars near your home and you choose to train at home, then you can work on the street. What could it be?
Do push-ups. To do this, we rest our toes against the bars, and with our hands we hold on to the crossbars and begin to push up as deeply as possible with maximum amplitude.
Then we do standard dips. That is, we stand straight and pull our body up and down, bending and straightening our elbows. You can tuck your legs slightly under you so as not to interfere.
Now we make it more difficult and try to keep the body suspended, in maximum parallel to the ground, and do push-ups in a standard position, holding the bars with your hands.
The legs are suspended. Place your feet on a low bar or bench and also do push-ups from the ground. Maintain your results by doing push-ups as many times as you can just off the ground or off the floor.
What other problems may arise in the breast area?
Many people complain of excess fat tissue or even gynecomastia.
If in this case the male breast grows like a female breast and is not inferior in volume to a respectable lady with a third size, then only drying and training will help you here.
Sometimes it happens that one muscle is larger than another. But one question is when this anatomical feature is noticeable only to you and in fact is no more than one millimeter.
Another question is when you have serious deformities. In this case, only unilateral exercises that will correct the shape of the breast will help you.
In the machine, which is aimed at training the pectoral muscles, you can press with one hand. You can try one-arm push-ups. But decide this issue yourself Not recommended. Consult with your trainer so that he can give you advice on pumping up one part of this muscle.
If you want to achieve ideal relief, then only drying and precise control will help you.
What to do with the hollow in the center of the chest? In general, you won’t be able to change the anatomical features, but you can add muscle mass, thereby adjusting the shape. But if there is no muscle attachment in this place, then there is simply nothing to pump there, so a miracle will not happen in this case.
So, let's consolidate our knowledge. What will help us pump up beautiful breasts?
- Firstly, heavy weights.
- Secondly, cyclicality. Here is an example of the simplest cycle for this group. Let's say you're bench pressing your own weight. Let's say it's 100kg on an incline bench press. In the first week we do 80 kg (3 sets of 8 repetitions). In the second week we increase to 85 kg. Then 90 kg. So we reach 100 kg. But we won’t stop. We continue to press 105 kg and so on. Let these be exercises with fewer repetitions. When you reach 3 repetitions of 3 sets, your cycle ends. And now we return to our rams again. Only the initial weight will be a little higher, for example, 85 kg or 87 kg, but the number of approaches and repetitions will be the same - 3x8. This cycle will help you achieve greater muscle mass and strength.
- Thirdly, you can pump your breasts twice a week. But one time it will be maximum weight, and the second time it will be moderate. This way we will form a so-called microcycle.
- Fourth, you can do a workout day that targets just your pecs.
- Fifth, calculate the program correctly. For example, do not do a complex the day before where you work deltoids and triceps.
- As mentioned above, these muscles, one way or another, will be involved in pumping the chest, and in this case, if they are clogged, they will not allow you to fully complete the task.
- Sixth, there is no need to do all sets to failure. You should always have some potential several times left on your first approaches. To do this, you can take 70% of your working weight. Then take the full volume and try to do the last two approaches to failure 5-6 times
A little about food
We all know that in order to build good muscle mass, you won’t be able to eat dumplings in bowls and eat them with pies.
In general, the diet for the muscle group of interest will be no different from other recommendations.
You must work on gaining mass. I won’t go into details, I’ll just tell you the basics.
What does a real athlete eat?
Of course, these are proteins. Remember that there should be a lot of them, no less than 2 (up to 2.5) grams per kilogram of your weight. The quantity in certain products can be clarified on specialized websites or on labels.
100 grams of chicken breast does not equal 100 grams of protein in it, keep in mind. Further, carbohydrates should only be complex. That is, ones that your body will process for a long time. These are cereals (not all), durum wheat pasta (only those), and so on.
Fats are mainly complex, such as Omega-3 and Omega 6. They are found in fish, flaxseed oil, and so on. In any case, be prepared for the fact that you will have to reduce the amount of fat in your diet and give up buns, sugar and other Kyiv cakes (fast and harmful carbohydrates).
Also in this case, the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is very important for athletes. Typically these indicators are: proteins - 30-40%, fats - 10-20%, carbohydrates 40-50%.
But in this case, a lot depends on the type of figure (endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph), the type of sport, your goal (whether you are gaining weight or, on the contrary, decided to dry out, that is, get rid of excess fat in the body so that all the muscles become prominent) . Each of these cases will have its own nuances taken into account.
I understand that after reading the entire text above, many beginners want to close this site once and for all, go to the mirror and say:
“I love myself the way I am! I’m alone and I’m not going to die in such a ridiculous way, being crushed by 60 kg dumbbells.” And I understand you well. So start like this.
We train 3 times a week, but the weight should be light.
At first, your task is to work slowly and pay great attention to the technique of performing the exercises.
Moreover, you can not take the dumbbells mentioned above for now, but start with a barbell on an incline bench. Dumbbells can only help with mastering technique, because coordination is very important in this case, and without it you can seriously suffer.
A slight force is enough for the arm to twist and the shoulder to fly out. But you can already try to load weight on the barbell. Don't forget about insurance. At first, you don’t have to increase the weight.
As soon as you reach serious weight, we immediately limit the number of workouts to the volumes recommended above.
As for the number and repetitions, focus on a weight that you can hold for 10-12 repetitions for 3 sets.
Moreover, please note that only beginners need such a number of repetitions to master the technique and consolidate the material.
But if you are already an experienced bodybuilder, then 6-8 is enough for you. And if you are a complete monster, then 3 to 8 will be enough.
In general, for many even this remains a dark forest. I know from myself that at first it seems that the diet of a person involved in sports is some kind of insipid horror.
How can you endlessly eat these chicken breasts and eggs? Is it really possible to lift such crazy weight and not crack the perforations? Why is this all necessary, anyway?
But believe me, over time you get hooked and want more and more. Sport brings joy and sensations comparable to sexual ones, and after a particularly hard approach you feel happiness.
To look attractive by developing sculpted muscles, you need to know how to pump up your pectoral muscles. During home training, it is important to take care not only of building muscle mass in the pectoral and other areas, but also of increasing athletic abilities. As a rule, this growth is determined by the strength of the joints and tendons.
Is it always necessary to go to the gym?
To pump up their pectoral muscles, most novice athletes visit the gym.
At the same time, many bodybuilders, having pumped up pectoral muscles and significant physical strength, are unable to cope with the weight of their own body. An attempt to walk on your hands ends in failure.
It's not news that some people take steroids to gain muscle mass. Otherwise, the time required to achieve the desired result - sculpted muscles - is significantly extended.
Exercise machines often develop the strength of one muscle group, which leads to disproportionate development of the body. In addition, a significant part of the muscles when exercising on the simulator is not included in the work.
Exercises with artificial weights for the development of the thoracic and other parts are aimed at quickly building muscle mass. The body is forced to resist the unnatural and excessively heavy weight of a dumbbell or barbell, without being adapted to it during evolutionary development.
Tendons and joints strengthen at a slower pace and therefore do not have time to adapt to the increased volume of muscles. During training, bodybuilders have to secure their wrists and knees with special bandages, use belts and elbow pads. Very soon, due to regular microtraumas, joint pain becomes chronic.
Exercises with dumbbells for the chest
The following are considered popular ways to develop and pump up the pectoral muscles:
- Lying on the floor, spread your slightly bent arms with dumbbells to the sides.
- Lying on a bench, spread your arms with dumbbells to a horizontal position.
- If the dumbbells are light, spread your arms, bringing them as close to the floor as possible.
Home development of thoracic muscles
It is possible to become truly strong without expensive sports equipment or visiting a fitness club.
It is possible to pump up the muscles of the thoracic region at home without dumbbells, barbells, or special exercise equipment, using solely the weight of your own body.
As a rule, household items are enough to pump up the pectoral muscles; you can train at home or in the country. There is no need to spend money and clutter your apartment with sports equipment.
Training the pectoral muscles using your own weight, without the use of artificial weights, develops the ability to quickly and correctly move the body, act more accurately, dexterously and coordinated. Home exercises strengthen tendons and joints and force the muscles of various parts to work in harmony.
Using body weight as a natural resistance when performing exercises requires concentration and focus. The skeleton and muscles naturally adapt to the sports load, which increases the effectiveness of exercise and allows you to achieve impressive results.
Home workouts burn fat because excess fat makes it difficult to control body movement. The body is simply forced to get rid of it.
Using your own body weight to pump up your chest muscles, you can maintain health and at the same time gain a harmonious physique, like the heroes of antiquity.
How to train properly
When building home workouts, it is important to alternate between exercise and rest. The muscles are restored and increase in volume the first few hours after performing the exercises. The body especially needs carbohydrate and protein nutrition during this period.
With daily physical activity and lack of rest, sports activities bring little benefit, just physical fatigue. Muscle fibers are deprived of the opportunity to recover and exceed the levels they had before the workout.
Before any activity that requires serious physical effort, a warm-up is necessary. To warm up your muscles and increase joint mobility, it is useful to jump for 3-5 minutes, exercise on a bicycle or rowing machine.
The number of approaches of one exercise should not exceed 4-5, otherwise there is no energy reserve left in the muscles.
To make your muscles look ripped, you need to increase the number of repetitions and reduce the load in each approach. This method removes subcutaneous fatty tissue and works on muscle texture.
Pumping of the chest muscles stops when the body has adapted to the load. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly change training schemes, combine exercises, and give the muscles sufficient work.
Push-ups are an effective exercise for pumping up the pectoral muscles.
When performed correctly, this exercise allows you to pump up your chest muscles relatively quickly.
Starting position: arms straightened and slightly bent at the elbows, shoulder-width apart, palms on the floor, thighs and feet together, resting on the floor with the balls of the toes. Neck, back and hips in a straight line.
Execution: Bend your elbows until your lower torso is 5 cm from the floor. After a pause, straighten your arms, but not completely, so as not to injure the elbow joint.
Inhale as you move your torso down, exhale as you straighten your arms.
How to do push-ups to increase pectoral muscles
If your level of preparation allows, you can try at a high pace. This version of the exercise trains not only strength, but also. It is especially useful to train the chest muscles by alternating push-ups at a fast and normal pace.
The greatest load on the muscles is given by slow push-ups according to the following scheme: the elbows are bent, the body is lowered for 1-2 seconds - a second pause - the body returns to its original position for 1-2 seconds. The next downward movement is repeated without pause. In most cases, two sets of 10 push-ups are sufficient.
With “fast” push-ups, you manage to deceive yourself by practically not using the muscles when moving your torso down. If the muscles of the thoracic region do not work, their pumping stops. In addition, the load on the joints increases, increasing the likelihood of injury.
It is important to constantly breathe during training. In a difficult phase of an exercise - for example, at the end of a series - it is allowed to take a deep breath and hold your breath at the moment of greatest effort.
Varieties of push-ups for the thoracic muscles
When performing the exercise, place your palms 20-30 cm wider than your shoulders. This position puts less strain on the triceps and elbow joints and at the same time uses the chest muscles.
When pumping up your pectoral muscles with wide push-ups, it is helpful to imagine that there is a sponge attached to your sternum that you want to squeeze.
Another version of push-ups involves moving your palms forward, keeping a shoulder-width distance between them.
Using this arm position significantly reduces the range of motion, but allows you to load the pectoralis major and minor muscles, making them stronger and more developed.
Wide push-up variations using chairs
Option 1. Place two chairs opposite each other at a distance between the centers of the seats of two shoulder widths. Place the balls of your feet on a third chair or stool of the same height. Hips, back in line, body tense. Do push-ups, lowering your torso as low as possible.
Option 2. Arrange the chairs in the same way, but place the legs higher, about a meter from the floor, so that they are located above the head. You can use a table, washing machine, or chest of drawers as a support for your feet.
The body is straight and tense. When doing push-ups, go as low as possible, keeping your torso and legs in line.
Option 3. To develop the middle part of the thoracic region, place your palms on chairs moved together, the distance between the palms is approximately shoulder width. Feet on the floor, back straight, do not bend in the lower back during push-ups.
Option 4. To train the middle part of the chest, perform the exercise as in option 1, but move the chairs closer so that your palms are shoulder-width apart.
Option 5. Starting position as in option 2, but the chairs are moved closer so that your palms are shoulder-width apart.
Option 6. To develop the lower part of the pectoral muscles, place chairs chest-width apart, feet on the floor, palms resting on the edges of the chairs. Do push-ups, trying to lower your torso as low as possible to the seats of the chairs.
Option 7. To increase the lateral and upper parts of the chest muscles, lean on the backs of chairs, bend your legs, bend and straighten your arms at the elbows.
Option 8. Spread your legs as wide as possible. Place one hand on the seat of the chair and the other on your hip. Do push-ups, trying to get as low as possible. This exercise develops the upper pectoral muscles. As you become more proficient, perform the exercise with your palm on the floor.
Modified: 08/11/2018If there is a need to quickly pump up your chest at home, then first of all you need to build a system of exercises that will allow you to perform exercises according to a special algorithm. The system is necessary in order to get rid of chaos in your actions and train your muscles to work the way they need to.
It should be noted that pumping up the pectoral muscles is not at all so easy; this is the most complex muscle group, which professional athletes work especially carefully on.
To familiarize yourself with the principles of how to pump up your chest, it is recommended to refer to specialized literature, where you can also find many of the exercises for this muscle group.
However, there are several exercises that are the most effective for quickly pumping up your chest at home. The first is, of course, push-ups. But push-ups should not be done as usual, but with weights.
In this case, you should gradually increase the load so that you can do push-ups no more than 20-25 times in one go. There should be about two or three passes in total, with breaks of five minutes. A very useful exercise are classic pull-ups, which develop various muscle groups, including the pectoral ones.
The next most effective exercise for the chest muscles is the barbell lift from a lying position. The number of lifts should be the same as the number of push-ups.
However, if not only muscle mass is developed, but also muscle explosiveness, then the weights can be increased to the limit where they can be lifted no more than five times. At the initial stage, this should not be done, and the classic scheme for performing this exercise will bring excellent results.
It can be noted that almost all of the best chest exercises are performed while lying on a bench.
The next exercise is to bring and spread your arms with dumbbells in a lying position. In this case, it is necessary that the arms are bent so as not to damage the joints. You need to perform it 20-25 times in two or three passes.
Do not need anymore. In addition to the classic lifting of the barbell from a lying position, you should also lift dumbbells, and hold your hands so that the dumbbells are horizontal to the body.
This exercise develops the lateral part of the pectoral muscles.
How to quickly pump up your pectoral muscles at home
The main rule in developing the pectoral muscles is a gradual approach to strengthening them. There is no need to immediately gain heavy loads. The fact is that the chest muscles may not begin to develop if you immediately give them significant loads. Strength will increase, but volume and mass will not increase.
Despite the desire to pump up the chest as quickly as possible, it is precisely the gradualness of the loads that is necessary, that is, building up the muscles. Strength exercises should only be performed if the muscles have already gained sufficient mass.
A mandatory requirement is to warm up the chest muscles before performing weight training exercises. In this case, it is necessary to perform various arm swings, crossings, stretching, etc.
It is worth noting that some of the exercises for the chest muscles can be performed every day, for example, push-ups in the morning and pull-ups, which help to constantly maintain the muscles in appropriate condition.
Your chest resembles a sheet of plywood, and you have more than one month of training in the gym behind you. This situation is quite common among beginners who love iron sports; wanting to pump up their chest muscles, beginners stand in line at the bench press bench and literally rape the butterfly machine. Various types of presses and dumbbell flyes are used, and then everything is secured with “powerful” groans while bringing the arms together in a crossover.
Such dedication and all kinds of exercises for the chest muscles in their variety and large number of approaches should certainly give you large and powerful breasts. But why then does such hard work often not lead to the desired results, the chest from plywood becomes chipboard, but a beautiful and powerful layer of muscles is never seen on your sternum.
What's the matter, do I have bad genetics or do I still need to change my exercises?
How to quickly pump up your pectoral muscles
Don’t despair, because it’s not your genetics and it’s not the exercises that are to blame; the problem most likely lies in your approach to training. As a rule, in pursuit of results, a beginner
and do a large amount of work on the chest within one workout, or even train the chest muscles 2-3 times a week.
Here lies the root cause of poor results in pumping up the chest; with this approach to training, the chest muscles simply “burn out” and do not have time to recover. Fanatically performing fly-ups on the butterfly machine, it is quite difficult to pump up your chest. In the first case, the muscle overworks with frequent exercise; in the second, on the contrary, it does not receive the stress necessary to trigger muscle growth.
The chest muscles grow from a good load, and to give them a reason to grow, they need serious stress, which can only be provided by basic exercises with free weights in 6-12 repetitions.
When performing basic exercises, such as the bench press, dumbbell bench press and dips, several muscle groups are involved and thus it becomes possible to work with more weight than in isolation exercises. And the greater the working weight, the more stress the chest muscles receive, reciprocating our feelings by increasing in volume.
If you perform exercises frequently and in a large number of approaches, even if they are basic, it is extremely difficult to achieve progress, since after a hard workout the pectoral muscles recover from 7 to 12 days. Due to under-recovery, working weights will not increase and, accordingly, your breasts will also not increase in volume.
Performing isolation exercises at the beginning of your training journey is just a waste of strength and energy, which is extremely necessary to increase results in basic exercises. Isolation exercises cannot provide the load necessary for muscle growth, and at the same time they take a fair amount of strength.
Hence the conclusion: for rapid growth of pectoral muscles, beginning athletes should perform exclusively basic exercises with free weights in a power style with 6-12 repetitions.
In order for progress to be constant, you need to eliminate unnecessary isolation exercises and focus on increasing working weights in basic exercises.
And don’t worry about the shape and relief, as you increase the meat on your chest, the time for crossovers will come.
Exercises for chest muscles
The most important exercise for developing chest muscles is the barbell bench press, and despite modern methods and scientific research, bodybuilders of the golden era of bodybuilding built their massive pecs with heavy barbell presses.
You can often hear that in the bench press the shoulders take the load, the back is involved, and the amplitude is insufficient, unlike the dumbbell press. But this is the advantage of the bench press as a strength exercise. When several muscle groups are involved in the work, it becomes possible to squeeze out more weight.
The load is indeed distributed among the muscles involved, but the overall anabolic effect of the exercise is significantly increased due to the greater release of hormones into the blood.
Next on the list is the dumbbell bench press; in this exercise you can better feel the chest muscles and work in a greater amplitude. Since in the bench press the entire chest is worked, but with an emphasis on the middle muscle bundle, it is better to perform the dumbbell bench press on an incline bench, from time to time adjusting the angle of inclination from 30 to 45 degrees.
Working with dumbbells has an undeniable advantage compared to exercise machines, since many small stabilizer muscles are involved, which gives an excellent training effect and is a good help in increasing results in the main exercise - the bench press.
Barbell or dumbbell bench presses with a reverse incline work well for the chest, but they should be postponed until better times. You should think about this when your strength in the horizontal press increases and your chest becomes larger and stronger.
Lying dumbbell flyes are also a fairly effective exercise, but today our goal is strength and muscle growth, so we’ll also hold off on flyes.
The third and final exercise in basic chest training is dips. This exercise has a very strong training effect when performed with additional weights. Dips are a great way to work the pectoral muscles and replace head-down presses at the initial stage of training.
Weighted dips are just as effective as the bench press, as they also work the shoulders, triceps, and even the back. There is no better accessory exercise for increasing your bench press performance than dips.
Therefore, parallel bars kill two birds with one stone: they grow the chest and increase the result in the bench press.
Chest muscle development program
We looked at the basic basic chest exercises at the initial stage of training with iron. But exercises alone are not enough to achieve maximum results; you need a competent training program and correctly selected intensity of loads.
In order to create a good foundation for the growth of chest muscles in the future, you should start with basic training in the power three, a basic mass training program can help with this. Thus, after spending from 6 months to a year of heavy strength training, the body will become strong and powerful, and then you can start separate split training and train your chest on a separate day.
A separate chest workout can be built according to the following scheme:
The first number is the number of approaches, the second is the number of repetitions, rest between approaches is 2-4 minutes. Chest training is performed once a week.
Week 1 (hard)
Chest workout
Bench press – 3x6
Incline Dumbbell Press – 4x8
Dips with weights – 3x6
Push-ups – 1xmax
Week 2 (easy)
Chest workout
Bench press – 4x10
Incline Dumbbell Press – 4x12
Dips with body weight – 4xmax
Push-ups – 1xmax
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Publication date: 10/16/2014 © site