How to Build & Tone Chest Muscles
After a barbell curl, the most-common exercise a beginner weightlifter will do is a bench press. It's almost instinctive in weightlifters to want to build strong chests and large arms. By following a sensible exercise program, you can build and tone your chest muscles while increasing your strength. Besides exercise, don't forget a well-rounded exercise program includes proper rest and nutrition as well.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Warm-up your muscles. When working out the chest, you need to get blood pumping into the muscles to help avoid strains and tears. You can do this by doing push-ups specifically to warm-up your chest. The benefit with push-ups is that it also warms up the supporting muscles for chest work, such as shoulders and triceps.
-
2
Begin with bench presses. Lay back on a weight bench, lift a weighted barbell out the racks, lower it to your chest and then push it back up until your arms are extended. This is one repetition. Do 15 repetitions. Place the bar back in the racks. You've completed one set. The bench press is considered a basic exercise, meaning it works many muscle groups, which allows for the use of heavier weights. Bench presses work the chest muscles, shoulder muscles and triceps. Back muscles and abdominals also play a small role in stabilizing your body during the workout.
-
-
3
Add weight to the barbell. You will now do a set of 10 repetitions with the heavier weight. Then to sets of 10 repetitions and eight repetitions, adding weight for each lower repetition set. Also, rest at least a minute between sets.
-
4
Do dumbbell flies. Lay on your back on the weight bench with your arms extended holding two dumbbells side by side. Lower the dumbbells by spreading your arms until the dumbbells are level with your chest. This is a repetition. Do three sets of 12 repetitions. If you can do 15 repetitions with the weight, increase the weight. This is considered an isolation exercise because it focuses on one muscle group. This also means you will only be able to do a much lower weight than a basic exercise.
-
5
Change the angle of your exercises. Exercises done on a weight bench can be done flat, on an incline and on a decline. You should alternate the angles of the exercises you do from time to time, even doing the bench press at one angle and the dumbbell flies at another angle. Not only does changing the angle keep your chest from getting used to the exercise routine, it allows you to focus on different areas of the chest, which helps shape and tone the chest muscles. Incline exercises use more of the upper chest muscles and decline exercises use more of the lower chest muscles.
-
6
Allow at least two days rest between chest workouts. Exercising doesn't build your muscle tissue, your workout recovery does. Exercise creates micro-tears in your muscles tissue. Your rest time between workouts allows your body to make repairs to the tissue and make it stronger so you can better endure the next chest workout.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Don't lock your elbows on chest exercises. This helps keep constant tension on the muscles so you can work it more effectively.
Strive to add weight. This increases the intensity of your workout and your results.
Use a spotter on the bench presses. A spotter will keep you from getting trapped under a barbell that you are too tired to lift back up.
References
- Photo Credit buttocks image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
