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It is one of the muscles that men work the most, building up the pectoral muscles requires consistency, concentration and especially a method.
Moreover, it is probably the part of the body which is the most visible of the man, especially in summer on the beaches, some men shave the torso to emphasize their musculature.
To have pectoral muscles in concrete, it is necessary to work them conscientiously and regularly, here are some tips for you to build up your torso which is composed of three muscles: the pectoralis major, the pectoralis minor and the coraco-brachial.
Pic : Instagram hampusbotvid (Fitness coach)
Progressively build up your pectoral muscles
In the following videos, the sports coach Marcos Silva will explain his program and give examples to enable you to reproduce the muscle building exercises.
To build up your chest, it is very important to alternate between exercises that build up the entire upper body and isolation exercises that target the pectorals only
I’m not telling you to do an arm and back workout at the same time, but to not focus solely on your pecs.
The upper body must also gain mass and power if you want to gradually push your limits.
Exercises to build up your pectoral muscles
There are several exercises that each target a part of your pectoral muscles.
Bench press with barbell
This is the best known exercise to build up this part of the body. It works 2 parts of your chest: the pectoralis major and minor. Lying down, it also solicits your triceps and the deltoids of your shoulders.
How to perform this exercise?
To perform a bench press with barbell, you will need a weight bench, a barbell and weights. Lie on the bench with your back and pelvis straight and your head at the end of the bench.
Grab the barbell with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders, place your feet on the floor to stabilize your body.
Inhale and lift the bar until your arms are extended over your chest, begin to lower slowly without touching your chest, and repeat.
If you are just starting working out, you can use a guided bar to avoid losing your balance
Bench press with dumbbells
Here you can’t cheat with a guided barbell because you will have to use 2 dumbbells. As for the bench press, lie straight on your back, pelvis touching the bottom and feet on the ground.
Inhale and raise your arms vertically to stretch them out, then slowly bring the dumbbells toward your body until you reach a 90-degree angle at your elbows.
The Pullover
You will also need a bench, but this time only one dumbbell to perform this exercise. The pullover works your pecs and your lats.
Lie down on the bench with your back firmly attached to the bench, hold the dumbbell with both hands up facing your head, arm straight, inhale and slowly lower it towards the back of your head, exhale and then bring it back towards your chest.
Dumbbell Curls
Another way to build up your pecs, but also your shoulders and triceps. Get a bench and two dumbbells.
Lie down on the bench, take a dumbbell in each hand, feet fixed on the ground and spread your arm while slightly bending your elbows. Breathe in and start to raise the dumbbells, breathe out and then slowly return to your initial position, i.e. arms spread. You will feel when to stop the spread, at the height of your shoulders.
Exercises to strengthen your pectoral muscles without equipment
Push-ups with hands apart
This is the exercise that I hated the most in gym class because I could never do more than 5 push-ups, but things have changed!
This exercise will work the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor, to do this you need to position yourself on the floor and spread your hands as wide as possible. Inhale and then slowly descend to the ground, exhale and then ascend and repeat the movement by series, or until you exhaust yourself if you want to go beyond.
Push-ups with hands together
This is the same exercise as with the hands apart, except that it will solicit your triceps a little more and especially to allow you to vary your exercises, which is very important to develop your muscles and not to get them used to the same exercises.
How many chest training sessions per week?
Before answering this question, you need to look in the mirror: What stage are you at?
In general, 1 to 2 workouts per week are enough to build up your pectoral muscles because you need to let your muscles recover between two sessions.
The other days of the week you can train your arms or lower abdominal muscles or other parts of your body.
Tips to build up your pectoral muscles
Take your time or you could get hurt and above all do your reps correctly, otherwise there is no point.
You can do a lot of things with your phone, don’t be ashamed and film yourself to analyze your movements, because it is complicated to look at yourself in the mirror when you are building up your chest
Eat before and after! A snack 30 minutes before your workout will give you energy, for example a banana or a 0% yogurt.
After your workout, take a protein shake or simply eat some nuts as this helps to build muscle.
Program to build up your pectoral muscles
Here I will give you my program that I do once a week. I don’t have the objective to have huge pecs and I prefer to concentrate on my legs, and more particularly my calves that I train 3 times a week.
- Warm up: 5 to 10 minutes on the rowing machine
- Barbell bench press: 6 sets of 8 to 10 reps
- Dumbbell bench press : 6 sets of 8 to 10 repetitions
- Dips: 4 sets of 8 repetitions, body weight
- Bench press: 4 sets of 8 repetitions
- Stretching
