How to Build an Impressive Chest
Question: I have heard that the
bench press is a crappy chest exercise. Is this true? If it
sucks, what’s better?
Answer: The bench press is a great exercise. If you
bench properly, there will be minimal pectoral involvement,
however. The triceps and front delts will do most of the work.
This is individual and is based on your strengths and
weaknesses, but for the most part, your chest will not be doing
the majority of the work when you bench press.
Trying to make the bench press target the
pecs more by bringing your elbows out wide and lowering the bar
up higher on your chest (the way that bodybuilding magazines
typically show you how to do it) is a shoulder injury waiting
to happen, so that’s not an option to even consider. I did
these many years ago for a few months before I knew any better
and my shoulder has never been the same since. Don't make the
same mistakes that I did.
Even though the pecs do not do the majority of work during the
bench press I still think it's is a tremendous, if somewhat
overused, mass builder for the whole upper body. If you have
shoulder issues, however, it should be avoided at all costs,
but for everyone else it is one of the great upper-body
exercises.
Equally as effective, if not more so, is the dumbbell bench
press. The dumbbells allow a more natural range of motion and
are much safer. These can be done on a flat bench or an incline
bench. The dumbbells also give you the option of pressing with
your palms facing down toward your feet (pronated) as they do
when you press with a bar or with your palms facing each other,
in toward your body. The latter variety places less stress on
your shoulders but if you are healthy you could probably use
both varieties.
Finally, pushups of all varieties will always remain among my
top chest builders. My favorites are weighted blast-strap
(blast straps are available at EliteFTS) pushups with the
straps set about five feet apart from each other. The function
of the pecs is to draw the arms across the midline of the body.
By setting the straps far apart from each other, you make the
pecs function in this way as you press/pull yourself back up
from the bottom position. You have to do it and feel it to
appreciate what I’m talking about, but I don’t think you will
find a better chest exercise than this. If, like Frank Rizzo of
the Jerky Boys, you have a chest like a wet blanket, then I
highly recommend you give this exercise a try.
Jason Ferruggia is a world famous fitness expert who is
renowned for his ability to help people build muscle as fast as
humanly possible. He has trained thousands of clients during
his 14 years as a professional fitness coach, including more
than 500 athletes from over 20 different sports. Jason has
written hundreds of articles for numerous top rated training
magazines and websites and has authored four fitness books. He
is also the head training adviser for Men’s Fitness Magazine
where he also has his own monthly column dedicated to muscle
building. For more great muscle building information, please
visit Muscle Gaining
Secrets.
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