There are many chest exercises that you can include in your training program. There really are a lot of them, so trying to master everything at once is obviously a failed idea. To create a competent training regimen, it is enough to study the technique of performing basic movements that help strengthen and build muscle mass.
Taking a dozen effective exercises as a basis, you are sure to achieve good results. The main thing is to train regularly, monitor your technique and combine exercises with a proper diet.
Popular exercises for chest muscles
Many novice athletes take them into account when drawing up a program. Nothing surprising. Everyone wants to become the happy owner of beautiful, developed muscles of the upper body.
However, not all athletes adhere to the correct execution technique and draw up a training plan according to all the rules. As a result, they achieve the desired result, but only at the initial stage. After some time, they face stagnation and lose motivation for sports, giving up training. Therefore, anyone who wants to give their body the desired proportions needs to know what chest exercises need to be performed and how to do it correctly.
Why do some patients refuse implants?
There are patients who request to increase breast volume without the use of endoprostheses. This is due to the mistrust of implants that formed in society back in the last century at the dawn of plastic surgery. Women are afraid of the possibility of displacement or damage to the endoprosthesis, the risk of its rejection and a number of other possible complications.
In fact, modern implants and surgical techniques make it possible to reduce the risk of such consequences to a minimum, but many patients still have fears even after a long explanatory conversation. Some are put off only by the question of the cost of the endoprosthesis - as a rule, the price for a turnkey operation exceeds 100 thousand rubles.
Using free weights
These include dumbbells, barbells, weights and other loose sports equipment. By exercising with such sports equipment, you can become stronger, work on flexibility and coordination. For comparison, stationary strength training machines set the load only on specific muscle areas. Free weights also work the auxiliary muscles, ligaments and tendons.
Bench press horizontally
A very effective basic exercise that allows you to pump up the pectoral muscles, shoulder extensors, and anterior deltoids. Also, when pushing a projectile, an intense contraction of the abs occurs, the legs, back and buttocks become tense. To perform the movement you will need a special bench and, in fact, a barbell.
Take a lying position, spread your legs slightly, focusing on your heels, but without lifting your toes from the floor. Now bring your shoulder blades together, press the back of your head, shoulders and buttocks to the bench.
Grasp the bar with a narrow or wide grip. The first is relevant for pumping the small pectoral muscles, the second - the large ones. Hold the apparatus at arm's length above your chest. As you inhale, lower it down, lightly touching your sternum. As you exhale, lift yourself above yourself again. Your forearms should be perpendicular to the floor surface.
Bent over barbell press
An excellent exercise that allows you to use the muscles of the lower and upper chest area. For comparison, the classic version helps to pump up mainly the central zone.
To begin, set the back of the bench at an angle of 35-40°. Sit on a bench, spread your legs, resting your feet on the floor. The shoulders, back of the head and hips should fit tightly to the bench.
Now grab the bar of the projectile (the grip can be wide or narrow, as in the previous embodiment). While holding your breath after inhaling, lower the barbell to your chest, making a light touch. As you exhale, lift it up.
Dumbbell Bench Press
Basic exercises for the pectoral muscles are suitable for both men and women. Thanks to the use of sports equipment, the most effective pumping of the chest and small stabilizer muscles is carried out. The movement can be performed on a completely horizontal or inclined bench.
To begin, take a lying position. Take the sports equipment in your hands and, moving your elbow joints to the sides, lower the dumbbells to your chest. Now lift them up, straightening your limbs completely. Complete the planned number of sets and reps.
When performing, do not spread the projectiles too wide; try to bring them together as much as possible in the top position.
Lying dumbbell raises
This movement is designed to sculpt the pecs while also stretching and adding volume. When performing, you can lie on a horizontal or inclined bench. Be careful when including it in your training program. This movement is very dangerous. To avoid having to recover from an injury later, leaving training for a long time, do not take too much weight, especially if you are just starting to exercise.
Take a lying position. Bring your shoulder blades together, spread your legs shoulder-width apart, focusing on your heels, but without lifting the toes of your feet from the floor. Hold the dumbbells and lift them up (you can only start and finish the exercise from the top position). As you inhale, spread your arms, slightly bending your elbows. As you exhale, return to the starting position.
Pullover with dumbbell
Another good exercise for training the pectoral muscles. There are several variations of this movement. But if we are talking about working out the chest area, a lying position on an inclined plane will be relevant.
Lie down on a bench, hold the apparatus in front of you in line with your chest. Use a lock grip or place your hands one above the other. The back of the head, buttocks and shoulder blades should be pressed tightly to the surface. Place your feet shoulder-width apart.
Slowly lower the dumbbell behind your head, engaging your shoulder joints. Return to the starting position.
Breast augmentation without surgery: from training to hormones
If you believe numerous publications in popular publications, there are a huge number of ways to enlarge breasts at home.
You can try gymnastics, massage, various diets and even hormonal medications. You can also try more exotic techniques, for example, applying an iodine mesh or special creams rich in active substances from the group of phytoestrogens to the skin of the mammary glands. Do these methods work, is it possible to enlarge breasts with their help? Some methods are effective, while others can be safely called a waste of time. To separate myths from reality, let's look at the proposed options for bust enlargement from a scientific point of view.
Exercises with simulators
Exercising on exercise machines in the gym significantly diversifies your training program. Compared to free weights, they allow you to target a specific muscle area. In addition, for beginners who are just learning the correct technique for chest strength exercises with dumbbells and barbells, it is much easier to train on mechanical (electric or combined) devices.
Bringing hands together on the lower crossover block
It would be appropriate to include this training option last in the training scheme, after completing the basic ones. For the final workout of the pectoral muscles, a cable trainer and bench are used.
To do this, grab the handles of the lower block and sit on the training bench (pre-install its back at an angle of 35-40°). Spread your legs wider than your shoulders, spread your arms slightly bent at the elbow joints to the sides. Exhaling, bring them together, trying to raise them as high as possible. Exhaling, return to the starting position.
Dips
This exercise is an excellent alternative to the incline bench press upside down and does not require support. Experienced athletes should make it the end of their training program; beginners should do it at the beginning of training. The best option is to combine it with regular push-ups.
Jump onto the bars, keeping your body weight on almost straight arms. Lower your shoulders slightly, bend your legs at the knees and cross them together. Bend your elbows and lower yourself down until your shoulders and the floor are parallel. When performing, try to bring your shoulder blades together as much as possible.
Now return to the starting position, pushing yourself up. Do not forget that you should lower while exhaling, and lift while inhaling. This situation applies to all exercises for the pectoral muscles and not only them.
Bench press sitting in front of you in a Smith machine
An effective basic exercise for training the shoulder girdle, allowing you to engage the upper part of the pectoralis major muscle. During the execution, the front and middle deltoids, triceps, and trapezius are involved.
Sit on a bench with a backrest, place your hands on the bar with a wide grip. Place your legs wider than your shoulders, with your feet in full contact with the floor.
Remove the projectile from the rack (hooks), pull it closer to your chest. At this moment the bar should be in its upper area. Therefore, even before performing the exercise, adjust the position of the bench.
As you exhale, press the barbell up. Slowly return to the starting position, lightly touching the bar to your chest.
Reduction of arms in the butterfly simulator
Another effective exercise for men and women, performed using a simulator. Provides a good stretch to the pectoral muscles and gives them definition.
To begin, position yourself in the exercise machine. Straighten your back, making sure it is pressed tightly against the back of the bench. Now grab the handles of the levers, bend your elbows slightly. The forearms are parallel to the floor surface.
Spread your legs wider than your shoulders, look straight ahead. As you exhale, slowly bring your hands together and try to stay in this position for a few seconds. As you inhale, return to the starting position. Feel the chest muscles stretch.
Note! The handles of the machine must be adjusted so that even with the maximum extension of the arms, the muscles still remain tense. When performing, the load should always remain suspended without touching the support.
Hammer Seated Press
Hammer is a lever-type trainer.
This exercise helps develop and shape the pectoralis major muscles. Thanks to the design features of the Hammer, the direction of hand movement is rigidly fixed. The principle of working in it is similar to the bench press, only it is performed in a sitting position.
Sit on the machine bench, press your back against the back, and the handles should be at chest level. Make sure your shoulder blades are squeezed together. Place your feet on the floor.
As you exhale, push the handles forward, straightening your elbow joints. Don't try to press your arms closer to your body, as this will put more stress on your triceps, which you shouldn't do. Also, at the highest point they should not straighten completely. Stay in this position for a few seconds. Exhaling, slowly return to the starting position.
While performing the exercise, do not arch your back. It should remain pressed against the back of the machine bench.
Laser methods
For the sake of completeness, mention should also be made of the technology being tested in the United States. It is based on the targeted effect of laser beams of a certain length on the skin of the chest and underlying tissues. The developers of the technique say that after a course of laser therapy, the condition and trophism of the soft tissues in the affected area improves, and the mammary glands themselves increase in volume and tighten. A potential disadvantage of the procedure is the long duration - 6 sessions with breaks of two weeks. The advantages of the technology are accessibility, painlessness and non-invasiveness.
Program for training the pectoral muscles
As an example, let's imagine a couple of training programs that include the best exercises for the pectoral muscles.
When creating a working scheme for yourself, remember that one muscle group should be trained no more than 1-2 times a week.
Program No. 1
Warm up - 5 minutes.
Dumbbell bench press - 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Pullover with a dumbbell - 3-4 sets of 10-12 repetitions.
Incline bench press - 3-4 sets of 6-12 reps.
Bench press in front of you in the Smith machine - 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.
Dips - 4 sets to failure.
Crossover - 4 sets of 15-20 repetitions.
Cool down - 5 minutes.
Program No. 2
Warm up - 5 minutes.
Lying dumbbell raises - 4-5 sets of 8-12 reps.
Horizontal barbell bench press - 2-3 sets of 10-12 repetitions.
Dumbbell pullover - 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Reduction of arms in the butterfly simulator - 3-4 sets of 8-10 repetitions.
Seated press in the Hammer machine - 2-3 sets of 12-15 repetitions.
Crossover - 3 sets of 12-15 repetitions.
Cool down - 5 minutes.
Sportswear and shoes on the adidas promo codes .
Is it true that wearing special underwear trains your breasts?
There is no single correct answer about the effect of special underwear on the shape of the mammary glands. There is an opinion that the breasts take the form of a supportive bra. Just as the waist is formed by a corset, the shape of the chest is trained by special underwear. That is, if a woman wants to have round and regular breast shapes, she should wear a bra with a round shape.
The medical magazine Healthline published an article in which it was reported that wearing special underwear does not give the bust a certain shape. In addition, the effect of special underwear on breast training has not been proven at all, that is, there is no reliable information about the effect of wearing bras on the shape of the mammary glands.
However, it is recommended to wear sportswear during exercise and sleep to relieve the symptoms of fibrocystic breast disease. At the same time, doctors advise choosing a special bra based on the recommendation of a mammologist, who will tell you about the most suitable form of underwear.
Read also
- How to pump up your biceps - exercises for strong biceps
- Training with dumbbells for all muscle groups
- We train the whole body with kettlebells. A set of exercises that can be added to regular exercise
- Chest exercises with dumbbells - top most effective exercises
- How to pump up your arms at home - training your arms at home
- Triceps exercises with dumbbells
- A set of exercises with dumbbells - what exercises to do if you only have free weights at hand
Oh, these hormones!
The main catalyst for the growth and development of mammary glands is hormones. Female sex hormones, namely estrogen and progesterone, have a tremendous impact on bust size. This effect is noticeable even with minor changes in hormonal levels that are observed throughout the monthly cycle. At the beginning of the cycle, the mammary glands, as a rule, decrease slightly, and in the second half of the cycle, on the contrary, they increase.
During pregnancy, the concentration of sex hormones in the blood, in particular progestins, becomes very high, which leads to slow but steady breast growth. As a result, by the end of the ninth month, the bust becomes 2-3 sizes larger, and this is far from the limit! After childbirth, the female body begins to intensively produce prolactin, a hormone of the anterior pituitary gland, which ensures lactation function.
But how to enlarge your breasts with the help of hormones if pregnancy is long behind you or is not yet part of your plans? Hormone replacement therapy comes to the aid of many - taking medications containing synthetic progesterone analogues (prolactin analogues are not used).
Women rarely take hormones for breast enlargement, but they often use them as a form of contraception. A pleasant “side effect” of this method of preventing pregnancy is a slight (and in some cases very significant) increase in the bust.
Important! You can take hormonal medications only after consulting a gynecologist and laboratory analysis of natural hormonal levels in different phases of the monthly cycle. Otherwise, there is a high probability of disruption of the production of your own sex hormones, which can lead to gynecological diseases. It is highly advisable to undergo a mammogram and obtain a conclusion from a mammologist-oncologist about the absence of mammary gland tumors.