Build Chest Muscles

Build Chest Muscles

Author: Kevin Forrester

If you want to build chest muscles there are a few things you need to concentrate on. First off if you are interested in building you chest muscles there must be a specific reason for this. Do you feel that your chest is not as well developed as the rest of your physique? Are you just trying to build your chest because you think this is what will make you look better? My advice would be to develop your whole physique equally and then once you have a solid foundation you can begin to spot build the areas that are lagging behind.

The mother of all chest exercises is naturally the bench press. Proper form and technique are crucial when performing this exercise.
Assuming you already have access to a weight bench and weights, you will lie down on the bench with the bar above you and directly above your eyes. Lift the bar up and lower it to the mid-point of you chest. Try not to bounce the weight and use the momentum to lift the weight up. Start with a weight, which will allow you to get 15 repetitions fairly easily. Then you can do successive sets of 12 reps, 10 reps and 8 reps. You should follow this basic formula for several weeks until you fell confident in your ability to both handle the weight and control it without fear of injury.

You should only workout your chest once a week to allow time for your chest muscles to rest and to grow. Once you have a solid foundation you can start to increase the number of exercises and the weight you can lift. Ideally you will want to start going to failure on most of the sets that you do. It has been shown that going to failure (the point where you can’t lift the weight any longer and need assistance to finish the last rep) will stress the muscles enough to force them to adapt and grow because of the amount of stress placed on the muscle.

Another good exercise you can include is dumbbell flyes. You perform this exercise by lying flat on a bench and holding a dumbbell of equal weight in each hand. Lower the dumbbells out to your side and down to the level of the bench with relatively straight arms. The lower you go the greater the stretch and strain on your chest muscles. Bring the dumbbells up to the starting position and contract your chest muscles at the same time. Follow the set and rep scheme that you used for the bench press.

These two exercises are a great starting point for building an impressive chest. It is important to note that you need to routinely change your workout and incorporate other strategies to help shock your body into growth. This is only meant as a beginning example to improving you chest muscles.