The pectorals are one of the parts of the male body that men most like to exercise. Achieving a perfect body for many goes through exercising the upper part of the body and in it the pectorals have a great weight. However, knowing how to increase your pecs is not as simple as you might think.
To achieve that desired physical appearance, it is necessary to follow a series of tips and recommendations, which include carrying out certain training exercises, but also paying special attention to food, which is more important than you might think. time to achieve your goals.
A common mistake is spending time in the gym and doing exercises without taking into account the needs of the muscles and being aware of what they need in order to grow. In any case, if you are interested in knowing how to increase your pecs, you have come to the right place. Next, we explain what you need to know to achieve your goal.
Types of exercises for the chest
When talking about types of exercises for the chest, we must differentiate mainly into two types:
- Press: They are polyarticular exercises that involve the shoulder and elbow joint. It is possible to use gym machines, dumbbells, bars or even push-ups for this.
- Isolator: These are monoarticular exercises in which only the shoulder joint is involved. They are exercises in which the contraction is concentrated in the pectoral. It is possible to use dumbbells, machines or pulleys for this.
chest exercises
If you are looking for how to increase your pecs, you need to know some of the main exercises that you can do in your training plan to try to reach your goal.
Among them we must mention the following:
bench press
The bench press is one of the star chest exercises. It is possible to do it with dumbbell, bar or machines. The perfect technique for the bench press is for the grip to be more than shoulder-width apart, making sure the forearms are perpendicular to the ground throughout the entire range.
If you’re lying on the machine, your forearm points all the way forward. You should start with your elbows almost completely extended to the point of the line between your hands that is more or less 3-4 fingers between the pectoral.
openings
This exercise is one of the so-called isolating exercises, so the elbow remains almost fully stretched throughout the entire route, without any changes in angle.
These openings begin the movement with the arms away from the body line, feeling as if there is a previous stretch before beginning the concentric phase of the movement to find the arms between them. You should go forward as a hug.
These exercises have another outstanding feature, which is that you enjoy a wider range of motion. It is possible to perform them on machines, pulleys and dumbbells, with different angles.
Both the bench press and the flies help in carrying out the stimulation of the upper, middle and lower part.
push-ups
Push – ups are a closed kinetic chain movement that helps activate the muscles that are responsible for stabilizing the scapulae. They are based on the fact that the hands are resting on the ground more than the width of the shoulders so that when the arms are bent at ninety degrees, the forearm is perpendicular to the ground.
The route goes from almost the extension of the elbows until it leaves three or four fingers between the chest and the ground. In those cases, where you want to increase the difficulty, you can add a jump in the hands.
Pectoral Exercise Considerations
When thinking about a training plan to increase the pecs, a series of considerations must be taken into account:
- An excellent technique should be prioritized according to the weight, which helps to avoid possible injuries and thus be able to develop the chest properly.
- To be able to develop the muscles and achieve greater joint amplitude, betting on a full range of motion.
- It is recommended to train the pectoral twice in an initiation and intermediate fitness level, being able to train it three times in the case of an advanced fitness level. For those who start in the world of training, it is advisable not to perform more than eight sets of chest; and the intermediate and advanced ones between 10 and 15 series in the pectorals.
- Chest workouts should be as isolated as possible from each other. In this way, a cooler training is achieved and the muscles are rested. For this reason, it is preferable to do the chest training on alternate days.
- If you do more training or many series, you have the risk of suffering from overtraining. This will make it possible to be at risk of injury.
- You should try to find a muscular balance, not just training the pectoral. The days that you do not exercise it you will have to bet on other muscles, especially the dorsal.