Gym regulars will have noticed that Monday has become "National Bench Press Day." Everyone strives to pump up their chest. This trend often continues on Tuesday, turning it into “National Bench Press Day 2.0.”

But how to effectively train your chest to maximize growth? In this article, I will explain what mistakes you should avoid when working on volume, and I will share with you the correct method on how to pump up the pectoral muscles in the gym to quickly increase volume over the entire chest area for men.

Loading your chest 4 times a week is just wasting your time, especially if you have a thin physique.

• Isolation exercises. You won't be able to stimulate your chest muscles with heavy weights using exercises like dumbbell flyes. This means that you will not be able to achieve the same release of testosterone and growth hormone as during basic exercises.
• Poor diet. You can’t count on gaining voluminous breasts if you are 180 cm tall and weigh only 55 kg. If you don't eat more, working out three times a week won't do you any good.
• Divided into upper, middle and lower. Despite the fact that the chest has two large heads, it is one muscle that contracts entirely. You cannot separate the upper part of the chest from the lower part, you can only focus on one of them.

The key to getting expressive breasts lies in increased nutrition and impact training. Before you think about isolation exercises, build a strong base.

• Eat better. If you are underweight, you can forget about impressive breasts. Find out the minimum normal body weight relative to your height from tables or using a calculator. To gain weight: eat every 3 hours, giving preference to high-calorie foods. Read articles about the mass-gaining phase and method.
• Do basic exercises with heavy weights. To strengthen and build overall body muscle for a man, there are no better exercises in the gym than basic free weight exercises such as the squat, deadlift, bench press and military press. Do them often and spare no effort.
• Train your legs. Squats and deadlifts accelerate chest growth due to the powerful release of testosterone and growth hormone, which provoke the synthesis of muscle tissue. Strengthen your leg muscles. Check out 5 reasons to work out your leg muscles.
• Rest. Muscles grow after training, not during it. Avoid loading your breasts more than twice a week. Keep your caloric intake in check to ensure your babies get all the nutrients they need to recover and grow.
• Press in jerks. This way you recruit more muscle fibers, which allows you to lift heavier weights and achieve better results. Perform all presses and pull-ups quickly, making sure the technique is correct. Lower the weight in a controlled manner, but not too slowly.
• Use proper technique. The partial range bench press will not work the pecs as well as they should. At the bottom of the movement, touch the bar to the T-shirt, at the top, fully straighten your elbows. If necessary, take lighter weights.
• Set realistic goals. Even if you train and eat exactly like your idol, you will never achieve the same muscle shape. Muscle development is influenced by sport and diet. But their shape is determined only by genetics.
• Be patient. Especially if you are still a teenager. Your body is still growing. There is no way a 15 year old can build the muscles of a 30 year old. Build your base and be patient. As you age, you will notice welcome changes in your muscles.

Top 4 Exercises to Build Your Chest

When bench pressing, avoid touching your neck or splaying your elbows out to the sides. Both options are potentially dangerous and can injure your shoulders. Focus on exercises that will allow you to progress with the weights without compromising your health.

• Bench press. Allows you to load your muscles with heavy weights. Say goodbye to big pecs if you can't bench press your bodyweight at least 5 times for 5 sets (at 75kg you should bench press 75kg 5x5).
• Push ups. Closed circuit exercise. Unless you use weights. Do push-ups with an expander or weights.
• Weighted parallel bars push-ups. Option for athletes with healthy shoulders: Do parallel bars while wearing a weight belt.
• Dumbbell press. Stimulate the growth of the pectoral muscles by stretching them at the lowest point of the amplitude. But the weight will have to be taken less than with a barbell press.

Read this article that covers most of the above principles for increasing pectoral strength and size.

Improve the shape of your breasts from the bottom bun to the top!

If you're serious about improving your upper torso, give this workout a try. You'll be lifting enormous weights, challenging every muscle fiber, aiming for high training volume, and leaving the gym completely exhausted!

He shares: “When working the chest, I like to work from the top to the bottom. This means I start on an incline with my head up, then move to a flat surface, and then I do incline exercises with my head down, or dips.”

His one-hour chest workout program includes other exercises as well. Pre-fatigue? Eat. Heavy weights for mechanical stress? Eat. Supersets and sets to failure for maximum muscle destruction? There is another way.

Don’t let the same type of exercises and repetition schemes fool you. This is advanced bodybuilding of the highest standard, and it is perfect for everyone who wants to reach heights.

Thomas says, “I like to do this routine to sharpen my contours before a photo shoot or competition.”

Chest muscle training program

Watch the video:

In the video, Thomas talks and shows how to pump up your chest in the gym, using basic and isolation exercises to work out the upper, middle and lower parts of the pecs. This is a very effective training program designed specifically to train all the bundles in one day.

1. Superset: 4 laps Reduction of arms in the butterfly simulator 12 reps Incline dumbbell press with head up 12 reps
2 . Incline bench press with head up 4 sets of 6 reps
3. Superset: 4 lapsBringing your arms together in a crossover 12 reps Bench press 8 reps
4. Triset: 4 circles Push-ups on the uneven bars 10 reps 10 reps with push-ups or dumbbells Bringing your hands together in a crossover from bottom to top 10 reps
5 . Dumbbell raises 3 sets of 12 reps

Superset: abbreviation in the simulator and dumbbell bench press while lying on an incline bench

Reduction of arms in the simulator / Dumbbell press lying on an inclined bench with your head up

This is a classic method of pre-fatiguing muscle fibers. Its main task is to warm up the pecs and improve blood flow to their upper part before heavy bench presses.

Thomas advises, "Try to fully contract every muscle fiber on every rep."

The same applies to bench presses. “Work rhythmically. Here we need to pump as much blood into the muscles as possible before moving on to incline bench presses with a heavier barbell,” he comments.

Do not straighten your elbows completely, try to work without pauses and at the same pace.

Incline Barbell Press

Incline bench press with head up

Even when training for relief, Dylan takes into account that heavy weights play a key role in maintaining mass and muscle density. Of course, you probably won't be able to press the same weight as if you started the workout with a bench press, but Dylan assures that this will give you a much better feel for the exercise.

“We started with supersets, which give a good pump. Therefore, moving on to the next exercise with heavier weights, we will fully feel each movement, even despite the use of heavy equipment,” explains Thomas.

This part of the training will make you sweat. Don't be afraid to ask someone at the gym to back you up, but use enough weight to get all 6 reps.

Superset: Crossover Bent Over and Bench Press

Bent-over crossover/bench press

The work on the upper portion of the chest is completed. It's time to tackle the middle bun.

Thomas says, "We'll first pre-fatigue the muscles with a lot of crossover crunches and then move on to a moderate-weight bench press."

But even with a large training volume, execution technique is paramount. “Lock your arms at the elbows and try to stretch the muscles as much as possible, opening the chest, before bringing your hands together, squeezing the middle portion of the pecs,” he advises.

With the bench press, you're not so much concentrating on pressing the weight up as you are trying to lower it down in a controlled manner.

Thomas advises: “For this exercise, focus your efforts on the negative part of the movement. This way you activate and injure your chest muscle fibers more. Try to stop the bar a millimeter before it touches your chest, increasing muscle tension, and then smoothly press up.”

Triset: Dips, Dips, Crossovers

Dips/Push-ups/Crossover crossover

After two pre-fatiguing supersets and a couple of heavy presses, your pecs should already be “waking up”, or even “singing”. Now let's focus on stretching the muscles, which contributes to further damage to muscle fibers.

Don't have dip bars? Two parallel bars will do just fine, the main thing is to stick to the classic technique: lower your chin, pull your knees back, stretch the muscles when lowering, and contract when going up.

Push-ups using push-ups also allow you to stretch your muscles. “Don't go all the way up, stopping about 3/4 of the way up, and keep your muscles under constant tension,” advises Thomas.

Bringing your arms together in a crossover is - as you may have guessed - aimed at contracting and stretching the muscles. Step out of the block frame 1-2 steps and lean your body forward slightly to get into the correct starting position. When moving up, raise your arms only to the level of the lower edge of your chest. Squeeze your muscles and lower your arms, stretching your pecs.

If the room is full of people, you can do all sets of several or all exercises at once, or alternate between parallel bars and crossovers with your training partner, while keeping a pair of dumbbells on the floor to do push-ups in between.

Breeding dumbbells

Breeding dumbbells

Nothing new here! Just work with a comfortable weight, find the optimal low point of amplitude for stretching the muscles, and perform the specified number of repetitions. The only recommendation from Thomas is to try to bring your elbows together rather than your arms or dumbbells, as this will cause the pectoral muscles to contract more strongly.

Three approaches and you are free. Now recover, because the next “breast day” is just around the corner!

The more an athlete goes in for power sports, the more time he needs to spend on working out each muscle group, since over time the muscles adapt to the loads, and in order for them to grow, they need to be constantly shocked by large training volumes and new types of loads. In this article, we will look at the chest training program in bodybuilding. Such a training program is perfect for those who train according to split programs and work out different muscle masses in each workout.

Our chest training program is not suitable for beginners, since novice athletes need to train several muscle groups at once in one workout, but this article will also describe the principles of building chest workouts that every self-respecting visitor to the gym should know.

The main principles of successful split training

When training on split programs, athletes should prioritize basic exercises, as they involve the most muscles and stimulate their growth better. But we should not forget about isolating movements either - since we train only one muscle group per workout, then we have time and energy to work out muscle areas in more detail. Speaking about the areas of the muscle group, we mean different muscle bundles, for example, the pectoral muscles are divided into upper, middle and lower, and the deltas are divided into anterior, posterior and middle.

In one workout, we must thoroughly work out all the muscle bundles, using various exercises and changing the position of the body or the angle of the bench, the simulator.

Basic exercises should be performed at the beginning of the workout, and isolation exercises at the end to finish off the muscle or at the very beginning for a light warm-up. For maximum muscle growth, experts recommend performing 4-6 exercises per workout, 3-4 sets in each exercise, and 8-12 repetitions in each set. You should not train chest more than twice a week, that is, after the first workout, 2-3 days should pass before the next lesson. This is necessary so that the muscles have time to recover and grow (this applies to all other muscle groups, not just the chest, but it is recommended to give the legs more time to recover, since they are the largest muscle group).

It is important not to forget to do a warm-up at the beginning of the session and warm-up approaches during the workout, this will save you from various injuries and injuries.

Bodybuilding chest workout program

Considering all the above principles, we have compiled the following chest training program for bodybuilders:

Pullover for chest lying on a bench (2-3 X 8-10)- this exercise is performed at will, it helps to expand the skeleton of the chest and is suitable only for young athletes (under 25 years old) whose bone growth zones have not yet closed.

So we looked at the training program for the pectoral muscles in bodybuilding. Don't forget that the working weights during training should be increased gradually, and at the beginning of each exercise, you must perform at least one warm-up set to prepare the muscles for work and reduce the likelihood of injury.

Chest workout from Konstantin Bublikov

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Chest training from Andrey Skoromny

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The chest muscles are one of the largest and most complex muscle groups in the body. That is why for proper chest training it is important to use not only basic, but also isolating exercises that load the muscles from different angles. For pumping the pectoral muscles, constant progress of working weights is necessary, since the chest responds best to hypertrophy.

It should also be borne in mind that when performing most exercises for the pectoral muscles, not only the pectoral muscles themselves are included in the work, but also the muscles of the press, arms (in particular, biceps and triceps), back and deltoid muscles of the shoulders. In fact, chest training involves working the entire upper body - it is important to keep this in mind when drawing up a training program.

Note that barbell exercises are recommended for gaining mass, while they are suitable for point work on the chest, improving muscle shape and pumping lagging beams. The main advantage of chest exercises with dumbbells is that they do not require simulators or a bulky frame with a barbell to perform them - in fact, you can swing at home.

chest workout program

To achieve the fastest effect, it is recommended to combine the development of the pectoral muscles with pumping the triceps, shoulder muscles and abs - especially when. The chest strength training itself should be carried out no more than once every 72 hours - otherwise the muscles will not have enough time for full recovery and subsequent growth.

When it comes to choosing the best chest exercises, beginners should do one or two basic exercises (for example, bench press) with heavy weights and 5-7 repetitions, as well as one or two isolation exercises (for example, block information and dilutions with dumbbells) with lighter weight and 12-15 repetitions. The key emphasis here is on maintaining perfect technique.

Chest Exercises: Anatomy

From an anatomical point of view, the main muscles of the chest are the pectoralis major and minor. The pectoralis major muscle has a triangular shape, weaving one of its bases directly into the shoulder - it is thanks to this that the muscles of the chest and shoulders are closely connected. The pectoralis minor is located under the pectoralis major and performs a stabilizing rather than a working role.

In addition, the pectoral muscle group also includes the serratus anterior, which lies closer to the side of the body and to the shoulder. This muscle has nine characteristic "teeth" attached to the upper ribs. Its main function is to abduct and approach the shoulder blades - in fact, it is the serratus anterior that works in such chest exercises as all sorts of information.

The best chest exercises

Note that most exercises for the pectoral muscles can be performed both with a barbell and with dumbbells or on blocks. Dumbbells and blocks allow you to use the stabilizer muscles in the exercise and precisely pump individual bundles of the chest, while the barbell is the preferred choice when working with heavy weights, since its range of motion is usually reduced.

1. - a key anatomical exercise for the chest muscles. If you want to pump up your chest, you first need to learn how to do push-ups correctly in order to be able to feel the pectoral muscles at work. However, we note that push-ups have an extremely limited resource for chest growth, since they do not allow you to work with additional weight.
2. - one of the best exercises for a comprehensive study of the upper body, and, in particular, the lower part of the pectoral muscles, the entire shoulder girdle and triceps. When lowering down, the movement should be slow and controlled, when lifting up - powerful and jerky (as if you are pushing the body up).
3. - basic strength exercise for the pectoral muscles. When doing the bench press, it is extremely important to follow the technique - do not relax the muscles at the top and bottom points of the movement, do not straighten your elbows, and never touch the barbell to your chest. Raise the bar up, slowly counting 1-2, linger on 3-4 and lower it to the count of 5-6.
4. Breeding dumbbells lying- a key exercise for working out the anterior serratus muscle and giving the chest the correct "square" shape. Use light weight dumbbells, focusing primarily on the sensation of stretching the muscles. At the bottom of the movement, do not drop your elbows too low and do not spread your arms too wide.
5. - an exercise to work out the upper part of the pectoral muscles. When performing the exercise, do not take your legs off the floor and make sure that the muscles of the body (especially the press) are in constant light tension - when lifting the dumbbells, you should feel how this tension helps to push the weight up.

Program for the development of chest muscles

Since the chest is a fairly large muscle, its mass is best increased by strength training for hypertrophy with a constant increase in working weight. In addition, negative repetition techniques (when you are helped to raise the bar, but you lower it yourself), as well as techniques for achieving failure and pumping exercises, are very effective for chest muscle growth.

In a simplified form, an exercise program for developing chest muscles might look like this:

• Push-ups on uneven bars - 2 sets and max. number of repetitions.
• Bench press - 4 sets of 10 reps.
• Incline Dumbbell Press - 4 sets of 10 reps.
• Breeding arms with dumbbells lying down - 4 sets of 12 reps.

Working out the shape of the pectoral muscles

The shape of the pectoral muscles largely depends on genetics, however, the slope of the body during exercise and the width of the arms position directly affect how the muscles will grow and develop. For example, the most massive outer part of the chest is best worked out with horizontal bench presses, performed both with a barbell and with dumbbells or on blocks.

The upper part of the chest is included in the work in such exercises as dumbbell presses or barbells on a bench with an inclination (both 45 and 30 degrees), the lower one - push-ups on the uneven bars or a barbell press with a reverse slope (head down). The center of the pectoral muscles - with the help of various dilutions on blocks and simulators, as well as when pressing the barbell lying with a narrow grip.

Pumping the pectoral muscles: why is there no result?

If you train your chest hard, but the muscles do not grow stubbornly and the chest does not take on the desired shape, most likely you are making one of three typical mistakes - either chasing excessively large working weights to the detriment of technique, or training the same pectoral muscle bundles, or pump your chest too often, not giving the muscles a chance to recover.

Remember that the latissimus dorsi, the deltoids of the shoulders, and the pectoralis major and minor are a single fascia woven together by connective tissues. To increase the elasticity of the muscles, as well as to speed up the recovery time, it is important for athletes to perform with the help of a special cylinder or massage balls.

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Training the pectoral muscles is one of the key in creating an athletic and athletic body, since it is these muscles that form a strong and massive body. The main rules for successful breast pumping are the constant progress of working weights, a variety of exercises, an ideal execution technique, as well as sufficient time for rest and recovery.

1. Complex of three push-ups

This complex will help to pump all parts of the pectoral muscles in turn. Lifehacker analyzed each of these exercises in detail.

• Do push-ups with your feet elevated. This exercise provides a load on the upper part of the pectoral muscles.

• Immediately after that, do push-ups on the floor with a wide stance. Hands are located on the same level with the shoulders. This type of push-up will pump the middle part of the pectoral muscles.

• The last push-up in the complex is with hands on a hill. It provides a load on the lower part of the pectoral muscles.

If you want to complicate the complex, put a backpack with dumbbells or other weighting material on your back. The main thing is that the backpack fits snugly against the back and does not move during push-ups. Well suited tourist, which is fixed on the body with the help of additional fasteners.

2. Push-ups with the transfer of body weight to one hand

This exercise is much more difficult than classic push-ups, it provides a serious load on the pectoral muscles, but requires training and arm strength.

• Stand in an emphasis lying, shift the weight of the body towards the right hand.
• Lower yourself into a push-up and at the bottom, transfer your body weight to your left hand.
• Press yourself up, leaning mainly on your left hand, and then transfer your body weight back to your right hand and repeat the exercise.
• Repeat the approach with the other hand. In the second approach, lower yourself with an emphasis on your left hand, and rise with an emphasis on your right.

3. Breeding hands on the floor

For this exercise, you will need a fairly slippery floor - tile or smooth linoleum - and two towels or a piece of cloth.

• Stand upright lying down, put your hands on the towels.
• Carefully spread your arms out to the sides as wide as possible so that you can then rise up.
• Gather your hands in the starting position.

Perform the exercise as consciously and carefully as possible: spread your arms only as wide as you can rise.

4. Side push-ups

• Lie on the floor on your right side, place your right hand on your left shoulder, and place your left hand on the floor in front of you.
• Press yourself up with your left hand so that the body rises from the floor. The pelvis remains on the floor.
• Get back down to the floor and repeat the exercise.
• Repeat on the other side.

5. Dips

For this exercise, you will need bars. Such complexes with a horizontal bar and bars for the home are sold, on which you can perform many exercises. If you are not in the mood to spend money, you can find parallel bars at any sports field or school stadium.

• Jump onto the bars and keep your body weight on straightened arms. Lower your shoulders, cross and bend your legs slightly.
• Lower yourself down, bending your elbows, until your shoulders are parallel to the floor or slightly lower. Try to keep your elbows close to your body, pull your shoulders back and down, and squeeze your shoulder blades.
• To work exactly the pectoral muscles, and not the triceps, tilt the chest slightly forward during push-ups - at an angle of about 30 degrees.
• Push yourself up, tightening your abs, and repeat the exercise.

Free weight exercises

1. Dumbbell bench press

• Lie down on a bench or on the floor if you are exercising at home, and take dumbbells in your hands so that your palms are facing each other.
• Stretch your arms out in front of you.
• Spread the dumbbells so that a right angle forms at the elbow.
• As you exhale, squeeze the dumbbells up and repeat the exercise.
• During the exercise, press your lower back to the floor, do not arch your back.

2. Breeding hands with dumbbells

This exercise works the pectoral muscles well and does not involve the triceps.

• Lie on the floor on your back, take dumbbells in your hands and raise them in front of you.
• Spread your arms, slightly bending them at the elbows, so wide that your elbows touch the floor. Do not bend your elbows too much, so that the reduction of the arms does not turn into a dumbbell press.
• As you exhale, bring your hands together in front of you and repeat the exercise.

If you can do the exercise on a bench, use it. So you increase the range of motion, you can better stretch and load the pectoral muscles.

3. Semicircle of dumbbells

• Lie on the floor or bench on your back, grab the dumbbells with an overhand grip and hold them close to your hips.
• Move your arms, slightly bent at the elbows, through the sides behind your head, turning your palms up.
• Return your arms along the same path, connecting the dumbbells at the level of the hips.
• Perform the exercise without stopping at the extreme points: as soon as you put your hands behind your head, immediately return them back, touched the hips with dumbbells - immediately start a new semicircle.

resistance exercises

For such exercises, you will also need a vertical stand or a handle for which you can hook it. Expanders can be bought at any sports equipment store.

If you work out in the gym, these exercises can be done in a crossover.

1. Pull the expander sideways

• Fasten the expander at shoulder level, stand with your right side to the rack and take the loop in your right hand.
• Overcoming the resistance of the expander, move your hand forward. The final position is opposite the chest or opposite shoulder.

2. Lunge pull

This exercise works the lower head of the pectoral muscle.

• Fasten the expander just above shoulder level.
• Take the loop in your right hand, step back a little, stretching the expander, and turn your right side to the rack.
• Lunge forward with your left foot, place your left hand on it to make it easier to maintain position.
• In the starting position, the right arm with the expander is extended to the side and slightly bent at the elbow.
• Overcoming the resistance of the expander, move your right hand forward and down so that at the end point it is located above the bent knee.
• Return your hand to the starting position and repeat.
• Do the exercise with the other hand.

3. Traction with two hands up

This exercise will work out the middle and upper parts of the pectoral muscles.

• Attach the expander at the level of the hips, take the loops with both hands and turn your back to the rack.
• Move away from the rack, pulling the expander.
• Take a step forward and shift about 70% of your body weight onto your front foot.
• Raise your shoulders to parallel with the floor, bend your elbows at an angle of 90 degrees - this is the starting position.
• Overcoming the resistance of the expander, bring your hands forward and up so that the palms of outstretched hands are at face level.
• Return your arms to the starting position and repeat.

4. Push-ups with an expander on the back

This is a regular push-up, complicated by the use of an expander.

• Take the expander by both ends, passing it behind your back.
• Stand in an emphasis lying, pressing the ends of the expander to the floor.
• Perform push-ups, overcoming the resistance of the expander.

As for the number of sets and repetitions, choose it yourself, based on your capabilities, the resistance of the expander or the weight of the dumbbells. The main thing is that the last two or three times in the approach should be really hard for you.

And don't forget the food! Even the most severe workouts will not help pump up voluminous pectoral muscles if your diet does not contain.

If you set yourself the task of pumping up your pectoral muscles as much as possible, then a visit seems to be the best option. The presence of special equipment, qualified instructors - all this will help you achieve the desired results. But often a situation arises when regular visits to the gym are impossible. In this case, they can serve as an alternative to the gym.

If you want to focus on swaying, then you need to take into account that they consist of several symmetrical groups, including:

• pectoralis major muscle
• pectoralis minor muscle
• anterior serratus.

Do not forget that when training the pectoral muscles, the body spends a huge amount of energy, which has a beneficial effect on burning fat tissue.

The modern life rhythm of many people nowadays is such that it is often very difficult to find time to regularly visit the gym. The training process at home can be considered as an adequate replacement for the gym. The desire of the student to achieve his goal should come first.

First of all, you need to decide on the number of classes per week. Many beginners mistakenly believe that daily exercise can lead to the desired result in a minimum amount of time. But the characteristics of the pectoral muscles are such that during active work, the muscles receive multiple microtraumas and after each exercise time is needed for their complete recovery. Therefore, at the initial stage, the number of training sessions should not exceed two sessions per week.

You should also adhere to a certain dosage in the number of approaches for exercises to develop the chest muscles. Depending on individual physical fitness, their number should be from four to eight approaches per workout. For those who are just starting to exercise, the best option would be one or two exercises of two or three approaches. And remember, excessive overload of the pectoral muscles does not give good results. To achieve the desired result, create a training program and try to stick to it on a regular basis.

Exercises for training

The simplest and most universal exercise available to anyone starting to develop their body is simple push-ups. If we take a closer look at the mechanism of the push-up process, we will see that this is a kind of variation of the bench press. In addition, push-ups are an optimal general developmental exercise. When doing push-ups, the muscles of the arms are also involved, which ensures uniform development of the muscles of the upper body. In addition, there is an active effect on the abdominal muscles, which has a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole. The leg muscles are used to a lesser extent, but they also receive a small share of the load.

The simplest and most universal exercise available to anyone starting to engage in the process of developing their body is simple push-ups. If we take a closer look at the mechanism of the push-up process, we will see that this is a kind of variation of the bench press. In addition, push-ups are an optimal general development exercise that affects a huge number of muscles. When doing push-ups, the muscles of the arms are involved, which ensures uniform development of the muscles of the upper body. In addition, there is an active effect on the abdominal muscles, which has a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole. The leg muscles are used to a lesser extent, but they also receive a small share of the load.

Like many physical exercises, push-ups have different variations, using which you will load different groups of pectoral muscles.

One such option is narrow push-ups. The difference between narrow push-ups and regular push-ups is the width of your arms. In the case of narrow push-ups, the hands are placed so that the fingers of both hands are facing inward and touching each other. When lowering, you need to touch your chest with your hands and maintain a second pause in this position. When performing this exercise, you should pay special attention to the straight position of your back. The push-up movements are smooth, without jerking, without delays.

The next push-up option is push-ups on stools. Two stools are placed shoulder-width apart, and a sofa or chair is used as a footrest. Starting position is the same as for a regular push-up. The main difference is that in this variation of push-ups the depth of lowering the body increases. Also in this exercise it is possible to work with weights, for example, you can use a backpack with books as an additional load.

Bend push-up

The point of this exercise is to keep your legs higher than your head. You need to put your feet on some kind of elevation and do the usual. This exercise will involve the upper chest, as well as the main muscle groups of the arms. When performing this exercise, you should pay attention to the correct placement of your elbows. If possible, try to move them apart to provide maximum load to the chest muscles.

Having regular dumbbells will allow you to significantly diversify your training program. The most universal exercise is the following: take the starting position lying on your back, bend your legs at the knees, and stretch your arms with dumbbells up. Then, as you inhale, slowly lower your arms until your elbows touch the floor. Try not to rush, perform this exercise at a smooth, even pace. A regular folding athletic bench, which you can buy at any sports store, can significantly diversify such exercises with dumbbells.

Remember that nothing is impossible. With a certain amount of desire, even at home you can achieve excellent results. Find for yourself an additional incentive for regular exercise, allocate free time, and the results you will receive will pleasantly please you.

Training the pectoral muscles at home - Video