Chest Workout: The biggest goal for many people in the gym is to develop a muscular chest. So today, we will talk about the best exercises for chest training.
Many believe that it is possible to work, for example, only the middle part of the chest or that it is possible to stimulate only a small area of the musculature. But this is not possible. And some professionals often do not correct this mistake due to a lack of knowledge.
Table of Contents
Chest Workout
As you can see, the fibres will arrange almost horizontally, and, like a rubber band, they contract in that direction. Therefore, it is impossible to stimulate only the middle part of the chest (no matter what variation you came up with).
What can happen is an X exercise stimulates this part more than the others. It is this idea that we will work on today. We will use the above division to exemplify specific moves that benefit each party.
Upper Chest Workout
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Guillotine Bench Press
It is not one of the most taught moves in the gym precisely because it is risky and causes tremendous stress on the shoulders. But it is essential to say that the guillotine bench press is one of the movements that most activates the upper chest. In this exercise, the shoulders form an angle of 90º to 100º about your body, and when descending, the bar moves in the vertical line of the neck, like a guillotine. Be careful not to make an arch with the spine.
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Incline Bench Press With Dumbbells
As we know, dumbbells allow for a more excellent range of motion, stretching, and shortening of the fibres in the final position, in addition to allowing the use of considerable loads. The tip is to be focused on positioning the body on the bench and use a bench inclination between 300 to 400, the position that gives more significant focus on the upper chest. You’ll stimulate the front shoulder if it’s bent too much.
Medium Chest Workout
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Bench Press With Dumbbells
The interesting points are the same as in the incline dumbbell bench press. But it may be that eventually, you don’t find enough charge to give you challenges. In this case, try to use the pre-exhaustion strategy, making another move first. As a last resort, replace the dumbbell with the bar.
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Straight Cross Over
It is essential to emphasize the word straight before anything else. Almost everyone does the incline bench press version thinking it’s “straight”, or they do a useless version where they pull the cables too close to their body. For the crossover to be “straight”, you cannot decline the body. We know that lying down exercises provoke greater chest activation than sitting/standing exercises, so if you can do a crossover lying on the bench, even better.
Lower Chest Workout
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Incline Bench Press With Dumbbells
The reasons are the same as mentioned above. But here we have some problems. The first issue is that people with pressure complications cannot move in a declined position. The second issue is that, as some research shows (and practice as well), we are more robust in decline than in a straight part, so it’s easier for dumbbells not to give us enough load. But the exercise itself is excellent.
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Parallels
This exercise is overlooked by many when the focus is on working the chest. To exercise this muscle, we must keep the arms further apart and the trunk more inclined. It’s an excellent move for the lower chest. Usually, you will have to make some version with external overload. The most practical alternative is gymnastic shin guards, which you can easily find and can stack up to 20-25 kilos on each leg.
