HEALTH
Getting the Chest you want and love!
by Matthew Embry-McClain
Are you a summer show-off? Don’t lie- you know who you are, you sexy chiseled god. Quick quiz: what are the most shown off muscles on your body? The answer in order: the biceps, pecs, lats-delts and traps, abs, gluts, then quads and hamstrings. In the June issue we gave you an excellent bicep workout, so for this issue we will deliver a bulging chest workout. Anatomy of the chest: The chest consists of two different muscles the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. The pectoralis major attaches at the shoulder joint and the breast bone. The pectoralis minor lies underneath Lay on a flat bench with your the pectoralis major attaching from the feet firmly planted on the shoulder joint to the breast bone. The ground with your butt and back pectoralis major pulls the shoulders centered on the pad. Line up across the body and the pectoralis mithe bar bell so when you look nor pulls the shoulders forward. Beup at the ceiling it is directly cause of the chest’s versatility there are in the center of your vision many different exercises you can perand obscuring the ceiling. form to build its shape. But the more Do three sets of 8-10 reps important thing you should notice is with a lighter weight. Beginners might want to just use the bar itself, or that the chest muscles are integrated only add 20-30lbs (the bar weights 40lbs or 45lbs depending on the make). into many other muscle groups, so by Make sure that the bar raises parallel to the ground as you press it and alworking your chest you actually work ways have a spotter help you. (One time I was benching without a spotter… your shoulders, arms, back and abs Ya I was THAT guy who nearly choked himself out.) Only receive assisthroughout the same workout. tance lifting the bar off the rack if you are performing a low rep set. Other As stated before there are two wise if you cannot lift it off the rack yourself you need to lower the weight. different types of muscle, slow conAlways receive help placing the bar back on the rack. Perform a set with tracting muscles and quick contractthree different grips: one where you grip the bar so your arms form a 90° ing or twitch muscles. So in order to angle, another with a close grip (your hands thumb distance apart), and the properly build the chest you HAVE TO last with your arms obtuse to a 60-90° angle. After you complete exercise 1 work at low reps and high reps when do some ballistic stretches to loosen up. doing your workout… J U LY 2 0 1 3 / A R I E S 1 3 1
Exercise 1: Flat bench warm up
132 A R I E S
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J U LY 2 0 1 3