BODYBUILDING SERIES: Building the Chest Muscles
March 24, 2009 by Tisha Tolar
Filed under Bodybuilding
Your chest muscles, the pectoralis muscle, is a broad flat, fan-shaped muscle that covers your upper rib cage.
Note: Fit4everyoung.com is starting several new series on building up and toning the body. These series will appear frequently on our site. We will be starting with the first series, focusing on the Upper Body and throughout the next several weeks, we will focus on the Lower Body as well as the additional aspects of all-over body building.
The chest muscles starts from the attachments along your collarbone, breast bone, and ribs and it attaches to each side of your body by a large tendon through your shoulder joint, into your upper arm bone. In order to build up your chest, you need to properly exercise the pectoralis muscle. Remember that any exercise you do must be done correctly. Not only can you severely injure yourself with improper exercise techniques, you also do not benefit from the exercise as much as you should.
Here is a basic overview of the various exercises that you can do to build up your upper body and chest area. This is not a complete list but will help get you started on working out the chest area.
Push Ups
A basic exercise, push ups work the entire chest area. Lie face down on the floor and place your hands on each side of your body. Keep your arms and torso in a straight line and push yourself up, supporting your upper body on your arms. Slowly lower yourself to the ground until your chest is about an inch or so from the floor. Hold the position for a second and then push back into starting position. Repeat as able. Push ups are a good warm up exercise and can also be beneficial at the end of a routine.
Bench Presses
Performing bench press exercises, you will work your entire pectoral region, plus build up you deltoids and triceps. Using a weight bench and the proper weights, you lie on the bench with your feet flat to the floor on the sides of the bench. It is important to remember that working with a weight bench, it is good practice to have a partner to spot you in the event you need help lifting the barbell. Grab the bar in you hands at a space slightly wider than the width of your shoulders. To lift the barbell, straighten your arms and lift up, holding the bar at arms-length from your chest. Lower the barbell until it reaches your chest, keeping your elbows tucked and your upper arms at a 45-degree angle. If you keep your arms straight out, you will place too much strain on your shoulders. When the bar reaches your chest, push up into the starting position. Repeat this measure 4-5 times in the beginning and then work to increase the repetitions over the next few workouts. If you do not have a proper weight bench, you can substitute using dumbbells instead of the barbells. 
Incline Bench Press
Using the same techniques as you would with the standard bench press, you incline the seat of the bench at a 45 degree angle. The simple motion of inclining the bench will allow you to work more of your upper chest muscles.
Dips
To work the entire chest area but focus especially on the lower chest, you can use the dip technique to build up your chest. Using parallel bars, grab the bars with the palms of your heads, straighten your arms, and bend your knees. Pull your entire body up off the ground and support yourself between the bars, feet off of the floor. Lean your torso slightly forward as you continue to slowly bend your arms and lower your body between the bars so that your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Hold this position for a second then push yourself back up to the starting position. Repeat 4-5 times and build up the repetition over the next few weeks.
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