Tips To Build Chest Muscles For A More Attractive, Strokeable Body

Prelude: Just another day at the gym

I’’m working out and notice the new lady gym instructor hanging around. It’s quiet and she seems bored. She introduces herself and all that and it turns out she knows all about bio-mechanics. Pretty cool stuff…..

…………Apparently she can see that I have got a dominance in my upper body pushing structure; too much working of chest is in pulling my body forwards. I thank her for the tip, but she’s not done. She starts showing me exactly where I’m going wrong, and that means stroking my chest apparently. Is she for real?

To be honest, I already understood what she meant, but what am I supposed to do, tell her to get lost?

Build your chest muscles for a more touchable chest

Just look around the gym and you’ll see that for most guys it’s most likely chest day. The quest for a bigger chest is all about the desire to create a more attractive body. It’s a worthwhile reason, but a look around will tell you just as quick that it’s not going according to plan. The typical chest workout is just not working out.

Where does it all go wrong?

One of the main causes is not recognising the difference between the chest development of a powerlifter or strongman type, and that of an attractive body. Let’s face it, some of these guys take things too far.

For a lot of guys it is all about focusing on doing big numbers on the bench press. However, this isn’t a guarantee of a great looking chest. In fact since the focus is the pectoralis major it tends to lead to the middle and lower portion of your chest developing at a faster rate than the upper portion. For many of us this just results in that all too common droopy pec look. That means moobs! If your chest is not developed the right way, the slightest gains in body fat tend to create the droopy look.

The problem with the mechanics of the flat bench press

The bench press is a compound move and that means the effort you are putting in is being spread around. Great if you’re trying to lift as much as possible, but for me trying to improve the look of the chest…..not necessarily so good. Strongman or super-good looking man? You decide. For many it’s a contentious issue and it’s one on which you will have to make up your own mind, so please do. Test it out yourself and see where the results come. I mentioned in this post how certain body types are not as well suited to the “big lifts”. If like me you fall into this camp, then knowing how to make use of isolation exercises in the right way will really help.

(If I was using the flat bench press I would first pre-exhaust my chest muscles so that I get more stimulation over and above the triceps and deltoids.  It’s an advanced technique I was reminded of  reading this post over at zenmyfitness.com 

How to build chest muscles the right way

The trick is to get a “gladiator chest”. It’s a square looking chest with even development from the bottom up to the collarbone, an armour plated look rather than the bulky, droopy breast like appearance which makes you look fat in normal clothes.

Here are my tips to make it happen:

1) Focus on the upper and outer pectorals

These areas are the key to the square and masculine look; the aim is to achieve an even development all over rather than having the lower pec noticeably thicker. It’s challenging, but that’s is why we are in this game. The trick to developing these areas is to focus on them. So focus on them.

Most guys need to develop the upper chest so that it is a more even surface from the top to bottom of the chest rather than the typical thick in the middle, thin at the top scenario. I’m in this camp.  For you it might be a case of needing to fill out the outer pec, which when developed serves to give you a wider looking chest as it fills in the area around your armpit. (Use chest flyes and get a good stretch; go slow).

2) Go incline on the bench

This is my default setting. To add mass in my upper pec I concentrate on incline work, in the 8-12 rep range, to promote sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.

This targets the upper chest to fill in that hollow area around the collar bone. Incline flyes are great because they take the triceps out of the equation so my chest takes all the strain..

Since I train at home without a bench I use this variation (off the edge of a bed!)

3) Use push-up bars

They offer you a variety of angles you can use and experiment with to get a better workout.

The great thing about working with bodyweight is that it takes the weight on the bar out of the picture. Since ego is a big reason for not isolating the chest properly this will definitely help you work out to build your chest the right way.

I also use the decline push up in place of the incline bench press. You can see an example here:

 4) Focus on strict form 

Keep the pressure on by avoiding full lockout in press exercises, and squeeze and contract your chest muscles. I have also found that twisting the weights (when using dumbbells) is a great way to maximise the contraction. Rotate your palms from facing one another to facing upwards, and squeeze and hold. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you feel it.

Remember, it’s not what you lift but what you get out of it; learning to get more out of less can be the key to your treasure chest.

To the good life

Michael