There’s something that about working the chest that has a strong appeal. Having the front of your body feel pumped up and huge at the end of a workout, feeling your chest bounce as you walk down a set of stairs, and seeing two masses of muscle in the mirror naturally draw us to focus on the chest. It’s probably true that nothing is so impressive as having a massive, well-defined chest.
This can’t be accomplished using just a flat bench press. In order to develop that well-rounded and massive chest, you’ll need to work your chest muscles using a variety of angles and exercises that focus on each specific area. Each exercise might focus more on the upper, lower, inner, or outer portions of your pecs. Other exercises, such as the flat barbell bench press, generally hit the whole muscle group without the specific focus on one of these areas.
This doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to develop a well rounded chest using only the bench press. Developing a well-rounded pectoral region will involve utilizing the other exercises you learn about here.
Your pecs really are a larger muscle group as far as the upper body is concerned, and you’ll have to work hard to make sure that you train them fully and so that they don’t fall behind. But with that being said, you’ll also need to be careful not to let the opposite happen: your surrounding muscle groups such as the shoulders, arms, and back may not have the same development as your chest if you don’t give them proper attention.
Keeping a well-balanced physique will involve training all of these muscle groups with the right amount of emphasis so that you look well balanced and properly conditioned. It’s easy to let your chest become your favorite body part, but having a great body requires us to have no favorite body parts.
Great bodybuilders don’t focus on the chest or biceps and let other muscle groups fall behind. Having a chest that’s overdeveloped when compared to the rest of body doesn’t look as good anyways. You will need the mental focus to five the proper emphasis to each muscle group so that you can continue to look balanced even as you add massive strength gains.
Let’s get into the physics of the chest muscles. The pectorals are two blocks of muscle that extend from the sternum in the center of your chest out to the edges of the rib box. A large tendon runs out from your chest and attaches to the bone of your upper arm. When your pecs contract, they tighten to pull the tendon and move your arm bone on front of your body.
The range of motion for the pectorals goes from having your elbows stretched behind your back to the fully contracted position with your arms crossed in front of your chest. Working your chest throughout the widest range of motion possible on each exercise will usually give you the best form of stress workout for your chest. Some exercises, such as cable flyes, can give you the entire range of motion with each rep.
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