Provocative Wave for Men

Chest

If weight lifters were to hold a popularity contest for their favorite exercises, the ones involving the chest would win—no contest.

"Chest exercises are absolutely the most popular kind of exercise around. When a guy hits the gym, they''re the first thing he wants to do. Men love them," says Jeffrey Stout, Ph.D., assistant professor of exercise physiology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

But love can be blind. Dr. Stout points out that most men work on chest muscles to improve their shape, to make them bigger, broader, more rounded. "That''s bad. That means most guys are consequently working only a very small percentage of their chest muscles and completely ignoring others."

That may explain why months of countless bench presses don''t seem to be getting you any closer to a chest you''ll treasure. "You can''t work out with the idea of having a great-looking chest. Focus instead on having a strong chest," says Dr. Stout. "Focus on working all the muscles, both in the sides and lower part of your chest. If you work toward that goal, then the well-chiseled look you''ve been after will come naturally."

Devising Chest Strategies

Part of the problem to building a well-rounded chest is that most guys don''t know, muscle-wise, exactly what constitutes the chest. For our purposes, we''re talking about the area from your collarbone down to the soft center of your rib cage, and extending from armpit to armpit.

In this zone, the biggest, most obvious muscles are the pectoralis muscles—you know them as pecs, the breast muscles that lay across the upper half of the rib cage. Connected to your shoulders on either side, these muscles help out with any lifting or pushing activities you do.

Less visible, but of equal importance, are the subclavius and serratus muscles, which are under and to the sides of the pecs. These help to give your shoulders and arms greater maneuverability. The serratus, in particular, helps you to push and punch. These muscles also anchor and support the pecs in whatever activity they''re doing. Working these unsung heroes can give your chest a fuller, more muscled look than doing straight pec exercises alone. It will also improve your overall upper-body strength.

"Those muscles under the pecs are the real workhorses in the chest—they give power to arm movements," says Dr. Stout. But because your arm and chest strength is closely linked, fully working the chest muscles can be a challenge. "You work your chest muscles through your arms—they have to do the lifting," says Dr. Stout. Which means it''s easy to let your arms do the work and cheat your chest out of exercise. So as you approach the bench, pay attention to proper form when you do these exercises.

Take it slow. In particular, move slowly when lowering the weight, especially while doing presses. "That way, you''re not as likely to injure your shoulder joints," says Allen Kinley, assistant strength and conditioning coach at Texas A&M University in College Station. Kinley adds that moving slowly through a lift prevents you from letting momentum do the work for you. "You''re really cheating yourself out of a good workout" when you let momentum move the bar, he says. Plus, that sort of lifting tends to make you bounce the barbell off your chest, which will leave you the next day with a nice bruise and the feeling that you got punched in the chest.

Alternate wide and tight angles. Varying your grip on the weights will work the chest muscles from different angles. "You don''t always have to lift with your hands exactly shoulder-width apart on the bar. You can vary your routine with wide-grip presses and narrow-grip presses, where your hands are really close together in the center of the barbell," points out Dr. Stout. Varying your grip attacks the chest muscles from all sides. That way your arms aren''t doing all the work.

Stay in control. The real trick to effective chest-building is not quantity, it''s quality. Lifting heavy weights all the time can cause you to cheat. Use a moderate weight and do more reps instead. You''ll still get good resistance from the weight, but it will be light enough that you can control the weight and do a slow rep—the key to building up muscle, says Dr. Stout.

Put someone on the spot. As a measure of safety, it''s always a good idea to have someone spotting you—especially where chest exercises are concerned.

"Having a spotter will allow you to work out better during those times when you want to do a low number of reps with heavier weights," says Dr. Stout. "If you''re by yourself, you''re not as likely to use weights that will fatigue your muscles to the point of exhaustion," he points out.

Don''t wreck your wrists. Cautionary note: Although one of the best chest exercises around is the push-up, there''s a real danger that the exercise could give your wrists more of a workout than you intended.

"Consider that your wrists bear most of your body weight during push-ups done the traditional way with palms flat on the floor," says James Pedicano, M.D., a wrist and hand surgeon in private practice in Ridgewood, New Jersey. But Dr. Pedicano says you can take the pressure off your wrists by doing push-ups on your knuckles or by putting two octagonal dumbbells on the floor and gripping them.

"Either position forces you to make a fist, which straightens out your wrist, so all the force of the exercise isn''t resting on the wrist," says Dr. Pedicano. Meanwhile, try these lifts.

Bench Press

Lie on—what else?—a bench-press bench, with the barbell above your chest. Grasp the barbell with a medium grip (hands about shoulder-width apart) or slightly wider. Your palms should be facing your legs, and your feet should be resting flat on the ground. Your back is straight and against the bench.

Lower the barbell to your chest—right at nipple level. Your elbows should be pointed out while the rest of your body remains in position. Don''t arch your back or bounce the bar off your chest. Raise to the starting position and repeat.

FACT: Although obese chests have been measured at more than 120 inches across, the largest muscular chest belongs to Isaac Nesser of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, at 74 1/16 inches.

Narrow-Grip Bench Press

Do a normal bench press with the proper form, but hold the barbell with a narrow grip. Your hands should be equidistant from the bar center, six to eight inches apart.

Note: Chances are you''ll find this lift harder than the regular bench press, so decrease the weight for this exercise.

Wide-Grip Bench Press

Do a normal bench press with the proper form, but now hold the barbell with a wide grip. Again, your hands should be equidistant from the bar center, a few inches wider than shoulder-width apart.

Note: As with the narrow-grip bench press, decrease the weight for this exercise.

Inclined Bench Press

Lie on an inclined bench-press bench with the barbell above your body. Grasp the barbell with a medium grip or slightly wider. Your palms should face your legs, and your feet should be on the ground. Your back should be against the bench.

Lower the barbell to your chest, between your shoulders and nipple line. Your elbows should be pointing out, and the rest of your body should stay in proper form. Don''t arch your back or bounce the bar off your chest.

Dumbbell Flies

Lie on your back on a bench, with your legs parted and your feet firmly on the floor. Hold two dumbbells above you, palms facing each other. The dumbbells should be nearly touching each other above your chest. Your back should be straight and firm against the bench, and your elbows unlocked.

Slowly lower the dumbbells out and away from each other in a semicircular motion. Keep your wrists locked. Lower until the dumbbells are at chest level. Your elbows should be bent at roughly a 45-degree angle, while your back should be straight. Raise to the starting position and repeat.

Note: Watch out for your shoulder—it''s going to try to sneak in and do the work in this exercise. "Really focus on doing this lift with your chest muscles," cautions Dr. Stout. "The more your shoulder gets into the lift, the greater the chance of injuring it."

Alternating Dumbbell Press

Grasp two dumbbells and lie back on a bench with your legs slightly parted, feet firmly on the floor and your arms raised. Hold the dumbbells above you, palms facing each other. Your arms are extended, your back is straight and firm against the bench, and your elbows are unlocked.

Lower the left dumbbell until it''s even with your chest. Your elbow should be pointing to the ground. Raise to the starting position, then alternate with the right dumbbell. Repeat.

Dips

Raise yourself off the ground and onto parallel dip bars. Your hands should be gripping the bar handles with your fingers on the outside, facing away from your body. Keep your elbows in close to your sides, and slightly bend your legs if your feet are dragging on the ground.

Lower yourself down to the point where your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Keep your elbows close to your sides, and bend your legs slightly if your feet are touching the ground. Raise, repeat. Do as many as you can while maintaining proper form.

Note: If you don''t happen to have dip bars lying around the house, two benches or chairs will work just as well. Place your hands flat on the seats, and extend your feet behind you, then start dipping.

Push-Ups

Don''t dismiss these as tired old standbys, good only when you''re on the road and away from the club, or while you''re waiting for that muscle-bound oaf to finish doing his super-sets.

"Push-ups are a great part of working out your upper body—not just the chest, but also the arms and shoulders," says Kinley. "It''s certainly a good idea to make them a regular part of your workout."

And they don''t have to be the old boring variety either. Push-up technology has advanced considerably over the centuries. Here''s a sampling of different push-ups you can do. Since you''re not using weights with these exercises, don''t lock yourself in to a certain number of reps—just do as many as you can.

Push-Ups

Lie face down on the floor, palms face down at shoulder level, fingers pointing forward. To accent your chest more, put your hands wider than shoulder-width apart; to hit the triceps and back more, bring your hands in closer, so your thumbs and index fingers touch to form a diamond pattern on the floor. The bottoms of your feet should be perpendicular to the floor. Your body weight is resting only on your palms and toes. Keep your legs and back straight.

Now push up until your arms are almost fully extended. Your elbows should be slightly bent, not locked. Lower yourself back to the floor—that''s one.

Ultimate Peak So you''ve run the gauntlet of chest challenges and you''re ready for some super exercises? Give these a try, but don''t overdo it. Dips with Weights Do dips as you normally would, but wear a special weight belt that has weight plates attached to a chain. Or you can hold a dumbbell between your feet for resistance. Push-Ups with Weights Do a push-up with proper form, but have a partner place a weight plate squarely on your back for added resistance. The plate should be between your shoulder blades on your upper back. Dads: You can also do this with a toddler on your back for resistance. Decline Bench Press This is a risky exercise—"don''t do it unless you have a friend to spot you," warns Jeffrey Stout, Ph.D., assistant professor of exercise physiology at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Lie on a decline bench with a barbell held above your body in preparation for the press. Grasp the barbell with a medium grip (hands about shoulder-width apart) or slightly wider. Palms are facing your legs, and your feet are hooked under the support bar, if there is one. Your back is straight and against the bench. Lower the barbell to your nipple line, keeping your elbows pointed out. The rest of your body stays in proper starting form. Don''t arch your back or bounce the bar off your chest. Raise, and repeat. Note: Decline bench presses stress your chest from a different angle than standard presses, so decrease the weight.

Decline Push-Ups

Get in push-up position, but prop your feet up on a bench. Your hands should be roughly shoulder-width apart, and your back should be straight. Keep your elbows unlocked.

Lower yourself to the floor as far as you can, or until your nose touches the ground. Your back and hips should be straight, while your elbows should point out. Keep your feet on the bench.

Bent-Knee Push-Ups

Don''t dismiss these as a sissy''s exercise. Assume the standard push-up position, except instead of having your legs out straight, keep your knees bent and your feet up off the ground. Sports trainers say a couple dozen reps on your knees can be a great warm-up before a workout, or as a prelude to tougher push-ups.

Inclined Push-Ups

Stand several feet back from a wall. Stick your arms straight ahead and lean forward, keeping your body straight, until your palms are flat against the wall. Your distance from the wall is correct if your heels are slightly raised. Do a push-up by bringing your forehead right up to the wall and then pushing back out. This push-up really targets the upper chest.