Any athlete wants to have a full chest, because it emphasizes the beauty of the whole body. In this regard, each athlete must include in his training program special exercises for the lower pectoral muscles. The article describes these exercises, the technique of their implementation and the features of their inclusion in the training program.
Chest muscles
Before describing exercises at home on the lower pectoral muscles, it is necessary to provide information on the structure of the muscles of the human chest. Breast muscle groups are usually divided into 3 parts: upper, middle and lower. All muscle fibers of this part of the body are located horizontally, that is, they go from the shoulder joint to the sternum. Therefore, an athlete can boast of beautifully inflated breasts only if he pays attention to all three muscle groups, and each of them has its own sets of exercises and the features of their inclusion in the training program. Below, we consider the question of how to pump up the lower part of the pectoral muscles at home, while we will present the 4 most effective exercises.
Push-ups
Perhaps the simplest and at the same time effective exercises at home on the lower part of the pectoral muscles are push-ups. Among them, two types should be distinguished: push-ups with a slope and deep push-ups. We will explain how to pump up the lower part of the pectoral muscles with push-ups at home.
To perform inclined push-ups, you do not need to have any special devices, just a bench or chair and your own body are enough. This exercise is performed as follows: it is necessary to put two legs together, and with your hands resting on a bench, the body should be even and not bend in the abdomen. Then, the athlete bends his arms at the elbows, lowering, and touching the support with his chest, after that, the arms at the elbows are straightened, and the athlete rises.
Performing the exercise, you should look forward, keeping your head in line with the body and legs. During lowering, you should inhale, and rising, exhale. Note that the complexity of the exercise depends on the height of the support (the higher, the easier). The width of the hands determines the distribution of the load across various muscle groups of the upper body, for a good study of the chest in its lower part, it is recommended to put your hands wider than the width of the shoulders.
The second type of push-ups, which is a great exercise for the lower pectoral muscles, is deep push-ups. For their implementation, special supports will be needed, but if they are not at home, then books or any other item that allows you to put your hands higher than the surface of the floor will do. The idea of the exercise is to increase the load on the muscles of the chest due to lower lowering of the body, while the arms at the elbows bend more.
Incline bench press
The barbell bench press is one of the most powerful exercises that involves the muscles of not only the chest, but also the back and arms. In order for this bench press to become an effective exercise for the lower pectoral muscles, it is necessary to tilt the bench so that the legs are higher than the head. The optimal angle of inclination lies between 30 ° and 45 ° , a large amount of inclination can damage the athlete's shoulders.
The correct implementation of the exercise is as follows:
- The athlete lies down on the bench and grabs the barbell, which is slightly wider than his shoulders. The initial position of the athlete is straight arms holding the barbell, and the back rests fully on the bench.
- Bending the arms at the elbows, lower the bar to the lower chest.
- Straightening your arms, return to the starting position.
Inhalation is performed when the bar drops, and the athlete should exhale when it becomes as difficult as possible when the arms are extended.
Laying dumbbells on a tilt bench
This is the best exercise for the lower pectoral muscles with dumbbells. The inclination of the training bench, as in the previous case, should not exceed 45 about . It should be remembered that, when performing this exercise, it is not recommended to take too much weight, since you can severely damage the shoulder joint and muscles. The layout of the dumbbells is as follows:
- The initial position is completely similar to the initial position when performing the bench press. The arms are straight, and the palms in which the dumbbells are located are directed at each other.
- Spreading your shoulders, and bending your arms at the elbows, you need to lower the dumbbells so that they are at chest level approximately. In this case, take a breath.
- Exhaling, the athlete returns the shells to their initial position, by appropriate movement of the shoulders, and straightening the arms at the elbows.
Exercise crossover
This exercise is performed using two blocks that are in any gym. The crossover loads not only the lower part of the chest, but also its middle part, the muscles of the arms and shoulders. The crossover sequence is as follows:
- The athlete is between two blocks that have special grips for one hand. Then, spreading your hands, you should take a grip on each block.
- Straining the muscles of the chest and shoulders, you should bring your hands together in front of you. The hands remain slightly bent at the elbows.
- Return to the starting position slowly, controlling the speed of movements.
Exercise speed
This indicator needs to be given due attention. It must be remembered that the slower and with greater concentration the exercise is performed, the more carefully the corresponding muscle groups are worked out. In addition, the quick implementation of the exercise leads to a violation of the correct technique, which creates a risk of injury. Note that the first phase of all the above exercises for the lower chest should be slightly longer than the second phase, in other words, you need to straighten your arms faster than bend them.
How many repetitions of exercise do you need?
Each athlete asks this question, and you must immediately say that there is no single answer to it. The fact is that the number of repetitions, as well as the number of episodes of a particular exercise, is completely determined by the goal that the athlete set for himself.
For example, if an athlete wants to pump up a large chest, then it is necessary to concentrate on complex exercises with additional weights such as exercises on the lower chest muscles with dumbbells and a barbell on an inclined bench. In this case, the weight is selected so that the athlete with the maximum return can perform no more than 6-10 repetitions in each series.
On the other hand, if the task is to bring the muscles of the chest into tone and tighten the muscles of the upper body, then various types of push-ups are suitable, the load during which is limited by the weight of the athlete. In this case, the number of repetitions within the same series may be greater than 6-8. Recall that a large number of repetitions train muscles for endurance, while their volume practically does not increase.
How to plan a training program?
At the beginning of the article, it was said that there are three main pectoral muscles. To pump the proportional chest, the athlete should not only perform exercises on the lower part of the pectoral muscles, but also load the rest of the chest area. The following is an approximate training program for a comprehensive study of the pectoral muscles.
First of all, it is recommended to warm up the muscles by stretching and a light 5-minute run. At the beginning of the training should not immediately give large loads on the chest, so you can perform two series of 10 inclined push-ups.
After a short rest, you need to move on to more complex exercises, for example, to the bench press on a horizontal bench. This exercise loads all the muscle groups of the chest, as well as the arms and back in its upper part. After two series of such a bench press, it is recommended to proceed with the cultivation of dumbbells on an inclined bench, where the athlete is already carefully working out the bottom of his chest. After completing two or three series of 6-10 repetitions of this exercise, it is recommended to relax a bit.
In the final part of the lesson, you can perform the crossover exercise, and it is recommended to complete the training with deep push-ups, performing two series of 10 repetitions.
Note that the described example of a program for working out the muscles of the chest is suitable for advanced athletes who want to increase muscle mass. For beginners, it is recommended to limit yourself to push-ups.
Athletes reviews
All athletes note the effectiveness of push-ups with a slope and depth for the development of strength and endurance, in their opinion, these are the most simple exercises from the point of view of technology for the development of the lower chest muscles.
As for training the muscles of the chest with additional weights (dumbbells, barbell), the athletes talk about the need for careful selection of the weight of the projectile, as well as a good understanding of the technique for working with it. Otherwise, the risk of injury increases many times.