Learn How to Build Chest Muscle

The barrel chest has long presented the image of strength and super-masculinity. It emanates an aura of power. The truth is, developing a barrel chest is not easy to accomplish – impossible for many. Genetics and drugs are one possible but unadvisable method. A better method for how to build chest muscle fast is given below.

The Body

The barrel chest is all about the ribcage and its associate muscle groups called the intercostals. The internal intercostals draw the ribs in together. The external intercostals are responsible for elevating the chest. Without well developed intercostals muscles you can't build chest muscle, the chest muscles will not look big, and – alas – no barrel chest.

The next layer of the chest muscles involved in building a barrel chest is called the serratus anterior. Located between the back and the chest, the serratus anterior sits on top of the lower ribs. It is responsible for pulling the shoulder blades away from the spine. The serratus anterior, when well developed, looks a lot like fingers.

The third layer of chest muscle involved in building chest muscles is the pectoralis minor, which originates on the upper ribs. The pectoralis minor inserts itself from the shoulder joint, moving it. This muscle group is not visible to the naked eye because the last muscle layer, the pectoralis major, lies directly on top of it. The pectoralis major, better known to all weight lifters and Arnold Swarzenegger fans as the "pecs" originates at the breast bone (sternum) and collar bone (clavicle). This fan-shaped muscle draws the arm in toward the body, rotating the upper arm inward. You use your pecs every time you try to untwist a bottle cover. The pecs are often mistakenly described as being made up of several muscles, but this is not the case. Unlike the quadriceps, biceps, or triceps, pecs are a single muscle with multiple striations.

Developmental Exercises

The bench press is undoubtedly proven to be a great exercise, but a barrel chest can be built without using it. Too many people, when trying to develop a barrel chest, practice barbell bench, incline, and decline presses for their routine workouts. Despite this effort, they often notice that their progress is not as they would expect, and begin to seek answers to this dilemma. Adding more weight is not the solution. Adding more sets or increase the number of reps is also not the solution. The secret of how to build chest muscles fast is to include more exercises. Try doing both light and heavy weights on the same day.

The traditional basic movements are flys and presses. Vary those using different approaches. Try hitting the chest muscles at different angles. Keep doing flat, incline, and decline movements, but once in a while use dumbbells instead of barbells. Do a few flys instead of presses. Flys actually isolate the pectoralis major more than any other exercise you can do. For a change, use the cables for crossovers and for standing presses.

Pushups are a great exercise. When you do them, elevate you feet to increase the load on your muscles. Pullovers are another great way to grow the serratus anterior. Don't be afraid to experiment with the barbell, dumbbell, and cables. When trying to build up the ribcage's intercostals muscles, try something you probably never considered – yoga and Pilates. If you've not tried Pilates, you'll find that after doing them for one hour, your ribcage will be very sore the following day. This is a good sign that you are building chest muscles.

Conclusion

You've probably notices that hockey players have really large hips, football players, especially running backs, have enormous thighs, and sprinters always sport big calves. Have you ever noticed which athletes have the barrel chests? It's the swimmers – hands down. If you'll excuse the interjection of some slightly technical jargon, knowing how to build chest muscle is summarized in the SAID principle. SAID means Specific Adaptations of Imposed Demand. In simpler terms, if muscles are important to a specific physical activity, that activity will cause those muscles to grow. Swimming needs the chest muscles, therefore swimming makes chest muscles grow. If you wish to have a barrel chest, swimming may be the key. Consider the following if you wish to build up your chest muscles.

* During your next exercise session, don't do a bench press.* Vary the angle and modality as well as weight, sets, and reps.* Work the chest muscles about once every week.* Include swimming in your exercise regimen.* Eat a proper diet. Good nutrition is critical.* Include shoulder protection with rotator cuff exercises to avoid injury.* Work consistently, and work hard.