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Exercising chest muscles
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The bench press is a great exercise for building up chest muscles
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THE BENCH press exercises the muscles of the chest, the front of the shoulders and the back of the arm. The flat bench press is the most common variant. Others include the incline bench press, which exercises the upper part of the pectoral muscles better than the flat bench press, the decline bench - which works the lower half of the pectorals better, and the dumbbell press, which ensures a wider range of movement and focusses more on the upper half of the pecs.
The bench press is undoubtedly a great exercise for building up the chest muscles, but it is also one of the most `mis-executed' exercises.
One common mistake is to lower the barbell to within touching distance of the chest. This merely strains the shoulders and overstretches the pectoral muscles. Another mistake is to keep your feet on the bench instead of on the floor: Feet on the bench mean strain on the back. If the angle on the incline or decline presses is more than 30 degrees with the horizontal, the movement strains the shoulders. Lie flat on the bench with your feet firmly anchored to the floor. If the bench is too high for your feet to touch the floor, place a few stair blocks beside the bench to make up the gap. Press into the bench with your head, back, buttocks and shoulders.
Stick your chest up and roll your shoulders back. Make sure you have a spotter ready to help you with forced reps and unforeseen mishaps. Lift the barbell with your palms slightly wider than shoulder width.
Too narrow a grip turns the bench press into a triceps exercise, and too wide a grip places too much strain on the shoulders. Inhale as you lower the weight. Do not wait for the bar to touch your chest before you begin lifting it again. Exhale as you push off. Hold the weight in position at the top of the movement for a second before you lower it again. Aim for 12 repetitions per set, and do at least four sets per upper body workout session.
The spotter should help with the last couple of repetitions in each set, when the bodybuilder has barely enough energy to complete the movement unassisted. The spotter's help should account for no more than 5 per cent of the weight to be lifted. `Forced reps' like these steer the muscle cells into a protein-packing mode.
RAJIV. M
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