The female breast is composed of soft, fat and gland tissue and the firmer muscle tissue of the pectoral muscles. Exercises that firm the breast actually tone your pecs, not the fat and gland tissues. Heavy weight training will increase the muscularity of the chest area, and strong back muscles enhance the structure and posture of the chest cavity. This improves the firmness and the appearance of your breasts.
Flat Dumbbell Presses
Flat dumbbell presses effectively strengthen and firm your pectoral muscles. Use progressively moderate to heavy weights to build your chest muscles. Incorporate three chest exercises, completing four sets of six to 12 repetitions per set. Lifting moderate to heavy weights for a total of 12 sets for your chest muscles once a week will not bulk you up like a man. The American College of Sports Medicine advises that you must train four to five days a week for long periods to build muscles like a bodybuilder or a power-lifter.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit at the end of a flat bench. Complete a flat dumbbell press by lying down and pressing both dumbbells above your chest. Lower the dumbbells toward your chest without over-stretching your shoulder joint. Then, press back up.
Incline Dumbbell Flies
Incline dumbbell flies work your pecs at a different angle and more strongly engage the smaller muscles supporting your shoulder joints joint. Use a lighter weight for dumbbell flies than you would for dumbbell presses because you will be holding the weight farther away from your chest muscles. Sit at the edge of an incline bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Lie back and lift both dumbbells above your chest. Ensure your palms are facing toward each other. Perform a dumbbell fly as if to open your arms and then close them back up to give a hug. Open your arms by moving at your shoulder joints. Your elbows must bend nearly 90 degrees to keep the dumbbells above your elbow joints. Push the dumbbells back up over your chest, straightening your arms. The weight of the dumbbells must stay over your elbow joints to prevent shoulder dislocation.
Decline Barbell Bench Press
It is easier to bench press 55 lbs. on a decline bench than it is to do it on a flat or incline bench. Include the decline bench press to vary your chest program, prevent training plateaus and further improve the appearance of your chest. Your head will be lower than your heart during this exercise so be careful when you get off the bench. Take a moment to sit upright on the bench before dismounting. First, secure your legs on the feet anchor and lie all the way back under the barbell. Then, unrack the bar to lower it toward the bottom of your chest. The bar should come down to the point where the left and right sides of your rib cage meet, or the bottom of your breast bone.
Back Exercises
Paul Chek of the Corrective High-performance Exercise Kinesiology Institute says you can improve the appearance of your breasts by improving your posture. Do back exercises such as seated rows and lateral pull-downs to strengthen your traps and your lats. These muscles pull your shoulder blades together, pushing your chest cavity forward to give the appearance of firm breasts.
References
- "Anatomy & Physiology"; Gary Thibodeau, Ph.D. and Kevin Patton, Ph.D.; 2007
- American College of Sports Medicine: Progression Models in Resistance Training for Adults
- "Equal But Not The Same, Considerations for Training Females"; C.H.E.K. Institute; 1997
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