Strong pectoral muscles, or the muscles of the chest, are part of a well-developed physique. Contrary to popular belief, strengthening your chest will not decrease your breast size unless you also lose a significant amount of body fat, as there is no way to spot reduce. However, working on your pectorals will increase your upper body strength in general. Consult your physician before beginning any diet or exercise program.
Bench Press
The bench press not only develops your pectoral muscles, but also firms your entire upper body and build strength and power. With your feet flat on the floor, and your head, hips and shoulders flat on the bench, take the bar from arms' length above you and lower it to your sternum, low on your chest, then push it back to full extension. Keep your hands wider than your shoulders, and tuck your elbows in as you lower the bar to reduce the strain on your shoulders. Never bounce the bar off of your chest.
Dumbbell Bench Press
Perform this exercise in the same manner as the bench press, but use dumbbells instead of a barbell. This has both advantages and disadvantages. You cannot use as much weight, so there is not as great of a training effect as you achieve with a barbell, since the amount of weight you lift does matter. However, you can achieve a greater range of motion, which means you get a better stretch in the pectoral muscles. Also, the smaller muscles in the shoulder joint that help make up the rotator cuff responsible for stabilizing the upper arm, get a bit more work.
Incline Bench Press
Using a barbell, perform this lift in the same manner as the flat bench press, the only difference being that you are on an incline bench. There is no specific incline required, so use anything from a 10- to 60-degree incline. The biggest advantage here is that you get a greater range of motion while just using a barbell. This exercise can also be performed with dumbbells.
Push-ups
While there may be nothing fancy about push-ups, they are an excellent conditioning exercise that can be done just about anywhere. Do them on days when you are not lifting for extra training volume as well as building upper-body strength and power. Vary your hand position from shoulder-width to extra-wide to having your hands very close together. When you get good at them, push yourself up explosively off of the floor to really work on building power.
References
- Lww.com: Electromyographic Activity of the Pectoralis Major and Anterior Deltoid Muscles During Three Upper-Body Lifts
- "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research"; Effects of Variations of the Bench Press Exercise on the EMG Activity of Five Shoulder Muscles; Chris Barnett, et al.: 1995
- "Journal of Physical Anthropology"; Muscle Power Output Properties Using the Stretch-shortening Cycle of the Upper Limb and Their Relationships with a One-Repetition Maximum Bench Press; Kazuyoshi Miyaguchi and Shinichi Demura; 2006
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