The pectoral muscle group consists of the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor. These fan-shaped muscles give you the ability to move your upper arms across the front of your body and move your shoulders forward. Having balanced strength in your pecs will allow you to excel in sports and perform daily tasks with efficiency. Lower pectoral pushups, which are done with body weight, have a specific place in a strength-building chest workout.
Function of Lower Pectoral Pushups
The pecs take up a lot of space on the front of the upper body. Performing one exercise, such as a bench press, helps build the pecs, but it predominately targets the middle portion. A complete chest workout needs to include variations of exercises performed from different angles to obtain a maximal amount of muscle-fiber recruitment. A lower pectoral pushup, also known as an incline pushup, is used in this sense to target the lower portion. A full workout for example, would include incline presses for the upper pecs, bench presses for the middle pecs, incline pushups for the lower pecs and dumbbell flyes for the inner pecs.
Technique
Using proper technique is important for achieving satisfactory results with a lower pectoral pushup. You need a sturdy, flat object like a weight bench, exercise platform or chair to do these. Begin by placing your hands shoulder-width apart on the bench and moving your feet together behind your body. Your arms should be fully extended at this point and your back should be straight. Keep your abs tight and slowly lower yourself down by bending your elbows. Once your chest is near the bench, steadily push yourself back up and repeat.
Additional Muscles Worked
Any time you perform a pushup, you activate more than one joint. This in turn causes you to also work more than one muscle. A compound exercise works multiple muscles and joints, which enables you to make faster progress with size and strength. Aside from the pecs, the incline pushup works the deltoids and triceps. The delts sit on the outside of the shoulders and the triceps lie on the back side of the upper arms.
Resistance
The weight of the body acts as good resistance when you first do your pushups, but they might become easy after a while. When you reach this point, you have the option of increasing your resistance by wearing a weighted vest or weighted backpack.
Tips with Exercise
Using a stationary object works well to do your pushups, but you can increase the effect with a medicine ball. This will challenge your balance and cause you to work more muscle fibers to remain stable. Once you place your hands on the ball and get your body in the starting position, you already have to forcefully contract your muscles or else you will fall over.
Member Comments