Building chest muscles

[ghd]

I'm looking for some exercises that will help build chest muscles. I want something that I can do at home without buying any expensive equipment. Any suggestions?

[Kirko]

I use the abb wheel; it really gives you that strong six-pack look and I have noticed how strong & toned the chest has become . Kind of like light weigth reps.

[sinoslav]

Push-ups???

[zesty-man]

i think push ups are probably the best. if you wanna build your chest, you should spread your arms a bit wider, maybe a little past "shoulder to shoulder." push ups is a great exercise, trains a lot of major muscles, your shoulders, arms, and chest.

also, a good challenge would be to try to increase by one rep everytime. do maybe 10 today, try 11 tomorrow, 12 the next day, etc etc. as that number continues to go up, its going to get harder to increase because your pecs will become stronger, but also heavier.

[Trey]

Well you can buy some dumbbells which are pretty cheap and bench which is also not that expensive. This way you can do flys and benchpresses. You will also be able to do other lifts such as working on your biceps and triceps.

you can also make your pushups harder by doing them with your feet raised on an incline.

[Jayzzz]

Bench pressing and DB flyes will help build up your chest.

[coach]

GHD, just curious, you don't want to build them to help you at tennis do you? As far as I know I think other muscle groups will be more important to strengthen, namely triceps, deltoid, lats, etc. Not sure if a bigger chest will aid that much for tennis, except for self confidence at the pool, beach or cutting the lawn. But I could be wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

[Mikael]

Training his chest using compound movements can only benefit him in tennis. You have to be strong all around; it's difficult to have very strong triceps and shoulders without the chest.

[vin]

The best way to build your chest is with weighted dips or bench press. If you don't have access to either, push ups would be next. The key is to make sure you progress gradually and consistently with weight or reps.

The ab wheel will not develop very much chest muscle. You can also strengthen your abs without it. Find someting that weighs about 10 pounds and do crunches (not full sit ups). Progress the weight if you can. If not, progress with reps.

Be careful how wide apart you have your hands for push ups (or bench press). As you bring them further apart, it will get easier because the range of motion is shorter. This can be dangerous because as your hands get further apart, the stress on your shoulders increases.

Don't bother with little exercises to target specific muslces. What Mikael said is correct. Compound exercises will do the best job of strengthening a majority of your body. The bench press, dips, and push ups are all compound exercises. They hit the chest, tricepts, and shoulders. Flys are not a compound exercise and won't benefit you nearly as much.

[gmlasam]

I've been into sports all my life. I played football, track and field, and tennis. Certainly conditioning is very important, and weight lifting certainly helped me condition for all the sports I've played, as well as keeping me fit. Cardiovascular exercise is just as important as well.

Working out every muscle group in the body is very important, and should not just focus on on particular muscle or muscle groups. I see alot of guys come into the gym and just do benchpress. So their physique look funny, almost cartoon like with a developed chest, and small legs.

The bottom line is workout all muscles in the body as those muscles are used also in TENNIS as well as everyday activities.

But if you like to workout your chest, I would recommend doing at least 3 different exercises to hit the chest at different angles. These exercises would be incline, flatbench, and dips.

Here are some pics I took in my home gym.

Incline bench:


Flatbench:


Dips:


Watch out Moya and Nadal:

[James Brown]

man you must hit a mean ball....EESH.

got a question, i recently had atrophy in my left arm, it is now ridiculously small. and my wrist has developed arthritis so its permanently locked up. i have next to no motion in it. i really need to work my chest muscles, the past couple of months i havent done jack and have aten some realy unhealthy crap, so ive put on a couple of pounds,chubbed up as a whole. is there anything i can do to help me tone/shed a couple without putting too much strain on my left arm. something relatively simple that I can actually DO?

thanks in advance

[degreefanlindi]

Pushups are a good exercise for the chest. I have never tried doing them on an incline though...perhaps I should give it a whirl.

[gmlasam]

Originally Posted by James Brown

man you must hit a mean ball....EESH.

got a question, i recently had atrophy in my left arm, it is now ridiculously small. and my wrist has developed arthritis so its permanently locked up. i have next to no motion in it. i really need to work my chest muscles, the past couple of months i havent done jack and have aten some realy unhealthy crap, so ive put on a couple of pounds,chubbed up as a whole. is there anything i can do to help me tone/shed a couple without putting too much strain on my left arm. something relatively simple that I can actually DO?

thanks in advance

First I would suggest seeing a doctor regarding your "locked wrists".

As far as losing fat, I would recommend cardiovascular exercises such as stationary cycling, elipticals or stairmaster since they do not require the use of your arms due to your arthritis. I would start out slow and increase duration and intensity as you progress. Start off with 10 minutes if you feel you can go longer, then proceed. Studies have shown that to effectively lose fat is to do cardio for at least 30 minutes 4 to 5 days a week at around 65 to 70 % of your max heart rate.

Since your wrists is in question, many of the upper body weight training can be limited, but there are some exercises that may not put too much strain on your wrists such as lateral, frontal shoulder raises with dumbbells, peck deck (butterfly machines) for your chest, and lat pull downs for you back.

You should also weight train your legs, with squats (with sleds), leg presses, leg curls, leg extensions, and calve raises.


Also, you must watch what you eat. Watch your fat and calorie intake, and eat small frequent meals(6 to 7 small meals) and not just 3 big meals a day.
Drink plenty of water as well.

Keep it simple, and dont spend any $$ on these supplements. Just take a simple multi vitamin a day and your all set..

You want to burn more calories than what you take in. That is the key to losing fat/weight.

[gmlasam]

Originally Posted by degreefanlindi

Pushups are a good exercise for the chest. I have never tried doing them on an incline though...perhaps I should give it a whirl.

Yes, pushups are great exercises and good alternatives to using free weights. Regular pushups is equivalent to flat bench, incline pushups is equivalent to decline bench (hitting the bottom part of the pectoral muscles), and decline pushups is equivalent to doing incline bench (hitting the upper part of the pectoral muscles).

[degreefanlindi]

Originally Posted by gmlasam

Yes, pushups are great exercises and good alternatives to using free weights. Regular pushups is equivalent to flat bench, incline pushups is equivalent to decline bench (hitting the bottom part of the pectoral muscles), and decline pushups is equivalent to doing incline bench (hitting the upper part of the pectoral muscles).

Which muscles are most important to tennis/serving? The upper or lower pecs?

[Marius_Hancu]

Originally Posted by Mikael

Training his chest using compound movements can only benefit him in tennis. You have to be strong all around; it's difficult to have very strong triceps and shoulders without the chest.

Right, all around.

Check my posting here:
Great Fitness Sites
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/viewtopic.php?t=23127

[Ronaldo]

Earl Boykins of the NBA Denver Nuggets benches over 300# and is only 5' 5", weighs 131#. Still not sure how Steve Nash can squat over 400# while standing on a wobble board or balance disk. Ankles of steel

[gmlasam]

Originally Posted by Ronaldo

Earl Boykins of the NBA Denver Nuggets benches over 300# and is only 5' 5", weighs 131#. Still not sure how Steve Nash can squat over 400# while standing on a wobble board or balance disk. Ankles of steel

Height doesn't matter in determining how much you can bench. Compare Earl Boykins's upper body development with Andre Agassi. Earl clearly has more muscle mass and more likely to bench 300lbs than Andre.

Hmmmm...interesting about Steve Nash. Would you happen to have a link about him squating 400lbs on a wobble board? Not a safe way to do squat if you ask me, and can end his NBA career.

[gmlasam]

Originally Posted by degreefanlindi

Which muscles are most important to tennis/serving? The upper or lower pecs?

The chest muscle is not the only muscle groups used in a service motion. Your legs, trunks, stomach, back, shoulders, triceps, and forearms come into play during a service motion. So suggest working those muscle groups.

[CoASH]

doesn't matter cos you can't isolate between upper and lower pecs anyway