By Kathy Gilbert
Staff Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second installment of a six-part series on toning and shaping muscles for health and beauty.
"Hey skinny! Yer ribs are showing!" That's the taunt that sold a million Charles Atlas exercise programs.
In the classic comic book ads, Mr. Rippling Muscles kicks sand in a stripling's face, then steals his girl. Scrawny "Mac" buys Atlas exercise program, which pumps up his chest from hollow to heroic and allows him to win back the girl.
Power and love in America, one learns, require a well-developed chest.
If they don't entirely believe the spiel, today's men and women still crave strong pectoralis muscles. Pectoralis major covers the torso from armpit to collarbone and moves the shoulders. Pectoralis minor links ribs to scapula and moves the shoulder blade.
If you're swinging a racket or scrambling up a boulder, pectoral muscles are helping you out. Pushing, pulling and punching all benefit from a strong chest.
For beginners, the basic move is the push-up. Push-ups are great for first-timers, said Brandon Brown, a personal trainer at the Sports Barn downtown. Try them with a medicine ball under one arm. For more challenge, place the medicine ball below the head and balance on it with both arms, he said.
Pull-ups, rope climbs, throwing a ball and racquet sports also will work the chest, said Jack Bell, owner of AbsoluteFIT in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
When push-ups become child's play, add dumbbell or bar exercises such as flat, incline and decline bench presses and flys, the experts say.
"These are the three Cadillacs," said Terry Morrow, a Chattanooga personal trainer who works with bodybuilders.
To shape the muscles along with gaining mass, try eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise, Mr. Bell said. Less than six reps will build strength. From 12 to 15 reps builds endurance but not mass.
Many women shy away from chest exercises, fearing they'll gain bulk. But that's not true, local trainers said. With lower testosterone levels than men, women are protected from bulk.
"There's no such thing as training'like a man'or'training like a woman,'" said Darin Johnson, owner of The Athletic Club. "Just make sure you achieve an intense and focused level during your workout."
Flat bench press and fly for overall pec strength are also helpful for females, said Lisa Oakley, a personal trainer at the Cleveland YMCA. Strong chest muscles, she said, support breast tissue, reducing sag.
Weak upper pectoralis major muscles cause a "bony chest" effect, Mr. Johnson said. Do incline bench exercises to smooth and tone that area.
While women wrongly fear weights, men often mistakenly overuse them.
Contrary to popular belief, lifting the largest possible weight doesn't guarantee big muscles.
"Guys will be slinging weight around, then I'll show them proper form and they get mindboggled and discouraged (because they're lifting less weight at first)," Mr. Bell said.
Correct form, good technique and steady speed are the keys to building muscles fast, Mr. Bell said. Lifting too large a weight can also cause shoulder injuries.
Begin with flat and incline bench presses and flys, trainers said. Bring the bar or weights down steadily. Count two seconds up, two seconds down.
"Control the weight," Mr. Bell said. "Don't let the weight control you."
Don't try to cheat, Mr. Bell said, by using legs to get more weight. If you find your gluts in the air, you're risking back injury, so back off, he said.
On the incline bench, use a 45-degree angle. Incline and flat bench press and flys are strongly recommended for women, Mr. Johnson said. The incline bench works the top "head" of the pec major.
Men will want to also use a cable crossover machine in several ways, he added.
"Use your imagination," he said. "Hit it from different angles."
The decline bench works the bottom "head" of the pectoralis major. Women may want to take a pass, Mr. Johnson said. Presses and flys here create a "lip" with the chest muscle, separating it from the abdominals.
"Women don't need a 'lip,' Mr. Johnson said. "They have breasts." Men, on the other hand, can achieve a fuller, thicker, more developed look.
Once you're past the basics, Mr. Johnson said, one of his favorite chest exercises is "supersetting" a flat bench press and flat bench fly.
A super-set is two exercises back-to-back, with no rest. Do 10 reps of a flat bench press, then do about 15-20 flat bench flys, Mr. Johnson said.
"When the chest is all pumped up and full of blood from the flat bench press," he said, "go do flat dumbbell flys to exhaustion. That will allow more blood to flow into the chest by stretching it out."
Do this three times at the end of the session, he suggested.
Charles Atlas didn't sell supersetting or incline or decline flys. In his day, isometrics worked pretty well. One can imagine, though, his character "Mac" would have loved the look.
E-mail Kathy Gilbert at kgilbert@timesfreepress.com
Staff Writer
EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second installment of a six-part series on toning and shaping muscles for health and beauty.
"Hey skinny! Yer ribs are showing!" That's the taunt that sold a million Charles Atlas exercise programs.
In the classic comic book ads, Mr. Rippling Muscles kicks sand in a stripling's face, then steals his girl. Scrawny "Mac" buys Atlas exercise program, which pumps up his chest from hollow to heroic and allows him to win back the girl.
Power and love in America, one learns, require a well-developed chest.
If they don't entirely believe the spiel, today's men and women still crave strong pectoralis muscles. Pectoralis major covers the torso from armpit to collarbone and moves the shoulders. Pectoralis minor links ribs to scapula and moves the shoulder blade.
If you're swinging a racket or scrambling up a boulder, pectoral muscles are helping you out. Pushing, pulling and punching all benefit from a strong chest.
For beginners, the basic move is the push-up. Push-ups are great for first-timers, said Brandon Brown, a personal trainer at the Sports Barn downtown. Try them with a medicine ball under one arm. For more challenge, place the medicine ball below the head and balance on it with both arms, he said.
Pull-ups, rope climbs, throwing a ball and racquet sports also will work the chest, said Jack Bell, owner of AbsoluteFIT in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.
When push-ups become child's play, add dumbbell or bar exercises such as flat, incline and decline bench presses and flys, the experts say.
"These are the three Cadillacs," said Terry Morrow, a Chattanooga personal trainer who works with bodybuilders.
To shape the muscles along with gaining mass, try eight to 12 repetitions of each exercise, Mr. Bell said. Less than six reps will build strength. From 12 to 15 reps builds endurance but not mass.
Many women shy away from chest exercises, fearing they'll gain bulk. But that's not true, local trainers said. With lower testosterone levels than men, women are protected from bulk.
"There's no such thing as training'like a man'or'training like a woman,'" said Darin Johnson, owner of The Athletic Club. "Just make sure you achieve an intense and focused level during your workout."
Flat bench press and fly for overall pec strength are also helpful for females, said Lisa Oakley, a personal trainer at the Cleveland YMCA. Strong chest muscles, she said, support breast tissue, reducing sag.
Weak upper pectoralis major muscles cause a "bony chest" effect, Mr. Johnson said. Do incline bench exercises to smooth and tone that area.
While women wrongly fear weights, men often mistakenly overuse them.
Contrary to popular belief, lifting the largest possible weight doesn't guarantee big muscles.
"Guys will be slinging weight around, then I'll show them proper form and they get mindboggled and discouraged (because they're lifting less weight at first)," Mr. Bell said.
Correct form, good technique and steady speed are the keys to building muscles fast, Mr. Bell said. Lifting too large a weight can also cause shoulder injuries.
Begin with flat and incline bench presses and flys, trainers said. Bring the bar or weights down steadily. Count two seconds up, two seconds down.
"Control the weight," Mr. Bell said. "Don't let the weight control you."
Don't try to cheat, Mr. Bell said, by using legs to get more weight. If you find your gluts in the air, you're risking back injury, so back off, he said.
On the incline bench, use a 45-degree angle. Incline and flat bench press and flys are strongly recommended for women, Mr. Johnson said. The incline bench works the top "head" of the pec major.
Men will want to also use a cable crossover machine in several ways, he added.
"Use your imagination," he said. "Hit it from different angles."
The decline bench works the bottom "head" of the pectoralis major. Women may want to take a pass, Mr. Johnson said. Presses and flys here create a "lip" with the chest muscle, separating it from the abdominals.
"Women don't need a 'lip,' Mr. Johnson said. "They have breasts." Men, on the other hand, can achieve a fuller, thicker, more developed look.
Once you're past the basics, Mr. Johnson said, one of his favorite chest exercises is "supersetting" a flat bench press and flat bench fly.
A super-set is two exercises back-to-back, with no rest. Do 10 reps of a flat bench press, then do about 15-20 flat bench flys, Mr. Johnson said.
"When the chest is all pumped up and full of blood from the flat bench press," he said, "go do flat dumbbell flys to exhaustion. That will allow more blood to flow into the chest by stretching it out."
Do this three times at the end of the session, he suggested.
Charles Atlas didn't sell supersetting or incline or decline flys. In his day, isometrics worked pretty well. One can imagine, though, his character "Mac" would have loved the look.
E-mail Kathy Gilbert at kgilbert@timesfreepress.com
