A Definitive Guide To A Stronger and Broader Chest

Maybe you are a newbie to lifting weights and building muscle and have no clue as to where to begin. Maybe you're at the other end of the spectrum and you're a gym rat whose hit a wall and you haven't seen any real muscle gains in quite some time. No matter what your situation is, this guide will cover all the bases for attaining a chest that is chiseled, broader, stronger and will make the ladies swoon.

Hit The Weights and Hit 'Em Hard

To build a strong, muscular chest, you have to challenge it. If all you do is the same chest workout with the same exercises and same weights all the time, you will definitely hit a plateau. Basically you won't see any further gains due to the fact that your body has adapted to your workout, so it has no reason to grow bigger and stronger. To keep your body guessing and achieve a broader chest, you need to do some planning, vary your workouts and challenge your chest with heavy loads.

When it comes to chest exercises, there are many to choose from. The bread and butter of chest exercises is the bench press. This is because it is a compound exercise that works the chest, shoulders, and triceps. The bench press is the cornerstone to any chest routine where you want to increase upper body strength and mass. So, with the goal of getting a broader chest in mind, start with this exercise. You need to plan the rest of your chest routine around the bench press. There will be two steps to the planning. One is, what poundage, how many reps and sets will you perform on the bench press and other chest exercises. The other step is which exercises you will perform along with the bench press.

Since the idea is to grow a broader chest, the bench press should be performed with heavy weights in mind, less reps, and 4 to 6 sets. The goal is to stress your chest muscles so that they want to grow, need to grow to keep up with demand put upon them. Start out with a few light warm-up sets of 8 to 10 reps. These won't count against your regular sets. Now you are ready to begin. Many recommend following a pyramid method where the early sets have more reps and each follow on set has fewer reps. I recommend you keep a journal and write down what weight you perform and the number of reps for each set. Remember, heavy will equal strength and muscular gain. If you perform the reps and barely break a sweat, the weight is too light. You don't want the weight so heavy that you have an aneurysm and can't even do one rep, though. As you keep a log from week to week, you want to be able to add weight, even a little, every week or two. Don't be afraid to use a spotter, as they will give you more confidence in lifting a heavy weight, it keeps the lifting environment safe, and there will be less of a chance of injuries.

Ok, you feel good about hitting the bench press, but what about the rest of the chest-broadening workout. This is where variation comes in. There are numerous chest exercises to choose from. The key is to change things up every once in a while to keep your chest muscles from adapting to your workout. My recommendation is to change your workouts up about every four weeks. So if you your chest workout looks like this one month:

-Bench press
-dips
-dumbbell flys
-dumbbell incline presses

Maybe the next month, it can be changed to this:

-Bench press
-decline press
-incline press
-cable crossover flys

For the exercises that you utilize with bench presses, I recommend 3 sets of each with a rep range of 8 to 10 for each set. Again, keep a journal of your reps and the weight you lift for each exercise. Try to increase the poundage over time.

Fuel For Gains

After the intense and heavy chest workouts, your body will need fuel to re-build and build new muscle. The basic building block for this muscle is protein. Therefore, your diet will need to consist of ample quantities of high-quality, lean protein spread out throughout the day to fuel the construction of a broader, chiseled chest. Most research seems to suggest that for those who perform intense exercise such as weight lifting, that 1 to 1.4 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight is needed to put on muscle. Less than this, and your body can't keep up with the demands put on it and you might lose muscle and the chances for injuries go up. At the other end of the spectrum, too much protein is wasteful as the excess will be flushed out through digestion and it makes your kidneys work unnecessarily harder.

So what are some lean protein sources. For building and repairing muscle in general, I recommend:

• Eggs -> They are easy to prepare and they have a high biological value which means the protein in them can be readily used and utilized.
• Fish -> This is a wonderful, high-quality source of protein and many of the cold water varieties have good fats which are heart healthy, to boot. Some examples are tuna, salmon, and trout.
• Chicken -> Chicken is easy to prepare and an excellent high protein food that is relatively inexpensive and when prepared boneless and skinless, it is low in fat.
• Lean Red Meat -> This is a terrific food that has a high protein content. It can be high in saturated fat, however, so intake should be limited to one or two times a week.
• Low Fat Dairy -> Like eggs, they have a high biological value, which means they can be more readily utilized as a protein source by the body. Dairy is also an excellent source of calcium, potassium, vitamin B, and other minerals.

Broaden the Mind, Broaden the Chest

Whether you are a novice or a well-known fixture at your local gym, it doesn't hurt to assess your goals and results when it comes to building muscle. Don't just go through workouts. Plan your nutrition, your workouts, and set goals. Keeping a journal is vital as it may let you know why you've hit a plateau and aren't seeing any new muscle gains in your chest and/or body. Maybe you aren't challenging your chest with enough weight. Maybe you've been performing the same workout for month and months. When it come to nutrition, maybe you aren't putting the right things into your mouth and your body isn't fueled properly for growth. If you plan and execute on what's been talked about in this article, there is no doubt that your chest will become stronger and broader, and you'll breakthrough and achieve the results you've been wanting.