A mixture of full body workouts and targeted training will slowly build up the muscles in your chest. You’ll want to create a solid routine, and then stick with it to see the best results. Commit to the routine for three to six months before reevaluating based on progress. You can calculate your progress by measuring your chest muscles or just gauging your starting and ending lifting limits. Here’s a good routine to get you started.
Jumping Jacks
Stretch before performing a series of jumping jacks to loosen up all of the muscles in your body. This exercise warms up your muscles to help prevent injuries while lifting heavy or performing complex maneuvers.
Repeat this exercise at the end of your workout to finish your routine right. Aim for ten jumping jacks at first, and then increase that number by ten each week to hit fifty to one hundred, depending on your overall fitness level.
Dumbbell Flies
The best chest targeting routine is the dumbbell fly workout. You’ll need a set of free weights and a bench to properly complete this exercise. Alternatively, perform dumbbell flies on the twin cable or Pec Fly machines. Whatever method you choose, always try to perfect your form to properly build muscle and avoid injuries.
To complete this exercise on a bench, hold the dumbbells directly above you with straight elbows. Draw your arms back to lie in line with your body without going out of form. You can change your target areas by adjusting your arm and wrist position slightly. Start with fifteen reps of five with three to five pound weights at first. Increase the weight and rep amount as you train to continue building muscles in your chest.
Rowing
The rowing machine combines challenging full body movements to build muscle everywhere. This is important because just building strong chest muscles will set you up for serious back or neck injuries in the future. Try out the air, piston and magnetic resistance rowing machines to find one that works best for you. Start with fifteen to twenty minutes at a low resistance and increase from there.
Elliptical
The elliptical provides a similar workout to the rowing machine. By switching up equipment, you keep your workout fresh and never boring. Make sure to set the resistance levels low to get used to the movements required from elliptical training. You’ll find yourself increasing the resistance and time on this machine soon after finding the best rhythm.
Finding Your Groove
Start with low weight or tension and reps to give your body time to adjust to the new routine. Slowly increase these factors to challenge your body and grow your muscles as fast as possible. If you feel too fatigued after a particular workout, do not be afraid to dial back a bit for a week or two. Pushing yourself too hard could cause serious injuries to develop, which would require starting over once you recover. Slow and steady will win you the body you desire.
