Chest Anatomy and a Killer Workout!

Today is chest day! I wanted to provide you all with some information on the anatomy of the chest and also provide a workout that targets various areas of the chest as well as the back. Remember to focus on form, tempo, and be sure to give it your all on EVERY rep! Information on Anatomy of the chest: There are two heads of the pectoralis major (chest muscle). Each head attaches to a different bone in the body. Clavicular head (upper chest) attaches to the clavicle (collar bone) Actions: Shoulder Flexion (lifting arms up), Horizontal adduction (pulling arms across the body like a dumbbell fly), Internal Rotation (rotating shoulder toward midline of the body) Sternocostal Head (lower chest): attaches to the sternum (middle part of chest) Actions: Shoulder Extension (pulling arms down), Horizontal adduction (pulling arms across the body like a dumbbell fly), Internal Rotation (rotating shoulder toward midline of the body) That being said, let’s put these definitions to practice in the following workout…     Chest & Back Workout: CHEST: Upper Chest heavy: 20-30 degree incline barbell bench press: 3 Sets of 6-8 reps / Tempo (1, 0, 3)   Lower Chest: Flat Dumbbell Press 2 Sets of 6-8 reps / Tempo (1, 0, 3)   Upper Chest light: 20-30 degree incline dumbbell bench press: 4 sets of 10 reps/ Tempo (1, 0, 1)   Active stretch: Eccentric Quasi Isometric (EQI) Flys Develop connective tissue strength to prevent pec strains in the future 5-10lb dumbbells – hold at bottom position of fly for 30 seconds to 2 minutes   BACK: Lower Back (Back extension machine): Arms across chest or behind head. Come up to make body straight line- don’t arch your back past the straight line. 3 sets of 12   Wide Grip Lat pull down 3 sets of 10-12   Supermans 3 sets of 15 second hold   Cool down and stretch