Here is a good example. When learning to drive a car for the first time, do you simply jump in the driving seat next to your instructor and drive off? No. It is much more likely, that your teacher will first give you some basic information about the car's engine, gears, clutch, indicators etc. In the same way, many guys (and girls) are trying to train their chest muscles without any knowledge of the muscle itself.
Please take a moment to get familiar with the information below. One of the secrets of growing huge pecs is not wasting your time with new trends or "fashionable" exercise methods that don't work. By understanding the basic physiology of the chest, you will have a huge advantage at picking the best exercises AND performing them in the most optimal manner for achieving growth.
As you can see in the above diagram, the chest is made up of two muscles: the pectoralis major and minor. The pectoralis minor actually lies underneath the major, and you should not worry about it when training. All your focus should be on the pectoralis major, which is the large muscle that spans from around your nipples right up to your collar bone. For the purpose of weight training, this muscle has two functions:
- Pushing things away from your body, and
- Performing a hugging motion
Pushing things away is a multi-joint movement, since both the shoulder and elbow joint are acting as pivots. This is also known as a "compound movement". On the other hand, the hugging motion is a single-joint movement, since the only pivot is the shoulder joint. This is also known as an "isolation movement". Each of the two movements have their own benefits and must ideally BOTH be used to achieve the best chest growth.
More information about specific exercises and workouts will be posted in the next articles. In the meantime, try and read over this article and summarise the basic anatomy and functions of the chest. Memorise and learn them, then test yourself until you are certain and you understand them! Trust me, its not a waste of time. You will experience much better gains if you know what to focus on when you are lifting.
