adminA lot of us are suffering from one common illness, January disease. We tend to spend our money in advance, come January now, no school fees, no uniforms, books and the worst if you have not paid your rentals and bills — it is a disaster.
Many are still procrastinating on when to resume their exercise activities. But remember, the longer you delay to get started, the harder it becomes to get started. And you know what it means, more stress and frustration, excessive fatigue and lack of motivation. Be advised what you need now is something which boosts your brain and your memory. Feed your brain right and give it all the stimulation it needs to keep you on track by regular exercises.
Physical exercise is known to be good for your body but it can also improve your brain’s ability to process and remember different kinds of information. Exercises increase oxygen to your brain and redress the risk of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases which may lead to memory loss. Regular exercises also improve the way your brain functions and your moods. It has been proved that people who exercise on regular basis maintaining good health are always more confident and happier than sedentary people.
For those who want to feel good and be admired walking down the streets, here is a good chest workout which can improve your body appearance. Big chest muscles are a wish for most guys. That’s why you always see boys and men play around doing press-ups. Nearly every man who walks into the gym, even for the first time ever, will know how to do a bench press.
Although most ladies are very fussy about working out their chest muscles, you need to know this. The firmer your pectoral muscle (the muscle where your breasts are attached to) the firmer and better your breasts will appear. I have seen some ladies who have improved their sizes after a good chest workout.
Selection of exercises always varies according to individuals’ needs and interests, but I have just picked the best for me. I hope you will benefit from them.
Exercise
1. Flat bench press — this exercise will work your main chest muscles, i.e. your pectoral’s major and your pectoral’s minor.
Execution: Laying back flat on a loaded bench press. Grab the bar two inches away from your shoulder width. Lift the bar off the bench and slowly lower it down to your chest and push it back up without locking your elbows.
Exercise Tips: Avoid aching your back and don’t bounce the bar on your chest, you will damage your rib cage. Make sure weights are balanced on both sides to avoid tipping over to one side. Inhale as you lower the bar and exhale as you push up. Get someone to assist you if you are not sure that you can lift the weight on your own, it will crush on your throat.
1. Incline bench press: This works your upper part of your pectoral muscles.
Execution: The movement is the same as the flat bench press, the difference is that now the bar has to be much closer to your chin than the flat bench.
Exercise tips: No bouncing of bar on the chest. Make sure the angle of the bench is not too high to avoid too much pressure on shoulders. This is a more challenging exercise. Start with a lighter weight than the flat bench but increase as you go up the sets.
3. Decline bench press: This works the lower part of your pecks.
Execution: Vary this exercise, use dumbbells instead of the bar. With your back flat on the bench and your head on the lower part of the bench, grab two equal dumbbells on both arms, push them up on the same movement as the bar. Control the dumbbells down, coming down to be inline with your shoulders.
Exercise tips: Avoid very heavy weights to start with because if one of your arms collapses the dumbbell will drop on your face. Hook your feet firm on the rollers fixed on the bench so that you won’t slide down the bench. No straightening of arms. Remember to breathe out as you push and breathe in as you lower down the bar.
4. Cable cross-overs: One of the best exercises to pump up your chest muscles and define them.
Execution: Grabbing the cable handles on both sides. Take a step forward, lean and push your chest forward. On a flying position, push your arms forward in an arc movement until the arms cross over on each other at the front. Control your arms back to starting position and repeat.
Exercise tips: Avoid overloading the machine, the weight will pull your body backwards. Tighten core throughout the movement and exhale as you push forward and inhale when arms are moving back.
5. Dumbbells pull-overs – Chest muscles have got a tendency of growing a little bit faster on the lower part than the upper. This is the exercise to avoid your chest from hanging at the bottom.
Execution: Lay back flat along the bench holding one dumbbell on both hands. Lift the weight and allow your arms to stretch behind your head. Reach your lowest level and pull back the weight to be in line with your chest and repeat.
Exercise Tips: Tighten your core to avoid aching your back. Maintain the same angle of the elbow joint throughout the set. Breathe in as you lower down the dumbbell and breathe out as you pull.Do 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions on each exercise or according to your programme. Repeat these exercises for a number of weeks before introducing some new ones. If your goal is muscle mass, increase the resistance on each and every set.
NB: Build up that chest muscles and be proud of yourself. Be Blessed.
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