Beginner's Guide to...training Chest

If you're new to strength training, or simply want a bit more clarity, PT and Reflo ambassador David Birtwistle will help you guarantee chest-day results

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>: When many people start training their

chest, a classic mistake is to rush the process. They try to lift the heaviest weights possible, without giving due attention to the movement pattern, and connecting the mind to the specific muscle they're trying to activate. But when looking to build muscle mass for any body part one of the most important things is the ability to actively contract the exact muscle you want. With regards to the chest, that specifically means you should learn how to contract the upper, middle and lower chest. If you can't feel the right muscle working, it isn’t going to grow.

The best way to do that is keeping the weight low, the reps slow, working through full range of motion, and actively thinking about

squeezing the chest during the concentric lifting) phase of the movement. If you're just trying to complete the movement, then you may well be compensating with your more naturally dominant muscles, such as the anterior deltoids and triceps.

Another issue I see repeatedly, is the complete negligence of prehab and activation exercises before starting the first heavy lift. The chest muscles work to pull the humorous closer to the midline by using the shoulder as a pivot point. However, the shoulder joint is mostly held in place by ligaments and muscle. That means that in order to stabilise the shoulder and improve the ability of the chest to produce force, we need to activate the stabilising joints in the shoulder before lifting.