Ladies, would you like to shape and firm your bust line? And gentleman, how about developing a better swing, stronger punch, or the ability to attract the eye of others? If so, you need to spend time developing your chest (pectoral) muscles!
Your pectoral muscles are the most prominent muscles you see in the bathroom mirror. And who doesn't want to improve that image? Even more, if you stop lifting weights and exercising, your chest is one of the first muscle groups that will atrophy (decreased in size/strength) as we rarely stress these muscles during daily activities.
To train your chest, all you need to do is push-ups! Push-ups primarily target your pectoral muscles, but you also work your shoulders and triceps, in addition to your core (abs and hips)!
Proper Push-Up Technique
- Get down on all fours placing your hands flat on the floor
- Align your hands so that they're slightly wider than and in line with your shoulders
- Lower your body until your chest nearly touches the floor
- Pause at the bottom and then quickly push yourself back to the starting position
** If your hips sag at any point during the exercise, you've broken form. Consider that your last repetition and end the set. Try to increase the number of repetitions you can do and keep track throughout the year!
Test How You're Doing? Complete as many push-ups as possible, maintaining good form.
Great -
female: 23 (age 20-29), 22 (age 30-39), 18 (age 40-49), 15 (age 50+)
male: 30 (age 20-29), 25 (age 30-39), 21 (age 40-49), 18 (age 50+)
Good -
female: 12-22 (age 20-29), 10-21 (age 30-39), 8-17 (age 40-49), 7-14 (age 50+)
male: 7-29 (age 20-29), 13-24 (age 30-39), 11-20 (age 40-49), 9-17 (age 50+)
Fair -
female: 11 (age 20-29), 9 (age 30-39), 7 (age 40-49), 6 (age 50+)
male: 16 (age 20-29), 12 (age 30-39), 10 (age 40-49), 8 (age 50+)
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