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Body Toning Exercises

It is always a good idea to pay equal attention to each of the individual muscle groups of the upper body, in order to achieve maximum results. There are a plethora of exercises to choose from, to ensure that all of the muscle groups of your upper body are developed equally. There are however, only five main muscle groups in the upper body, which are those of the chest, the back, the biceps, the triceps and the shoulders. The remaining muscle groups are the sub-groups of these main muscle groups. For example, wings, deltoids and trapezoids are the three sub-groups of the back muscle group. Similarly, the three fronts of the deltoids are further sub-groups of the deltoid sub-group of muscles, and so on.

When each of these individual muscle groups, and thereby their individual hierarchy of sub-groups, get equally worked out, the result is a well-balanced, well-developed, upper body that does not look funny from any angle.

The body has a natural tendency to constantly adapt or get adjusted to different types of physical exertions thrown at it. It is part of human evolution and survival. It is programmed in our genes. So if you are just going to go to your gym, day after day, and continue doing the same old set of exercises, without any variation, then your wait for results, is going to be long, ardent and protracted. It is going to be difficult, and a battle at times. So instead choose to go with the flow. Be a little broad-minded and proactive and adopt a little variation every single day, to ensure your body responds to the exercise every day.

For all muscle groups, you can perform two types of exercises: the compound exercises and the isolated exercises. Just make sure that you are always performing your compound exercises, ahead of performing the isolated exercises. Though you can increase the number of reps for isolated exercises, just make sure that you are using lighter weights, while performing these isolated exercises.

Bench press is one of the best exercises for effective sculpting of the chest. These presses can be performed by using either, barbells, dumbbells or cables. Again the bench you choose could be, flat, inclined or declined. Again dips are an equally effective exercise for the chest. The muscles targeted by dips, vary with the distance between your arms on the chair, table or bench, which you are using as a support, for your dips. You could hold your arms close together, at a neutral distance or wide apart to target different muscle groups, such as arms or back, and also to target different sub-groups within each of these muscle groups. Both bench press and dips are forms of compound exercises. Finally, a last compound alternative, if you are unable to access the gym, while in a remote location or a long vacation or on travel, are the good-old push-ups.

Isolated chest exercises include cable crossover pulleys. Alternatively, you can also opt for dumbbell pullovers. During isolated chest exercises, just make sure that your pectorals stay squeezed. Compound exercises can be performed in sets of a minimum 6 reps and a maximum of 8 reps. On the other hand, isolated exercises can be performed, in sets of a minimum of 8 reps and a maximum of 12 reps. This is because compound exercises involve heavy weights, while isolated exercises, involve comparatively lighter weights.

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replacement exercise for bench press?

Hi!

I have started a strength training routine in the mornings. Unfortunately it is hard to find anyone I know to come with and spot me that early in the morning. So what is a good replacement exercise for the bench press to work the chest in case I have no one to spot me. I guess preferably something using a machine that I won't need that spotter for.

I know that pushups with the hands out wide work the chest, but I have no idea if they are effective enough to replace the bench press. So anything that might work about as well as a bench press would be great!

Thanks!

The bench press is the most effective chest exercise there is. I strongly recommend you stick to it. I do it without a spot. When you do the reps, on the rep where your upward momentum slows then this is the rep on which you stop. In my expereince for example, if I do five reps at roughly the same pace for each then on the way up on the sixth I slow down then I won't attempt a seventh.

Chest Exercises: Bench Press