Muscle Groups - The Chest (Pectorals) Part 1

Muscle Groups - The Chest (Pectorals) Part 1

My last muscle groups post was about the abdominal region of the body, so it makes sense that the next thing I discuss lies next to this; The Pectoral Muscles. The Pecs are to the chest what the Abs are to the stomach, If you want to look like you in good shape and fairly strong you need to have good Pectoral Muscles. Like last time Part 1 will concentrate on the Anatomy and how you can stretch these muscles prior to a workout and part 2 will go into more detail over the exercises you can do!

The Anatomy:

The pectorals are slightly less complex in structure then the abdominals in the fact that they are only split into 2 main regions:

Pectoralis Major and Minor

• The Pectoralis major muscle - This is split into 3 sub groups; Abdominal, sternocostal and clavical heads, the difference between these is simply the areas which they attached to. As you may guess the Abdominal part is attached to the rectus abdominis and the external obliques, the Sternocostal section is attached the the sternum, and the clavical is attached to the clavical unsurprisingly!(starting by the sternum). They all finish off by attaching to the Humerus just below the shoulder joint! As you can probably work out the function of this muscle is the movement of the arm that it is attached to. This includes motions where you would move all of the arm around the shoulder joint and also moving the arm across the chest and even rotation of the arm in activities such as arm wrestling!
• The Pectoralis minor muscle - A much smaller muscle then its major counterpart (as you would expect!). This muscle is found under the former and is involved in moving the shoulder forwards in a hunching motion!

The Stretches:

Due to the nature of the muscle most stretches that involve your chest will also involve other areas such as the glutes, the abs or the arms!

Stretch 1 - The Yawn

This stretch is called the Yawn as its basically the same thing that most people do when they wake up in the morning. This stretch starts with the hands Interlocked behind the head while standing up straight.

Starting Position

Now the elbows should be moved back until you can feel a tension in your chest, hold this stretch in place for 15-20 seconds and then move back to the starting position.

Finishing Position

Stretch 2 - Bent Arm

Stand with an arm against against the wall and place your other hand on your waist, with your body perpendicular to the wall.

Starting Position

Now rotate your torso in the opposite direction to that of the bent arm (so if your left arm is on the wall turn right) until you feel a stretch, hold this again for 15-20 seconds then return and repeat with the other arm.

Finishing Position

Stretch 3 - Standing Waist stretch

This stretch not only works your chest but it also works your stomach so its a great stretch to start a workout with! Start this stretch by standing up straight with your arms straight above your head.

Starting Position

Now arch your chest backwards as far as possible moving your arms back as well without loosing balance until a stretch is felt and hold it for 15-20 seconds.

Finishing Position

References

Innerbody.com

GetBodySmart.com

Images taken from WikiCommons and iMuscle app for iPad