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Building a bigger chest It is not something that happens overnight: it requires time and consistency in training. But in a new video on the Athlean-X channel, the strength coach Jeff Cavaliere CSCS outlines two tips that could help speed up your progress by slightly adjusting the way you work your chest muscles.
It illustrates the first of his technical adjustments on the bench press. “Go down to the bottom of the bench and exaggerate the height of your sternum,” he says. “It’s going to make those shoulders prominent again and the chest.”
Then, to make sure you’re recruiting as much of your chest muscles as possible instead of relying on your shoulders, he advises trying to press up with your index finger and thumb. “Start adduction at the shoulder, which will ensure that the chest initiates the contraction,” he says.
This principle can be applied to virtually any chest exercise, and Cavaliere demonstrates it in a variety of different movements. In the cable crossover, he adopts a staggered stance and squares his chest so his sternum sticks out, and initiates the movement with the same fingers. “Chest stays in front, shoulders stay back,” he says. “It highlights how important it is to focus on the hand, because your shoulder just goes along, your chest just goes along – the initiation of the movement is what you’re doing with your hand on the cable.”
When it comes to push-ups, Cavaliere notes that taller men or those with longer torsos tend to start the movement with a hollowed-out chest and more prominent shoulder placement, when, again, what they should be doing is the opposite. . To get into this position, Cavaliere advises doing a push-up with manual release to make sure your chest and shoulders are where they should be.
Philip Ellis is a UK freelance writer and journalist who covers pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller, and MTV.
