To tone your chest, a strength training program, proper nutrition, and balanced cardio routine are required. Exercises such as push-ups, chest flies, and various presses should be performed twice a week, with varying angles. Proper nutrition includes consuming enough protein, and post-workout protein consumption is essential. Cardio should be done at least three days a week, with high-intensity interval training recommended for 15-20 minute workouts.
To tone your chest, whether the goal is to build mass or simply increase strength and definition, three components are required. First, a strength training program that incorporates exercises that hit the different fibers of the pectoral muscle is mandatory. Second, proper nutrition that encourages muscle growth is essential, particularly post-workout. Third, a balanced cardio routine is recommended to complete fat burning efforts without sacrificing muscle tissue as part of an overall chest toning program.
The muscles that will be worked during a chest toning workout include, as the prime mover, the pectoralis major muscle and, to a lesser degree, the pectoralis minor, anterior deltoid, serratus anterior, and triceps muscles. As the pectoralis major is fan-shaped and has upper, middle and lower fibers, it is recommended to tone the chest to strengthen all these fibers, which can be achieved by varying the angle of the exercises performed. The main exercises to include are push-ups, chest flies, and various machines, dumbbells, or barbell presses, all of which can be performed at an incline, decline, or perpendicular angle relative to the body. These exercises should be completed twice a week for best results.
Push-ups are one of the most recommended exercises to achieve better muscle tone. They can be performed anywhere and by placing the body on an incline with the hands on a raised surface, horizontally with the hands on the floor, or at an incline with the feet elevated. Chest flies can be performed by lying on your back at different angles and bringing the weights together across your chest, or by standing up and using a cable machine.
Presses, in which the pecs receive pushing assistance from the deltoids and triceps, should be performed towards the end of the workout if little stabilization is required, such as in bench presses and machine presses. Chest presses where the arms work independently, such as isolated dumbbell presses, are most recommended. These require both stabilization of the shoulder joint and increased range of motion in the pectorals. These can also be done on an incline, decline, or flat angle, and the exercises should be varied every four weeks or so for optimal results.
Proper nutrition means consuming enough calories, i.e. protein, to support muscle development, even if the goal is to tone the chest, not gain size. While recommendations vary, anyone looking to gain weight should consume one to 1.25 grams of protein per pound of body weight daily. Protein needs aren’t as high for basic toning, but it’s still important to consume protein after a workout to fuel the muscle repair needed to build strength and definition. General guidelines for post-workout protein consumption are 20-30 grams for women and 30-40 grams for men, ideally to be consumed within 60 minutes of training and in rapidly digestible forms such as whey protein in dust.
Proper cardiovascular exercise is the final component needed to tone your chest, as any excess body fat will hide the muscle underneath. This can be done before or after your strength training, at least three days a week, but experts increasingly recommend doing cardio after strength training for optimal fat burning. It is also recommended that the duration of cardio sessions be kept short, as during longer duration cardio workouts, the body will often begin to harness its muscle tissue for energy and burn it for the sake of being more cardiovascularly efficient. Less muscle means a lower metabolism, which will hinder your fat burning efforts over time.
As such, experts recommend doing 15- to 20-minute workouts that incorporate high-intensity interval training. This training technique involves alternating bouts of high intensity, or work done at 80-90 percent effort, with recovery bouts, or work done at 50-60 percent intensity. An example would be alternating 30-second bouts of treadmill running with 90-second recovery intervals of walking or jogging. Doing this eight times would result in 16 minute intervals. These should be accompanied by several minutes of warm-up and cool-down in the form of light jogging or walking.
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