Let’s face it a healthy, fit chest is a sexy thing. Guys, ladies we can all admit that a person with a fit, healthy chest has an additional attractive quality about themselves. What is it that adds this additional attractiveness, the way their clothes fit, their posture, perhaps additional confidence? Whatever it is, it’s there easily seen and felt.
You don’t have to have pecs like Schwartznegger, or double D cups, to have a fit healthy chest and to look better and feel more confident.
Barbell Bench Press
Most weight loss programs that deal with weight training identify the bench press, specifically the barbell bench press, as the number one exercise to incorporate into a weight loss program.
This exercise allows you to generate the most power per lift. You also can maintain more control versus a dumbbell bench press because the barbell bench press is a balanced lift. The barbell bench press is a compound upper body exercise that works your pectorals (chest), deltoids (shoulders), and triceps (arms). Here are a few benefits of doing the Barbell Bench Press
Increased Upper Body Strength The biggest benefit that you will get from doing barbell bench presses is that you will drastically increase your upper body strength. The reason for this is that the bench press utilizes several different muscles in your upper body (as described above). The more weight you lift, the more those muscles will be utilized, thus increasing their size and strength.
Increased Bone Health
Another big benefit you get from doing barbell bench presses on a regular basis is that they will help to increase the health and strength of your bones.
Because, according to Fit and Me, the barbell bench press is considered to be a weight-bearing exercise. Weight-bearing exercises have huge bone-building benefits.
When you do a weight-bearing exercise, the extra weight which your bones are supporting, which in this case are the bones in your arms, shoulders, chest, and back, forces the cells in your bones to go to work. These cells are known as osteoblasts and they are what is responsible for creating new bone cells and laying them down both on and within your bones.
For those women interested in chest exercises.
Joint Health
Your cartilage is like a sponge with fluid in it, fluid that nourishes your cartilage and keeps it healthy. This fluid needs to be replaced on a regular basis in order to keep nourishing all of your cartilage.
Since your cartilage is like a sponge, the nutrient-depleted fluid needs to be squeezed out and then replaced with new nutrient-rich fluid. The way to squeeze out your cartilage in order to replace the fluid is by doing exercise, and the bench press definitely counts. If you want to prevent joint issues and cartilage deterioration, then bench presses are something that you should definitely start doing.
A Note: for people over age 40 when age-related muscle loss is a concern. The barbell bench press is a functional exercise that helps you with any daily activities that require pushing or carrying. The bench press can help restore muscle balance and strengthen pulling muscles like swimming and will help develop strength and form for push-ups. To target the different areas of the chest, there are several variations available. There is an excellent link at the end of this article which details form, mistakes, and variations
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press
The dumbbell bench press is a bench press variation that can be done to boost overall strength, increase muscle size and growth, and isolate areas of weakness in the bench press.
The dumbbell press falls within the horizontal pressing domain, which also includes: barbell bench press, push-ups, and angular variations (decline, incline, etc). Regardless of the variation, bench pressing can be used by coaches and athletes to enhance overall muscular strength and hypertrophy, but also to improve bench press and overall pressing performance. The main benefit of dumbbell presses, as opposed to barbell presses, is using dumbbells in this manner also allows for a greater stretch at the bottom and more efficient peak contraction at the top than a barbell press do.
Dumbbell bench presses can be performed at the three various angles, the flat bench, decline, and at incline. But, we are mainly focusing on the flat version. An advantage or benefit depends on how far you are down with the dumbbells Another thing to note is that at the point of contraction, you can add a slight twist by turning your palms inward at the top, providing for a better contraction. You are not able to do that with barbell presses
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There are several benefits specifically to the bench press regardless of the flat or low-incline option such as:
• Upper body strength – not only do the pectorals get bigger and stronger but so do the anterior and lateral deltoids. This gives you a nice refined look. We cannot forget about the work that the triceps get during this exercise. During the exercise, the triceps are strengthened in three key areas as the long, lateral, and medial areas.
• An increase in bone health – cells known as osteoblasts are cells within the body that assist in the development of new cells and lay them down in and on your bones.
• Your pushing power increases – meaning that it will help you in everyday life during the execution of menial tasks that do not require a lot of weight on a daily basis, and overall, it reduces fatigue because you are more efficient.
• Healthy joints – cartilage is maintained and improved upon. If you ever want to prevent the deterioration of cartilage, bench presses are a requirement.
• Looking and feeling much better – there is nothing more attractive about you than when you have worked for and have acquired a healthy strong body, especially the upper body. It is innate within the psyche when you look in the mirror and see a difference when someone openly compliments you or gives you a proverbial double-take.
The best weight loss program for you should contain some of the basics. The classic bench press regardless of the type is of great benefit to you. Online weight loss programs should not only focus on fat loss but also on increasing muscle tone if you would like to look your best.
A good weight loss program should be customized to the individual with a focus on daily activity as well as a healthy eating regimen. Our staff is here to make sure you achieve the goals you set for yourself!