Know Your Muscle Building Exercises - The Chest

Every bodybuilder and weight trainer will have his or her favorite exercises for each body part. That's how it should be - as you progress through the various stages of learning you'll understand what works best for you. It is useful, however, to take stock of your progress every so often and carry out an analysis of where you are and what changes, if any, are needed to move onwards and upwards.
Part of this analysis should include an assessment of the core exercises that make up your bodybuilding training program. In this article we'll look at the chest exercises that have proven their worth to serious bodybuilders for many years. Where appropriate a series of exercises suitable for achieving pre-exhaustion will be presented. All exercises should be performed to failure with one set of six to eight reps.

1. Dumbbell flyes - this exercise provides a useful means of isolating the pectorals and preserving the triceps for the subsequent exercise. The exercise should be performed as follows:
- Hold dumbbells directly overhead.
- Lower them to sides with elbows slightly bent, pulled back and to the side. Lower no further than level with the torso.
- Use the pectorals to pull the weights back up to the starting position.

2. Incline bench press - you can move straight on to this exercise if you have reached an appropriate level of experience. If you perform this exercise as the second part of a pre-exhaust routine you may have to use lighter weights than normally.

- Take a shoulder width grip.
- Lower the bar to the chest with the elbows pointed to the side.
- Return to the starting position.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com [http://bodybuildingadvisor.com] website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Advice [http://www.bodybuildingadvisor.com/index.html] to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mitchell

Exercise The Right Way - The Lat Pulldown

Other articles in this series looked at a number of exercises, mainly from the perspective of developing a comprehensive muscle building program. Sometimes we take things for granted, especially when it comes to performing the basic exercises that constitute the core of most bodybuiders' training regimes. It is useful, therefore, to describe in detail the processes involved in actually doing these exercises. This will help beginners to start out using the correct techniques before moving on to potentially more dangerous heavy weights. If it also helps more experienced lifters to redress some of the little faults that have almost imperceptibly crept in over the years, all the better. In this article we'll take a close look at the lat pulldown using a machine. MUSCLES TARGETED: latissimus dorsi, teres major, middle trapezius, rhomboids PREPARATION Grasp the lat pulldown bar with a closed, pronated grip.
Grip sHould be slightly wider than shoulder width. STARTING POSITION Sit down on the seat facing the machine.
Position the thighs under the pads making sure the feet are flat on the floor.
Lean slightly backward.
Extend the elbows fully.
This is the starting position for all repetitions. DOWNWARD MOVEMENT Pull the bar down towards the chest.
Touch the bar to the chest in one smooth movement. UPWARD MOVEMENT Let the elbows slowly extend back to the beginning position.
Keep the torso in the same position.
Repeat or finish set.

Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding Exercises [http://www.bodybuildingadvisor.com/bodybuilding-exercises-articles.html] to learn more about the issues covered in this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Mitchell