VIDEO

This time we suggest paying special attention to the chest muscles. It is this zone that many athletes want to pump, but it is not so easy to do and one classic chest press is not enough. Chest muscles are one of the most complex and largest muscle groups. Therefore, competent training must be a combination of basic and isolation exercises. Only in this way, it will be possible to load the muscles at different angles. Exercises with barbells are suitable for increasing muscle mass, and with dumbbells, on blocks and training machines - for improving the form and detailed elaboration. These exercises also activate the stabilizing muscles. Imagine that the chest muscle is a rubber band that connects the shoulder, collarbone, and sternum. If you lift your arm to the side and then pull the elastic band, it will move your shoulder forward. You do this movement all the time in your normal life like when you close a door, push something away with force, or elbow your jaw. Most pectoral muscle exercises repeat this movement. The only difference is that they also use a barbell, dumbbells, or crossover slings to create extra resistance. The chest muscle has two heads: an upper head (clavicle) and a lower head. Their functions are slightly different, and this is important. In order to have a symmetrical chest, you need to pump both heads. The fibers of the clavicular head are directed upward, so you need to move the shoulder forward from the bottom to the top for additional exercise. Many people believe that the more they pump their chest, the faster their muscle mass will increase. In fact, this has a negative effect on muscle growth. The muscle gets bigger during rest when the tissues are recovering from an active workout. There are a few tips on how to properly pump your pecs and not overtrain: Exercise no more than 2 times in 7 days. In between do physical exercises on other parts of the body; Do not exercise for more than 45 minutes, as this may cause muscle size and strong growth to regress. Exercises that help you to pump the chest muscles include: push-ups. bench presses. triceps push-ups. To pump your muscles evenly, alternate your exercises. The bench press is great, but you don't have to do it in every workout, because there are other good options. Choose the weight so that the last reps in an attempt are difficult. If you find it easy and your muscles don't tire, they won't grow. Avoid flying in the clouds during the workout: concentrate on the muscle work. It really helps you to pump it better. Perform 3-5 sets of 8-12 reps. Do not use weights that are too heavy. Especially at the beginning if you do not have a good command of technique.

The anatomy of the human foot is complex. This is a part of the leg with many muscular compartments that perform functions such as balancing, maintaining stability, softening the impact of steps, creating solid support. Its structure allows us to see how evolution has adapted our body to an efficient way of movement - upright walking. Anatomically, it is similar to the hand. The anatomical structure of the foot is quite complex, due to the need for a small support area to support the weight of the human body. There are two parts distinguished in the foot: a plantar surface (which is in direct contact with the ground) and an opposite - dorsiflexion. All parts of this very complex mechanism work together to provide us with balance when we walk and exercise. The lower part of the limb is built from bones of different sizes connected into a single structure. It allows the weight of the body to be supported when moving and is capable of bearing enormous loads. The bones of the fingers include fourteen phalanges and their connecting articulations. Each finger is formed of three phalanges, except for the thumb, which contains two. They are connected with the parts of the skeleton forming the metatarsus through the articular cartilage. The function of the toes is to distribute the weight of the body equally and to improve balance. The foot includes sesamoid bones. These are small formations of rounded shape, their number is individual. And there are people who do not have these bones. Their option is to increase the curvature of the transverse arch. The muscles on the dorsal side are responsible for extending the toes and foot. The plantar side muscles are responsible for their flexion. They play an important role in the formation of the correct arch and take on a huge load when moving and jumping. Everyone needs to take care of their feet, not just people who like to run. Problems can arise from a sedentary lifestyle, excessive weight, or constant work 'on your feet'. The most common problem is flat feet. It can be not only congenital but also acquired at any age. Because of changes in the arch of the foot loses cushioning, while walking, shock load is transferred to other joints, causing problems in the knees and lower back. You can avoid ankle pathologies and injuries if you do special exercises. We have collected the best, in our opinion, sets of exercises to strengthen the foot, its muscles, ligaments, and joints. You do not have to do everything just choose exercises that you like, make your own complexes. Training your feet even 1-2 times a week will help prevent injuries, become more athletic and run faster.

In bodybuilding and fitness, the deltoid muscles play a special part. Despite the fact that the muscle area belongs to small groups, it is second only to the biceps in terms of training frequency. The reason lies not only in the importance of the deltoid muscles in the anatomy but also in improving the aesthetics of the figure. Understanding the functions and features of the deltoid bands allows you to maximize the effectiveness of the training process and significantly reduce the injury risk. The deltoid muscles consist of three heads (bundles): The anterior head (anterior bundle) attaches to the humerus and is responsible for lifting the arm forward. The middle head (lateral bundle) is attached to the acromion of the scapula and allows the arm to be lifted sideways. The posterior head (posterior bundle) is attached to the scapula and allows the arm to be moved backward. The deltoid muscle covers the shoulder joint. The muscle is thick, triangular in shape, with the base up and the apex down. It consists of large muscle bundles, which fan-like converge at the apex. It starts from the clavicle and scapula and attaches to the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus. In training the deltoid muscles, it is very important to pump all three bundles equally. This will protect the shoulder joint from injuries. The deltoid muscle bundles have different functions, so you cannot work them all with just one exercise: you must include at least three movements in your workout. You must correctly select exercises for pumping the front, middle and rear bundles. Choose one exercise from each category and add them to your workouts. Shoulders should be trained no more than twice a week (once is enough for beginners), this will allow the muscles to fully recover for the next workout. Here is some basic exercises for deltoids: The army bench press or barbell/dumbbell press in standing or sitting position (middle, front). Bench press from behind the head while seated (middle, front). Chin-up or 'broach' barbell pull (middle, front). Lee Heini pulls (back, middle). Arnold press (front, middle).

Hamstring muscle training is often neglected, but for most athletes, however, it is very important because strong hamstrings help avoid many injuries. They are a group of powerful muscles that extend from the pelvis to the knee at the back of the upper leg. Their two main roles are to extend the leg (pull it back) and bend the knee, movements we use both in mountain walking or running and in everyday life. We engage and overuse them more than we realize, which creates tension and can lead to acute or chronic injuries due to overuse. For example, when you run or hike up a mountain, it may seem like you are primarily using your quadriceps, but you are also straining your hams, especially if you are overzealous or taking a big step to navigating over rocks or roots. These muscles consist of three parts: the semi-tendon muscle, the biceps femoris muscle, and the semitendinosus muscle. Together they form a large group of muscles that work at the base of the thigh. Their main function is to bend the leg at the knee joint. Before performing any strength exercises, it is important to warm up and stretch the hamstring muscles well, because the muscles are often in a contracted condition. Training It is better, to begin with, a 5-10 minutes light workout. This can be cycling, running, etc. Such workouts are good for warming up before stretching, after which you can proceed to the main workout. Training cool muscles is not a good idea. Wise advice for beginner athletes who want to train with extra weight - use a lighter load and more reps at first to gradually develop muscle strength. There are many exercises that do not directly target your hamstrings, but where they help your hamstrings, such as pull-ups, lunges, and squats. However, to develop them well, it is also important to do some isolation exercises where you focus directly on your hams. To help you on your way, we decided to list the most important exercises below. Hamstrings Compression helps relieve pain and tightness. Stretching relieves stress and helps strengthen the ligaments in the back of the knee as well as the hamstrings. Quadriceps stretching with support. This exercise will strengthen your hams instead of your quadriceps. It also improves knee mobility. Leg lift with resting on arms. Lifting one leg is aimed at pumping the glutes, as well as strengthening the hamstrings. Wall Squats. Such squats will strengthen your knees and also reduce pain if any. The exercise works all the muscles that are connected to the knees. Lunges also engage your hamstrings, glutes, inner thigh muscles, and calves. The strength of these muscles determines the strength of your knees. The stronger they are, the more tension they will absorb, thus preventing injury and pain. Exercises with a roller are a perfect way to massage and relax your muscles.

The muscle on the back of your shoulder is called the triceps. Triceps originate from the scapula and humerus and attach to the ulna using the triceps tendon. The triceps muscle does the function of extension in the elbow and acts as an auxiliary in the implementation of other movements in the shoulder. During triceps contraction, the vector of movement is transmitted using the tendon. The mass fraction of the triceps is approximately 2/3 of the muscles of the shoulder, so its size plays a critical role in the formation of beautiful arms. By focusing on the biceps, and forgetting about the triceps muscle, athletes contribute to getting inharmoniously developed arms. You shouldn't train your triceps more often than 1-2 times a week. Do not forget that many exercises for the pectoral muscles load the triceps, so make up the training program so that the triceps and pectoral muscles are trained on different and distant days, thus some periodization of the load is achieved. But in some cases, the triceps can be trained on the same day as the pectorals, since all basic chest exercises involve the triceps and vice versa. This means that if you swing your chest, then the triceps already swing by themselves. To increase efficiency, do triceps workouts of different intensities: light-medium-hard, and so on. Rest for at least 1 week after a hard workout. In classic splits, the triceps are usually the most overloaded muscle, due to the very specifics of training in split programs. To increase the volume of the triceps muscle, do 8-15 repetitions. The total number of triceps sets (the sum of the sets of all triceps exercises) is 3-6. The basic exercises for pumping triceps are reverse push-ups on the bench and narrow grip barbell press. In addition, an important exercise is a pull of the upper block with a rope - one of the few that uses the lateral head in the work. Since the mechanics of movements are in many ways similar, it is recommended not to combine the presented exercises, but to alternate. Training. Reverse push-ups from the bench. Starting position - heels touch the floor, hands on the bench behind your back. Slowly lower your torso down, linger at the bottom point, then with an explosive force push your body weight up over the bench. The elbows are directed backward. To complicate things, use an extra load by putting the weight on your hips. Bench press with a narrow grip. It’s the exercise to work out the medial head of the triceps. Lie on a bench (keeping your feet firmly on the floor), grab a barbell or dumbbell with a narrow grip, then lift the weight up. During execution, the elbows should be pressed as close to the body as possible. Bent over triceps extension. It’s for pumping the long and lateral heads of the triceps. When pulling the arm back, make sure that the elbow does not change position (that is, do not swing the arm back and forth or left and right). Also, watch out for the arch of the back - to do this, keep the abs slightly tense. Top pulldown with rope. A key exercise for pumping the lateral head of the triceps. The movement should be in the lower plane - that is, do not raise your arms higher than chest level. When doing it, make sure that the elbows do not change position, and the body does not swing. Remember that when building the triceps, you need to correctly feel the amplitude of the exercises - achieving maximum involvement of the muscles without dangerous impact on the shoulder joint. For this, it is better to use an average working weight. Furthermore, watch your shoulders and head - in particular, don't round your shoulders or lean forward. When doing triceps exercises, the chest should be open, the press should be tense. Otherwise, the load is transferred to the shoulder joints.