Those who want to build up well-defined chest muscles have to perform butterfly chest exercises. The highlight of this article are the beneficial effects of a butterfly chest workout.
The chest muscles consist of a thick muscle known as the pectoralis major, and below it lies a thin triangular shaped muscle which is referred to as the pectoralis minor. These muscles work together to perform various movements that include throwing a ball, pushing, swimming, playing racket sports and so on. Well-developed pectoral muscles help us to carry out these activities effortlessly. Butterfly chest exercises are highly effective for shaping them.
Facts About Butterfly Chest Exercises
The other names of the butterfly chest exercise are the pec deck fly and chest fly. When you sit on the butterfly machine, adjust your seat to ensure that the upper arms are positioned parallel to the floor after you place your forearms on the padded lever. Then as you push the handles at the front, make sure you do it slowly. Once the handles reach near the middle of your body, pause for a moment. After contracting your pectoral muscles for a second, push your elbows gradually to move the handles back to their original position which in turn stretches out these muscles. You must exhale while bringing your arms closer and inhale as you open them up.
This chest exercise can be done at home with a pair of dumbbells. Here, you have to sit on a flat bench with your feet placed flat on the floor on both sides of the bench. Hold one dumbbell with each hand and raise your hands just above the chest. Now, gradually, bring the elbows together at the front, stop for a moment, and then move them backwards. You must perform this at home only if you have proper control over the dumbbells.
Benefits
Those who workout regularly know that building up the chest’s muscles is quite a difficult task. However, butterfly chest exercises are highly beneficial for this purpose and give quick results because they mainly target the muscles of the chest in particular. The pec deck fly not only focuses upon the large muscle groups like the pectoralis major but also on the smaller muscles which are located at the sides of the chest under the arms.
This exercise firms up the chest muscles and enhances the muscle mass. As a result, your chest size increases and you also get a well-defined cut in these muscles. Athletes are always keen on building these muscles so as to improve their performance in sports activities. Non-athletes display an interest in these exercises because they want to increase their chest size and sport a good, attractive physique. Another advantage of a well-built upper body is that it makes the waist look smaller. Toning up the chest muscles helps a woman to improve her bust-line.
The exercise also involves the shoulder muscles and the biceps located at the frontal part of the arms. As these muscle groups grow stronger, the pectoral muscles get additional support and stability. Moreover, strong shoulder muscles and biceps will protect the shoulder joints from various forms of injury. For this reason, those who are into racket sports or play golf should condition their shoulder muscles with the help of the chest fly.
More and more people prefer butterfly exercises to shape up their chest muscles because it is easy to perform and can be done even by those who do not have a high fitness level. There are other forms of strength training exercises like bench presses, dips, and push-ups that are useful in strengthening up the muscles of the upper body. However, the biggest drawback of these exercises is that you have to put a lot of pressure on the wrists while doing them which might injure them in the bargain.
In order to avoid any additional strain on the wrists, do not put extra effort and restrict your upper body movements during these exercises. On the other hand, in a butterfly chest workout, you have to use the strength of your chest muscles to move the handles and not your wrists. Therefore, the chances of injury is quite less and you will be able to exert yourself more without the fear of getting hurt.
Butterfly chest exercises are considered safe provided it is done following the correct technique. During the exercise, you must sit up straight and move the handles slowly to avoid any jerking. You should also have complete control over the mobility of your hands. When you’re bringing back the handles to their original position, do not overstretch the shoulders.
