You have been weight training for more than a year. You look in the mirror, and you must be telling yourself, “Damn, that is one sexy beast right there!” But with a few lighting adjustments, the flaws begin to appear, and some of those might just haunt you for a long time. Sometimes, our mind sees what it chooses to see. But the glaring truth is right there in front of you!
Isn’t it frustrating sometimes, when you’ve tried all chest exercises, but you just can’t seem to fill that inner part of your upper chest. You just envy those Hollywood buffs with their shirt on, and you see their ‘man-cleavage’ exposed on their collars. How about them big guns? They seem humongous when flexed, but when extended, your biceps are just 3 inches short off your joint, and your triceps seem way too far from your elbow.
Filling in those gaps between major muscle groups aren’t all about isolation exercises. We are so used to 3 sets of 10 reps of breathing out as you lift the weight up, and then breathe in while you put the weight back down; lather, rinse, repeat.
I hate to break it to you, but there’s more to working out than the same old routine. In fact, bringing variety into your exercises not only keeps you interested and motivated, but your muscles will also react differently, thus the term “muscle confusion”. With muscle confusion, your muscle cells will stimulate more effectively and react better by becoming bigger.
Now, there are muscles in our body that are usually untapped in weight training. Some of them you can see in professional athletes, but you just can’t see it on your own body. One primary example is the “boxer’s muscle”, which is developed by boxers due to their continuous development of that specific muscle during training, thus named after them. Swimming is another great example of a sport where you use a lot of muscles in your body, and not in the gym.
You’re probably thinking right now that if some of those muscles cannot be developed in weight training, then how do I fill the gaps within those parts? Great question! People tend to overlook functional training in favor of free weights, but the best way to build a complete set of muscles is by incorporating functional training into your daily routine! And that includes building those muscles on your inner upper pecs and tricep heads.
Here are a few commonly-missing muscles, and the answers to each problem:
Inner Chest
As they say, the bench press is the king of upper body exercises. Sometimes, we make it a priority to improve strength gains in this exercise for us to lift heavier, and for our chest to grow bigger. However, no matter how much we train our chest, most of us notice that huge valley in the middle of our chest, especially if there’s a spotlight above our heads. While incline dumbbell presses can reduce the gap in between, you can still see a small space still within that area, and it just frustrates you sometimes how you could fill that hole.
You may include these exercises during your chest workouts:
Chest Press (3 x 8 reps)rnPec Flyes (3 x 8 reps)rnCable Crossover (3 x 8 reps)
Boxer’s Muscle
That cluster of muscles lying beside our lats (Latissimus Dorsi) on our rib cage is called the boxer’s muscle (Serratus Anterior). The muscle is called such, because it is developed by pulling the scapula forward and around the rib cage, which usually occurs when you throw a punch. As you can see during traditional boxing weigh-ins the day before the fight, the combatants flex their muscles, and you could see that ab-like muscles under their arms. Unless you punch with all your might everytime you hit the gym, it would be very unlikely to grow boxer’s muscles. You may enroll boxing lessons, but it takes years and hundreds of dollars for those to develop.
You can make your Serratus Anterior show up by adding these exercises with your favorite lat workouts:
Lat Pulldown (3 x 8 reps)rnWide-grip Pullover (3 x 8 reps)rnFunctional Trainer Punches (3 x 15 reps each arm)
Tricep Lateral Head
Sometimes, we wish for a better body without even trying; or in other words, without even flexing. We envy those who just chilling on the side, minding their own business, and still see those arm muscles seemingly flexed all the time. The tricep lateral head is also one of the more difficult muscles to develop. Try these these tricep workouts:
Reverse-grip One-arm Tricep Pulldowns (3 x 8 reps)rnBent-over Tricep Extension (3 x 8 reps)rnTricep Pushdowns (3 x 8 reps)
Loin of Apollo
The Loin of Apollo is that V-shaped muscle that you see from your hips extending all the way to down your pelvic area. This is probably the most difficult look to achieve, as you need disciplined diet and continuous exercise to get one of these. Sometimes, doing simple ab exercises are not sufficient for that muscle to appear. What you need are effective oblique workouts with enough resistance for your “Loin” to be more prominent. Get a more defined V-shape on your gut with these workouts:
Underhand Swings (3 x 15 reps each side)rnOverhead Swings (3 x 15 reps each side)rnSeated Twist (3 x 15 reps each side)
So there you have it! Make sure to use an equipment that can help you go up and down, side to side with all your exercises!