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Framing a Mammoth Chest with Dumbbell Pullovers |
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Written by Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
A huge chest, like a large building, requires a large diameter frame. The frame comprising a mammoth chest cannot be easily camouflaged even in baggy clothes. My guess is Markus Ruhl couldn't conceal his chest structure in a crowded airport even if he tried. And with security as tight as it is, I expect he's had to go through more than his fair share of searches for fear he was hiding some suitcases under his shirt. Aside from those inconveniences, it's difficult to imagine other problems by having a chest that is too deep, too wide and too thick. While all the upper torso musculature must rest upon the structural frame of the chest, most of us become indifferent to our general structure, and work solely to add mounds of muscle to the frame that was designed for us.
Chest structure is important; it's one of the first images that make an impression on the judges sitting in the first row of a bodybuilding crowd. The judges know the double biceps pose from the front tells them about the condition of an athlete. So can a front lat spread. However, a narrow chest cannot be hidden when a bodybuilder turns to the side, even if he has mounds of pectoralis muscle. The side chest pose is one of my favorites, because in a highly conditioned athlete, it shows the depth of the chest, the massiveness of the pectoralis slabs, and the shoulders exploding like mini-planets fired from arm-guns that would sparkle in any line-up of military hardware.
However, without the depth and circumference of the chest cavity, the side chest shot is about as effective as posing in the dark. Even well-developed pectoralis muscles would have the impact of slopping soggy pancakes on a flat pan, rather than stacking thick slabs of pectoral muscle fibers over a barrel-like chest, then having those fibers dance under the workout gear. Another eye-grabber is the presence of thick finger-like ropes projecting from the anterior-inferior borders of the latissimus dorsi that result from well-developed anterior serratus muscles. If serratus anterior is underdeveloped, the latissimus muscles appear flat and incomplete and lack any real flare from the front.
Muscle Structure
The muscles of the chest and back are all anchored in some fashion to the thoracic rib cage. The rib cage comprises the ribs and the cartilage (costal cartilage) that attaches them to the sternum (breastbone). The costal cartilage provides elasticity to the chest and it allows the ribs to "give" rather than fracture, if you foolishly bounce a barbell off of your chest during a heavy "cheating" bench press. Costal cartilages can also be stretched and they can adapt by becoming longer. This increases the total distance from the start of the rib (at the vertebrae body) to the sternum and therefore the diameter of the rib cage becomes larger. The costal cartilages harden by approximately 25 years of age, so expansion of the rib cage via stretching the costal cartilages becomes difficult or impossible for people much older than this.
The innermost, internal and external intercostal muscles lie between the ribs in layers, from deepest to most superficial, respectively. The innermost and internal intercostal fibers lay deep to, and at right angles to, the external intercostal muscles. All three muscles contract strongly during inspiration (taking in a deep breath) and expiration (exhaling). If the intercostal muscles are maximally developed, the size of the rib cage is markedly increased during inspiration because the ribs are pulled up and out by the intercostal muscles. This raises the possibility that even if your cartilages can't grow much, your chest diameter may still have the potential to improve from average to colossal if your intercostal muscles are trained.
The serratus anterior muscle covers the lateral portion of the rib cage and the lateral part of the intercostal muscles. Its rope-like fiber lies above the attachments of the latissimus muscle fibers on the lateral side of the first eight ribs and then runs posterior along the lateral side of the ribs. The other end is attached along the medial border of the scapula (shoulder blade). This muscle pulls the scapula forward and holds it against the thoracic wall. The stabilized scapula provides a platform for pushing and the serratus anterior acts as an anchor, so other muscles can use the scapula as if it were a fixed bone (even though it's free floating) such as in bench presses, overhead press, or just about any other pressing exercise.
Dumbbell pullovers
The dumbbell pullover is a relatively simple exercise with the potential to expand the rib cage structure largely by stretching the intercostal cartilages and the intercostal muscles and expanding the thickness of the serratus anterior. It's a wonderful exercise for this purpose because it activates the fibers deep in the serratus anterior muscle while also recruiting the intercostal muscles under a stretching load.
1. Lie across a bench, with your torso 90 degrees to the long axis of a flat bench. Your shoulders and upper back should be in contact with the bench, but your middle and lower back should not touch the bench. Your feet should be placed flat and firmly on the floor about shoulder-width apart. Your hips should be lowered to be approximately in the same plane as your shoulder joint. Your neck and head should just hang over the bench.
2. Form a diamond between the thumbs and fingers of each hand (one hand completes one-half of the diamond). Your palms will face the ceiling, and the thumbs of your hands should touch each other, with one index finger making contact with the other. Pick up a dumbbell (or have a partner hand you a dumbbell) and position the inside plates of one end of a dumbbell so it's flat against the palms of your hands. The shaft of the dumbbell sits in the "diamond" created by your fingers.
3. Start with the dumbbell balanced against your palms, and your arms 90 degrees to your upper body, as if you had just finished pushing up a barbell in a bench press. Your elbows should be just slightly bent so they're only about 10-12 degrees from being straight.
4. Slowly lower the weight backward over your head (shoulder flexion) and then behind your neck so the weight travels in an arc from over your eyes toward the floor. Stop the descent of the dumbbell when the upper arm (not the dumbbell) forms a straight line through the shoulder to the armpit. In the lowest position, your triceps should be in the same plane as your nose. Inhale deeply when you lower the weight.
5. Don't change the elbow angle throughout the exercise and especially when you lower the weight. Otherwise, you'll turn it into a triceps exercise. If you feel excessive fatigue in your triceps during the exercise, it's likely because you're extending and flexing your elbow as you are lower and raise the weight.
6. From this position, slowly raise the weight in an arc back over your chest to the starting position. Hold your breath during the raising of the weight, then forcefully exhale near the top of the movement when the weight is over your chest. Exhaling on the upward or downward portion of the lift will not maximally activate the intercostal muscles, and it will also de-stabilize the rib cage and interfere with muscle effectiveness during the lift. Exhaling too early will decrease the intrathoracic pressure and chest stability, and this can make the lift more difficult. However, persons with known cardiac problems or high blood pressure should not hold their breath during any part of the exercise.
Important Info
The serratus anterior muscle is strongly activated and stretched as the arms are being lowered toward the floor. Stretching the serratus anterior and the intercostal muscles provides a good stimulus for invoking muscle hypertrophy. The intercostal fibers and costal cartilages will be maximally stretched by the deep inspiration. The lower fibers of the pectoralis major, the latissimus dorsi and teres major muscles of the back, are contracted in this exercise particularly during the upward movement of the dumbbell, as the scapula is retracted (shoulder blades come closer together).
Therefore, this is a great exercise with which to finish your chest or back workout. The dumbbell pullover is best suited for moderate to light weights with a high range of motion. If you have good shoulder flexibility, you may wish to lower the weight slightly more than a position with the arms parallel to the floor, but do so with caution and never attempt to go lower than you are capable of with a heavy weight. That only invites injury!
Some shoulder stretching is recommended before beginning this exercise even if it's your final exercise. Injury-free shoulders that are ready to go through the full range of motion will permit the dumbbell pullover to expand your chest frame. With this new frame, your mammoth chest is not far away, because you are building your new chest structure one rep at a time.
References
Agur, AMR and MJ Lee. "Grants Atlas of Anatomy". Tenth Edition. Philadelphia. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins 1999, pp. 442-453.
Aliverti A, Iandelli I, Duranti R, Cala SJ, Kayser B, Kelly S, Misuri G, Pedotti A, Scano G, Sliwinski P, Yan S and Macklem PT. Respiratory muscle dynamics and control during exercise with externally imposed expiratory flow limitation. J Appl Physiol 92: 1953-1963, 2002.
Bull ML, Freitas V, Vitti M and Rosa GJ. Electromyographic validation of the trapezius and serratus anterior muscles in frontal-lateral cross, dumbbells exercises. Electromyogr Clin Neurophysiol 42: 31-38, 2002.
Cappello M and De Troyer A. On the respiratory function of the ribs. J Appl Physiol 92: 1642-1646, 2002.
Decker MJ; Hintermeister RA; Faber KJ; Hawkins RJ .Serratus anterior muscle activity during selected rehabilitation exercises. Am J Sports Med 1999 27: 784-91.
Moore, K.L. and A.F. Dalley II. Clinically oriented Anatomy. Fourth Edition. Baltimore, Lippincott Williams & Williams, 1999, pp. 690-697.
Moseley JB, Jr., Jobe FW, Pink M, Perry J and Tibone J. EMG analysis of the scapular muscles during a shoulder rehabilitation program. Am J Sports Med 20: 128-134, 1992.
Wilson TA, Legrand A, Gevenois PA and De Troyer A. Respiratory effects of the external and internal intercostal muscles in humans. J Physiol 530: 319-330, 2001.
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