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The training payoff:With strong pecs, you look great in tight t-shirts. You

also need strong chest muscles for sports like tennis, golf, and football.

Special tips:For women — it’s important to understand that your pecs are

not your breasts; in fact they reside directly underneath your breast tissue.

However, toning your pecs can lift your breasts and make them appear firmer.

For men — don’t become obsessed with bench pressing to the point of

excluding all other exercises. Men with overdeveloped chest muscles and

wimpy legs resemble hard-boiled eggs on toothpicks. Besides, doing too

much chest work sets you up for shoulder injuries.

Our favorite exercises:Bench press, dumbbell fly, push-up, and incline

dumbbell press

Arms ..............................................................................................................

Take a survey of today’s TV stars, fashion models, and music artists, and you

can see that firm arm muscles are in style. Even department-store man-

nequins now have toned arms. Be sure to give your front and rear arm mus-

cles equal time; if one of these muscle groups is disproportionately stronger

than the other, you’re at greater risk for elbow injuries.

Pectoralis

Major

Pectoralis

Minor

Figure 12-6:

You work

your

pectorals

when you

do chest

exercises.

180 Part IV: Lift and Curl: Building a Stronger Bod with Weights