Using these chest stretches, both static and dynamic, that you can complete throughout the day, you’ll ensure your body is primed for perfect pressing performance. Your trainer, Zane Hadzick is a NASM certified trainer, Bodybuilding.com and NutraBio athlete.
Time is precious and it’s hard enough to find enough of it to devote to exercise, let alone limber up before your workouts. So to make sure you’re über productive at the grind and you can use your time at work to ready your joints, mind and muscles throughout the day.
Chest stretches – why you should incorporate them into your day
You won’t bust a sweat into your work threads, but will improve your muscles’ ability to perform when they need to. If you train at lunchtime or after work, you’ve probably been sitting all day behind a desk or steering wheel, which is not that ideal path to prepare yourself for exertion.
What follows is a routine of stretches you can do while you’re at work that are specifically geared towards improving your chest workout. They’ll stretch all the connective tissues you’ll need to max out your bench press or instigate a deeper burn when you’re repping out those flyes. Every exercise will benefit and there are dynamic stretches you can do moments before you leave the office and begin your workout.
This way you can make the most of your time, prime muscles, and decrease your odds of injury. The big kicker is that you’ll get paid to do it, because it’s on company time – your boss need never know.
Static Stretches – increasing range of motion
When?
Two hours before your chest workout.
Doing static stretches immediately before a workout has actually been show to decrease performance, found a paper in Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. This means it’s essential that you do these while sitting at your desk a few hours before your training. Hold each of these exercises for 30 seconds each.
Beware – don’t overdo it, no matter how amped you are. Gradually work your way into the stretches. It’s easy to get carried away and move too quickly into the stretching position, which can be bad news for a tight muscle. Remember that you’ve been crammed at your desk so you are tight.
1) The chest opener
Why? You’ll help to pull and reset muscle bers that may have developed small knots.
A) Place your hand(s) on the frame of door or on your workspace wall.
B) Move your body forward while keeping the arms in place until
you feel the stretch in your chest. The placement of your hand
can be repositioned to target different areas of the chest.
2) Hold on tight
Why? This will open your shoulders and chest up to help you lower the weights deeper in exercises.
A) Reach your hands behind your back and interlock your ngers. You can put your hands behind the back of your chair if you’re seated.
B) Drop your shoulder blades down and pull them back while simultaneously lifting your chest up until you feel the stretch.
3) Stretch builder
Why? While you may not be directly training your triceps, you still want to stretch them as they are worked in many chest exercises, and you don’t want them to be the limiting factor when targeting your chest.
A) Reach one arm up and bend your elbow to position your hand in the middle of your back.
B) Raise your other arm to grab the elbow and pull to feel the stretch.
4) Rise and shine shoulders
Why? Getting the blood ow and mobility back into your supportive muscles will help you smash that chest workout.
A) Raise both arms above your head with your palms facing up.
B) Interlock the ngers and reach until you feel the shoulder stretch. If you’re embarrassed to get caught stretching at your desk, just throw in a fake yawn.
5) Seated shoulder stretch
Why? This allows more exibility in your shoulders, which will improve your range of motion. You don’t want limited mobility or tightness to hinder chest gains.
A) Relax your shoulders. Extend one arm so there is no bend in your elbow and bring it across your chest.
B) Use your opposing arm to grasp and pull the elbow of the extended arm until you feel the stretch.
6) The show and go
Why? This is challenging, but very effective. If you can’t do it right away, no worries, just keep at it! Make sure you don’t overexert yourself to perform the stretch; don’t injure yourself warming up.
A) Pick up one arm over your hand, bend at the elbow, and reach behind your back.
B) Grasp fingers or hands together and hold the stretch.
Dynamic chest stretches
When?
5-10 minutes before your workout.
All three of the arm and chest stretches or movements below will bolster flexibility, increase blood flow, decrease fatigue and warm you up for your chest workout so you can make the most of your time and efforts!
Additionally, unlike static stretching, dynamic stretching can be incorporated into your pre-workout routine without risking strength and power loss.
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