You will find that chest exercises are one of the most frequent exercises performed down the gym and are very important if you are trying to get rid of your man boobs. The chest muscles basically are made up of two muscles which lie on top of the ribs on the chest wall. The smaller muscle, of the two, that lies close to the chest wall is called the pectoralis minor while the bigger muscle that lies on top of the smaller muscle and which gives the chest its size and appearance is called the pectoralis major.

Many people consider a big muscular chest a sign of masculinity and is one of the main muscle groups in the body. These muscles provide a lot of strength and are important in providing upper body strength for most sporting disciplines.

Many chest workouts not only focus on the chest wall but also work the triceps muscles at the back of the arms as well as the shoulder muscles. Therefore, doing a chest workout will develop the overall shape and size of the upper body.

Stretching exercises to warm up are vital before doing any of these exercises. Light aerobic work such as rowing on a machine is a good choice. This is a particularly good exercise because it will stretch the muscles of the upper body and also increase the heart rate and increase the flow of blood to the muscles, getting them ready for a workout.

One of the most simple yet effective exercises for the chest is the push up. To start with, lis face down on the floor and place your hands about shoulder width apart. Then, keeping your toes on the ground and body straight, slowly lift yourself up. When you reach the top you can then, again slowly, lower yourself down and then repeat the whole process over again.

At first, for some people, this exercise might be a little difficult and so you can keep your knees in contact with the floor rather than the knees. One of the important aspects of this exercise is to lower yourself down slowly so that you continue to exercise those important muscle groups. As you improve, one way to ,make this exercise more difficult is to move your hands slightly wider than shoulder width.

A common and great exercise, often seen at the gym, is the bench press. It is very important to have someone present, like a training partner, to help you with the weight. You basically have to lie on your back with a barbel in your hands stretched out at arms length. When doing this for the first time it is advisable to use a light weight. You then lower the barbel down to the chest wall slowly until it reaches the chest and then do not stop but smoothly and again slowly start to push it back upwards, until your arms are again in the outstretched position.

It is vital to not perform any jerky movements or bounce the weights off the chest wall. Doing around three sets of about eight repetitions once to twice a week will soon develop your chest muscles and you will quickly notice a difference.

Whether you are trying to get rid of those man boobs or embarking on a bodybuilding program these are two great exercises to start out with.