Can Chest Exercises Increase Your Bust Size?
For many of us women, losing weight is a catch 22 — fitting into thinner pants boosts our confidence, but it may come at the cost of fitting in a smaller bra. If you’ve lost excess weight, congratulations! But keep reading, because today I’ll unveil the answer to one of fitness’ toughest questions — can chest exercises increase your bust size?
So, let’s begin!
You might not realize this, but chest exercises can do wonders for your bustline. They’re not going to change the size or shape of your breasts, but since your chest muscles help support your breasts, you can definitely give you chest a lift! Looks aside, a strong chest will give you a little extra oomph when you wash your car, mow the lawn, or push an overloaded shopping cart.
Muscle Basics:
Your largest chest muscle is your pectoralis major, underneath are the pectoralis minor and the serratus anterior. You use your pecs when ever you push or carry something. Strong pecs also come in hand when you have to support your body weight, such as when you’re on your hands and knees wiping up a spill on the kitchen floor.
My favorite chest-boosting exercise:
My favorite chest exercise is the push-up. I used to think pushups were for men only; after all, it seems no one expects women to be strong enough to do many of them. Most men have more upper-body strength than women, and yet routinely, I’ll be in class and see women crank out two sets of push ups with 12-15 reps! When you decide to focus on strengthening your chest, it’s natural to start out doing push-ups on your knees.
Here’s a perfect way to progress from knee push-ups to toe pushups:
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Begin in standard plank position with feet shoulder width apart and hands under shoulders.
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Lower your body toward the ground while maintaining plank posture.
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Drop your knees to the floor at the bottom of the move and do a knee push up
- At the top of the move, pop the knees off the floor back into a plank position.
You just might be amazed at the potential strength hiding in your chest! The lowering portion of the move will help you develop the needed strength to start performing toe push ups.
Use the technique above in the sequence below as you try the fat-burning, pec boosting up and down (see below).
Up & Down:
What it does:
- The jumping forward action involved in the Up & Down is a fantastic fat burner, while the squatting, lunging and push-up movements sculpt multiple muscles in both the upper and lower body.
How to do it:
- Squat down to rest both hands on the floor, similar to the Mountain Climber move. But instead of lunging one leg back behind you, jump both legs at the same time into a plank position.
- Return to standing, and reach up to the sky.
Beginners:
- Even though this is a dynamic, full-body movement that challenges both the legs and arms, focus on engaging the core throughout the exercise. Remember to use your lower abdominals to pull in the knees as you jump your legs forward again.
- Make sure you’re initiating the move from the core as you lift your hips up and hop both legs back to standing position
Advanced:
- For an additional challenge, add some propulsion: When you return to the standing position at the end of each Burpee, jump up in the air.
- You can also try adding a double push-up, performing two push-ups consecutively before jumping your legs back to standing.
