Anatomy of the human body - musculus pectoralis major / large pectoral muscle

Often we see that an article mentions a muscle, but not every reader knows what muscle it is. Based on this, we have decided to create a series of articles in which we will discuss the basic anatomy of the human body and introduce the muscles in more detail. Among other things, we will also show you which exercises to use to exercise a given muscle part correctly and, conversely, which exercises to avoid. The first two parts we decided to devote to perhaps the most famous muscles of all - triceps and biceps. After that, we followed the front pilovita muscle and in the fourth part we target the large pectoral muscle!

Article content:

• Basic exercises for the large pectoral muscle
• What to avoid when exercising the large pectoral muscle

The bulkiest of the pectoral muscles is the pectoralis major. This muscle also forms the superficial layer of the pectoral muscles. Strengthening it is therefore essential if you want to achieve a large bulky chest.

The large pectoral muscle is further divided into 3 parts: upper, middle and lower. It is divided because the function (and therefore strengthening) of each part is slightly different.

• The middle and lower part of the pectoral muscle is involved in adduction (adduction) and internal rotation of the arm. The upper part then assists in forearm extension.
• Top of the muscle: The collarbone, sternum and sheath of the rectus abdominis muscle
• Tendon of the muscle: The large bump of the humerus

This muscle is also important due to its function as an accessory respiratory muscle. This happens in all conditions that interfere with the breathing process, such as many lung diseases like asthma, bronchitis, bronchiolitis, obstructive and restrictive lung diseases.

Basic exercises for the pectoralis major muscle:

Push-ups with one arm

Bench stretching

Push-ups on bars

• More exercises for developing pectoral muscles can be found in our section - Exercise Database

What to avoid when exercising the large pectoral muscle:

This is what we asked our supertrainer again.

It is important to remember that the pectoral muscle is not only about bench press. It has more than one part, especially the upper part, which is much neglected by most exercisers - the chest looks flat. In addition, most people don't know how to bench press properly and find single arm exercises more beneficial.

Sources: image - Kenhub.com, Anatomy of the Body and Movement (Theodore Dimon)