Chest expansions is a resistance exercise that has been gaining popularity in recent years. There are several benefits to building muscles in the chest, beyond aesthetics. The following article aims to explore chest expansion and its many advantages.
What Exactly Is Chest Expansion?
Also known as strandpulling, this is an exercise that is performed using a special piece of equipment known as a chest expander—a group of cables with handles on both ends, that provide resistance when pulled. Originally, this equipment was used solely for chest expansion but nowadays, the best chest expander can be used to perform a variety of other exercises that target other major muscle groups such as those in the legs and arms.
What Advantages Can One Expect From Performing Chest Expansion Exercises?
Most people go to the gym with a specific goal in mind. The majority will tell you they started working out to “get fit” or to “get in shape”. But those are very vague goals that often lead to frustration and burn out. For a more directed approach to working out, it’s best to have specific goals that you can achieve through exercises that you already know will help you achieve them. Here are the advantages of chest expansion exercise that you may want to consider:
Better Respiration
Naturally, as your chest houses your lungs, expanding it will allow you to take deeper breaths more easily. Improving your respiration is good for your health in a number of different ways, whereby it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, improves mood, fitness levels, and even helps in weight loss.
Improved Posture
Most of us walk around with bad posture without ever knowing it. Chest expansion is able to reduce pain in your shoulders (due to bad posture), and stretch out your chest and neck muscles. Over time, this exercise helps people reverse rounded shoulder posture as well. Once you get into the habit of performing this exercise, weak muscles in your shoulder and upper backs will grow stronger, which in turn helps you stand up straight. Some people even consider this as a way of getting taller—it’s the opposite of what happens in old age, whereby people appear shorter due to weak and truncated muscles causing a hunched back posture.
Helps Improve Your Balance
Lastly, there is also a significant impact on your lower body (abdominals, pelvic muscles, glutes, hamstrings). By working these muscles, you will find an improvement in balance which can help reduce the risk of injury due to falls. Adding stability to your core also helps strengthen the area in general.
Summary
Chest expansions may seem like a simple exercise, and it is often overlooked completely. However, as we’ve highlighted above, there are many benefits to performing this exercise that can help you achieve your fitness goals in general. It’s also an easy exercise to perform at home because chest expanders are a relatively small piece of equipment that can be easily stored at home. There are a variety of different models, based on the resistance provided by the cables, so go ahead and get one and start expanding your chest.