bodybuilding, bench press/press up?

[TomTom]

Hi,

Does anyone know what is best for 'toning' chest muscles? Am I right in thinking that bench pressing will 'bulk' the chest, and press ups will 'tone'? I have been bench presing for about a year, and I swear I have developed a little bit of breast tissue behind my nipples. Weird? Can exercise cause this?

I want to just tone my chest, I dont want it to grow really, what is best? Any answers much appreciated.

cheers,Tom.

[fantastical]

Toning can be achieved with "more reps, less weight." Bulking is "less reps, more weight."

Increasing your heart rate prior to working out is also a factor. Doing a cardio- workout before lifting will increase you heart rate and help with the "toning" objective. Increasing your heart rate prior to lifting really doesn't help matters for "bulking," I think.

And then of course "diet" matters for the toning vs bulking debate. Not real clear on this, but diets high in carbs are better for bulking, and diets high in protein are better for toning.

[fantastical]

whoops, I forgot a huge factor...direction and style of movement in the exercised muscle. You wanna fully tone, and you lift from different angles...different positions on the bench and so on.

[Impret-Sir]

The idea that 'toning' and 'bulking' of muscles are somehow different processes, and need different exercises to achieve them is old hat. To make a muscle grow you feed it and exercise it, (or to put it simply, make it do work over and above what it is used to doing) then you rest it to allow it to grow, then you repeat the cycle. 'Toned' muscle is simply muscle that has been made to grow a smaller amount than 'bulked' muscle. As you perform your exercises, your muscles will become toned, then if you carry on increasing your effort they will actually start to get bigger and stronger. If you only want to firm up any muscle the action required is the same as for building (or bulking) it. High reps with low weights or the oposite will have exactly the same effect. Without dietry supliments, and a serious weight training program for some time you will not end up with bulging, 'Arny like' pecs. So, bench press and push ups are good, I would warm up with the latter, two sets of ten reps is fine for starters, then bench press to actually do the exercise. Use as heavy a weight as you can comfortably manage for about 8 to 10 reps, with the last 2 being a bit more difficult. Do at least three sets like this per work out. Warm down with some more gentle push ups. As a final point, it is wise to work on 'toning' your whole muscleature and building cardio vascular fitness too, not just concentrating on one muscle group. To answer your other question, exercise can not make a man develop true breast tissue, but lack of it can encourage laying down of fatty tissue over your pectoralis muscle, giving the dreaded 'man-boob' effect!

[inky]

hi after bein in the same position nd wantin to impress da girls quikly i found that by doing as many crunches as i can  really helps..............sit on the floor, straight back, bring ur knees 2wards you, keepin back straight and legs parallel, then push ur  legs straight and fall ur back dwn till u r lyin straight, do as many of them as u can!
gud luk

[fantastical]

"bulking" is not "toning" and "toning" is not "bulking." there are different ways to achieve each...different workout plans. it's not as simple as you make it out to seem.