Working your chest just got a lot more appealing. Despite the myth that lifting weights for your upper body will make you bulk up in an unfeminine way, you can rest assured that weight training is highly beneficial, both for your looks and your health. When it comes to knowing whether lifting weights will help you get a firm chest, the answer is a definite "yes."
Strength Training
Strength training is essential for your health. It not only increases your lean muscle mass, it also raises your metabolism and can reverse the signs and symptoms of arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, back pain, depression and a variety of other conditions. When combined with a healthy diet and cardio exercise, it can also help you shed pounds and shape you from head to toe -- including your chest.
Firming Your Chest
Your chest is made up of muscles called pectorals, or pecs for short. Whenever you target these muscles with weights or machines at your gym, you break down the muscle fibers. Then, when you finish your workout, your body starts to rebuild them stronger than before, so they can handle the challenge next time. This creates strong, firm muscles that can be revealed as you shed fat through your overall healthy lifestyle combining cardio with healthy eating.
Talking Tatas
While it’s one thing to strengthen the pec muscles, it’s quite another to reshape your breasts. Since the breasts aren’t muscles, no amount of weight lifting will change their shape. While you can firm your chest muscles with strength training, you can’t firm breast tissue. If you want to change the shape of your breasts, you’ll have to change your diet and focus on total-body weight loss. If you eat less than you expend, you'll shed fat from head to toe and shrink your "girls" in the process.
Release Your Fears
If you’re scared to lift weights because you think it will make you flat-chested, relax. Female bodybuilders and fitness competitors achieve their shape through strenuous dieting and fat-cutting. As a woman, you naturally don’t have enough testosterone to develop a man-like chest, so go ahead and lift with freedom. If you find that your breasts are getting smaller, it’s the result of total weight loss, not the weight training specifically.
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Writer Bio
After graduating from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in sports information, Jill Lee served for 10 years as a magazine editor for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). Also a published author, Lee now works as a professional writer and editor focusing on fitness, sports and careers.