more chest , and female sparring .

i know the title sounds provocative but let me break it down . i want to build my chest muscles more so they're stronger and more defined . i don't use weights tho , unless they're dumbells under 10lbs . and my other question , how does everyone else spar with females because i find it difficult , i only go for the legs , arms , and back because i feel like i'll damage something hitting the torso . i use a lot of grapples with females also but they don't seem to appreciate not being beat like a man and go all out against me , esp with the crotch shots . how do i fix that ?.

 

If a lass can punch me on my boob then I sure as shootin can punch her on hers!!!!!

 

Why would you be punching anyones chest? A knockout pair of ......well that just means something else

 

Rare to get punched, though lapel grabs are often pretty close to the breast. I don't worry about it. What I do worry about is not getting a technique and when my partner knows what I did wrong but doesn't say anything; and also partners of same level who critique every movement so then I get so self conscious that I'm frozen from practicing.

Dumbbells below 10lbs will do nothing for your chest. I buy bags of oats (for porridge) that weigh as much and don't even consider it as a weight. Go to the weight training forum and start reading or body weight training if you've got something against weights

 

-- simon ; i know i have to build up other muscles too . those are building , i want to build up my chest more tho . and i have lost to some of them , like 3/10 . because of hesitation . but some are just plain good .

-- southpaw ; i think i have a little too much anxiety when it comes to women . i wouldn't want her to be on the breast cancer commercials because i would feel like i had something to do with it . and i go to a freestyle martial arts gym now , the girl i usually spar with does tae kwon do ( black belt ) and is a monster . and i usually use hwa rang do for females but if i throw a punch , its naturally going to the torso or face .


-- moi ; wing chun and boxing . a lot of chest shots .

 

If you want to build muscle you have to use weights especially ones heavier than 10lbs.

 

-- harukoraharu ; i do body weight training a lot . i've had two hernias tho and a possible one now so i don't do a lot of heavy lifting .

 

-- white panda ; i've made it this far without heavy weights , when i can do the handstand push-ups , then i'll feel like weights are a must .

 

-- simon ; elaborate on the age comment . and next time we spar , i'll see if i can loosen up . i just don't wanna be the jerk in the gym that beats the girls up .

 

bodyweight training can be harder than weights in some instances but I understand your problem now. i can only do 7 chinups and 5 dips, maybe 30 pushups before form is compromised. i don't know much about hernias so wouldn't like to give bad advice, though a few of the powerlifters at the gym I go to don't have particularly strong abs, I can beat them on several ab exercises but they can lift more than double what I can, so I wouldn't rule them out. Maybe the girls have more fast twitch muscle, it's not necessary as a guy to automatically have to beat all girls all the time btw

 

-- harukoraharu ; yeah , the 5,4,3,2,1 and the variations of plank are pretty tough . but i see that a lot too . my friend does karate and uses weights but isn't as swift . there are pros and cons everywhere . but a lot of the females at the gym are good , but once their weakness is hit they drop , almost literally .

 

-- simon ; i didn't take offense . i thought you we're going to say something about growth and development since you're older . and about the relaxing , i've had that before . kick to the face , it woke me up .

 

I'll give an answer to this point.

You have two goals: 1) stronger chest muscles, 2) more defined chest muscles. The reason I've broken it down like this is because you need to use different methods to achieve both goals.

1) To get stronger chest muscles, ideally you need to lift heavy weights. Sorry to have to tell you this, but your 10lb dumbbells aren't going to cut it. Your best method really is to use weights - bench and dips (working up to weighted dips when you're strong enough) being the ideal mass and strength builders. Floor press can serve as a reasonable substitute for bench if you don't have a physical bench. If you really don't want to use weights then you can still do something but it will be sub-optimal. There are many different ways of doing pressups to make them harder - you can do more and more reps, but that will only get you so far before you stop working strength and start working endurance. You can add difficulty to them by elevating the feet. You can make them harder by doing them more slowly. You can add weight to them by putting on a weighted vest or having a partner provide extra resistance for you, etc. There are also variants of pressups that are harder but as I'm not a bodyweight exercise expert you'll probably be better off googling for pressup variants yourself. Dips are also pretty easy to improvise if lack of equipment is your problem. Two stable chairs or the corner of a strong kitchen counter can sometimes be enough. Extra weight can be added by filling a backpack with anything - cans of beans, bottles of water etc.

Please also take note of Simon's point that you shouldn't neglect the opposing muscles. Be sure to include some kind of rowing motion to help maintain a balance between your pushing and pulling muscles.

2) To get a more defined chest you need to reduce the fat that is currently covering the chest muscles. Exercise won't do a thing for definition. The most efficient way to do that is to modify your diet such that you burn more fat than you store. I don't know what your current state of knowledge on nutrition is so I won't go into much detail here. Consider starting a thread in the nutrition section of the H&F forum if you want more details on that. However, I will just say that the simplest method for achieving that is to cut down on junk food and put yourself into a mild-moderate calorie deficit.

 

2 hernias at 15.
HOW?!?!!? WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO?!??!
my uncle was a marine, did body weight workouts and never got hernia till he was 40 cos he was lifting some obese guy in a stretcher (hes now a paramedic).

Still though. you need to build all your muscle groups, not just your chest, especially if you want to master handstand push ups.
listen to CF. lift weights. your friend who lifts weights isnt swift cos he isnt training for swiftness.

Also, why just focus on your chest?
i smell high school.