Familiarize yourself with muscles in the body (Part 1)

Dec 04, 2022 News

Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – Exercise for a lot of folks simply means getting up in the morning to practise a routine they believe fits their schedule, or, hitting the gym later in the day to boost muscle strength.

While both activities are quite fine, it is important that we familiarize ourselves with the various muscle groups and the correct way to target them during exercise, as this helps to make what we do more effective. This week, we’ll learn about the muscles in the chest and back.

Chest muscles

The pectoral muscles

I will start with the muscles in the chest. The main muscle group of the chest is called ‘pectorals’. It is also commonly called ‘pecs’ for short sometimes. These muscles are full of thick muscle fibres and add size to the upper body. The chest muscles are divided into two parts: The pectoral is major and pectoral is minor. They provide support when you hold objects in front of your body and they are activated when you reach across your body. The pecs are activated in many everyday movements, mainly at the shoulder joint. For instance, when you grab a seat belt or comb your hair on the opposite side.

There are various exercises that you can do to exercise this part of your body, as I have shared in previous articles.

The Back Muscles

The back muscle is the most complex major muscular structure in the entire body, as it is a perfect combination of multiple muscles working in harmony and complementing each other in various physical activities. There are essentially five muscle groups present in the back, and they are:

Latissimus Dorsi

Latissimus Dorsi muscles

This is a large, flat muscle on the back that stretches to the sides, behind the arm, and is partly covered by the trapezius on the back near the midline. It is sometimes called ‘lats’ or ‘wings”. The lats facilitate the body in pulling movements and it complements the arms in pursuing various physical activities like pulling something into your body, or when you take something down from a shelf above your head. Also, they are heavily involved in many swimming movements.

Rhomboid

The rhomboids are located in the upper back. They are underneath the trap muscles and not visible from outside. They originate from the spinal cord and merge into the scapular bone. These muscles can’t be seen but they play a vital role in strengthening the scapulae and all the back movements.

Trapezius

Trapezius muscles

Also known as, the traps, these muscles are located between the shoulders and the neck. The traps can further be classified into three divisions- the upper traps, middle traps, and the lower traps, with the lower traps extending as low as the lower back. The traps control the scapulae or the shoulder blades and play an important role in shrugging and neck movements. They are used to tilt and turn the head and neck and shrug the shoulders. They also provide support when you lift items over your head.

Teres Muscle

Teres muscles

This muscle lies underneath the ‘lats’. It works with the lats as well as the rotator cuffs. Exercises like the single arm lat pull-downs and pullovers target this muscle directly. Compound exercises like deadlifts, shoulder presses, and rows also target this muscle.

Erector spinae

Erector spinae

The erector spinae or spinal erectors is a set of muscles that straighten and rotate the back. They are actually deep muscles that help to extend the spine and are essential in maintaining good posture. They are also important when bending forward, and sideways.

Multifidus muscles

The Multifidus muscles

Another important back muscle is the Multifidus. Its function is to stabilize the vertebral column by providing stiffness and support.

The best exercises for this are the squat and dead-lifts using progressive overload, which covers all the muscles in the back. In fact, Multifidus are very important in helping to prevent back pain.