Monday, May 26, 2025

Rib-Cage Development - Vince Gironda

 
Freddy Ortiz




Even the thickest chest muscles cannot be impressive on a shallow foundation. Provide a full foundation for these and the overall effect will be spectacular. 

That foundation is your rib-cage, and just as you must perform bench presses and flyes to thicken the chest muscles, you must also perform various chest-expanding exercises to enlarge the rib-cage -- to give you great "inner" chest growth. 

Two such exercises are Parallel Dips and Barbell Pullovers. 

For parallel dips your hands must be spaced wide apart -- elbows wide apart -- chin on chest, back rounded and feet directly under your face. Now, relax the abdominal muscles to permit full expansion of the rib-cage. As you lower yourself to the maximum depth, inhale so as to obtain maximum breath as you reach the bottom of the dip. Even at best, bones and cartilage grow more slowly than muscle, so be patient with this exercise. 

This exercise as performed by most bodybuilders is, at best, a poor hi-triceps movement (elbows back and back arched). Take heed that the easy way is always the wrong way, because you fail to isolate and bring too many muscles into play. The hard way isolates as much as possible. 

The parallel dip, done correctly for the chest, calls for a double bounce or stretch at the bottom of the movement to get maximum stretch. At the same time, take short breaths and try to feel it way down in the bottom of your lungs. Also, try to relax the serratus muscles of the chest so that your rib-cage can flare out. Concentrate also on the rib attachments to the sternum and feel the pull on the way down. If you can learn to relax your chest enough, you should never need to add weight to your belt. As a matter of fact, you should take care not to injure yourself, as this exercise produces a tremendous pull on the sternum. Bones and cartilage change slower than muscle, so do not become overenthusiastic and try not to rush things. Just add this movement to your regular routine and take your time. 

Let us now look at the Barbell Pullover. 

The same relaxed chest area is desirable for this area. Lie on your back with head at the end of the bench. Now, draw your knees up and cross lower legs, knees pointing to the ceiling. Grasp a barbell so that hands are spaced about 12" apart, elbows slightly bent. Let the barbell travel back overhead and start to inhale when the bar is directly over the eyes. Continue to inhale until the bar reaches the lowest portion behind your head. As you start back upwards to over-eyes position, hold your breath until your hands are again over the face, then exhale and the movement is completed. 

The feet must be placed on top of the bench on which you are lying. This relaxes the abdominal muscles and serratus muscles and allows the rib-cage to expand. If you place the feet on the floor, you stretch the abdominal muscles more than the rib-cage making it impossible for the rib-cage to expand to its limit! 

Do as many sets and reps of each exercise to conform with your other exercises, each workout day -- and watch that rib-cage grow -- to help add inches to your chest. 


Enjoy Your Lifting! 

        



















 

2 comments:

  1. Fantastic article! I believe this was in one of his famous courses (Vince Gironda File, Vol.2).

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    Replies
    1. I too like this article by Vince but couldn't for the life of me find it in that book. No matter, that article stands alone on its own merit and I find that act inspiring. Go Article! You kin do it!

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