#1: Beach Muscles

Summer is upon us, which means that many of us our thinking about how to achieve that “beach-ready” look. For most, beach-ready is synonymous with either looking good shirtless or when wearing one’s bathing suit of choice; it’s not about having a wide back or tree trunk legs. So while I strongly recommend that people prioritize all muscle groups equally, I recognize that—at this time of year—muscles from the waist up take priority.

With that said, let’s discuss the major beach muscles.

Beach Muscles: An Overview

Building a beach body starts with understanding 1) the basic anatomy of beach muscles and 2) how best to train them. Below, I break down the five major beach muscles and explain the types of exercises that you can incorporate to most efficiently train these body parts.

Chest

The chest has two major muscle heads: the lower and upper pecs.

Lower Pecs: When most people think about the pecs, they think about the lower pecs. The lower pecs constitute a larger share of overall chest area and, when developed, create the most contrast with the rest of the torso.

Most of us have relatively more developed lower pecs because we start our training journeys with exercises that naturally target the lower chest: flat presses. Flat presses, such as barbell bench press, dumbbell press, or push-ups, place us parallel with the ground and have the resistance situated perpendicular to the lower pecs.

Upper Pecs: The upper pecs constitute a smaller share of overall chest muscle mass. In general, the upper chest accounts for the top quarter or third of the chest. As the chest becomes more developed, separation between the upper and lower pecs will become more visible.

For upper pec development, prioritize incline presses. Think barbell or dumbbell incline press, with the angle of the bench anywhere between 30-45 degrees. At this angle, the barbell and dumbbells will fall perpendicular to the upper pecs. At an angle exceeding 45 degrees, we risk shifting more weight to shoulders than to upper pecs. So if possible, stay within the 30-45 degree range.

Biceps

The bicep (“two heads”) is compromised of two muscle heads, the inner/short and outer/long.

Outer/Long Head: The long head of the bicep constitutes the majority of the bicep’s muscle mass. We can emphasize the outer head by keeping our elbows next to our torso when we curl. This elbow placement should feel familiar, as it is the default placement when we perform dumbbell curls. We can also target the outer head by maintaining a relatively narrow grip on straight- or EZ-bar curls.

Inner/Short Head: The inner head of the bicep typically gets less direct emphasis and is quicker to fatigue than its counterpart.

We can emphasize the inner head in one of two ways. We can either curl with 1) elbows placed in front of the body (e.g., preacher curl) or 2) a wide-grip hold on a straight bar. Both approaches reduce the ability of the long muscle head to engage, which requires the short head to work more.

Triceps

The tricep (“three heads”) is comprised of three muscle heads. As is the case with biceps, we can place a slightly greater emphasis on each of these heads by changing our elbow position.

The three elbow placements to keep in mind are:

1. Adjacent to torso: Think cable or rope push-downs with the elbows fixed at our sides. These are some of the most common tricep exercises that you will see performed in the gym.

2. In front of torso: Think skull crushers and close-grip bench press where the resistance is placed in front of the body

3. Overhead: Think dumbbell or rope extensions with the resistance overhead.

Shoulders

The shoulder are comprised of three major muscle heads: the front (anterior), side (lateral), and rear (posterior).

Front: Most of use will have relatively over-developed front shoulders because these muscles are recruited during pressing movements. That means the front shoulders get indirect work any time that we bench press or incline press.

For more direct anterior shoulder work, prioritize exercises such as front dumbbell raises or overhead presses.

Side/Lateral: Unlike the front and rear shoulders, which often get indirect work from pressing and pulling exercises, the lateral head does not get a significant amount of indirect work. As a result, the lateral head is often the most underdeveloped of the three.

When the lateral head is underdeveloped, we cannot achieve that rounded, “boulder shoulder” look. Instead, our shoulders simply look flat when viewed in profile. To target the lateral heads, perform lateral shoulder raises using either dumbbell or cables. When performing lateral raises, pretend that your shoulders are hinges; keep them firmly in place to ensure the they stay engaged during each rep.

Rear: The rear shoulder often get indirect work from pulling movements. I typically train rear shoulders on my Pull Days, which prioritize back and bicep work. The best isolation exercise for the rear shoulders is reverse flies, which can be performed with dumbbells or via machine.

Core

The core is a catch-all term for three muscle groups: the abdominal, the obliques, and the traverse.

Abdominals: Of the three core muscles, abs often get the most attention because they are symbols of overall health and fitness. To train the abdominals, prioritize crunching movements—movements that force the midsection to contract. Example exercises include crunches, hanging knees-to-chest, pike ups, etc.

Obliques: Well-developed obliques help frame the six pack. These muscles hug our sides and help us stay upright and prevent torso rotation.

Given these functional use cases, we can best train the obliques with anti-rotation movements. Think Russian twists, around-the-worlds, and side bends. We can also train the obliques by creating imbalances that pull our torsos to onside or the other. For example, single-arm farmer’s carries or weighted side planks.

Transverse: The transverse acts as our internal weight belt. It stabilizes the spine and keeps our core tight during major compound movements such as squats and deadlifts. We can train this muscle by increasing tension within our deep core. I call these “hold” movements. Think planks, farmer’s carries with weights in both arms, ab rollers, hollow holds, and leg lifts.

As you can see, getting into beach-ready shape requires a lot more than just bench press and curls. If we want our muscles to pop, then we should prioritize exercises that target all of the aforementioned muscle heads.

Happy training!