Rib Cage Expansion... Yuk...

majsi98 · Oct 19, 2009

The other day I was looking at some old pictures which were taken by Ellington Darden, he was talking about Rib Cage Expansion, which back in the day was something hugely sought kinda like the vacuum...

I was totally disgusted by the way they blew their ribcage out.. I mean they looked like a frickking greyhound... I also think having a huge ribcage will detract alot from your front latspread...but that 's just me....

jm425 · Oct 19, 2009

Whoa. Is that for real? Looks photoshopped.

Michaelthomasj · Oct 20, 2009

that looks pretty retarded

617ricky · Oct 20, 2009

I'm not sure I totally get it.. What do you mean by "blew their rib cage out" - is this something they practiced doing with breathing exercises? Cuz to me it either looks 'shopped or something that could only be obtained by some type of bizarre surgical procedure..

majsi98 · Oct 20, 2009

I can assure you that those pics are authentic... I know some old bodybuilders who competed in the 60's and I saw similar black and white photos....

below is the link to the photos ... and some more..

TMUSCLE.com | Ribcage Expansion: Fact or Fiction?

Big Dave Smith · Oct 20, 2009

Vacuum poses in the front double bicep and right before you hit an ab thigh (vacuum for a second, then slam down on your ab thigh pose) look cool and I try to do them myself.

Side chest shots and some of those pics look really fucked up.

majsi98 · Oct 20, 2009

Yes I do agree that a vacuum pose is cool but the rib cage thrust that ELlington demonstrates is a bit messed up!

russian-bodybuilder · Oct 20, 2009

Better than GH gut, imho....

Holstein · Oct 20, 2009

wow

That looks unhealthy. It looks like he has all his intestines in his rib cage...that must be uncomfortable.

H

Flex2019 · Oct 20, 2009

I think it was Arnold who used to advocate heavy pullovers across a bench while holding a deep breath of air in order to expand the ribcage and give the chest a bigger look. After performing these, your ribcage can be a bit sore for a few days from the stretching of connective tissue. I've never seen any pics quite like the first one posted though, that's a bit extreme.

Nate.184 · Oct 20, 2009

why was that a sought after look? i have no clue!

mule · Oct 21, 2009

Nate.184 said:
why was that a sought after look? i have no clue!

because it makes your chest bigger, ellington darden looks pretty good here

**broken link removed**

majsi98 · Oct 21, 2009

Isn' t that one Draper?

mule · Oct 21, 2009

majsi98 said:
Isn' t that one Draper?

no that one is darden, he is just a bit older ther. he built himself up well with pullovers and those breathing squats. he was a good bodybuilder most people do not even know that. in the younger photo he had just not built up his pecs yet, his ribcage was already quite expanded but then his just was still a work in progress. as he got older it got to the point in that later picture

do his program for expansion, your chest will look better. almost no one does pullovers and they are an exercise that will totally change the way your upper body looks. all the guys for the 60, and 70s did them. take a look at arnolds and sege nubrets side chest in similar picture to the one in the article you will see it has the same look, they did pullovers and from teh front it looks awesome just like darden in that picture i posted, and learning how to flex you chest in pullovers will help you in your pressing and flying as well,