chest exercises?

[Need2Gain]

hey guys, im trying to build up my upper/center chest cuz i used to do a lot of wide grip bench and the outter lower part is starting to grow bigger than the top. im going to use a much smaller grip on flat and incline but what other exercises are good to focus on this part of my chest? thanks

 

[louden_swain]

I use only incline barbell presses to build my chest. I got rid of the bench press years ago and since then I have developed a good chest. I think inclines are superior for overall pectoral development.

Always and I mean always start with incline barbell presses. Here is a good routine that will help you target the shallow portion of the upper chest.

Incline Barbell Presses (30 degrees) - 4 x 12,8,5,5
Incline DB Flyes (15-30 degrees) - 2 x 8-10
Parallel Weighted Dips - 2 x 8-10

Tips:

Let the bar come down and touch 2 inches below your collar bone.
make sure the ass and shoulder blades are planted into the bench.

 

[gymtime]

Your chest is growing that way not because of the way you bench, but because that is how it is shaped. There is little if anything you can do about it.

 

[Rich_S]

Your chest is growing that way not because of the way you bench, but because that is how it is shaped. There is little if anything you can do about it.

Yup I just got done arguing that point over on another board. People were claiming you can do this exercise for inner chest, that exercise for outer chest, this exercise for biceps peak, that exercise for biceps fullness, etc. I told them they were all full of shit and you can't target individual muscle fibers or shape a muscle. And the punks flamed me for that.

 

[PolishHammer1977]

Heavy Incline Presses
Heavy Incline Dumbells

 

[gymtime]

Yup I just got done arguing that point over on another board. People were claiming you can do this exercise for inner chest, that exercise for outer chest, this exercise for biceps peak, that exercise for biceps fullness, etc. I told them they were all full of shit and you can't target individual muscle fibers or shape a muscle. And the punks flamed me for that.

Same argument's been done to death here as well. It's not the first time it has come up, and most certainly won't be the last. Oh well.

 

[Need2Gain]

well, how wide or how narrow your grip makes a difference, i notice it while in the gym...since i started doing a close grip and got rid of the wide grip altogether, the other part of my chest is pumped up more at the time. other than that there prob isnt any special exercise for certain parts. its just range of motion

 

[killa in manila]

my chest exploded with this routine:
bench press:
3 warm up sets and 4 work sets(reverse pyramids)
superseted with flyes

then incline bench super set with incline flyes.
(also reverse pyramids)4 sets and go heavy on both75-80% of 1rm

 

[epimetheus]

Same argument's been done to death here as well. It's not the first time it has come up, and most certainly won't be the last. Oh well.

I have seen compelling arguments from both sides actually.

Pavel Tsatsouline for example says in his book Beyon Sretching: pages 33-34

On discussing partial reps-(for those with injuries preventing them from full reps)

Don't worry that you will not be able to develop "full muscle" with partials.

Although changing the exercise range or angle may alter the recruitment pattern, it is not going to develop some areas of the muscle more or less than others, thanks to noncontiguous innervation.

Each motor nerve controls its own group of muscle fibers called a motor unit. The constituent fibers are equally spread out throughout the muscle, rather than being concentrated in it's "peak" or "sweep" or any other part. So even if you manage to recruit a different moter unit, its fibers will still be all over the muscle.

Conclusion: it is impossible to change the shape of a muscle. A muscle is like a balloon- it will look different if you blow it up, but the inherent shape is still there. So do partials, and don't sweat it.

That does not mean though, that you cannot change the shape of a body part. You can- by focusing on different muscle groups, and individual muscles within a muscle group. For example, emphasizing the short head of the biceps makes it peaked, and overdeveloping the long head gives the biceps a more stretched look. But I will save that for another book.

Now the chest only has two heads, but I would think it is possible that in some people the Clavicular head is much larger than others and causing more hypertrophy thus develping the chest differently. So I would say my opinion is that it is partially genetics and partially training.

 

[Rich_S]

For example, emphasizing the short head of the biceps makes it peaked, and overdeveloping the long head gives the biceps a more stretched look. But I will save that for another book.

I disagree. Biceps peak has little to do with the size of the short head versus the long head. It has everything to do with the relative length of the muscle (both heads) to the tendons.

Now the chest only has two heads, but I would think it is possible that in some people the Clavicular head is much larger than others and causing more hypertrophy thus develping the chest differently. So I would say my opinion is that it is partially genetics and partially training.

That's debatable. But the inner chest versus outer chest is a whole 'nother story.