Excersise for outer chest

[TheStromba]

I am having a hard time with my outer chest. The part that starts right from your armpit to the nipple.

My upper and middle chest are comming along fine, the outer is just being stubborn. any sugesstions ?

Thanks

 

[WarriorPL]

Widen your flat and incline bench grips.
Also some very heavy cable crossovers from above too.

 

[casualbb]

For the last time, guys, you can't work your "inner" or "outer" chest. Or your "upper" or "lower" bicep.

Basically, any muscle has two insertion points. It contracts to bring those points closer together. Between those points, the muscle tissue is continuous. Trying to work one part of a muscle fiber is like trying to pull a rubber band so that only half of it stretches: it just doesn't happen. When you lift a load that load is experienced throughout the entire muscle fiber.

So all you can do to improve your outer chest is to grow your overall chest.

A REALLY common application of the above error: ABS! Everybody always says, "crunches for upper, leg lifts for lower." Baloney. Those are the same fibers. It's like a rope: whether you tug on one end or the other makes no difference. Case in point: I converted my 6-pack to an 8 doing only weighted crunches.

-casualbb

 

[DrBones]

CasuallBB : I always thought the same for chest... until I went and read this at WannaBeBig forums... take a peak

Since most people here seem uneducated in basic anatomy, here is some information that should lay the inner/outer, upper/lower chest debate to rest.

"Wide grip benches can be wonderful for lateral pectoral mass but they will do very little for the medial fibers, because these fibers barely shorten at all when benching." Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D.

Basically, the length of the fibers of the pectoral muscles are such that they need to be brought through the full ROM for the inner myofilaments to contract (you need to bring your elbow to the midline of your body). Since motor units fire in succesion, and no morer motor units than necessary are recruited to 'make a lift', the inner fibers remain fairly un-called upon when performing regular benches (or even close-grip benches) because of the final position of the elbow. This is one reason that full ROM is important.

"Unfortunately there are still a few folks who mistakenly think that all the fibers in a muscle are recruited equally and optimally by just about any compound exercise around. Studies using electromyographic activity, however, clearly show that selective recruitment and mechanical contribution of region within a muscle are very real and very possible." Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D.

"The pectoralis muscle has two heads. The clavicular head has an attachment on the anterior surface of the clavicle. The sternocostal head has an attachment site on the manubrium, the upper six costal cartileges and from the tendinous-like portion of the superior part of the external oblique muscle." (Adapted from Anatomy - A regional atlas of the human body by Clemente.)

And finally about inclines for upper chest mass:

"Because the fibers in the two heads run to the humerus at the shoulder joint from very different angles (and even the fiber trajectories differ considerably from superior to inferior along the sterno costal head) this permits varying degrees and levels of activation that are dependent in part on the shoulder angle whe the chest is exercised." Stephen E. Alway, Ph.D.

Thus endeth today's anatomy lesson.


There you go.. I took it from WBB... I didnt just write it myself.. lol

 

[louden_swain]

Bench Presses and Parallel Dips.

 

[Jxaxsxe530]

i was about to say. casualbb made a good point, but for some reason i'm not totally convinced. my best friend and i had very similar build and stats when we first started working out 4, 5 years ago. he always uses a medium grip when benching while i always use a very wide grip. my outter and upper chest puts his to shame, considering when we started out i think his outter chest was better than mine. now i know this probably has more to do with genetics than grip length but i'm a little curious. i have suggested him using wider grip to see what would happen but he doesn't buy into it, but ah well.

 

[casualbb]

Since motor units fire in succesion, and no morer motor units than necessary are recruited to 'make a lift',

That is true, but when you start having loads near 85% of one's 1RM all the fibers are firing anyway. So, first of all, if not all of the fibers are firing you're probably using a pretty low weight that may not even be productive.

Also, even though EMG activity may not indicate shortening or lengthening, the fibers are still under tension, creating a growth stimulus.

Note: EMG studies aren't the end-all of neural activation. It has been noticed several times in the past that the relationship between EMG activation and maximum muscular force varied during studies that used periods of training. So there are more neural phenomena at work here than simply motor unit activation.

-casualbb

 

[DrBones]

CasuallBB: I just posted that because I read it over on WBB earlier yesterday... I'm still not too sure what my personal beliefs are... I tend to just try to pack on overall mass like you said to do and let genetics decide where it lies... just wanted to put a spin on the conversation..

That is true, but when you start having loads near 85% of one's 1RM all the fibers are firing anyway. So, first of all, if not all of the fibers are firing you're probably using a pretty low weight that may not even be productive.

Thats a very good point

Note: EMG studies aren't the end-all of neural activation. It has been noticed several times in the past that the relationship between EMG activation and maximum muscular force varied during studies that used periods of training. So there are more neural phenomena at work here than simply motor unit activation.

I've actually read that somewhere as well... and at first was a little hesitant to believe what I read... however....It did seem kind of convincing...

 

[casualbb]

just wanted to put a spin on the conversation..

I appreciate it
It made me research and learn more.

-casualbb

 

[gymtime]

I mention this on a lot of chest threads, but as with "inner chest," bringing out the "outer chest" is as much a matter of fat loss than training, if not moreso. I've found that to be the real problem in most people who are dissatisfied with how their chests look.