The existence of "upper pecs"

[Cuts]

O.k. so I was in the gym today looking in the mirror trying hard to find any flaws in my physique ... it took me a while but I noticed that by delts don't tie in with my "upper pecs" too well.

1) Is there really such a thing as "upper pecs"?

2) Is there a specific routine and/or movement(s) to help develop these lagging areas?

From high school gym I know that "incline bench is for you upper pecs" and "decline is for your lower pecs" but I always thought of this as somewhat hokey.

Any upper pec experts out there? Thanks. Karma for all who participate...

 

[casualbb]

1) Yes. The pectoralis major is separated into 2 parts: sternal and clavicular heads. The Sternal one is the "lower and mid" chest. It attaches along the length of the sternum. The clavicular head attaches along the inner part of the collarbone.

2) Any regular pec exercise used on an incline will stimulate the upper a bit more. At the same time, though, both upper and lower chest have significant activation in BOTH flat and incline bench, so don't kill yourself doing tons of sets of both.

I do one set of each w/DBs and that has my upper chest doing just fine.

-casualbb

 

[michaelcoutts]

yes the area you are talking about is the pectoral head that connects to the collerbone rather than the arm.

Ive always thought that incline bench presss or dummbell press isolated this area enough.

 

[skaman607]

doesn't it have something to do with your serratus, and by the way, what is a serratus?

 

[makedah]

serratus anterior

 

[Cuts]

Hmmm... so y'all seem to subscribe to this whole incline works the upper pecs theory huh? O.k. I'll give it a try for a while... see what happens.

Cool link to the Serratus muscle by the way. As an aside, the Serratus is also known as the "boxer's muscles."

Cuts has delivered you Karma.

 

[WarriorPL]

I don't feel that incline is enough for me. I lack growth in my entire chest.

 

[Cuts]

I don't feel that incline is enough for me. I lack growth in my entire chest.

Hey bro... are you the same WizKid that used to have the negative (the same editing effect on my avatar) avatar of you sitting with your arms crossed and a hat on backwards? And if so who's this new dude in your avatar now?

About the lagging chest... a friend of mine has the same problem so he (against my and everyone else's advice) starting spot shooting Winny into various areas of his pecs. They grew. Now I don't know how much of this can be accounted for by a placebo effect and just that fact that he was hitting them harder, but grow they did.

Of course, if one were to consider doing this, I wouldn't advise using anything longer than a 3/4" pin, and certainly stay away from the left parasternal area, otherwise the only muscle growing may be your heart !

 

[Rich_S]

Hmmm... so y'all seem to subscribe to this whole incline works the upper pecs theory huh? O.k. I'll give it a try for a while... see what happens.

Personally, I don't think that inclines work the upper chest any more than flat bench presses. All they seem to do is shift a good deal of the load from the pecs to the anterior delts.

 

[Cuts]

Personally, I don't think that inclines work the upper chest any more than flat bench presses. All they seem to do is shift a good deal of the load from the pecs to the anterior delts.

AHA! That is exactly what I've always felt. Logically though, since the anterior delts and "upper pecs" are in physical proximity to each other, I guess it would make sense that they both get stimulted more with increasing bench angles.