# Exercises to hit the upper inner chest?



## Livebig14 (May 26, 2011)

Hey guys.  Just wondering what exercises you guys do to develop the upper inner chest?  My chest has good development everywhere except for the upper inner part.


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## gt55yw (May 26, 2011)

I do chest flies on a machine, like a reverse rear deltoid (back of shoulders, I believe).

At least for me, it's not so much finding an exercise to hit that part of the body, but flexing and tightening and straining that part of the body to stimulate growth. Which is what I do, focus on form and just KILL my inner chest. It's usually the last thing I do on my chest days.


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## ihateschoolmt (May 26, 2011)

http://www.ironmagazineforums.com/training/41879-isolating-upper-middle-lower-pecs-chest.html


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## Livebig14 (May 26, 2011)

thanks guys.


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## Diesel618 (May 26, 2011)

at the end of each set of flies I like to push my hands together at the top of the movement (no dumbell) and just hold it for an isometric contraction for about 10-15 seconds. I feel that in the inner chest top to bottom but I'm sure if you set the bench to an incline you'd get the upper part more involved


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## trapzilla (May 26, 2011)

Regardless of what others says I still feel you can target an area more than another my 2 favourites for upper/inner chest are underhand crossovers and incline smith machine presses


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## ANIMALHAUS (May 26, 2011)

Take this... (press machine)






and this... (EZ curl-cable bar)





Place it inbetween the parallel handles on the machine.
place your hands in the CLOSE GRIP position and push.  

Don't worry, the grips on the machines handles will stick just fine with the bar, and it will rock your inner chest

(only works if your gym has the handles that look similar to the ones in the photo)


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## ihateschoolmt (May 26, 2011)

Muscle fibers either contract or they do not. There is no partial contraction and the muscle fibers in the "inner chest" go all the way to your shoulder. Inner chest development suggests you are growing a muscle fiber unevenly on one side, that just logically can't happen. At least in the upper lower argument the whole fiber is suppose to be growing.


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## suppRatings (May 26, 2011)

incline dumbell press for the win


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## Gazhole (May 26, 2011)

ihateschoolmt said:


> Muscle fibers either contract or they do not. There is no partial contraction and the muscle fibers in the "inner chest" go all the way to your shoulder. Inner chest development suggests you are growing a muscle fiber unevenly on one side, that just logically can't happen. At least in the upper lower argument the whole fiber is suppose to be growing.


 
This +1.

If your "upper inner" chest isn't as pronounced as you'd like you just need to put on more muscle. Your genetics have given you a certain muscle shape, theres not much you can do about it besides grow and see how your shape reveals itself!


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## ponyboy (May 26, 2011)

Gazhole said:


> This +1.
> 
> If your "upper inner" chest isn't as pronounced as you'd like you just need to put on more muscle. Your genetics have given you a certain muscle shape, theres not much you can do about it besides grow and see how your shape reveals itself!



This +2.  

Genetics are a bitch, but your origins and insertions don't change no matter what you lift or at what angle.  

It's like when people say they want to train their inner or outer bicep.  It just doesn't exist.  Different angles put different types of force through a joint, which is what muscles move - but it doesn't develop any differently even if it FEELS different.  That feeling is just the different type of force that your joint isn't used to (which can be a very bad thing actually).


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## Livebig14 (May 26, 2011)

thanks guys great info.  Ill try the exercises you guys suggested and see if it helps


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## bwrag (May 26, 2011)

I have been doing some neck presses on a flat bench pointer finger around power ring and _I can see a diffrence_


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## Diesel618 (May 26, 2011)

there actually is an inner and outer bicep. That's why it's called a BIcep


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## trapzilla (May 26, 2011)

Until there is concrete proof that what we say is incorrect I will continue you train based upon it.

If i bench wider my outer chest grows more, if i switch closer my middle chest grows, if i go decline my lower chest grows.

if I vary my foot position my quads grow differantly, this I know to be 100% true in my case.


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## Hench (May 26, 2011)




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## Livebig14 (May 26, 2011)

Hench said:


>


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## ponyboy (May 27, 2011)

Diesel618 said:


> there actually is an inner and outer bicep. That's why it's called a BIcep



If you mean there is one on top and one underneath, I agree.  If you mean there is one closer to your body on the inside of your arm and one on the outside further away then feel free to show me an anatomy picture of said muscle with a split in the middle.


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## triplstep (May 27, 2011)

Livebig14 said:


>





Hench said:


>


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## zoco (May 27, 2011)

don't overanalize!!!! Just do some incline press. Incline dumbbell would be a perfect solution.


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## Livebig14 (May 27, 2011)

zoco said:


> don't overanalize!!!! Just do some incline press. Incline dumbbell would be a perfect solution.


I do a lot of incline work already.  barbells and dumbells and a few machines


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## Livebig14 (May 27, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> If you mean there is one on top and one underneath, I agree.  If you mean there is one closer to your body on the inside of your arm and one on the outside further away then feel free to show me an anatomy picture of said muscle with a split in the middle.


He split it down the middle.  Check it out.

YouTube - ‪IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Johnnie Jackson split biceps peaks‬‏


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## zoco (May 27, 2011)

Livebig14 said:


> I do a lot of incline work already.  barbells and dumbells and a few machines



How much bodyfat do you carry? if you have less than 10-11% and still have weak upper chest, it's probably genetic.


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## Livebig14 (May 27, 2011)

zoco said:


> How much bodyfat do you carry? if you have less than 10-11% and still have weak upper chest, it's probably genetic.


fuck yeah im probably around 10% right now.  Ill just keep pressing hopefully it will grow!


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## Diesel618 (May 27, 2011)

play with your elbow angle when barbell pressing. I can get a totally different feel if I let my elbows flare out a bit as opposed to keeping them tucked in powerlifting style. Just a thought. Just concentrate on the mind muscle connection, you can feel how chest is firing


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## GMO (May 28, 2011)

It is true that genetics ultimately determine your weak points and problem areas, but to say that you cannot train a certain part of a muscle group is simply not true.  Take delts for example...if I only did rear dumbell flys, do you think my anterior delts would develop as quickly as the posterior?  I think not...

In the same way, to say that you cannot specifically target the upper chest to stimulate growth is ridiculous.


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## ponyboy (May 28, 2011)

GMO said:


> It is true that genetics ultimately determine your weak points and problem areas, but to say that you cannot train a certain part of a muscle group is simply not true.  Take delts for example...if I only did rear dumbell flys, do you think my anterior delts would develop as quickly as the posterior?  I think not...
> 
> In the same way, to say that you cannot specifically target the upper chest to stimulate growth is ridiculous.



Of course not - but that's not the same thing at all.  The rear delt and front delt are two different muscles with different origin and attachment points.  The pec major is one muscle with no divisions.  

What you just said is like saying leg curls will not target my quads.  Of course they won't.


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## wkeithjr (May 28, 2011)

?


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## ihateschoolmt (May 28, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> Of course not - but that's not the same thing at all.  The rear delt and front delt are two different muscles with different origin and attachment points.  The pec major is one muscle with no divisions.


Ya, we call the deltoid one muscle but it's really three separate things. The chest is two muscles, but the "upper" chest is the same muscle as the lower chest. That's like saying I can train my outer traps. How do you increase part of a muscle without the whole thing growing?


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## triplstep (May 28, 2011)

WTF Hench..... Now I'm never gonna be able to get coffee...... What are you some kind of coffee police, moderator wannabe. This is as sissy a move I've seen around here. Why don't you rep yourself -16924 for acting like a wench hench.

Hi, you have received -16924 reputation points from Hench.
Reputation was given for *this* post.

Comment:
you need 500 posts to drink coffee here.

Regards,
Hench


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## GMO (May 28, 2011)

ponyboy said:


> Of course not - but that's not the same thing at all.  The rear delt and front delt are two different muscles with different origin and attachment points.  The pec major is one muscle with no divisions.
> 
> What you just said is like saying leg curls will not target my quads.  Of course they won't.




I realize there are various schools of thought on this, but it comes down to muscle fiber stimulation.  If you concentrate on stimulating the fibers of the upper pectorals, they will grow.  I trained with competitive bb's in South Florida, and in btw their sets they would pose...look at where they needed further development and then train those area specifically.  And you know what...it worked.  They were able to make their bodies more symmetrical through site specific training.  I have seen it with my own eyes, so I am a believer...


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## Diesel618 (May 28, 2011)

I'm with GMO. If you can feel a certain region of a muscle taking more of the strain of a set, that means it's gonna be that much more stimulated for growth.


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## Merkaba (May 29, 2011)

There is no Upper Inner...and all of the discussion is trying to get to this point:  That if you don't know how to properly rotate through a press, you're not going to get full contraction. So changing angles eventually might have you getting a better contraction here or there.  Doing this or that or that other exercise, well eventually you might see better results because you're doing more work, or doing an exercise that allow YOU to get a better rotation and thus a better pec contraction.


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## Merkaba (May 29, 2011)

I'll give anybody a thousand fucking dollars if you tell me you've ever felt an exercise burn your upper chest more than the rest of your chest! Get a pump in your "Upper chest", fatigue your upper chest,..... or lower for that matter...when have you ever heard this?  When?  

  A thousand bucks....   crisp, in hundreds...big faces....come on.....




Ok I'm not really going to give you a thousand dollars but you get the damn point!


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## Merkaba (May 29, 2011)

GMO said:


> I realize there are various schools of thought on this, but it comes down to muscle fiber stimulation.  If you concentrate on stimulating the fibers of the upper pectorals, they will grow.  I trained with competitive bb's in South Florida, and in btw their sets they would pose...look at where they needed further development and then train those area specifically.  And you know what...it worked.  They were able to make their bodies more symmetrical through site specific training.  I have seen it with my own eyes, so I am a believer...



Why can't this be because they did more chest work?


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## Justinbro (May 29, 2011)

My favorite is close grip incline press right after I preexhaust with incline flies.


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## Mr.BTB (May 29, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> I'll give anybody a thousand fucking dollars if you tell me you've ever felt an exercise burn your upper chest more than the rest of your chest! Get a pump in your "Upper chest", fatigue your upper chest,..... or lower for that matter...when have you ever heard this? When?
> 
> A thousand bucks.... crisp, in hundreds...big faces....come on.....
> 
> ...


 
I agree bro.

Even Dorian Yates has said on one of his videos that there is no hitting upper lower etc, its all ONE.


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## ponyboy (May 30, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> There is no Upper Inner...and all of the discussion is trying to get to this point:  That if you don't know how to properly rotate through a press, you're not going to get full contraction. So changing angles eventually might have you getting a better contraction here or there.  Doing this or that or that other exercise, well eventually you might see better results because you're doing more work, or doing an exercise that allow YOU to get a better rotation and thus a better pec contraction.



Had a similar conversation about a month ago:  

"I'm seeing a big improvement in my chest since I started doing decline presses.  It is really bringing up my lower pec area."  

"Did you add in a bunch of sets?"

"Yah, now I end off each chest workout with 5 heavy sets of decline."  

"Do you think the added sets or the change in your program might have something to do with the fact you're improving?"

"No way man, I'm just focusing on my lower pecs and it's working!"


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## Gazhole (May 30, 2011)

You've been here a while like i have, Ponyboy. Does this whole argument piss you off as much as it pisses me off? We must have seen this same thread about 100 times over the years.


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## ponyboy (May 30, 2011)

Gazhole said:


> You've been here a while like i have, Ponyboy. Does this whole argument piss you off as much as it pisses me off? We must have seen this same thread about 100 times over the years.



Yeah but I took a three year hiatus.  Just getting back into it.  I'm waiting for the debate about hypertrophy vs hyperplasia that probably rolls around once a month or so.


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## ihateschoolmt (May 30, 2011)

Gazhole said:


> You've been here a while like i have, Ponyboy.


Damn I didn't realize how early you joined, I don't remember you at all from before I stopped posting, did you not post for a while when you joined?


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## Diesel618 (May 30, 2011)

Hold your hands together in front of you at an incline angle and at a flat bench angle. It's not the same contraction.


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## GMO (May 31, 2011)

Merkaba said:


> Why can't this be because they did more chest work?


 

Yes, I suppose that it could be...

And there have been times where the upper area of my pecs were more sore than the lower after heavy incline work. I have not however experienced a pump in only the upper portion. The pump is always throughout the entire muscle, so can I get $500????

I agree with you on this:



Merkaba said:


> That if you don't know how to properly rotate through a press, you're not going to get full contraction. So changing angles eventually might have you getting a better contraction here or there. Doing this or that or that other exercise, well eventually you might see better results because you're doing more work, or doing an exercise that allow YOU to get a better rotation and thus a better pec contraction.


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