Many individuals want to have huge chest muscles but they do not know the best upper chest workout routine to perform. You can only achieve a huge upper chest by carrying out the proper exercise. In this article, we would be identifying the different kinds of upper chest workout exercises that can be done and how to execute them.
The upper chest workout is the workout that is solely meant for training the upper most part of the chest. To execute this workout, you have to do all the lifts on an inclined bench instead of doing it on a flat bench. When you notice that you are much weaker in the upper chest than the other parts of the chest, you should do a much lighter weight. It is important to ensure that you engage in safe workout when lifting heavy weights. You could stretch before a workout so as to be sure you are getting the correct supply of water and oxygen. Stretching is also important after the training in order to relax the muscles from being too tightly packed.
The chest muscles consist of the pectoralis major and below the pectoralis major is the pectoralis minor. The former- pectoralis major is the large muscle which has two parts: the upper portion which is also referred to as the clavicular head and the lower portion which is the sterna head. The chest muscles are for moving the arms up and down. The chest muscles also help with adduction, flexion and rotation.
Lovers of bodybuilding cherish the chest exercise so much because that is usually the part of the body men want to develop first. Those who execute this chest workout do not perform it properly most times as they focus on the lower chest muscles leaving the upper chest out. This is the exact problem with chest exercises. For you to achieve the awesome, well-shaped upper body that you long for, you must perform the correct upper chest workout. Upper chest workout requires plenty effort as gym equipments are required because the muscles are hard to reach.
Below is a list of the chest exercises you can do to get big chest workout:
- Bench Press
- Cable Crossover
- Flat Machine Press
- Incline Flies
- Stretching
BENCH PRESS: This is one of the chest workouts that are commonly practiced by many bodybuilders that help to broaden one’s chest muscles and enhance its mass. There is a particular type of bench press that focuses more on the upper chest it is the incline Barbell/Dumbbell Bench Press. This chest workout also helps to strengthen one’s chest muscles.
How to do this: for great results, you have to
Take the bar/dumbbells down to your upper chest.
Set the inclination of the bench from 30 to 45 degree angle, this is because if you position the bench at a higher angle, it means there will be more pressure on your shoulders than your chest.
CABLE CROSSOVER: This type of chest workout is one that is done in the gym because of the equipment required for the exercises. The main aim of this exercise is to ensure enough pump is going in your chest.
How to do this: When executing this exercise,
You have to grasp the cables while bending your arms slightly.
When you are sure that it has been firmly gripped with good balance, pull the handles down until you are sure they are resting in front on your mid–section.
FLAT MACHINE PRESS: this is another type of upper chest workout. You can use any rep range for this workout. Here, balancing weights or getting anything into position should be the last thing to worry about. You can do about 2-3 hard sets of 12-15 reps.
INCLINE FLIES: the incline chest exercise is one that works on the whole upper chest muscle group. Other exercises under the incline flies are dumbbells and weight lifting bench just like the bench press, but it is usually done in a different way from the bench press.
How to do this:
Place your arms on the sides and then lift your arms slowly until the dumbbells become close to each other at the maximum height.
When the dumbbells are together, tighten your upper muscles and release them gradually and lower your arms back down.
STRETCHING: after you must have done the above exercises, wrap it up by stretching your chest. It will help your chest muscles to recover on time. Stretching as well helps the fascia which is around the muscle, and it makes it easy for new tissues to grow quickly
When you have access to the gym, make sure to make good use of your time and execute those exercises well. If you execute these exercises properly with determination, you will get good results and a solid, huge and attractive chest muscles that you wish for.
Upper chest workouts at home with dumbbells
For those who are just executing the upper chest workout for the first time, it is important that you start with less exercises, do not put so much pressure yet so as to develop a good posture and technique as well. The following are exercises that should be done by beginners:
- 3×10 Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
- 3×10 Wide Grip Incline Barbell Bench Press
- 3×10 Incline Dumbbell Fly’s
If you execute the above upper chest workout exercises, your upper chest will be accorded a great balance of strength and mass. When carrying out the exercises here, it is important to warm up and train light so that you can focus on getting the right lifting techniques.
RECOMMENDED UPPER CHEST WORKOUT FOR INTERMEDIATES
As a beginner, once you are able to easily carry out the above exercises recommended without stress, you should move on to being better. The next stage is that of being an intermediate. Here, an extra exercise will be added which will be performed between sets. The rep range will be lowered and the weights will be increased just so that more mass will be added to the upper chest. They include:
- 3×10,9,8 Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
- 3×10,9,8 Wide Grip Incline Bench Press
- 3×10,9,8 Incline Dumbbell Fly’s – this should be followed by incline press ups
RECOMMENDED UPPER CHEST WORKOUT FOR ADVANCED BODYBUILDERS
When you realize that the first two sections becomes very easy, you should try to advance the exercise, by putting in extreme growth by increasing weights and the overall number of sets. Exercises to be executed here are:
- 3×10,9,8 Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
- 3×10,8,7,6 Wide Grip Incline Bench Press
- 3×15,10,8,6 Incline Dumbbell Fly’s – this should be followed by incline press ups
TIPS TO ACHIEVE THE BEST UPPER CHEST WORKOUT RESULTS
- Do not allow your body to adapt to a particular kind of exercise routine so as to have a sustained body growth.
- To achieve this, vary your exercises, workout days, rep speed. Note that rep ranges periodically
- Make sure you have a day that your workouts activities will be an increased light weight workout up to 4 to 6 weeks, this means that you should take out some days for light trainings. So as to allow the body repair from any minor injuries and improve results.
It is important that while training your chest, you should be sure to have excellent upper chest workout to complement the look of your pecs. The upper pec is the weakest of all the pecs and this makes it the most difficult area to build. During chest training, the upper chest does less work than other part of the chest. Guys usually prefers working on the lower chest in the gym, because it makes them look strong when carrying heavy weight, since the lower chest workout allows you to do heavy weight, and the lower chest workout is stronger than doing the flat bench press. As a result of more concentration of guys on the lower chest, their pecs then become un-proportioned. To achieve very nice and huge chest, you have to stop doing lower chest workout and concentrate on the upper chest.
To work out your upper pecs, you have to use the incline bench in place of the flat bench. Note that, the higher the incline of the bench, the greater it will build the muscle of your pecs. This same method is applicable to the lower chest, the greater the decline, the higher it will build the lower chest muscles. Make sure to train your upper chest often with the same proportion as you train on the flat bench. There are some kinds of workout that should start on the flat bench and some with the upper portion of the pectoralis major. Dumbbells are usually recommended for the incline bench press workouts because people usually have pain in their shoulders when doing the incline bench press and some feel uncomfortable.
BEST CHEST WORKOUTS WITHOUT WEIGHTS
Here are a list of exercises that you will do to work out the upper chest and the lower chest just so that you don’t concentrate on one particular area, so as to get a full broad look and not droopy look that can be gotten from placing too much pressure on` the lower muscles without working out the lower chest.
PUSH UPS: the push up exercise is a good upper body workout and it hits almost all the upper body muscle groups. For chest workout, the standard push up is perfect. However, if you want something different and a more challenging workout, you can try the following:
- Decline push ups
- Chest Fly push ups combos
- Clap Push ups
- Box Pushups
From the aforementioned push ups, you can pick one and modify it in different ways to make it more focused on the chest. Just make sure you change it up regularly.
PULL UPS WORKOUT
Pull ups are great workouts for general muscle building and toning. They are meant to work on your chest, lats and shoulders as well as working on your back and abs all at once. They all work hand in hand to help form a V-shape torso. Pull ups can as well provide you with a great deal of strength and stability all through your upper body. Pull ups are always done anywhere you can hang yourself from. You can use the beams in your home, a sturdy one though. Pull up bars in your doorways, playground equipments are also alternatives. You can add some special exercises for intensive work out on targeted muscle groups.
SWIMMING: swimming cannot really be classified as a major chest exercise but it is also part of it. Study has it that every swimming stroke helps to work out the chest. Swimming for about 30 minutes once or twice in a week can replace some of your chest workout routine. Rowing is also said to be a good choice for the complete body work out which helps the chest.
BENEFITS OF CHEST EXERCISES
We are all know strength exercises have benefits, some of which are: improved heart health, reduced fat, boosted flexibility, controlled blood sugar levels and mobility. These training benefits are not enough to convince women into doing regular chest exercises. There are other benefits that chest exercises offer asides the aforementioned. The following are some:
- ENHANCED BREATHING: Chest exercises helps strengthen and lengthen your chest muscles which as well helps to achieve a good and deeper breathing. This is so because the pecs are attached to your ribs, and it expands with every breath.
- IMPROVED POSTURE: The pectoralis is the largest muscles in your upper body and it helps play a major role in maintaining good posture. As for your back and shoulder muscles, the pectoralis helps to stabilize the shoulder joint.
- BREAST SUPPORT: Many people do belief doing chest exercises will make their breast smaller, but doing pectoralis will do the opposite making the breast fuller and firm. Building muscles around the breast tissue will help provide additional support and lift to the breast. This is something women will love, but are not aware of.
