Quality Exercises to Work Upper Chest

Choosing are important in overall physique development. Many trainees hammer away at flat bench presses and flyes, but wonder why their upper chest development falls short. Not only will diversifying your chest training lead to greater overall development, but it will increase your bench press fast! The following is a list of the best exercises to work upper chest.

Incline Barbell Bench Press - Almost every gym has an incline bench set up. Adjust the seat so that you can safely take the bar out of the rack without hitting the pins and position yourself under the bar. Take a grip slightly wider than your normal flat bench press grip. Now bring your shoulder blades together so that your chest is forced out high and your back is digging into the bench. Squeeze the bar tightly as you take it out and lower it in a straight line perpendicular to the ground. Since we are choosing exercises to work out upper chest instead of building overall strength, this needs to be looked at like more of an isolation movement. That means letting your elbows flare out to the side. With a wide grip and the elbows out to the side, this will almost look like a flye. The bar should touch high on your chest, somewhere around the collar-bone. Without bouncing, reverse directions. (WARNING! This technique is extremely effective at building a pigeon chest, but does position your shoulder joint in a delicate position. Any time your elbows are flared out way from the body the bar must be lowered SLOWLY and under control with a steady tempo. In contrast, any time heavy weight (85% 1 rep max and up) is being pressed with high intensity, your elbows must be tucked to the side. This is better for strength purposes, but hinders pectoral development slightly.)

Recommended - 5 sets of 10

Incline Dumbbell Press - Grip the dumbbells and walk over to the bench. As you sit down, position them so that they are standing straight up on your legs with your palms facing each other. Now lay back as you kick the dumbbells into position. I recommend taking a second to pin your shoulder blades together before you begin the set. Once you are tight, drive the dumbbells up in a straight line. Many trainees waste energy pressing them together. This means that as the weights are being pressed vertically, they must also travel horizontally to end up together. This wastes energy and does nothing to work out upper chest. Move the weight in a straight line perpendicular to the ground. I also like to play around with the grip. If you have shoulder issues, try pressing with palms facing each other or turned slightly out. Just like the barbell version, this is an accessory isolation exercise, so press with care. Lower slowly and keep a steady tempo.

Recommended - 5 sets of 15

Incline Dumbbell Flye - The weights don't need to get big on this. Grab a pair of light dumbbells to start out, and sit on an incline bench. Press the weights up so that the ends of the dumbbells are touching each other and your palms are faced away from you. Keeping a slight, constant bend in the elbows, allow the dumbbells to slowly lower away from each other in an arc. Lower them as far as you COMFORTABLY can. Don't tear a pectoral trying to get them to scrape against the ground. They should lower slowly, and return to the top just as slowly. The tempo should be 3-1-3-1, as in 3 seconds down, 1 second pause, 3 seconds up, 1 second pause. The grip can also be changed to a more traditional palms in flye, but I prefer the former. Do these correctly and your upper chest will be screaming.

Recommended - 5 sets of 20

Push Ups with Feet on the Bench - Kick your feet up on a bench and space your hands similar to your bench grip on the ground. Since we are still isolating, we want to focus on tempo again as opposed to speed or weight. Keep the elbows out to the side, lower slowly, pause, and return to the top, and pause again. You can do multiple sets to failure, or have a partner put a weight plate on your back. Either way, keep the reps over 20. If your shoulders or pectoral insertion bothers you at all, play it safe and tuck your elbows to the side. It's not as effective, but not enough of a difference to risk injury.

Recommended - 5 sets of 20