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

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Top 3 Upper Body Exercises

ByRex F Wheeler

The upper body is the main point of focus for many fitness enthusiasts. It can be argued that the lower body (legs, glutes, calves) is just as important and worth an equal amount of focus, however, at the beach, everyone is checking out your upper body! So we will check out the . These are exercises that give you the most 'bang for your buck' and form a solid foundation that you can build upon with other supplementary isolation exercises.

Remember that these are just ideas. This is just a guide and if you have found other exercises to work better for you, then that's awesome. I have written this with the total novice in mind. Three years ago I was in exactly the same position and I would have been utterly grateful to have a guide like this.

1. Benchpress - Yes, the classic bench-press is one of the best upper body exercises known to man. It is a compound exercise that not only works on the chest but on multiple muscle groups. It also has multiple variations that enable one to target different sections of these muscles. It can be performed on an incline, a flat bench and a decline bench which work the top, middle and lower parts of the chest respectively. Other muscles targeted as the front deltoids and the triceps.

2. Bent Over Row - The bent over row is an exercise I am not particularly fond of. It's fairly dangerous especially if you don't know what you are doing. However, the ROI is too great to be ignored. The evidence is clear to see; 6 time Mr Olympia Dorian Yates credited this incredible exercise with his freakish back development. Just Google "Dorian Yates back". The bent over row is an excellent latissimus dorsi exercise. It also works on the biceps, traps, rear deltoids and the rhomboids. If the weight is sufficiently heavy, it can double as an effective forearm exercise.

3. Military Press - Last but not least is the excellent military press. Others refer to it as the overhead press. It can be performed standing or seated - whatever your preference. When performed standing with a fairly heavy weight, it can serve as an excellent workout for the erector spinae muscles which are responsible for that deep ridge that goes all the way down your back (median furrow). The military press is primarily a shoulder and trapezius muscle exercise. It works on the medial deltoids and the traps. Other muscles worked are the neck, the triceps and the lats.

We have purposely excluded the abdominals from this simply because they do not require much focus. That's not to say you must ignore them totally but simply lowering your body fat will reveal a set of abs. If then you are not happy with the size of the depth, you can perform some exercises to bring them out more. With that said, why not get down the gym and give these exercises a go? What are you waiting for?

For more top upper body and latissimus dorsi exercises check out our muscle building website.

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Build Upper Body Strength

ByMarcos Prado Contreras

The upper body is often the first place that benefits can be seen after a few weeks of a fitness program.

There are plenty of exercises to work on the arms, chest and back ranging from the easy to the very difficult.

Routines using weights and dumbbells

Picking the right weight: Start these exercises only after you have warmed up and stretched your muscles. Start with light weights of 1.5 to 2kgs for men and 1kg for women if you are a beginner. You can increase the intensity of exercise and weights as you progress. As a guideline, use 10 to 20% of the maximum weight you can lift in each exercise configuration.

Build up weight method: All building exercise routines should be done in a pyramid method. Start with a low weight of 10 to 20% your maximum lifting weight. Medium level is between 25 and 40% of maximum lifting weigh and High is 45 to 75% of maximum lifting weight. As you get used to the routines you will find the right weight mix for you.

Using weights: The lower weights tone your muscles and pushing towards the high weight mark will build and grow the muscles your are targeting. Both go hand in hand you should never go to high weight directly when strength training for body building.

Body Muscles

In order to , there are some muscles involves:

BACK

Trapezius

This is a large triangular shaped muscle that runs from the centre of your back up to the neck, running across your shoulder blade. Working the trapezius will help to sculpt the back of your shoulders.

Rhomboids

These are small muscles in the centre of your back, running up to just below the base of your neck. Working the rhomboids will help to hold your shoulders back and maintain good posture.

SHOULDER

Deltoids

These muscles wrap right around the top of your shoulders. They are split into three areas - the front/anterior deltoid, the side/lateral deltoid, and the rear/posterior deltoid. It is these that give your shoulders their versatility and great range of movement. Toning these will help to give a more defined silhouette

Rotator Cuff (Rotators)

Four small muscles beneath your shoulder that help to hold your arm in place. Firming and strengthening here helps to pull in your underarm.

CHEST

Pectorals

These are two large, flat muscles that run across the surface of your chest. The benefit of working the pectorals is somewhat different for men and women. For men, exercising these muscles will increase chest size and definition. For women, these are the muscles underlying and providing support for the bust, so toning them will help to lift the bust.

ARM

Biceps

The muscles at the front of your upper arm. You use these when you bend your arm or pick things up. These are the ones you flex when showing someone how big (or small) the muscles in your arms are. Toning these will give shape and definition to your upper arm.

Triceps

These are situated at the back of your upper arms. They oppose the biceps, and come into play when you straighten your arm or push something. Toning your triceps will help to get rid of the flabby bit that hangs down when you hold your arm out.

Forearm Muscles

These are the muscles that run from your wrist to your elbow, and there are quite a lot of them lurking under there! Working and building these will help that overall toned look on your arms.

The Movements

In the most simple and basic sense, your body can really only do some movements. It can push and pull horizontally, push and pull vertically, flex at the elbow, and extend at the elbow.

To you need a proper workout routine that target 6 different movement patterns and/or muscle groups. Here they are:

•Horizontal Push: It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight out in front of you so that it's traveling away from your torso horizontally. For example, most chest exercises (like the bench press) fit into this category.

•Horizontal Pull: It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight in towards your torso horizontally from straight out in front of you. For example, most back rowing exercises (like bent over barbell/dumbbell rows) fit into this category.

•Vertical Push:It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight up vertically in relation to your torso so that it goes straight over head (or at least in that direction). For example, most shoulder exercises (like the overhead press) fit into this category.

•Vertical Pull: It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight down vertically in relation to your torso so that you're pulling down from overhead. For example, most back pulling exercises (like pull-ups/lat pull-downs) fit into this category.

•Elbow Flexion:It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight towards you by flexing at the elbow. For example, most biceps curling exercises (like barbell/dumbbell curls) fit into this category.

•Elbow Extension: It is any weight training exercise that involves moving a weight away from you by extending at the elbow. For example, most triceps extension exercises (like cable press downs/laying barbell extensions) fit into this category.

Sample Workout Routine

1.Bench Press

2.Seated Cable Rows

3.Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press

4.Lat Pull-Downs

5.Laying Barbell Extensions

6.Barbell Curls

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