If you want to be able to target your inner chest then you need to understand a few principles first when it comes to chest workouts. You see, there is actually no such thing anatomically as an inner chest. Your pecs are just one big muscle called the pectoralis major. Lying underneath your pec major is your pec minor, but understand that this is not your upper chest. However there is good news that you can start using right away to start building up the inner part of your chestScience shows that you can specifically target a certain area of the muscle a lot more than other parts by using certain exercises and techniques. This doesnt just go for your chest, but all of your major muscle groups. This is cool news because if youre lagging in a certain area, you can target it and hit it hard to bring it up so you look more balanced with a shirt off.
So the purpose of this article is talk about different ways you can hit your inner chest with exercises, techniques and a certain workout.
The first thing you need to understand is that if youre trying to target your inner chest, you need to repeat this mantra stimulate, dont annihilate. Bodybuilding is all about working and targeting the muscle through different resistance training exercises. It is not power lifting where you have to lift the heaviest weight possible and you dont care how it happens. You need to stimulate the muscle and therefore need to focus extensively throughout the set.
For example, when most people hop on the bench press, they load up the bar and start pressing without even thinking. This is okay, but if youre trying to stimulate your pecs, then this is not the best option for you. For the majority of the movement, your triceps and shoulders will come into play to move the weight and not your chest. And if youre trying to stimulate your inner chest, then forget about it.
An easy way to hit the inner part of your chest is by focusing on squeezing the bar inwards with your hands on the bottom part of the movement and the pressing part of the exercise. What you are doing is actually taking the triceps out of the movement the most possible and placing a lot more stress on your pecs. This is perfect since we are stimulating the correct muscle during the entire concentric and eccentric portion of the lift.
Now instead of the bench press being your main movement, I prefer to use the Smith Machine especially if all you care about is hitting your pecs. The Smith Machine will allow you to set up at the necessary angle to perfectly target your inner chest and allow you to really focus on squeezing the living day lights out of the muscle throughout the whole movement.
Another neat little trick you can employ is to pre exhaust your inner chest before your main workout with machine flys. This will allow you to get a deep contraction and stretch throughout the entire movement. I want you to do 3 sets of 12 reps before your first main exercise squeezing at the top for a peak contraction on each repetition. By doing this and fatiguing your chest, you greatly enhance its recruitment in every other exercise that you do.
One last trick that you can do is taking a close grip on every type of barbell pressing exercise. By taking a close grip and holding the peak contraction at the top, you recruit the inner chest muscle fibers a lot more as compared to taking a medium or wide grip.
So for a perfect inner chest workout, you can warm up by doing 3 sets of 12 reps on the machine flys squeezing at the top for a peak contraction. From there, you can move on to a steep incline Smith Machine press where the bar comes down to your neck. This allows a deep contraction and extreme range of motion and stretch. The better range of motion and stretch at the bottom, the more muscle fibers you will recruit. Dont forget at the top of the movement to squeeze your chest inwards as well as the bar with your hands. Go for 4 sets of 10 repetitions.
The 2nd exercise that you can do is neutral grip flat dumbbell presses. I like the neutral grip because it takes the strain off of your shoulders and shearing force. Also at the top of the movement, its a lot easier to squeeze your pecs together almost like a dumbbell fly but with just heavier weights. Shoot for 3-4 sets of 8 repetitions.
The last exercise that you can do this workout is incline machine cable flys. So for this you are going to set up an incline bench in the middle of the cable machine station with the handles attached to the pulleys and positioned at the bottom. From there, grab each handle and lay back into the inclined bench. Keeping your elbows half bent the entire time, perform a basic fly movement and make believe you are hugging a big tree. At the top, straighten out your elbows and squeeze the living day lights out of your inner chest. Return to the starting position as low as you can comfortably go and repeat. Shoot for 3 sets of 12 reps.
All in all, this is a great inner chest workout if this is something that is lagging in your physique and you need to bring it up. Utilize the tips and tricks in this article and I guarantee your inner chest will start to grow.
So the purpose of this article is talk about different ways you can hit your inner chest with exercises, techniques and a certain workout.
The first thing you need to understand is that if youre trying to target your inner chest, you need to repeat this mantra stimulate, dont annihilate. Bodybuilding is all about working and targeting the muscle through different resistance training exercises. It is not power lifting where you have to lift the heaviest weight possible and you dont care how it happens. You need to stimulate the muscle and therefore need to focus extensively throughout the set.
For example, when most people hop on the bench press, they load up the bar and start pressing without even thinking. This is okay, but if youre trying to stimulate your pecs, then this is not the best option for you. For the majority of the movement, your triceps and shoulders will come into play to move the weight and not your chest. And if youre trying to stimulate your inner chest, then forget about it.
An easy way to hit the inner part of your chest is by focusing on squeezing the bar inwards with your hands on the bottom part of the movement and the pressing part of the exercise. What you are doing is actually taking the triceps out of the movement the most possible and placing a lot more stress on your pecs. This is perfect since we are stimulating the correct muscle during the entire concentric and eccentric portion of the lift.
Now instead of the bench press being your main movement, I prefer to use the Smith Machine especially if all you care about is hitting your pecs. The Smith Machine will allow you to set up at the necessary angle to perfectly target your inner chest and allow you to really focus on squeezing the living day lights out of the muscle throughout the whole movement.
Another neat little trick you can employ is to pre exhaust your inner chest before your main workout with machine flys. This will allow you to get a deep contraction and stretch throughout the entire movement. I want you to do 3 sets of 12 reps before your first main exercise squeezing at the top for a peak contraction on each repetition. By doing this and fatiguing your chest, you greatly enhance its recruitment in every other exercise that you do.
One last trick that you can do is taking a close grip on every type of barbell pressing exercise. By taking a close grip and holding the peak contraction at the top, you recruit the inner chest muscle fibers a lot more as compared to taking a medium or wide grip.
So for a perfect inner chest workout, you can warm up by doing 3 sets of 12 reps on the machine flys squeezing at the top for a peak contraction. From there, you can move on to a steep incline Smith Machine press where the bar comes down to your neck. This allows a deep contraction and extreme range of motion and stretch. The better range of motion and stretch at the bottom, the more muscle fibers you will recruit. Dont forget at the top of the movement to squeeze your chest inwards as well as the bar with your hands. Go for 4 sets of 10 repetitions.
The 2nd exercise that you can do is neutral grip flat dumbbell presses. I like the neutral grip because it takes the strain off of your shoulders and shearing force. Also at the top of the movement, its a lot easier to squeeze your pecs together almost like a dumbbell fly but with just heavier weights. Shoot for 3-4 sets of 8 repetitions.
The last exercise that you can do this workout is incline machine cable flys. So for this you are going to set up an incline bench in the middle of the cable machine station with the handles attached to the pulleys and positioned at the bottom. From there, grab each handle and lay back into the inclined bench. Keeping your elbows half bent the entire time, perform a basic fly movement and make believe you are hugging a big tree. At the top, straighten out your elbows and squeeze the living day lights out of your inner chest. Return to the starting position as low as you can comfortably go and repeat. Shoot for 3 sets of 12 reps.
All in all, this is a great inner chest workout if this is something that is lagging in your physique and you need to bring it up. Utilize the tips and tricks in this article and I guarantee your inner chest will start to grow.