Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below
LOWER CHEST
- Thread starter ELOH
- Start date
Genetics decide whether you will have a good 'lower chest'. All you can do is make it bigger on a whole.
It's like when people say they have a lagging 'upper chest' and therefore do inclines to try and even it out. Although it may stress the upper portion of the chest more, it won't make growth occur in that place alone, or make more growth in that place as opposed to the lower portion.
There is no exercise that will make your 'lower chest' grow. It either grows or it doesn't. A muscle either contracts or doesn't.
Therefore a good chest workout would consist of pressing movements and a flye movement.
I suggest 2 sets of flat bench - because it is a superb overall exercise that uses alot of the upper bodys muscles.
2 sets of incline (or decline)- because these are the exercises that use the chest to a greater extent than on the flat bench where shoulders triceps and even lats play a larger role (not a larger role than the chest, but a larger role in comparison to their roles on the inclines or declines).
Now a choice: Dips or machine flyes.
Machine flyes are the best exercise for the chest because they are the closest to isolation that you can get. Machine flyes are superior to free weight flyes because there is constant tension kept of the pecs at all time. I suggest doing 2 sets.
If you opt for dips, i suggest you do them in tandem with inclines because they are a similar exercise to declines. Dips are like the 'upper body squat' if you will and you can place more emphasis on the chest if you learn forward slightly. Again i suggest doing 2 sets.
In total i wouldn't suggest doing more than 6 sets in total for the chest provoding you are taking every set to failure.
It's like when people say they have a lagging 'upper chest' and therefore do inclines to try and even it out. Although it may stress the upper portion of the chest more, it won't make growth occur in that place alone, or make more growth in that place as opposed to the lower portion.
There is no exercise that will make your 'lower chest' grow. It either grows or it doesn't. A muscle either contracts or doesn't.
Therefore a good chest workout would consist of pressing movements and a flye movement.
I suggest 2 sets of flat bench - because it is a superb overall exercise that uses alot of the upper bodys muscles.
2 sets of incline (or decline)- because these are the exercises that use the chest to a greater extent than on the flat bench where shoulders triceps and even lats play a larger role (not a larger role than the chest, but a larger role in comparison to their roles on the inclines or declines).
Now a choice: Dips or machine flyes.
Machine flyes are the best exercise for the chest because they are the closest to isolation that you can get. Machine flyes are superior to free weight flyes because there is constant tension kept of the pecs at all time. I suggest doing 2 sets.
If you opt for dips, i suggest you do them in tandem with inclines because they are a similar exercise to declines. Dips are like the 'upper body squat' if you will and you can place more emphasis on the chest if you learn forward slightly. Again i suggest doing 2 sets.
In total i wouldn't suggest doing more than 6 sets in total for the chest provoding you are taking every set to failure.
Chuck Diesel
New member
Damn, so you are saying that even if you work your ass off and kill your chest if your lower chest is lagging because of genetics that it will never grow?
ELOE, work on DIPS! They do work your entire chest, but the emphasis is definitely far from the upper portion. Try them leaning forward, like the post above suggests. Keep adding weight (either on a belt around the waist, or a dumbell between the legs). I don't know if what they're saying about not being able to specifically work the lower chest is true, but dips will do you some good anyway. Good luck.
This seems to be one of the oldest debates in muscle. To isolate or not to isolate. I know Dr. Squat says that it's impossible to change the stress of a movement and isolate different parts of a muscle group, but tens of thousands of bodybuilders seem to think that you can. Arnold said that his upper chest was weak so he did inclines first all of the time and, lo and behold, soon enough he could stand a glass on it when hitting a side chest shot. Ronnie says the same. Personally, I beleive whatever Arnold says so I'd say that you can isolate the muscle group. Arnold certainly had/has a better physique than Dr. Squat.
A great movement that hits the lower pecs is cable crossovers on the lower pulley. At the end of your chest workout grab the pulleys on the lower part of the machine and pull upwards trying to touch your hands together. This variation hits a very specific portion of the pec, actually the lower outer section giving your chest a more rounded or plate look. LOL
Cackerot69
New member
LOL, i guess not.
Robboe- As far as I knew, there WAS a clavicular head to the pectoralis muscle, which is actually a seperate muscle.
http://www.planetkc.com/exrx/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html
This IS worked harder by incline bench; as far as I know regular bench does not engage this muscle much at all. Of course, while looking at the pic on that site, try finding the lower pec, y'all.
http://www.planetkc.com/exrx/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html
This IS worked harder by incline bench; as far as I know regular bench does not engage this muscle much at all. Of course, while looking at the pic on that site, try finding the lower pec, y'all.
bignate73
New member
Originally posted by Belial:
Robboe- As far as I knew, there WAS a clavicular head to the pectoralis muscle, which is actually a seperate muscle.
http://www.planetkc.com/exrx/Muscles/PectoralisClavicular.html
This IS worked harder by incline bench; as far as I know regular bench does not engage this muscle much at all. Of course, while looking at the pic on that site, try finding the lower pec, y'all.
interesting news to me. i had never heard that the chest was seperated into 2 heads. i guess that would make sense to the origins(scapula and clavicle).
i always incorporate some sort of incline movement but rarely do any "decline" work.
DrSuperSaint
New member
Decline DB presses & flyes
------------------
------------------
HELP! MY ABS ARE ASYMMETRICAL!!! WHAT EXERCISE CAN I DO TO WORK MY UPPER RIGHT ABDOMINAL HEAD????? I WAS THINKING OF TWISTY CRUNCHES WHILE HOLDING A WEIGHT NEXT TO MY RIGHT EAR. I'M ALSO TAKING CELL-TECH AND NITRO-TECH!!!!
*sigh*
edit- making sure you all know that was a joke. I realize we're all so jaded right now that some people might not be entirely surprised if that was serious.
[This message has been edited by Belial (edited April 24, 2001).]
*sigh*
edit- making sure you all know that was a joke. I realize we're all so jaded right now that some people might not be entirely surprised if that was serious.
[This message has been edited by Belial (edited April 24, 2001).]
Similar threads
