Adding Size To Upper Middle Chest

[FATTMATT]

I am 22 years old, I have a very nice sized chest but I feel it isn't fully developed. The upper middle portion is very undeveloped (to the point that irtfeels indented). I feel that when perfoming exercises my outer chest overpowers and does not allow my middle chest to become overloaded.

I have tried:
Flyes (with cables and weights in many different angles and weights)
Incline Press (many different weights, angles, cadences)
Close Grip Incline Press (many different weights, angles, cadences)
Incline Dumbell Press

I've done these all with many different weights, rep ranges, cadences, and angles but still never feel it in that area and I have stuck to specific programs for each not just one or two workouts per attempt.

Can someone please give me a program that I can follow to ensure that I can overload this area and even out my chest?

[phuz]

how long have you given each attempt before giving up on it?

[Starz]

there is no middle chest. just like there's no inner our outer chest. the fibers run horizontally across your chest, so there's only an upper and lower. anyways, i would widen my grip with incline benches. try using dumbells too.

[porcupinetree]

If there are muscle fibers there, then there is a middle chest.

I have targeted my inner chest with hanging ring flyes. Works very well. I had a major problem with my inner chest until I started doing those at the end of my chest workouts.
I bought some swingset rings from Home Depot, tied them together with a rope so they could hang side by side from an overhead bar, then get in a pushup position, taking a ring in each hand, with my feet propped on a bench so I am paralell to the floor, then let my arms out to the sides so I basically do a face-down flye.

I guess it must all be imaginary since there is no middle chest.

If I had ever listened to people who have told me that I "can't"....I don't know or want to know where I'd be now...

When you have a weakpoint, you have to be creative...or you can just give up and blame it all on genetics (which it seems many people here have already done)

basically, you need to find something that you will feel in your weak area. It might not even be some magic exercise...It might be the way you do it, how much weight you use, your concentration

[sirwazzles]

Originally Posted by porcupinetree

If there are muscle fibers there, then there is a middle chest.

I have targeted my inner chest with hanging ring flyes. Works very well. I had a major problem with my inner chest until I started doing those at the end of my chest workouts.
I bought some swingset rings from Home Depot, tied them together with a rope so they could hang side by side from an overhead bar, then get in a pushup position, taking a ring in each hand, with my feet propped on a bench so I am paralell to the floor, then let my arms out to the sides so I basically do a face-down flye.

I guess it must all be imaginary since there is no middle chest.

If I had ever listened to people who have told me that I "can't"....I don't know or want to know where I'd be now...

When you have a weakpoint, you have to be creative...or you can just give up and blame it all on genetics (which it seems many people here have already done)

basically, you need to find something that you will feel in your weak area. It might not even be some magic exercise...It might be the way you do it, how much weight you use, your concentration

Thank you, I've tried telling people this for the longest time. I think some people just don't get it. Specifically those that have never had a problem like this that they needed to fix.

Anyway, I've found that if you focus on the chest and really feel it while doing close-grip bench press, it'll work the upper and inner parts of the chest really well. You need a good mind-muscle connection though.

[mAssholio]

*waits for Mr Horse to pop up*


anywho add weighted dips, the rest of your exercises look fine

Edit: by the way add them as a 2nd or 3rd exercise in your routine IMO its much better than leaving them last for "a burn"

[I dont work at Ballys]

Originally Posted by sirwazzles

Thank you, I've tried telling people this for the longest time. I think some people just don't get it. Specifically those that have never had a problem like this that they needed to fix.

Anyway, I've found that if you focus on the chest and really feel it while doing close-grip bench press, it'll work the upper and inner parts of the chest really well. You need a good mind-muscle connection though.

i suggest you read some books on physiology and neuromechanics before you "try telling people this" anymore.

[Cuchulainn]

Incline cable flyes. When you do incline flyes the part of the rep that best stimulates upper inner chest is near the end of the movement when you bring the dumbells close together. With DB's or free weights that part of the lift is all momentum. However, if you use cables you can eliminate most, if not all, momentum and hit the chest better.

Source Milos Sarcev.

http://thefitshow.com/week3/milos_chest_med.htm


I highly recommend watching this.

[Derock]

Originally Posted by porcupinetree

If there are muscle fibers there, then there is a middle chest.

I have targeted my inner chest with hanging ring flyes. Works very well. I had a major problem with my inner chest until I started doing those at the end of my chest workouts.
I bought some swingset rings from Home Depot, tied them together with a rope so they could hang side by side from an overhead bar, then get in a pushup position, taking a ring in each hand, with my feet propped on a bench so I am paralell to the floor, then let my arms out to the sides so I basically do a face-down flye.

Ring movements can be very effective for getting a better peak contraction on chest movements. Cable movements in the gym are your best bet.

Free weight: squeeze dumbbell press. Take two dumbbells and squeeze them together. Keeping squeezing them together as hard as you can through the entire movement. The close grip focuses on the inner chest and the isometric squeezing reduces tricep involvement.

Cables: Low cable pully to upper chest level. Take a low cable and pull it across your body upwards towards chest level. These are best done one arm at a time to really maximize peak contraction. If you can't feel these, lighten up the weight. Its almost impossible not to get a very intense contraction.

Incline bench cable flyes: Lay on an incline bench and grap the cables. When you do the flyes, focus on retracting your shoulders as much as possible and leading with your elbows. You should try to push inwards and upwards while keeping your shoulders blades back. Hard to describe, but you'll feel it when you've got it.

Finally, keep in mind that its going to be hard to bring up a weak point in a short amount of time. If you have been hitting your outer/lower chest with things like bench for a long time, you can't expect to bring up an unworked portion without putting a similar amount of time and effort.

[Starz]

i just read a thread a week or so ago about how your chest muscles run horizontally, and therefore when you do exercises that target the upper or lower chest, it stimulates all the fibers equally horizontally. however depending on the angle of the exercise that is being performed, you can stimulate different fibers on the vertical scale.

kinda like a rubber band. when you stretch a whole rubber band out, you cant just stretch the left side of the rubber band out, or just the right side, or just the middle because of the direction it's being stretched, and because the direction of the fibers(which run along horizontally). however if you hold the rubber band a certain way, you can stretch the bottom portion of the rubber band more than the upper portion.

seems like gojo, or w8isgr8, or mesopeaks or someone really reputable said that. not the rubber band analogy, i just made that up, tho its probly been thought of before. would make sense to me why you cant stimulate the "middle" or "outer" chest.

[I dont work at Ballys]

Originally Posted by Starz

seems like gojo, or w8isgr8, or mesopeaks or someone really reputable said that. not the rubber band analogy, i just made that up, tho its probly been thought of before. would make sense to me why you cant stimulate the "middle" or "outer" chest.

did you jusy use those 3 names in the same sentence???

[microrahsheen]

Originally Posted by porcupinetree

If there are muscle fibers there, then there is a middle chest.

I have targeted my inner chest with hanging ring flyes. Works very well. I had a major problem with my inner chest until I started doing those at the end of my chest workouts.
I bought some swingset rings from Home Depot, tied them together with a rope so they could hang side by side from an overhead bar, then get in a pushup position, taking a ring in each hand, with my feet propped on a bench so I am paralell to the floor, then let my arms out to the sides so I basically do a face-down flye.
...

This exact exercise is described in an article on here. Apparently, it is the absolute best way to target the chest as it focuses on the function of the muscle and really isolates it. The way you set it up sounds much better than the article though. Something involving pushups with your hands on some rags on a slippery floor.

[1984 JPS]

I think you guys get too technical about the inner and outer stuff, if it was true that all the chest was the same then you would only need to do like 1 exercise and not all the variations.

Anyways yeah I thought the mind muscle thing was a wank off but when I tried it I can defiantly feel the difference in my work outs.

Andy.

[Dr. Horse]

Yeah the mind muscle thing is real important for hitting the inner pecs hard. You've really got to totally relax your outer pecs and put all the weight on your inner pecs. Oh yeah and only do exercises that emphasize the inner pecs; we all know what those are.

[vegasdsm]

i have a dead spot in my upper chest as well (inner portion)...

it's only about an inch to two inches (of the 8 or so of vertical)...

i use the pec deck (the machine that can be used for rear delts as well)...

load up the weight and go single armed and really squeeze (go past the 90 degrees, or where you would stop if 2-handed)

last week i did single arm and limited my rom to the max flex point, about 6-10 inches of rom, just beating up and flexing the pec...

good luck....

[Leon Phelps]

Originally Posted by Starz

there is no middle chest. just like there's no inner our outer chest. the fibers run horizontally across your chest, so there's only an upper and lower. anyways, i would widen my grip with incline benches. try using dumbells too.

What the **** are you talking about? There is middle chest.

[rothyman]

Flat Bench
Inc Bench
Decline Flies
Dips

Seems to work my whole chest.

[rahndle]

Man - you guys spent a whole page debating something instead of helping the guy. Anyway, I'm currently getting over my "middle chest" lag -- the major thing that started to hit that area was the angle I was pushing the weights to.

I know it sounds really obvious, but hear me out --

There are a lot of guys out there who don't push the weights straight up when they are doing inclines. If you feel that your "outer" pecs are doing most of the work, then there's a chance that you're pushing the weight up at a slight angle.

The next time you do inclines, push the weight up and try to assess where the weights are; if you still feel them in the "outer" area of the pecs, then try to raise the weights to the same vertical plane as your brow. If you're working with dumbbells, you should be able to feel and flex the are you're trying to hit.


This isn't a guarantee, however. My reply is just what worked for me.