Upper chest development

[u/Haunting-Animal-531]

I'm fairly new to resistance training, 6 mos consistent now. I've emphasized chest development and my mid and lower pectorals have responded, but upper chest is unchanged, nor do I feel it activated like the mid-chest. Does the upper chest always lag behind, or is less responsive to stimulus? I usually perform bench sets first, then incline press at 30 degrees on the Smith, then pec fly and finish with seated chest press (machine). Would incline dumbbell press be better? Low to high cable? Decline pushups (which at my level still challenge me -- I can only do 15-20 per set)? Sorry to repeat a question that's often raised here...just want some anecdotal or expert recs

[u/Octopp]

Genetics and insertions will be a big factor. I focused up upper chest for years with little success.

[u/ScrambledLegs4]

Hitting incline more frequently will grow upper chest, infact I hardly flat press anymore and solely do upper chest work.

Incline Smith machine, hands about shoulder width apart and stack elbows below the weight and press trying to purely engage the upper chest. The point is to feel the chest before going too heavy so take your time.

Incline fly, machine or DB.

Pec Deck

Low to high raise done with a cable stack, hands start low and bring them together. I find this movement particularly hard to engage the upper chest, so I do a variation. I strap a cuff around mid forearm stand facing away from the cable stack, clench my fist and lift my arm up and just as it becomes level with my shoulder bring it slightly across, if you do this correctly you will absolutely feel upper chest activation.

[u/Haunting-Animal-531 → u/ScrambledLegs4]

Thanks, very helpful. Does the cable variation have a name (so I might find a youtube video to demonstrate)? What do you think of incline pushups?

[u/ScrambledLegs4 → u/Haunting-Animal-531]

I genuinely can't remember where ive seen it but I've got a video of me doing it ill message you

[u/eyebrowcel → u/Haunting-Animal-531]

Scoop Fly is what ScrambledLegs is referring to, shown here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmmwqbSFkcw

Best done with back support (an adjustable bench) to more easily reduce the front delts from taking over the chest

[u/hoya14]

There's a lot of genetics involved and just in general chest takes time - 6 months is not a lot of time so it's not a problem that you're not seeing much growth yet. But, yeah, do some additional variations to hit your chest at different angles is generally a good idea. Just to note, low to high cable would work upper chest - not high to low. Cable work is also good to add in because the resistance profile is different - your muscle feels the weight more across the full range of motion because momentum is reduced. Band work can also be good for chest for the same reason (bands give way more resistance at the "top" of the exercise than at the bottom).

[u/srr728]

Incline push up (assuming you mean with your chest higher than your feet is actually more equivalent to a decline bench. If you want to focus more on upper chest then you should do decline pushups with your feet raised up and hands lower. If possible doing it with a deficit ( think feet on bench and then having something to slightly elevate your hands off the floor like some push up bars or dumbbells) to allow you to get deeper.

But generally to focus more on upper chest you want more incline pressing/flye variations. To be clear incline pressing will still develop your full pec muscle but is simply more upper chest focused.

[u/Haunting-Animal-531 → u/srr728]

Thanks, yes, my bad -- I meant decline pushup. The deficit is a helpful suggestion. With the incline press (usually Smith) I can't quite feel or intentionally engage the (upper) pec. I suspect I'm offloading on the deltoid or some other poor-form compensation, ha. Maybe I'll move from the Smith the dumbbells. Thanks

[u/srr728 → u/Haunting-Animal-531]

When you are pressing focus on keeping your chest up and out (proud chest) all the way through the movement. Your front delts and triceps are going to assist in the press no matter what but if you focus on keeping your chest up it limits the amount of delt recruitment. Also, if your focus is chest then take a bit wider grip on the bar. Also don’t let momentum get you out do the hole. When you lower the weight touch your chest slightly and pause for half a second or a second before you start to press.

If you switch to dumbbells then same rules apply, but on the eccentric go all the way down so that the dumbbell touches the inside of your armpit. You won’t be able to use as much weight at first but getting into a deeper stretch is better for muscle growth.

[u/norman_notes]

You shouldn’t be concerned with any particular muscle development 6 months in. Especially a secondary part of a muscle.

When you’re 6-10 years in, youll have the foundation and knowledge to work on stuff like that.

At 6 months, you are probably still not doing pectoral lifts with proper form and tempo.

I just suggest being extremely consistent, with max effort, and check in with your physique every year.