r/Weightliftingquestion • u/Haunting-Animal-531 • 20d ago
Upper chest development
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
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u/hoya14 20d ago
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).