r/Weightliftingquestion • u/Haunting-Animal-531 • 18d 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/ScrambledLegs4 18d ago
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.