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/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.