Focus on what you
CAN control, not what you CAN’T
When it comes to muscular development there are two factors that will
ultimately influence the end result in how you look. One of them is genetics,
which is completely out of our control, and no matter what we do, we are
limited by our genetics in our ability to develop our body to look a certain
way that is most satisfying to us. Unfortunately, we had no influence on where
are muscles would originate, where they would insert, and how full the bellies
of the muscles will become as we develop them.
The other factor is the decisions we make as far as exercise selection,
and all the other parameters that go into developing a workout program.
Fortunately, we can influence how much tension we choose to subject very
specific compartments of our muscles to, with the hopes of it shaping the exact
way we desire. Ultimately, our only limiting factor here is our knowledge base.
If you don’t know how to modify the exercises to mechanically direct a greater
level of tension on the area you wish to see improvements, then progress cannot
be expected to be made at an optimal pace.
The obsession with
the CHEST
On both men, and women, a fully developed chest, from top to bottom, not
only demands the attention of others, but symbolizes power more so than any
other bodypart, due to the fact that it covers such a vast surface area on the
front of the upper body. There is no doubt, that this is the underlying reason behind
the bench press being the most heavily occupied piece of equipment in any gym
(besides those where Olympic lifting is the focus), and why breast implants are
amongst the most common forms of (plastic) surgery for cosmetic purposes.
Brief anatomy of
the chest
To build an impressive chest, at least, as impressive as possible given
genetic limitations, it’s of paramount importance that one know exactly how the
muscle works, so that the best decisions can be made, as far as exercise
selection is concerned.
The chest is comprised of the pectoralis major and minor. The pectoralis
major is the most superficial layer of the chest, and therefore is the visible part
of the two muscles, while the minor is located deep under the chest, and
therefore is not visible. Therefore, if one wanted to build an impressive
chest, focus should obviously be on developing the pec major.
The pectoralis minor one function: To protract and depress the shoulder
girdle (think moving your shoulders from raised and drawn back, to lowered and
drawn together across the midline of the body).
The pectoralis major differs from the minor in that it has two separate
heads with separate nerve innervation, which are responsible for multiple
functions (transverse adduction, internal rotation, and in the case of the
clavicular head, shoulder flexion).
The sternal head of the pec major is the ‘fan shaped’ muscle that covers
the greatest surface area of the chest, and is primarily responsible for
bringing the arms across the front of the body. There are many variations to
which the pec major functions to bring the arms together in the front of the
body, the most common being when the arms are stretched out, perpendicular to
the body, and then moving towards touching the front of the body where they
meet (think of a repetition being performed on a pec-deck).
The weak link
The clavicular head of the pec major is much smaller by comparison to its
sternal head counterpart, and therefore usually fails to develop at the same rate.
This can lead to glaring structural weaknesses, the more developed that the
chest becomes. There are however, some people whose chest seems to develop
evenly from top to bottom, regardless of how they train, but for the most part,
the upper chest is often relatively underdeveloped. Because of this, the training
regimens of many physique competitors, at all levels, heavily rely upon
exercises that are supposed to provide the greatest levels of tension to the
upper chest.
What you need to understand
about the upper chest so you can maximally develop it
As stated above, a very important characteristic of the clavicular head of
the pec major is that it is ALSO responsible for shoulder flexion (think of
performing a front raise for the shoulder). Because of this function, the
muscle is more actively involved in many other non-chest specific movements
(like a front raise, and even some bicep curls, if the shoulder is flexed to
complete the rep, to name a few), as well as many common everyday movements in
which the arms are raised in front of the body. As a result, the clavicular
head is generally made up of a higher percentage of slow twitch muscle fibers,
than its sternal head counterpart. Simply knowing, and understanding this, is a
key factor in being able to understand how to train this muscle to maximally
develop it.
The most common
flaws to upper chest prioritization routines that others make
Those who want to prioritize upper chest development typically do so by performing
an assortment of incline movements (ex. barbell presses, dumbell presses,
flyes, machine presses). Logically this makes sense, since movements performed
on an incline provide a greater stretch to the clavicular pec head, which then
triggers a much greater contraction, but doesn’t mean it’s the most effective
way. Performing movements on an incline bench, as opposed to flat or decline,
does mechanically place the clavicular head of the pec in a more advantageous
position to take on a greater percentage of tension, but does so at the expense
of the front of the shoulder taking on a far greater percentage of the weight
being lifted.
How to take what
is known about the upper chest and use it to your advantage
Taking into consideration that the clavicular head of the pec is generally
a slow twitch dominant, shoulder flexor, with a little creativity, it is easy
to modify the way in which you perform certain exercises, and adjust the
loading parameters that go into developing a program, to get the best results.
The following are some of the most effective modifications in which the
clavicular head of the pec can be stimulated.
Close-Grip Presses: Close-grip presses enable a lifter to tuck the elbows
tighter to the side than the standard slightly-wider-than-shoulder-width grip
that is commonly used when performing barbell presses. Tucking the elbows
promotes more of an arc pattern, similar to that of a front raise, which means
the clavicular head is lengthened and shortened to a greater degree. Basically,
close-grip presses place the clavicular head through a greater range of motion.
*Worth noting is that close-grip presses also heavily rely on the
shoulders and triceps, so that must be taken into consideration when developing
an upper chest prioritization routine to prevent overtraining.
Wide-Grip Presses To Neck: Wide-grip presses in which the bar is lowered
to the neck, and pressed in line with the clavicle, provide the greatest
stretch that the pecs are capable of. This results in the pecs (both clavicular
and sternal heads) taking on a greater percentage of the weight at the expense
of the shoulders and triceps. Because the bar remains in line with the clavicle,
the sternal head is placed in a mechanically disadvantageous position, and by
default the clavicular head has to pick up the slack.
*Worth noting is that wide-grip presses to the neck increase the risk of
shoulder impingement, so that must be taken into consideration when developing
an upper chest prioritization routine.
Reverse-Grip Presses: Like close-grip presses, reverse-grip presses also
promote tucking of the elbows which greatly increases the stretch and
contraction of the clavicular head. Also, because both heads of the pec major act
as an internal rotator, by locking the arm/shoulder in external rotation, the
sternal head of the pec is inhibited from generating as much force as it’s
capable of, and by default the clavicular head has to pick up the slack.
*Worth noting, as with the close-grip press, reverse-grip presses also
heavily rely on the shoulders and triceps, so that must be taken into
consideration when developing an upper chest prioritization routine to prevent
overtraining.
Those three modifications assume a flat bench is being used, but they can
also be paired with multiple bench angles to create even more variations aimed
at improving the upper chest. By performing those modifications on an incline
bench (to which there are many angles that can be used from low, to high
incline), you can come up with more ways to stimulate the upper chest to grow.
It should be self-explanatory, but I’ll go ahead and spell it out anyway.
Along with the three modifications above, the following are quite possibly
the best unconventional upper chest movements to stimulate growth:
Close-Grip Incline Press
Wide-Grip Incline Press To Neck
Reverse-Grip Incline Press
Close-Grip Floor Press
Close-Grip Smith Machine Incline Press
Wide-Grip Smith Machine Incline Press To Neck
Reverse-Grip Smith Machine Incline Press
Shock and awe
The exercises above could even be paired together to perform an improved
leverage/mechanical dropset by starting with the most disadvantageous way of
performing the movement, and working your way to the most advantageous way to
perform the movement.
The reverse-grip press, followed by the wide-grip press to neck, and
finished with the close-grip press, performed on either a flat, or incline
bench, with either a barbell, or smith machine would suffice. If performing all
three variations back-to-back-to-back is too challenging, then simply pick two
variations, but be sure to follow the sequence above. For example, reverse-grip
presses should always be performed first in sequence, and close-grip presses
should always be performed last in sequence. Your options then become
reverse-grip followed by either wide-grip presses to neck or close-grip
presses, or wide-grip presses to neck followed by close-grip presses.
Don’t get it
twisted
While the exercises listed above are certain to provide enough variety to
anyone’s routine to keep things new and exciting for a long time, they should
not replace the basics. They should rather be substituted into a routine when
prioritization is needed to speed up development of a lagging bodypart.
Even though the movements listed above mechanically place the clavicular
head of the pec under greater levels of tension relative to the sternal head,
they do require that you use less weight than you normally would with
traditional basic movements like incline barbell, and dumbell, presses.
Therefore, it is implied that the trade off in weight lifted, in return for
enhanced levels of tension to the targeted area, is an investment you’re
willing to make.
One last thing
This article would be incomplete without at least providing some general
loading parameters best suited to develop the upper chest. Because the
clavicular head of the pec is generally a slow-twitch dominant muscle, it is
not capable of generating as high levels of force as the more fast-twitch
dominant sternal head, but is more resistant to fatigue. This means that higher
reps, combined with limited rest intervals, are the most effective way to
stimulate this muscle to grow. The more slow-twitch dominant a muscle is, the
greater its capacity to be trained is. This means that the clavicular head of
the pec will respond more positively to more frequent stimulation than the
sternal head.
Although it goes without saying, it needs to be emphasized that you can’t
completely isolate a specific compartment of a muscle group. Even though the
clavicular head is a separate muscle than the sternal head, and has a separate
nerve innervation, they collaborate in generating force, so the increased
frequency needed to bring up a lagging bodypart should be used sparingly.
In closing
While it is foolish to think we have control of how our muscles will look
as we develop them, we do have control in terms of how much tension we expose
them to, to get as close to the desired result as possible. Focus on what you
can control, and the rest will take care of itself, as it was intended to, when
you were created.
If you have any questions about developing an upper chest specialization
routing, or any of the exercises outlined above, and how to perform them, or
even where to implement them into a training program, feel free to contact me
at ben@paramounttraining.ca. I'm available for
online consulting and personalized program design, as well as one on one
training if you are located in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
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