There’s a reason it’s called International Chest Day. Sliding weight plates onto the bar is an effective, powerful way to start your lifting week off right. Two tips for training your chest are that you can do it any day you want, and that you don't need free weights or cables.
The push-up is an often-overlooked exercise in the quest for a strong and muscular chest. The push-up is an effective exercise for strengthening the chest and shoulders, and can lead to increased bench press numbers.
Even if you are already in great shape, doing chest exercises with your body weight can help you stay at the top of your pressing game. If you can't find a weight bench on Mondays or you just want to get in a good chest-building session in between work meetings, then you need to add some bodyweight chest exercises to your training toolbox.
Why Work Out Your Inner Chest?
The term “guy cleavage” is used to describe the line between a man's pecs that is often seen on bodybuilders and physique competitors. Most men would like to have this line, as it is seen as attractive. The streaks on the chest make it look more appealing and show that the person is a dedicated gym-goer, not just someone who pretends to be.
However, training a particular area of any muscle is controversial within the strength and conditioning community. John Rusin, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., says that when a muscle fiber is contracted, it is either fully contracted or not at all. The same nerves that control the inner part of the pec muscles also activate all the other regions of the chest muscles, including the upper, lower, and outer pecs. The entire muscle contracts as one unit.” According to the science, you can't isolate one part of a muscle because the entire muscle contracts as one unit. There are ways to target the inner pec fibers to build the area.
According to Rusin, if you focus your mind on contracting a specific area of muscle, and use exercises that target those muscle contractions, you can potentially develop that muscle more.
Anatomy of the Inner Chest
There is only one pair of muscles that work the inner chest and they are called the pectoralis majors. The pectoralis major muscles are the large muscles located in the chest that attach to the sternum. Each side has a second pec muscle called the pectoralis minor, but it is smaller and doesn't reach the sternum, so it is not necessary to target when working on the inner chest.
There is a vertical column formed by the space between where the two pec majors attach at the sternum. To achieve a well-defined inner chest, the attachment points need to be well-built so that each pec major is clearly separated from the other and looks like it has been carved out of granite. To have striations appear, you will need to have low body fat.
There are four anatomical motions that the pec major performs:
- Flexion of the humerus (raising the arm in front of your body). This is accomplished by the clavicular head of the pec muscle—the pec fibers that attach to the collarbone.
- Extension of the humerus (lowering the arm down to your side). This is done by the sternocostal head—the fibers that attach to the sternum.
- Horizontal adduction of the humerus (moving the arm across the front of the body). Both the clavicular and steroncostal heads work together to move the arms in a hugging motion.
- Internal rotation of the humerus (rotating the arm in toward the midline of the body). Again, both muscle heads work together here.
In the gym, you can train all of these movements by using two types of exercises: presses, which involve pushing a weight up from your chest, and flyes, which involve holding weights out to your sides and then bringing them back in. Pressing exercises, which are usually done with either a barbell or dumbbells, are considered some of the most effective chest exercises because they provide the most benefits for your training. Compound exercises, such as presses, allow you to lift heavier weights and target more muscles. Rusin says that the most effective way to target the inner pecs is by doing lifts that emphasize horizontal adduction. In order to strengthen the inner muscles, you cannot just rely on standard exercises like the bench press, dumbbell bench press, and regular pushups. To hit the inner pecs, you need to do horizontal adduction, which is an action that most people never train properly.
Push-Up
Do we need to sell you on the push-up? It's unlikely that a push-up would be the only move you'd do in a workout, but this type of move is great for toning your chest and triceps.
Doing more push-ups may help you gain more muscle. This simple exercise has been around for ages and is still used today because it is effective.
Benefits of the Push-Up
- Because you’re working out with just your bodyweight, your joints won’t be under as much stress as with weighted chest exercises.
- Since they’re potentially less stressful on your body, you can really do a lot of push-ups, so you’ll accumulate more muscle-building tension and volume over time.
- Push-ups may be more accessible than bench pressing for athletes who need to be able to adjust their grip and hand positioning based on limb length and shoulder health.
How to Do the Push-Up
Start in a push-up position, with your palms flat on the floor and your hands shoulder-width apart. Keep your back flat and your feet together. Screw your palms into the ground. Hold this position to secure it. To do a proper push-up, lower yourself until your chest is an inch from the floor. To avoid injury, make sure to keep your glutes and upper back in alignment by engaging your core muscles. Drive back up through the palms of your hands.
Parallel Bar Dip
The dip is another bodyweight chest gem. The dip is a variation of the push-up that is performed with the hands on a parallel bar dip. This means that your entire body weight will be used.
Pressing movements will also cause you to use your triceps more, which are key for a strong bench press. Strengthening your synergistic muscles in unison with your chest will help you gain even more strength.
Benefits of the Parallel Bar Dip
- You’ll strengthen your triceps and pecs — two key pressing muscles — synergistically, meaning they’ll get stronger and learn to work together in a way that will carry over to all presses.
- You will use 100 percent of your bodyweight, which is far more than what you lift during a push-up.
- This move helps improve lockout strength for key exercises like the bench press and overhead press.
How to Do the Parallel Bar Dip
Grab the dip bar firmly. Get yourself in the top of the dip position. Lock out your arms. Keep your upper back tight. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Engage your glutes and brace your core. Angle your torso slightly forward. Your elbows should be at a gentle angle as they move inwards towards your sides. Go down until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. Press through the handles. Rise to the top of the dip position. Reset and repeat.
