So, maybe you’re a newb and are looking for the best upper chest workout to start your journey.
Or maybe you’re an advanced lifting veteran who’s been struggling to develop that stubborn upper chest.
Regardless, in this article I’m going to share the #1 dirty secret that you can use IMMEDIATELY in your next upper chest workout for insane gains.
This article is part 1 in a 3 part chest series where we’ll delve into how to develop ALL areas of the chest for max aesthetics.
So with that being said, here’s how to build your upper chest!
Upper Chest Workout 101
To start, why even work your upper chest?
After all, the lower part is usually the biggest right? And bigger ALWAYS means better right?
Well yes and no. If you’re going for pure size, definitely focus on your lower chest.
However, if you want your chest to look good and develop an aesthetic physique, then you should definitely be incorporating a quality upper chest workout.
When you have a well-defined upper chest, it will give your body the “plate of armor” look that many people truly want.
If you didn’t do any upper chest workouts at all, then you’re chest would tend to look more “saggy” and you may get teased for “man boobs”.
(Trust me I’ve been there)
That being said, the upper chest is notoriously hard to develop for many people, especially hardgainers… unless you know this simple trick.
It doesn’t matter if you’re doing 315 pounds of incline press in your upper chest workouts.
The truth is if you don’t understand this ONE tip, then you’re upper chest workout will be damn near USELESS.
Upper Chest Training Mistakes (And How To Avoid Them)
As said earlier, the upper part of your chest is rather hard to develop and get tot he same size as your lower.
However the results are most definitely worth it. All it takes is some effort and smart training on your part.
People often make huge mistakes when they attack their upper chest workout and we’re gonna briefly go over how to avoid them.
These are the top 3 upper chest workout mistakes that I see people make:
- They end up using their lower chest
- They use too much shoulders
- They lack mind-muscle connection
When you’re attacking your next upper chest workout, see which one of these applies to you.
If you’ve been doing TONS of incline movements and yet you’re lower chest is STILL extremely dominant, then your using more of your lower chest (duh).
If you find that the first muscle to get exhausted when doing incline movements is your shoulders, then that’s a sign that your chest isn’t firing properly in your upper chest workout.
But out of all of these upper chest workout mistakes, by far the #1 most important one is not having proper mind-muscle connection when doing upper chest exercises.
Having perfect mind-muscle connection is literally the difference between an okay physique and the physique of a Greek God.
So if you’re wondering how to build the upper chest, then let’s get into how to incorporate the tip into your next upper chest workout.
How To Build Upper Chest (The Secret!)
As said before, the secret to maximize your upper chest workout is to have perfect mind muscle connection.
But what IS mind muscle connection you may ask. If you’re trying to get jacked, you MUST understand this concept.
Put simply, mind-muscle connection is when you can make your muscles contract in EXACTLY the way you want them to.
“Where the mind goes the body will follow.”
-Arnold Schwarzenegger
SO this then begs the next question… How do you develop proper mind-muscle connection for the upper chest?
No B.S. no long lectures, here’s the advice…
Start with a weight on incline bench your comfortable lifting 15-20 reps on.
Then, bring the weight down to your collar bone.
Finally (and most important) FOCUS on the upper part of your chest. Don’t push the weight, focus on contracting the upper chest first and the weight will soon follow.
This may take some practice, but you can easily master this technique within a week or two and keep the benefits for a lifetime.
The reason why this works so well, is because when most people do incline bench as an example, they just focus on moving the weight from point A to point B.
This then leads their bodies to not care about which muscle is being used, which causes there bodies to use muscles that their not trying to target, for example triceps, shoulders, traps, etc.
But, when you really focus on your upper chest when doing these exercises, it places ALL of the strain where your focus is.
If you’ve been lifting without mind-muscle connection for a long time, you might find out after applying this technique that your upper chest is actually WAY weaker than you thought it was.
If this is the case, then you’ll need to lower your weight and focus on building your upper chest back up from dang near scratch.
I know, it might be annoying, but start now and give your upper chest a chance to catch up with the other supporting muscles.
Get a good muscle-building diet and some testosterone-boosting supplements if you want a truly legendary physique and speed up the process.
Best Exercises For Aesthetics
Now that we know the secret to apply to the upper chest workout, let’s look at some of the best upper chest exercises.
All of these upper chest exercises will develop your chest in different ways.
Do not be fooled into thinking that just because they all target the upper chest, your chest will look the exact same no matter what.
With that said, these are the Top 5 best chest exercises in order to add to your upper chest workout:
- Incline Bench Press
- Incline Dumbbell Press
- Incline Flys
- Incline Chest Press
- Upper Chest Pull-overs
With incline bench, get your elbows AWAY from your body. The closer they are, the more it will work your triceps and lower chest.
For incline dumbbell press, make sure to REALLY focus on contracting the upper chest but also on getting a good stretch at the bottom of the movement.
With incline flys, same deal. Your main focus should be on getting a really good stretch to truly EXPAND your chest and make it massive.
These principles should be especially followed in your upper chest workout to get the most bang for your buck.
When doing an incline chest press, treat it similar to the Dumbbell press but maybe every once in awhile alternate your arms to really focus on one side of the chest at a time.
Lastly, with the pullovers mind muscle connection will be critical as this exercise is extremely easy to use your lats instead of your chest.
Pushups For Upper Chest?
But what about if you don’t have access to a gym?
Maybe you’re travelling, maybe the gyms in your area are shut down, maybe you’re at home trying to get a pump for a party.
Whatever the case you may be wondering what about pushups for upper chest?
And the answer is yes you can, you just have to mimic an incline bench at home.
The easy way to do pushups for upper chest is to find an elevated surface like a couch, chair, etc. and put your feet on it and then do pushups from the floor.
This will also require some decent core strength so make sure you’ve got a nice strong six pack to get the most out of pushups for upper chest muscles.
Home Upper Chest Workout
So if you don’t have any gym then how would you get a good upper chest workout in?
Obviously we’ll add some upper chest pushups into the routine, but if you truly want to get the MAXIMUM benefit for your chest, then make sure to also add some sort of fly movement.
(You can find proper form for the pushups here)
How do you do that at home? It depends on your level of strength.
If you’ve taken the time to get strong what I’d recommend is you get into the decline pushup position, and add towels underneath your hands, and then do an upper chest fly from there.
It will look similar to upper chest pushups, but your arms will remain straight and be going out away from your sides and then back in.
Now, if you don’t mind shedding some cash and you truly don’t have a gym, I would highly recommend the Iron Chest Master because it allows you to do both pushups AND flys at the same time which is a godsend for people working out at home.
If you can’t afford it, or just don’t want to shell out the cash, that’s fine.
Just do 3 sets of the upper chest pushups and 3 sets of the flys with the towels and do as many reps mas you can each set, and that could be your home upper chest workout.
How To Work Upper Chest
In the end, if you want to hit the muscle hard in your next upper chest workout, then really focus on the mind muscle connection.
Another tip, is when setting the incline on the bench, make it a 45-degree angle.
Some people argue and say that 30 degrees is best, but when you’re really trying to hit upper chest, that extra 15 degrees will be key for developing an aesthetic physique due to the extra emphasis on upper chest and shoulders.
You can choose which exercises you want, but I’d recommend at least one pushing motion and one fly motion like upper chest cable flys.
The pushing motion will help develop the overall mass, and the upper chest cable flys will help develop your upper chest and help get a symmetrical chest which is HUGE in aesthetics.
Summary: Part 1 Of Developing An Aesthetic Chest
In summary, your chest is one of the most important muscle when it comes to aesthetics. There’s a reason Arnold Schwarzenegger won 7 Mr. Olympias and it wasn’t for his legs…
Hit your chest hard and especially your upper chest. Take the time to develop this muscle because it will ALWAYS make it’s presence known no matter what clothes you’re wearing, or even if you’re not wearing any.
The truth is, nothing says “strong man” like a massive, well defined chest as it is literally the center piece of your body and what everyone’s attention will be drawn to.
I remember when I first started lifting, using my unconventional training methods, my chest grew extremely quickly and within a couple weeks my teachers, friends, and family, were all commenting on it, more so than any other muscle.
So take action and start hammering your chest in your next upper chest workout and maybe think about your next back workout too, so you’re not out of proportion
As always I hope you guys enjoyed this article. As I said earlier, this is part 1 to a 3 part chest series, so make sure to check those out if you’re struggling to grow your chest.
If you have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to email me at matthewcarter@hardgainerbodybuilding.com and I’ll get back to you soon.
Until next time,
-Matthew Carter