Upper Chest Workout

Upper Chest Workout

by Cade Smith

Your chest has 2 muscles the pec major and pec minor each do different movements. The major one adducts the arm and flexes the shoulder.

The pectoralis minor depresses the scapula (shoulder blade) and downwardly rotates the scapula. All muscles of the body have an origin and an insertion point.

It's important to know these 2 points so that you can understand which movements will work which muscles. For the best chest workout you want to focus on the pectoralis major which originates from the sternum and inserts on the bicipital groove of the humerus.

To work a muscle most effectively you want to shorten the distance from the insertion to origin. So, for the chest when the humerus comes closer to the sternum the muscle will be worked better.

Now that you know the biomechanics lets take the most popular exercise at any gym, the bench press. With normal barbell benchpress you lower the weight until it touches your chest and then push it up.

There are 2 things that are wrong with this. When the bar is touching your chest it requires the front deltoid to do most the work and is doing more harm than good for your chest and joints.

You should stop a couple inches before the bar touches your chest which will result in fewer injuries and no loss in strength gains.

The second thing wrong is that you aren't able to shorten the distance from your bicipital groove to your sternum with a straight bar. If you use dumbbells it is much more effective in building muscle in your chest.

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