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Training inner/lower pec

CaT_SPeW

CaT_SPeW

extra crispy
Yes I know the pec is one muscle and that the general consensus is that you can only train it as a whole and not in parts (debatable by both bb and strength communities I know) but thanks to my crappy chest genetics my inner and lower areas are kind of lagging behind.can anyone suggest some chest exercises that might be worth a shot to improve this area? My chest routine currently looks like this:

Flat bb bench: 4 x 5
Incline bb bench: 4 x 8-12
Pec deck: 4 x 8-12
Dips 4 x 10

Sometimes I'll jump on the chest press machine or isolated incline press machine as well
 
Yeah for the last couple of years all I've done is bench 3 x 5 in full body routines I've been doing my first split routine ever for the last 8 weeks and have noticed my chest improving for the first time in ages so I think I'm on the right track for now
 
I believe you chest is what it is.

Theory is that decline works your lower chest. I never ever do declines yet my lower chest grows like a weed compared to upper.

It is what it is.
 
Pain doesn't correlate to gain, but...
When I do wide grip pushups I get soreness on the pec out near the shoulders. When I do close grip pushups (either make a diamond with your fingertips in front of your sternum or just put your fists above your hip bones) it makes pain on the inner margins of the pec.

also, what does Arnie say in the encyclopedia?
 
I believe you can target specific areas of the chest, hitting that spot however i wouldn't bother, just train the chest as a whole, decline movements work great for the entire chest anyway.

Alot of people have a problem in the lower inner chest where there seems to be a "gap", this is probably just down to their genetics and the length and insertion of the pectorials.
 
DREADLIFT said:
I believe you can target specific areas of the chest, hitting that spot however i wouldn't bother, just train the chest as a whole, decline movements work great for the entire chest anyway.

Alot of people have a problem in the lower inner chest where there seems to be a "gap", this is probably just down to their genetics and the length and insertion of the pectorials.
Click to expand...

Yep I have a gap there and its purely genetics. Although over the course of the last 6 months while training as my chest has thickened out it hasn't looked as bad. Not sure if thats actually because that area has grown or my chest is bigger now so it doesn't stand out as much
 
The chest is the one muscle as stated, although i believe the best way to train it is to hit it from many different angles, so flat, incline, and decline, include both heavy weight low reps and low weight high reps to really smash the muscle and get the blood flowing through that area.

I think you sort of answered you question a little in an earlier post where you said you have been doing something for years and seen no results, now you have changed and it seems to be working.......This is think is the key, change your workouts around so the muscle doesnt get used tot he same workouts and continueally has to adapt/grow to suit new or different movements and routines.
 
I don't think you can target inner pecs but you can shift the emphasis from the sternal to the clavicular head by changing the incline

That said there was a guy at my old gym who stated that he had only ever done incline, never ever done flat or decline (maybe once or twice I guess) and his lower pecs were not lacking. Broscience at it's finest but that's all I got!
 
There could be some merit to working differing angles, I don't know really.
But if one does - and even if the exercises are anatomically correct, the deltoids and friends around the shoulder cop a shellacking, for which the results are not good.
 
The lower portion of the Pectoralis Major cannot be targeted directly because as you stated earlier motor units work on a all or nothing principle where you recruit the smallest motor units before the larger ones. There is nothing wrong with hitting the muscle from all different angles though. Most people believe that going to an Incline hits the upper region of the Petoralis Major which isn't completely true. In this case you are taking more of the load off the pec major and hitting the pec minor harder which sits up a bit higher which gives most people the impression there targetting the top of there pec major.
 
I have no doubt that incline hits the upper chest more.
I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain of not having a lower chest that just didn't have a big chest though.
 
hyjak said:
Yes I know the pec is one muscle and that the general consensus is that you can only train it as a whole and not in parts (debatable by both bb and strength communities I know) but thanks to my crappy chest genetics my inner and lower areas are kind of lagging behind.can anyone suggest some chest exercises that might be worth a shot to improve this area? My chest routine currently looks like this:

Flat bb bench: 4 x 5
Incline bb bench: 4 x 8-12
Pec deck: 4 x 8-12
Dips 4 x 10

Sometimes I'll jump on the chest press machine or isolated incline press machine as well
Click to expand...

2 pages and no real advice...

Decline to hit lower chest..simple.

I would suggest follow this for awhile:

Incline bb bench
Decline bb bench
Dips
Decline fly
Incline fly


boxing23 said:
The lower portion of the Pectoralis Major cannot be targeted directly because as you stated earlier motor units work on a all or nothing principle where you recruit the smallest motor units before the larger ones. There is nothing wrong with hitting the muscle from all different angles though. Most people believe that going to an Incline hits the upper region of the Petoralis Major which isn't completely true. In this case you are taking more of the load off the pec major and hitting the pec minor harder which sits up a bit higher which gives most people the impression there targetting the top of there pec major.
Click to expand...

WTF is this? You trollin?
 
brb digging up a scientific study like everyone else does and not just basing it on under the bar experience....come on mate really...lol
 
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