It seems as though my lower pecs are a lot bigger than the upper part of my chest, i only do flat bench and incline but this is still my problem, any tips on fixing this? im doing OVT right now as my workout program.
[quote]jck524 wrote:
It seems as though my lower pecs are a lot bigger than the upper part of my chest, i only do flat bench and incline but this is still my problem, any tips on fixing this? im doing OVT right now as my workout program. [/quote]
There is no “upper” and “lower” Pec.
The Pectoralis major is one muscle, the Pectoralis minor lies beneath the P.major and has a different function.
The shape of your muscles is determined by your genetics.
Pick better parents next time.
[quote]jck524 wrote:
It seems as though my lower pecs are a lot bigger than the upper part of my chest, i only do flat bench and incline but this is still my problem, any tips on fixing this? im doing OVT right now as my workout program. [/quote]
Focus on the incline bench and make flat bench movements secondary
[quote]Petrichor wrote:
jck524 wrote:
It seems as though my lower pecs are a lot bigger than the upper part of my chest, i only do flat bench and incline but this is still my problem, any tips on fixing this? im doing OVT right now as my workout program.
There is no “upper” and “lower” Pec.
The Pectoralis major is one muscle, the Pectoralis minor lies beneath the P.major and has a different function.
The shape of your muscles is determined by your genetics.
Pick better parents next time.
[/quote]
Yes, and no.
The pectoralis major is one muscle, but like many other muscles it has more than one “head”. The sternal head (upper pec) if you will can be emphasized using certain angles of resistance (incline movements), as well as certain fibers of the clavicular head.
If you look at the attached picture you’ll see that you have fibers which attach at different points along the sternum/clavicle. These fibers are most stimulated at specific ROM’s.
In other words, incline movements will emphasize certain fibers, flat movements and decline movements will emphasize certain fibers. So you can build the upper chest.
OP,
How high of an incline do you use? Many incline benches use too steep of an incline and thus wind up being mostly shoulder dominant exercises. Yes, you’re probably still hitting the clavicular head of the pecs and maybe a little of the sternal head, but if you were to use a lower incline (say 30 degrees instead of the usual 45 degrees) you might find that it gives you better results.
I agree with what most of Sentoguy said.
Try limiting flat/decline to just one movement per chest workout, and at the end. Start off with Incline bench or dumbbells, and throw in incline cable/dumbbell flyes and presses.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
How high of an incline do you use? Many incline benches use too steep of an incline and thus wind up being mostly shoulder dominant exercises. Yes, you’re probably still hitting the clavicular head of the pecs and maybe a little of the sternal head, but if you were to use a lower incline (say 30 degrees instead of the usual 45 degrees) you might find that it gives you better results.[/quote]
Sentoguy,
Saw you post this on another thread and I started inclining at a lower angle. Big difference. I feel it in the “upper chest” much more than shoulders.
Thanks for the great advice. I’ll let you know later this summer if it helps fill in better up top.
[quote]new2training wrote:
Sentoguy,
Saw you post this on another thread and I started inclining at a lower angle. Big difference. I feel it in the “upper chest” much more than shoulders.
Thanks for the great advice. I’ll let you know later this summer if it helps fill in better up top.[/quote]
Awesome. Glad I could help.
Good luck.
Well i use incline benches that are already set up for incline (incline barbell bench) you can not adjust it. Say im doing OVT how should i switch around my chest and back day? thanks a lot.
More then likely your problem is not really a problem. That said, try switching the incline press with a standing overhead press.
[quote]jck524 wrote:
Well i use incline benches that are already set up for incline (incline barbell bench) you can not adjust it. [/quote]
I rarely use the Smith Machine, but it sometimes proves to be useful. Set yourself up under the Smith Machine with a heavy weight and using a spotter, lift, squeeze and then focus on the eccentric (negative) part of the movement - lowering the weight for about 3-4 seconds. Do 3-5 reps per set. Aim for 3 sets, and a maybe a minimum of 2 sets at two different angles - give yourself a chance to figure out which angle works best for you. If you find you could take more time lowering the weight, add more weight. Remember though that this exercise is all about the eccentric portion! Even if you need help to get the bar up to the top of the lift, do it. I mean with the Smith Machine on the way up the bars guided by a track, but gravity wants that weight to come down and no matter what anybody says you’ll grow from slowly preventing that!
So yeh, with all that being said, just give it a shot after you do your normal incline bench press (you’ll get the concentric portion of the lift out of the way first).
Let me know how it goes!