Author Topic: Best exercise for upper chest??  (Read 18122 times)

kyomu

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #25 on: April 01, 2013, 03:06:33 AM »
rotator cuff of peace
Ironicaly, i discover this because of not being able to perform  incline press due to my shoulder problem

anabolichalo

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #26 on: April 01, 2013, 03:13:29 AM »


Donny

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #27 on: April 01, 2013, 03:33:32 AM »
donīt know if you can read this but each lift was measured and DECLINE press was shown to give best OVERALL development... makes you think.... however did Guys like Arnold do inclines for no reason??

Donny

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #28 on: April 01, 2013, 03:35:14 AM »
 ;D

Donny

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #29 on: April 01, 2013, 03:40:25 AM »
OK itīs in German... but the results were::
Decline press 15 degrees 82,0
Flat press                       79,5
incline 25 degree bank     79,3
incline 45 degrees           71,8 

measured in xKmax  other measurments which i do not understand my self and this was written by 2 sport Doctors sport school Köln Germany.. which is very well known here.

RRKore

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #30 on: April 01, 2013, 03:46:00 AM »
FLAT bench press with high bar position(almost touching your chin).
It took 20yrs to realize that.

Ye old Gironda bench press to the neck.  Years later my right shoulder still isn't right.

WillGrant

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #31 on: April 01, 2013, 03:46:09 AM »
donīt know if you can read this but each lift was measured and DECLINE press was shown to give best OVERALL development... makes you think.... however did Guys like Arnold do inclines for no reason??
Is that EMS studies where the pulse is read via monitors  :D - Arnold is not your genetic average, he had huge upper pecs from benching before he looked more at Incline work  ;) Ken waller from the same era did countless Incline based work and had no upper chest  :D , a new study done on the very movements I talk of done in Australia last year shows reverse flat is still 30 % more effective than Inclines for developing upper pec size.

I put a guy onto these movements - he was doing nothing but incline work and had no upper pecs - 6 months of reverse benching on the flat plus incline cable flyes (he dropped all other incline work) pec minor dips he now has upper pecs popping over the top of his tank top and there was nothing there before from doing incline work  ;)

And what is this measuring in your study ? chest development or upper pec activation ?

anabolichalo

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #32 on: April 01, 2013, 03:46:48 AM »
OK itīs in German... but the results were::
Decline press 15 degrees 82,0
Flat press                       79,5
incline 25 degree bank     79,3
incline 45 degrees           71,8 

measured in xKmax  other measurments which i do not understand my self and this was written by 2 sport Doctors sport school Köln Germany.. which is very well known here.
hey thanks

dorian claims decline is by far the best mass building press for pecs


so i started doing it

but always wondered if there was any proof to his claim

delon

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #33 on: April 01, 2013, 03:52:56 AM »
Good thread. Having read & been told 'incline for upper chest' ad nauseum I now have good front delts and lagging upper chest. Interesting info ^

Not sure why that guy in the video's voice breaks at the start of every sentence though



Krankenstein

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #34 on: April 01, 2013, 04:12:55 AM »
Power cleans

Donny

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #35 on: April 01, 2013, 04:20:35 AM »
Is that EMS studies where the pulse is read via monitors  :D - Arnold is not your genetic average, he had huge upper pecs from benching before he looked more at Incline work  ;) Ken waller from the same era did countless Incline based work and had no upper chest  :D , a new study done on the very movements I talk of done in Australia last year shows reverse flat is still 30 % more effective than Inclines for developing upper pec size.

I put a guy onto these movements - he was doing nothing but incline work and had no upper pecs - 6 months of reverse benching on the flat plus incline cable flyes (he dropped all other incline work) pec minor dips he now has upper pecs popping over the top of his tank top and there was nothing there before from doing incline work  ;)

And what is this measuring in your study ? chest development or upper pec activation ?
they measured the overall muscle activity of all 3 areas , they measured each exercise to find out if each area was hit best with the "standard"  exercises.. Decline 15 degrees (pars abdominalis) the Flat Bench (pars sternocostalis) and incline (pars clavicularis). measuring the EMG activity. (xemg) The info is in a book Fitness kraft training ISBN 3-499-19481-3  itīs in German but a very good read if you can read it or maybe get it in English not sure. I canīt write some of the measurement data because i do not have the keyboard with all the correct keys. they did tests in the book on all muscle groups.

WillGrant

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #36 on: April 01, 2013, 04:52:37 AM »
they measured the overall muscle activity of all 3 areas , they measured each exercise to find out if each area was hit best with the "standard"  exercises.. Decline 15 degrees (pars abdominalis) the Flat Bench (pars sternocostalis) and incline (pars clavicularis). measuring the EMG activity. (xemg) The info is in a book Fitness kraft training ISBN 3-499-19481-3  itīs in German but a very good read if you can read it or maybe get it in English not sure. I canīt write some of the measurement data because i do not have the keyboard with all the correct keys. they did tests in the book on all muscle groups.

Interesting , as current measurement studies are showing that incline work only activates the upper fibres 5 % more than standard flat pressing where as pressing on the flat but using a reverse grip activates the upper fibres by 30 % more so 25% more activation than incline work.

By twisting your hands around you put your upper pectoral region in a better position to fire more - it also puts less stress on your shoulder region and thickens your triceps like a M/Fucker  :D

Ronnie Rep

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #37 on: April 01, 2013, 04:54:32 AM »
not if you use 30 degrees like willie wrote. when people use like 45 then yes delts are hit too much.
This x 10!

affeman

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #38 on: April 01, 2013, 04:56:57 AM »
Pre-exhaust with pull-overs followed by Incline Db presses.

Your upper pecs will explode, trust me!

mik1111

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #39 on: April 01, 2013, 05:13:52 AM »
my favs: the flat bench with bar up to the neck; incline flies

DroppingPlates

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #40 on: April 01, 2013, 05:46:16 AM »
OK itīs in German... but the results were::
Decline press 15 degrees 82,0
Flat press                       79,5
incline 25 degree bank     79,3
incline 45 degrees           71,8 

measured in xKmax  other measurments which i do not understand my self and this was written by 2 sport Doctors sport school Köln Germany.. which is very well known here.

Yes, I remember those EMG studies. I don't have the same experience with all scores, for example, I feel front raises much more intense in my front delts, compared with shoulder presses, but these findings are a good rule of thumb when you want to select effective exercises.

Here's a resume of the findings:

Quote
Electromyographical (EMG) Research is an essential research tool allowing physiologists to determine the role of muscles during specific movements. EMG is a scientific method of measuring the level of excitation. This is done by placing electrodes over your body and recording the level of muscle activity induced by an exercise. A study was conducted to find which exercises cause the greatest amount of activity within each muscle group and, as a consequence, determine which exercises will produce the greatest gains in mass and strength. This study was conducted by Tudor O. Bompa, PhD & Lorenzo J. Cornacchia. Both men and women were used in the study and all subjects had at least two years experience with resistance training.

Here are the results of the best workout exercises study::
(100% would signify maximum muscle fiber stimulation)

Pectoralis Major (Chest)
Decline dumbbell bench press ----------------93%
Decline bench press, Olympic bar(OB)---------89
Push-ups between benches --------------------88
Flat dumbbell bench press -------------------87
Flat bench press (OB) -----------------------85
Flat dumbbell flyes --------------------------84

Pectoralis Minor (Chest)
Incline dumbbell bench press ----------------91%
Incline bench press (OB) --------------------85
Incline dumbbell flyes -----------------------83
Incline bench press (smith machine) ---------81

Medial Deltoids (Shoulder)
Incline dumbbell (db) side laterals ----- 66%
Standing db side laterals -------63
Seated db side laterals -----62
Cable side laterals -----47

Posterior Deltoids
Standing db bent laterals ----- 85%
Seated db bent laterals -----83
Standing cable bent laterals -----77

Anterior Deltoids
Seated front db press -----79%
Standing front db raises -----73
Seated front barbell press -----61

Biceps brachii (long head)
Preacher curls (Ob) -------------------- 90%
Incline seated Db curls (alternate) ------ 88
Standing biceps curls (Ob/narrow grip)--- 86
Standing Db curls (alternate) ----------- 84
Concentration Db curls ------------------ 80
Standing curls (Ob/wide grip)------------ 63
Sta
ding E-Z curls (wide grip) ----------- 61

Triceps brachii (outer head)
Decline extensions (Ob) ------------------ 92%
Triceps pressdowns (angled bar) ----------- 90
Dips with a bench --------------------------87
One-arm cable extensions (reverse grip) - 85
Overhead rope extensions ------------------ 85
Seated one-arm Db extensions (neutral grip)- 82
Close-grip bench press (Ob) --------------- 72

Latissimus dorsi (back)
Bent-over Bb rows ---------------------------93%
One-arm Db rows -----------------------------91
T-bar rows ----------------------------------89
Lat pulldowns to the front ------------------86
Seated pulley rows --------------------------83

Rectus femoris (quads)
Safety squats (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----88%
seated leg extensions (toes straight) -------86
Hack squats (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----78
Leg press (110 degree angle) ----------------76
Smith machine (90 degree angle, shoulder width stance) ----60

Biceps femoris (hamstring)
Standing leg curls --------------------------82%
Lying leg curls -----------------------------71
Seated leg curls ----------------------------58
Modified hamstring deads --------------------56

Semitendinosus (inner hamstring)
Seated leg curls ----------------------------88
Standing leg curls --------------------------79
Lying leg curls -----------------------------70
Modified hamstring deads --------------------63

Gastrocnemius (calf muscle)
Donkey raises -------------------------------80
Standing one-leg raises ---------------------79
Standing two-leg raises ---------------------68
Seated raises -------------------------------61

WillGrant

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #41 on: April 01, 2013, 05:50:23 AM »
I'll dig out these latest studies I'm talking about to share  :)

local hero

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #42 on: April 01, 2013, 06:09:03 AM »
Pre-exhaust with pull-overs followed by Incline Db presses.

Your upper pecs will explode, trust me!

 ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

falco

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #43 on: April 01, 2013, 06:23:51 AM »


Ask her.

affeman

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #44 on: April 01, 2013, 06:50:31 AM »
::) ::) ::) ::) ::)

Maybe your mind-muscle connection is just not good enough.

You can pull either with your lats or your upper pecs doing pull-overs, but you have to be pretty advanced to have control over that I gotta admit.

local hero

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #45 on: April 01, 2013, 06:54:17 AM »
pullover is a lat movement... i have better pecs than you also, hope this helps...

affeman

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #46 on: April 01, 2013, 06:57:35 AM »
pullover is a lat movement... i have better pecs than you also, hope this helps...

Then you're not doing it right. I feel pullovers solely in my pecs.

Maybe you can learn a thing or two from Kai regarding form, he explains it pretty goot there:


local hero

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #47 on: April 01, 2013, 07:02:27 AM »
i feel my pecs working on biceps curls and shrugs also, doesnt change the fact that the primary mover for a pullover is the lats

LurkerNoMore

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #48 on: April 01, 2013, 07:07:43 AM »
Maybe your mind-muscle connection is just not good enough.

You can pull either with your lats or your upper pecs doing pull-overs, but you have to be pretty advanced to have control over that I gotta admit.

Damn.  Must be shitty advice since this dude was banned.

Anyway....  pullovers are certainly a lat exercise.

As stated by another poster, pec minor dips are the best way to thicken the upper chest.  The pec minor is sort of like the brachialis for the biceps.  If you build the brachialis up enough it will "lift" the bicep up and make it appear bigger.  Same thing with the upper chest.  

Dorian advocates decline presses as the best.  Lee Haney (when I worked out at his gym for years in Atlanta) always advocated slight incline presses.  Specifically he praised this hammer strength machine :

http://www.lifefitness.com/commercial/hammerstrength/plateloaded/isolateralupperbody/isolateralhorizontalbenchpress.html

But he always said that the best angle for chest was the angle where you could feel the best contraction.  Some people simply can not target the chest sufficiently with flat bench because they divert stress to the delts, triceps, and use momentum and elbow leverage to power through the movement (ego training) so if you can get a better contraction with less secondary muscles involved from incline or decline, then you should stick with them.

SF1900

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Re: Best exercise for upper chest??
« Reply #49 on: April 01, 2013, 07:25:05 AM »
Then you're not doing it right. I feel pullovers solely in my pecs.

Maybe you can learn a thing or two from Kai regarding form, he explains it pretty goot there:


 

Someone should email that video to Branch.
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