How to pump up the upper pectoral muscles in the gym and at home

A little anatomy

The area under consideration consists of four main departments:

• pectoralis minor and major muscles;
• subclavian;
• serrated

The developed large muscle is responsible for the size of this area. The small one is located immediately below the large one, its development helps to emphasize the convexity and relief of the chest.

Upper chest workouts are aimed at developing the large muscle while simultaneously loading its clavicular area and deltoids. The harmonious development of this entire zone can only be achieved through a properly designed training program.

The large muscle performs the following functions:

• bringing the arm to the body;
• moving the arm away from the body;
• assistance in the process of bending the arm and pulling the body up.

Thus, to develop this area, it is necessary to perform exercises related to the main function of the pectoralis major muscle. Therefore, the training is based on various push-ups, barbell and dumbbell presses.

Performing the second chest exercise

Unfortunately, it often happens that the muscles are pumped up unevenly. This is often due to uneven loads on the body.

If you have such a problem, then you should focus your attention on less developed muscles.

Do as many different exercises as possible on them to level the position.

To do this, it is best to start pumping the upper pectoral muscles on the horizontal bar.

The horizontal bar can strengthen your back muscles and your back in general.

If you have problems with the spine, then start hanging on the horizontal bar, and after a while the result will be visible.

The horizontal bar will also strengthen the upper chest muscles and make the male chest more developed.

Workout Features

In general, pumping up the upper chest is quite simple. For these purposes, you need to perform only a few exercises. However, to achieve a good result, you need a comprehensive approach to developing the entire upper body.

1. At home, dumbbells and push-ups are used; in the gym, barbell presses are used. To effectively work out the entire targeted area, complex work is required, consisting of basic pressing exercises and isolated loads.
2. You can add exercises for the front delts to your training plan. This will not only enlarge your breasts, but will help achieve harmonious development of the entire upper body. You cannot pump up your chest without working out your deltas, otherwise after just a few weeks of regular training you will notice a noticeable lag in the development of the shoulder girdle. This explains why any workout should begin with basic exercises, which also involve the anterior deltoids.
3. You can’t train only the upper part; you definitely need to add exercises to the lower part of this zone. If this is not done, the target muscle will indeed increase in size, but will lack definition and convexity. At the same time, working only on the pectoralis minor muscle can lead to a visual narrowing of the area, so it is recommended to work both zones during one workout.

You can devote separate days to training, or combine them with a load on your back, shoulders and arms. There is no universal plan; when drawing up a program, it is taken into account which muscles are lagging behind in development - the main emphasis is placed on them. Thus, complex loads on several zones at once are recommended for a beginner, but an experienced athlete can purposefully load only the lagging zones throughout the entire training session.

Basic exercises

After you have become familiar with the characteristics of the human body, let's begin to study basic exercises that will prepare the body and body for heavy loads in the future.

Exercises for the upper pectoral muscles should be given evenly so as not to damage the muscles and ligaments.

Experienced athletes and fitness trainers recommend that beginners start their hard journey with multi-joint exercises.

Uniform load on the joints will significantly increase their strength and prevent injury to the body.

Then start pumping the pectoral muscles; they are usually pumped in a horizontal position.

We recommend that you practice in an inclined position. If you train in an incline position, you will be able to perform more repetitions, thereby significantly accelerating muscle growth.

To begin, do 3 approaches.

• Perform the 1st approach strictly for 30 seconds
• 2nd – 40 seconds
• Perform the 3rd approach for 1 minute until you completely lose strength, so you can slightly damage the muscles, as a result of which they will begin to grow rapidly.

After a break of 2-3 minutes, start pumping the upper pectoral muscles again, observing time intervals in each approach.

After just a week of intensive training, you will be able to feel the results for yourself.

You will have more physical strength and endurance, and such exercises also have a positive effect on the cardiovascular system (cardiovascular system), strengthening it.

Basic exercises

The upper chest is actively involved when performing exercises on an incline bench - barbell or dumbbell presses. Dumbbell flyes will help stretch this muscle, thereby increasing its endurance and giving it “reserve” for further hypertrophy. But the classic barbell press on a flat bench and ordinary push-ups with arms wide apart are of little use - when doing so, the lower chest is primarily loaded. Fans of push-ups need not despair, because this basic exercise can be slightly modified to further target the desired area.

Barbell bench press

The technique is not much different from the classic bench press, and has only one important nuance - the angle of the bench. It should be from 30 to 450 so that the emphasis shifts specifically to the work of the upper part of the pectoralis major muscle. The angle of the bench depends on the experience of the athlete. For beginners, it is enough to set the bench at 300; as physical performance increases, the angle increases.

The technique is as follows.

1. Lie down on a bench, place your hands on the bar with a regular overhand grip, but taking it in a lock. Place your hands at shoulder width or slightly wider.
2. Remove the bar from the rack, elbows out to the side, feet firmly pressed to the floor.
3. Lower the barbell to nipple level. As you exhale, press the barbell upward in one powerful movement, fully straightening your arms.

The movement should be accentuated and intense. You need to lower the barbell smoothly, but push it to the maximum, while exhaling sharply.

By changing the grip width you can change the load. A grip narrower than the shoulders works the central zone, shoulder-width - the load is distributed evenly, wider than the shoulders - the emphasis is on working the outer part of the upper chest and deltoids. The best option is to change your grip every workout to achieve harmonious development of the entire targeted area.

Dumbbell press

The basic principles are the same as when working with a barbell - the correct angle of the bench and the intensity of movement. Interestingly, the dumbbell press is more effective at developing the target area than the barbell. This is due to the fact that dumbbells are generally uncomfortable to hold, which means the body will be more tense. In addition, working with dumbbells requires less working weight than barbell bench press.

1. Set the inclination of the bench within 30-400. The optimal angle of inclination and weight of dumbbells can only be determined experimentally by doing one approach in different variations.
2. Take dumbbells in both hands, grip away from you. Lower your elbows below your shoulders, spread wide. Press your feet to the floor, buttocks do not leave the bench.
3. As you inhale, lower the dumbbells to your nipples, then hold your breath and, with a powerful exhalation, squeeze them up until your arms are fully straightened.

At the top point, you should bring your arms together so that the dumbbells touch. This movement will help to put even more stress on your chest and will also increase the load on your midsection. As a result of performing this fairly simple exercise, the middle and outer areas of the chest, triceps and deltoids are effectively worked out.

Dumbbell fly

You should definitely add incline dumbbell raises to your training plan. This effectively stretches the muscles, thereby providing rapid mass gain. It is quite simple to perform, the main nuance is the low working weight. The purpose of the exercise is not to hammer the muscles, but to stretch them, and heavy weight in this case will only interfere and increase the risk of injury.

1. Set the bench at an incline. Lie down so that your buttocks are pressed tightly to the surface and your feet are firmly on the floor.
2. Take dumbbells in your hands with a hammer grip.
3. Place your arms directly above your chest, then slowly spread them out to the sides as far as possible. Stay in this position for a second and gently shine your hands together.

As you raise your arms, you can rotate your wrists to rotate the dumbbells. This helps to engage the deltoids and triceps more. This movement is not necessary; you can perform the placement by fixing the hands in one position.

Push ups

You can pump up your upper chest at home with push-ups. However, classic push-ups are not suitable for these purposes. You can shift the emphasis to the upper part by changing the position of the body - the legs should be located above the body and head. There are several options here - use a chair, bench, or simply rest your feet against the wall.

The technique is as follows. Place your legs so that they are higher than your body. Place your hands under the shoulder line. Tighten your abs and buttocks, inhale and bend your elbows, lowering your body. Then exhale, at the same time extending your arms and pushing your body up.

At the gym, push-ups can be made more difficult by placing your feet in TRX loops. The load will increase significantly as the center of gravity changes.

The distribution of the load depends on the placement of the hands on the floor: the hands are narrower than the shoulders - the middle of the targeted zone works and the triceps are wider than the shoulders - the emphasis shifts to working the outer area.

Home workout

It is much more difficult to pump up the upper pectoral muscles at home. If you have no equipment at your disposal, but only your mortal body, then your entire arsenal of exercises is limited to push-ups. Yes, there are a bunch of different push-ups, but to make your upper chest look impressive, this will not be enough.

But we will still try to do push-ups on the upper chest. And for this we will use a sofa or chair.

In order to focus on the upper part of the pecs in push-ups, you need to place your feet on some kind of elevation .

If you have dumbbells or a barbell, then you need to build a bench from scrap materials with an inclination of approximately 30-45 degrees and do the same pressing exercises as in the gym. But I would advise not to be a pervert and go to the gym.

Working weight and number of repetitions

Having figured out how to pump up the upper part of the pectoral muscles, you should figure out the weight and the number of repetitions. When choosing a weight, everything is simple - you need to take as much as your physical fitness allows. For beginners, when working with a barbell, 15-20 kg is enough. Women can limit themselves to 10 kg or use an empty bar. Weight is added as overall endurance increases.

When starting out, it is recommended to do several approaches with different weights to determine the optimal working range. You need a weight with which the athlete can do 8 repetitions without much effort, and another 2-4 repetitions with noticeable muscle tension. The barbell press should be performed 8-12 times, 3-4 approaches.

The total weight of dumbbells is always selected slightly less than barbells. This is explained by the fact that using projectiles that are not connected by a bar is always more difficult. Beginners are advised to prepare several sets of dumbbells in 1 kg increments and determine the workload experimentally. To begin with, you should try dumbbells of 5, 6, 7 and 8 kg each. Women start with 3 kg. Perform 8-12 times, 3-4 sets.

With push-ups, everything is simple - 4 sets of 20 times. Beginners can start with three sets of 15 reps. After some time, the body will get used to such loads, so you will have to think about additional weights. In the gym you can use 5-10 kg weight plates, which should be placed on the area between the shoulder blades. At home, you can put dumbbells on your back.

Give your muscles a rest

If you feel very tired, it makes sense to interrupt your training program . During the break, you need to give yourself enough time to sleep and eat well. Thus, your muscles will receive an additional portion of energy, which will be aimed at increasing muscle mass. After such a break, as a rule, there is an increase in strength and physical activity. Give your muscles a good rest. But after rest, you can use this technique: start working on the lagging part of the chest, and the results will not keep you waiting long.

To achieve good results, remember the main rule of bodybuilding - never repeat the same training regimen for too long in the hope that it will ever give results. Supplement your workouts with new exercises, do drop sets and negative repetitions, change the angle of the bench - all this will not allow the body to adapt to the same type of load and will give impetus to the explosive growth of the muscles of the upper chest.

upper chest pectoral pectoral

Training plan

In fact, the exercises presented are a ready-made training plan. They need to be performed sequentially, in one workout. If the overall load is not enough, you can supplement the training with deltoids, biceps or triceps.

It is not recommended to combine with exercises for the lower chest area. This is explained by the fact that they are very similar, the only difference is the inclination of the bench when pressing and the position of the body during push-ups. Thus, it is better to devote one workout a week to working only the upper part, and load the rest of the muscles in this area on another day.

New exercises for the upper chest

Include new exercises in your training program that will help diversify the load, recruit new muscle fibers and accelerate muscle growth: - Incline bench press This is an old exercise, but nevertheless very effective, especially if you change the angle of the bench during training. — Press in the simulator An excellent exercise that diversifies your workout and will help pump up your upper chest. - Hand crossover Another exercise that should not be neglected. It is a great chest stretcher and would be a good addition to training your upper chest. — Pullover on an incline bench Pullovers are often forgotten, although they are able to engage a whole range of muscle fibers that are almost not involved in other exercises.

Training program for the pectoral muscles at home

The classic option is a split, in which the chest is pumped once a week together with the triceps.

Option with dumbbells and parallel bars:

Body weight option:

You can watch another version of the program with your own weight in the video:

If you want to make a small specialization in developing the pectoral muscles, we recommend doing two workouts per week. Follow the diagrams below to get started, and as you gain experience, tailor your workouts to suit your priorities.

First workout:

Second workout:

The rest time between sets is 45-60 seconds. During breaks, it would be useful to stretch the pectoral muscles a little, this will improve blood flow to them. With the help of these two complexes, you can pump up your pectoral muscles at home in a few months. It all depends on regular training, proper nutrition and recovery.