Problem with chest

M

mattb_25

New Member
I have a problem with my chest. The outside of my chest is decent. I have a little muscle/little fat, but the middle part of my chest is terrible, its completely flat.

I need to know what I can do to get size in that part.. Are they any specific workouts I can do to get muscle there? Or anything? I hope im not doomed to have a messed up chest
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You can't work the middle of the chest preferentially over the outer part of the chest. The lower pec muscle stretches across the whole chest, and when you work it, the entire muscle contracts. So... all you can really do is keep hitting your pecs and hope that the middle fills out as the muscle grows. The shape of the muscle is genetic. I'm sure as it gets larger, the middle will fill out more though.
 
Hi there-I have had the same problem with chest aswell. No matter how much I was bench pressing the centre of my chest never grew. Even shifting to dumbells didnt help much.

Now I dont wish to be too controversial and there is nothing personal about it but I only beleive in part of totentanz statement. I think that some confusion comes through the fact that we are all different and our bodies respond differently. I have had training partners who seem to get away with only training bench press while having a massively built cleavage whereas I have always lacked in that area. It is correct that the entire chest muscle contracts during any kind of chest press and that there will be some growth throughout the entire muscle however I also think its a case of how the individuals muscle responds to training. Even though I am working the entire muscle during bench press the majority of the strain seems to go to my outer pec(I know technically there is no outer/inner but for the sake of describing different ares of the same muscle It needs to be used) whereas my training partner with good overall development seems to get strain more evenly through the entire muscle. Most people I know who believe that bench will work the entire chest equally are those gifted individuals who have never had to deal with a lagging inner chest.

What I have found works for me is variations of chins and shoulder press. My arms have also grown a lot with these variations.
-Chins-this is also excellent for bis/lats. Take an underhand chin grip with hands together and do a full chin up but once your arms get to shoulder height I bring your elbows together and pull them to your upper stomach-remember only go as far as you can while keeping the elbows together. I find this works the lower portion of the inner chest. Use pulldown machine if needed.
-Reverse grip shoulder press-this is also great for tris/anterior shoulder. The opposite movement to the above. Use a bar and start with a reverse grip, hands and elbows together and press the bar up to full extension. At shoulder height let your elbows come apart. I find this works the upper inner chest for me.
You can also try close bench but I found it worked mostly tris for me and pec dec/flye but I found this works more outer pec again.
My program looks like this-chest press, row, shoulder press, close grip chin, close reverse grip shoulder press, upright row, squat, crunches
Please remember this is what I found worked for me and you might need to try different things to work for you. Hope this helped
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I find the cable flys hit the middle of the chest if you cross over your hands. I can feel a real strong pull right in the middle of my chest when I do it.

So once youve brought your hands together keeping going a little. Try it out and let me know if you feel this right in the center.
 
You may want to try these tips.

Always concentrate on lifting more weight.

That being said try a giant set pre and post exhaust

Fly, followed by a heavy bench press followed by fly.

Try one and half reps.

this is were you stop about 1 inch above the chest and just perform half of the upper movement...it keeps constant tension on chest.
 
Also for my chest...which is a constant work in progress. I am going to do this next bulking cycle.

I am using only 1 exercise per hst workout. However it will be a different exercise every workout.

Day one will be dumbell bench press concentration on slow movement with great form.

Day 2 will be Wide grip hammer strenght press...this is were I really push myself on maximum poundage b/c its safer without having a spotter.

Day 3 Dips...trying to do more weight each week.

Day 4 incline hammer strength press again concentrating on beating my last workout in poundage.

day 5 will be a giant set fly press fly combo....then 2 min break and one last set of heavy press.

now this will be done over 5 hst workouts so I will use only 1 exercise every 1 1/2 weeks....this will be something new for me try!

The thing I worry about is everyone knows heavy presses are best for big chest however if your chest is lagging then heavy presses are going to still make it lag b/c mostl likley your delts and triceps are coming to much into play...so Compounds are the way to go but for a lagging muscle group you may want to look at some pre and post exhaust flys!

Just a thought?
 
Thanks guys for the tips.Anyways, It might be genetics, but my dad and brother both have filled in chests, so I'm not sure.

"That being said try a giant set pre and post exhaust

Fly, followed by a heavy bench press followed by fly."

Could you tell me what exactly pre and post exhaust are, and what do you mean by fly? I looked it up and I saw many different lifts with the name flies. Got a little confused with that. I hope I dont end up having a damn crater on my chest. =\
 
Flys or pec dec machine.

Look it up on google...but its the machine or dumbell were your arms are extended almost straight out and you curl them inward toward the middle of your body like hugging a tree. Great Isolation exercise.

Pre or post exhaust are some old training techinque that do work..however there is always some controversy over them.

Bottom line is compounds are best for mass gains, however a fly or pec dec machine isolates just the chest better than a bench. Now you dont recruit no were as many muscle fibers but you do recruit more pec specific muscle fibers.

the reaons or logic is that if your chest is lagging it most likely is weak. The human body is set up for easy path for performance...so if you are doing a bench press and your pecs are weak, then your body is going to use its strongest muscle units. Well if pecs are weaker than your front delts and triceps then they are not going to get taxed as much as your delts or triceps.

Bench press being a movement that involves your pecs, front shoulders and triceps.

Well we start with a fly or pec dec witch puts the effecitvness of the exercise basically only on the chest or pec muscle. By doing the fly the pec muscle is the only muscle working or getting taxed.

We then move on to bench press were we use the pec, delts and triceps.

Well the pec muscle is already tired from flys...and now it being activated or recruited again for bench press so it get hit twice as hard....in theory this looks good.

however let it be know if you do this you cant use as much load...which we all know load is key to growth.

Long story short use a combintion and try all three tactics!
 
How much are you benching compared with say squats or deadlifts?

If you fully contract your pecs (as in a most muscular pose) do you still have a flat area?

I agree with tot. Check out this image:

Pectoralis_major.png


Because the pectoralis major fans out across your chest area from its attachment along your sternum and then converges towards the tendon that joins the humerus, it is bound to feel more developed where the muscle is at its densest.

I really believe that all the suggested ways to attack your chest muscles differently will have little effect unless you are using exercises that allow you to work up to heavy weights over your cycle. That means compounds. Flyes can be great as a stretch point exercise but flat bench (or slight incline) with a heavy weight will add more strain. Dips are fantastic too. I feel that I have gained more from dips than bench, but the two do work well together. Deads seem to work the underlying pectoralis minor too which is bound to help the overall look of your chest (I know because I pulled one slightly through lack of a good warm-up!).

My brother has very differently shaped pecs to mine. As young lads he had great pecs and I had none! So genetics do dictate how much tissue you are granted with which to build.

After nearly 7 months of HST I can now bench 275lb x 1 (245lb x 5) and I have worked up to 7 reps for dips with a 100lb db (I currently weigh around 210). My chest is still nowhere near where I want it to be but it is starting to show some size at long last.

So I reckon if you persevere with your compounds you may well find that you get a bit more density where you would like it to be.
 
I see what your saying Lol. My bench was pretty low on 15's. My max was 15lbs on each side, so hopefully as I get through the 10's and 5's my chest will improve.
 
Well that explains some info right there.

Seems your strength is lacking...which given time will catch up.

After hearing you state your numbers...with weights.

I would spend a lot of time on compounds to build your strength up.

What Lol said is correct...however I still think isolation exercises are great when needed.

I think everyone has jumped on the HST compounds only routine..myself included.

No doubt compounds are best bang for your buck...however iso have there place especially in lagging muscle groups.
 
Sorry for getting off topic, but compound only workout? I have atleast 3 iso's excersises in my workout.. EZ Curl Bar, Tricep extension, and Seated calfraise. Would it be better for me to change those, or just keep my plan as it is?
 
You could probably drop the arm isos (unless you can't bear to miss them out) and still make good progress in your arms. Dips and chins would really help here if you dropped the isos. My guess is that right now you would be better off using your energy on your compounds and getting your poundages up. Same with calves really. Once you can deadlift and squat with big weights you'll tend to have pretty good calf development, but, if like me, you want to bring them up, then keep them in your w/os.

As Joe says, isos definitely have their place, often to help bring up lagging bodyparts or to add an extra dimension to your workouts (eg. more stretch). I love overhead triceps extensions for the stretch I get. I can't get that feeling with any other triceps exercise although I get a great pump from dips.
 
Yeah I'm seriously thinking of dropping the ez curl bar, and substituting it with chins and dips. From what you guys said, theres really no point for me to do them because I'm still getting gains.
 
MATT...sounds like you are somewhat a new lifter.

if that is the case...make sure you are eating and eating tons of food to grow.

If you are eating sufficient calories each day.

Working out frequently (at least 3 days a week) and you are increasing your load every workout....you will be fine!
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My chest used to be sort of flat in the middle, it was because my pecs weren't very developed yet. Dips fixed that for me. Once I was able to start adding weight while doing dips, they got much larger.
 
Yes, I just recently started lifting again, but my chest was a concern for me. The most I've lifted for was around 3 months, which was powerlifting for my school. I'll try to consume a lot more calories, and hope for a new chest.

However, I have one more question which regards food; whats the best food to bulk with? I know, I know, this question has probably been asked a million times, and/or is a newbie question, but I have such a hard time with food. I have no money for supplements so I rely entirely on food.

Any information or links to websites would be helpful. Thanks for all the tips fellas. This has been a really helpful thread to me and hopefully to others.
 
Matt

Your chest problems seems to be from lack of load, that will come right as you get stronger.

If you rely entirely on food, increase your MBR by 500 to 1000 calories daily, foods such as Tuna, chicken, Turkey and Eggs (specially egg whites) are good protein, rely on good carbs and fats too and you will do well!

Exercises - check this linkMuscle and exercise list
 
I had the same exact issue about 6 months ago.

I found out it was actually a posture issue, not a muscle shape or development issue. My compound pressing form really sucked at this time, as I was lifting heavy all the time, every time. I would avoid getting deep stretches and full ranges of motion in the name of greater poundages. Do not do this.

The end result, from all my bench press work and lat work was a combinatin of two things: My outer chest fibers were very tight due to the lack of full range of motion in my weightlifting, and I had very strong lats that strongly tended to pull my shoulders forward and inward toward the center of my body.

Look at yourself in the mirror in a relaxed state. Now gently use your upper back muscles to hold your shoulder blades / scapulae rearward, while keeping focus on your chest. Now let your shoulders relax again.

If there is minimal change in the shape of your chest, especially the center portion while doing this, and if your shoulders don't move much in this test, then you have good posture.

If you are experiencing the same problem that I was, your lats and chest muscles naturally pull your shoulders forward and inward, causing this 'flat' or 'depressed' region in the center of your chest.

If holding your shoulders rearward appears to flatten out your chest/give it better stretch and make it appear more uniform, you are dealing with a posture issue. This can be corrected with more mid and lower back work such as bent over rows, reverse pushups, etc, and serratus *posterior* (as opposed to the more common anterior side) work.

This will correct your natural relaxed posture and 'fix' the appearance of your chest.
 
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