Chest Exercises for Upper Chest

The upper chest includes the muscle groups above your nipples and below your shoulders. A lot of otherwise fit people neglect these muscles, as the exercises are more difficult and less satisfying than central chest exercises. For a balanced chest, follow these suggestions.

Incline Exercises

1. You can work your upper chest simply by modifying your posture for central chest exercises. Using an adjustable weight bench, set the angle so your back is 45 degrees from the floor. From this position, you can do bench press and flies. When lifting the weights, they still move exactly perpendicular to the floor (straight up and down). This change in angle shifts the load from the central chest to the upper chest.

If you don't have access to an adjustable weight bench, it's possible to do these exercises without back support. Wear a weightlifting belt and keep the weights low--this puts a lot of strain on the lower torso and can result in injury.

Modifying Push-ups

2. Push-ups, that staple of chest development, can be easily modified to focus on the upper chest. In fact, it's likely you've done so already to share the load of long sets. For a normal push-up, the hands are placed even with the central chest, about at the same level as your pectoral muscles. To work the upper chest, simply place the hands even with your face. Bend your arms, bringing your head toward your hands. Push back up.

If this variant is too difficult at first, stand facing a wall at a distance of about a foot. Place your hands flat on the wall just above your face. Do the push-ups standing until you've built up enough strength to do them on the floor.

A Word About Arms

3. Most upper body training exercises, including upper chest, make use of your arms. It's easy, especially as you grow fatigued, to shift the work to the biceps and shoulders instead of your chest. It's best to think of your arms as hooks or other tools attached to your body and moved by the muscles in your chest. At first maintaining that focus can be difficult, but it will come with repetition and practice.

If you find yourself routinely shifting the load to your arms, reduce the weight you are lifting. Lift the lighter weight until good form is natural, and then bump the weight back up. Sacrificing technique for high weight might look good in your workouts upper body journal, but won't get the results you want.