Can You Overdevelop the Upper Chest?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
21

Ok sure

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Great talking with you.

23

Wasn’t being snarky just letting you know I read your post.

24

No probs, hard to judge tone on a forum.

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Good luck

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Landmine press is one of those lifts that I’ve always wanted to find value in, but feel like I’m wasting my time every time I try them. This means I’ve never given them a truly fair shake, but I can’t bring myself to commit to them as an assistance movement for any period of time.

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the version where you squeeze it and use both hands probably shouldn’t have the same name as the one armed version. Those are 2 very different movements.

The 2 hand thing makes some sense as a chest builder, although it would work in a VERY different way from an incline bench press. If that version of the landmine press is useful, it’s because a relatively light weight would be used, and the focus would be on squeezing/inwardly pressing the bar. I would also imagine you’d want to avoid taking a full grip on it to make sure that the pressure would have to be maintained throughout the lift to avoid dropping the bar.

I’ve seen this done without a bar, just using weight plates. you take 2 plates and press them together while standing, and you can press them overhead, or forward, or at an incline. Can’t do much weight with them, just like a couple 10’s, or 25’s if you’re a super badass. It’s hard as shit. Not sure how effective it is, as I’ve never actually used them aside from novelty purposes/fucking around. as was mentioned above, I would think it would be best used as like a finisher, using high reps, and to just exhaust your chest a little more. I wouldn’t consider it anything more than an accessory movement.

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28

You’ll overload your chest way more with inclines.

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29

You can always use the swiss bar or whatever the one with the parallel handles is called for the inclines. Just squeeze the handles together while pressing.

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Hey fellas!
I came across this article referring to a study about The Decline and Incline Bench, that showed that the Decline Bench stimulates the upper pec just as much as the incline does: The Decline Beats the Incline Bench Press. Here's Why
What are your thougts on this?

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Same thoughts on all of this stuff when it comes to thinking you can change the shape or genetic architecture of how your muscle will grow. No different than people saying you can lift a certain way to grow you bicep peak more, or inner/out head. It’s bull. It’s usually all just anecdotal evidence or people using science mumbo jumbo to explain something that is not really happening. Like saying you can increase your bicep shape by targeting the brachialis but failing to acknowledge that it is a separate muscle than the biceps brachii.

I’ll take it a step further, I feel the same way about upper/lower pec as I do with overdeveloped muscles. Finding someone with it as an example is finding an outlier due to drugs, site oil injection or a genetic propensity for that muscle group. Nobody has giant traps on a frame that wouldnt support it by doing tons of shrugs without the above mentioned.

Anecdotally, I personally have developed medial delts and upper pecs. I do hardly any direct shoulder work and I do not target the ‘upper’ pec. I just have a genetic blue print for it. they are also both not over developed or unbalanced on the rest of my body, just shaped with insertions in a way to make they look better.

younger lifters NEED to stop seeing a dude on social media and then look for ways to work his outer/inner/upper/lower etc portion of the muscle. Just grow the damned thing and let nature take its course. That or clavicle lengthening surgery or implants/synthol I guess.

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32

Yes, the decline bench is the best overall chest builder, activating the upper and lower chest more than flat or incline, but you’ll still want to do some incline work as, even though it doesn’t activate the upper chest as much, it activates the lower chest even less and so emphasis the upper. Make sense?

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Have you guys tried hex presses? I think its also called squesse presses. I’ve only done them once, and it lit my ‘‘Upper chest’’ up like crazy.

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I tried them once and could really feel it in the upper, lower, inner, and outer portions of the chest. My middle chest was completely inactive though. I haven’t done them again for fear of developing donut shaped pec muscles.

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Donut pecs lol

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A good post is always worth repeating


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37

The problem here is that while it stimulates it just as much, you’re also building the lower portion of your pectorals as well, where as with the incline and reverse grip work you aren’t as much. I barely flat bench aside from the occasional dumbbell flat bench and exclusively incline and overhead press. My chest is okay in terms of development, but my upper chest is miles ahead of many of my peers, giving me a wider look from the front and a thicker look from the side/in a shirt. Play around with things and see what works best for you and don’t read too much into sciencey training articles. 9/10 studies are extremely biased and won’t provide the same type of stimulus trial and error will.

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Have you tried the reverse grip db press? Is it a movement you can easily overload?

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Not outside of high reps when my shoulders bug me. No real reason to do them, no real reason not to. Again, you just have to experiment and find what works for you specifically.

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Here is a novel idea 
 why not just pick a pressing movement and work your ass off. I get this mental vibe that your nowhere close to overdeveloping anything at the moment.
Bulldog%20gif2

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