Ive been reading up on past posts about inner, outter, upper, lower, stinky, non-stinky, pectorals…anyway, it seems that everyone here is completely torn 50/50 on the subject of training the “inner” pectorals. Some say do flys, some say it wont work. I just thought it would be nice to bring up this debate again, and see where we can go with it. Myself? Im torn between the two opinions, while I know that their is no difference between the inner and outter pectorals, I know that you can get a pump in the inner pecs, and well, damnit! Now cmon! DEBATE!
There is no real debate. While a lot of people have posted a lot of opinons, if you look carefully you’ll see that those people who are generally regarded as being the most knowledgeable on the Forum all have the same opinion.
You must be really bored. Look at an anatomy book. Do you see any inner or outer pecs?
I want to hear some more input on this also. I’m a newbie in this world of weightlifting and I’m just wondering why if you can’t focus on one part of the pectoral muscle then why do we do different types of lifting on them like inclines, declines, flys, flat bench, barbell bench press, dumbell bench press, etc. I’m not arguing I’m asking because my damn non existent outer pec isn’t as defined as my inner pec.
I think that while there definately no inner pectoral fibers (they all run the entire length of the muscle, from sternum to humerus), exercises like cable crossovers can cause a more complete contraction, wheras bench presses only move the pectoral through about half of its range of motion. Also, cable crossovers are a peak contraction exercise (the hardest part is at full contraction), whereas in a dumbell bench press, the triceps are doing most of the work at the top of the movement. In my opinion, these two factors COULD contribute to better muscle tone (check out Joel’s definition in “Ripped, Rugged, and Dense”). Not saying it would be the greatest idea, but has anyone ever TRIED cable crossovers or a similar exercise for 5x5? Would I train this way or reccomend it to anyone? Not necessarily. Just fuelin’ the debate!
Ian King talked about this in his column here: Strength Training, Bodybuilding & Online Supplement Store - T NATION