The Best Upper Chest Exercise The Secret To Perfect Square Pec Development

by GA R R Y DA V I DS ON on DE CE MB E R 2 3 , 2 01 2

Anyone can build a big chest, but most guys have no idea how to get the rightproportions that will give you that truly unstoppable, masculine look. Tell me something. Do you want to look drop-dead gorgeous with people turning their heads to check you out on the beach, or do you want to look like an overgrown freak that makes people wanna throw up when they look at you? If youre in the game to look great with stone-slabs for a chest that gets women weak at the knees, then todays exercise is definitely one you should be doing. See, most guys who work on their chest, end up getting a huge lower chest because the lower chest is just naturally wired to respond to exercise better than the upper chest. T he lower chest is naturally thicker and more responsive to growth. Guys with an overgrown lower chest end up looking like they have man boobs, even if they dont have any breast tissue or fat on their chest. The secret to getting the perfect look, is not to have a sloping chest that sticks out at the bottom, but to have a vertical drop like a cliff-face with the upper chest being almost as thick as the lower. This is important for all guys who want to build a powerful-looking chest, and its especially important if you have man boobs, because a thick, muscular upper chest can make your man boobs almost invisible! Now dont get me wrong, there are a lot of guys who do understand this, because I see guys at the gym doing incline bench presses all the time, but the trouble with the regular old barbell incline bench press is it targets way too much of the anterior (front) deltoids of the shoulders.

T h e t r a di t i on a l barbell i n cl i n e ben ch pr ess r esu l t s i n t oo m u ch a n t er i or del t oi d i n v ol v em en t

See, EMG studies have shown that the more you incline the bench, the more you involve the anterior deltoids, and the less you involve the chest. So whats the solution? How then do you work out the upper chest while minimizing the involvement of the shoulders? Well the secret is a powerful exercise that was used by the legendary Steve Reeves to carve out a truly thick set of upper pecs that all his competitors were jealous of. Who was Steve Reeves? Steve Reeves was the bodybuilding superstar before Arnold. He was one of the biggest icons of modern bodybuilders that ever existed, and has long been considered the pinnacle of the male physique. Born in 1926, Reeves won every major title of his era, retiring from competitive bodybuilding in 1950.

St ev e Reev es h a d per fect l y ev en ch est dev el opm en t . He wa s m or e con cer n ed a bou t pr opor t i on a l i t y a n d looking gr ea t , t h a n h e wa s a bou t si ze.

Now, back in those days, bodybuilding was all about proportionality and achieving the ideal masculine look. Unlike bodybuilding the way it is today, it wasnt about taking steroids and getting as big as you possibly can. Face it, todays competitive bodybuilders look like freaks and women and people in general are repulsed by them. Even most of Reeves competitors at the time were open about the fact that Reeves had the perfect male physique. One of Reeves most envied body parts was his chest. He had very unique square pec development, with a particularly thick set of upper pecs. Everyone at the time tried to duplicate Reeves results. After questioning him, they found that the secret to his success was the incline dumbbell press.

St ev e Reev es secr et t o h i s per fect ch est pr opor t i on s wa s t h e i n cl i n e du m bbel l pr ess

Now hold on, isnt the dumbbell incline press the same as the barbell incline press? No, not at all. With the dumbbell incline press, not only can you get a greater stretch at the bottom of the movement, but EMG studies have shown that you can get a more intense contraction in your pecs at the top of the movement, especially if you bring the dumbbells in toward one another at the top. By bringing the dumbbells in at the top, not only do you isolate the pecs (as opposed to the anterior deltoids) better than in the barbell incline press, but you also stimulate those inner fibers near the midline of your upper chest, to really bring out that pec separation line. Being able to bring your hands together at the top of the movement using dumbbells, is the secret key that Steve Reeves used to develop a thick upper chest that was the envy of all of his competitors. Although Reeves wasnt the first guy to ever use dumbbells, he was one of the only guys of that era who was known to use the incline dumbbell press, at a time when everyone else was using barbells. Nobody else knew that dumbbells allow you to isolate the upper pecs better than a barbell evercould.

How To Perform The Incline Dumbbell Press

You can do the incline dumbbell press with your torso anywhere between a 30 and 45 degree angle to the floor. If you go much lower than 30 degrees, then you wont be putting enough emphasis on the upper chest. Go higher than 45 degrees, and youll be putting too much emphasis on the shoulders. Personally, I prefer 45 degrees :p You will find that you can lift less on an incline press than you can on a flat bench press. This is because, as we discussed, the upper portion of the pectoralis major muscle is naturally thinner and weaker than the lower portion.

1. Lie back on a bench inclined at 30-45 degrees with 2.

a dumbbell in each hand resting on your thighs. Using your thighs to help push the dumbbells up, assume the starting position by lifting the dumbbells to your chest.

Use an overhand grip as you would with a barbell. Your elbows should be flared out, with your upper arms at 90 from your torso. Here at the bottom of the movement, your hands should be wider than shoulder-width apart, allowing your elbows to go down below the level of your chest.

3. While breathing out, push the dumbbells up in a 4.

slight arch, so the inner bells of each dumbbell touch at the top. Tense your pecs hard at the top, trying for a hard contraction.

5. While breathing in, lower the weights back to the 6.

starting position, being sure to get a deep stretch at the bottom of the movement. When you are done, place the dumbbells back on your thighs and then on the floor.

Incline Dumbbell Press Video

In case the instructions above arent clear enough, heres a video of the incline dumbbell press in action. This stuff is much easier to see in a video, dont ask why I bother with the above instructions eaah ok, I suppose I do it because I have this sneaking suspicion that not everyone likes watching videos. In this video, I got my chest sculpting expert buddy Mihailo, to do an incline dumbbell press. I did ask him to do it at 45 degrees, but he went ahead and did it at 30 degrees. If you can, I really do prefer that you go at it at 45 degrees.

Summary
Ok, so the key to a powerful set of pecs is to develop a thick upper chest, which gives you that square-cut appearance with a vertical drop.

Upper pec development is tough, and most guys get it wrong by either doing barbell incline work, or neglecting incline pressess altogether. The secret to ultimate upper pec development is to do incline dumbbellpresses like good ol Steve Reeves back in the day when bodybuilding was all about proportionality and looking great as a man. EMG studies have shown that bringing the dumbbells together at the top, helps not only to isolate the pecs, but also to contract those inner pec fibers, which give you that upper chest thickness.

How To Get A Square Chest

If youre out there to get a powerful set of square, stone slab-like pecs, you need to do a lot more than just the dumbbell incline press. You need to combine this exercise with multiple different exercises, use the correct angles and range of motion, and know how to torch fat in the chest area, so you can really get that chiseled look. I go over all this and much more in my advanced chest training program, the Chest Sculpting Blueprint. You can learn more about Chest Sculpting in this free video: http://chestsculpting.com/chest-sculpting-blueprint

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{ 6 com m ents read them below or add one }

Asoin
May 1 8, 2 01 3 at 2 :3 0 am 1

Good articleI include inclined dumbbell presses in my routine while concentrating on good form. I too believe in proportionality and I like a good upper chest. I hope to become

stronger and have a better body ratio soon. Keep up the work,
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Garry Davidson

May 1 8, 2 01 3 at 7 :2 9 am

Hi Asoin. If you want to add in some variety, or if you find yourself overtraining your triceps with too many pushing exercises (dips, shoulder presses, flat bench presses etc), then you may also consider doing pullovers. Ill do a detailed write-up on pullovers in the near future. I was pretty skeptical when I started doing them at first, but did them anyway knowing they were a staple in almost every bodybuilders regime back in the classic era. I was pleasantly surprised to see that its an amazing builder of the upper chest. It works the upper chest in a whole different plane from any compound pushing exercise. If you give it a try, do let me know how it goes
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damien

May 2 8, 2 01 3 at 2 :3 6 am

I want to buy the blueprint is it all downloaded even the bonus stiff like hypnosis dvd and can I do push ups on dumbells and nearly touch the floor with my chest to substitute a bench press machine, I can get access to one but trying to do everything in the one room so I can look after the kids, love everything youve sent me so far the least I can do is buy the blueprint, Im 2 weeks into hoot weight training(squats,dead lifts,chin ups,dumbell pushups, shoulder presses and dips) I feel great am I on the right track for reducing man boons? ThanksGarry Damien
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Garry Davidson

May 2 8, 2 01 3 at 6 :05 am

Hi Damian, thanks for the comment. Yes, everything in the Chest Sculpting Blueprint is downloadable to your computer, including the hypnosis audio and exercise DVDs. I actually prefer pushups to the bench press because pushups are more of a full-body workout (having to maintain your posture while you move your whole body, as opposed to just moving your arms). Just be sure to progressively increase the weight by adding weights into a backpack. Your training regime sounds pretty solid. Chinups are great for both the chest and back. Try to make dips your first pushing exercise, since it is the most demanding. Garry
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Raghu
Hi Garry,

October 1 , 2 01 3 at 3 :02 pm

I have started to workout in gym as per your advice. ( Bench press, dead lift, shoulder press, barbell squat, shoulder press) . Is it ok to stretch before and after the workout? Raghu India
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Garry Davidson
Hi Raghu

October 2 0, 2 01 3 at 9 :1 5 am

Its great to hear youve started working out, let me know how you get on. Stretching is perfectly fine, in fact I encourage it. Stretching has multiple different benefits, like helping to stimulate muscle growth, improving flexibility, reducing chances of injury, improving blood flow, etc.