Pump Up Your Pecs: How I Work Out My Chest

 When I started working out five years ago, I had no idea what I was doing. I would search up workouts on bodybuilding websites, and then I would Google what each workout was and how to do it WHILE I was at the gym. It wasn't until about three years ago that I truly figured out a great formula to working out, and the secret is to simply know exactly what each workout is doing. This blog post will explore the two primary chest muscle groups and how I work them out. 

Anatomy of the Chest

The chest, or "pectoralis", is an incredibly popular muscle group to work out because of its significant contribution to the bench press. There are many gym-goers who have created countless variations of different workouts in order to "optimally" work their chest. (Optimally means to get the most out of any given workout.) However, after experimenting with countless workouts, I've found that it is as simple as knowing the basics -- and what workouts work what muscle. 

There are two primary "heads" or ends of the pectoralis -- the clavicular head and the sternal head. The sternal head is the larger of the two and assists in most lifts where you are either pressing something straight forward, or slightly down. The clavicular head is activated when you are pressing something slightly above you. 

Sternal (Lower Chest) Workouts

The sternal head is extremely easy to work, as it is as simple as laying down and pushing something directly out in front of you! Most bench presses will work your sternal head. Below is a list of my favorite workouts to target it!

The Barbell Bench. A classic way to hit your chest. I really enjoy this workout because it is a compound lift -- while the sternal head is activated, the lift will also activate your triceps, back and legs! It is very easy to set up, however it is not a great lift to do alone because if you aren't able to lift the bar it will pin you to the bench. 

The Dumbbell Bench. Another classic lift. This is much more of an optimal lift than the barbell bench because your arms are not "locked in place" by the bench and thus you must also focus on stabilizing the dumbbells as well as pressing them up. However, they can be very difficult to set up, as you need to put them on your knees and drive them up while throwing your body back onto the bench. 

High to Low Chest Fly. This lift must be done using two sets of cable machines and is great for isolating your sternal chest! Set both cable handles at the highest setting, then grab the handles and push down and out. This is great to do after you're done with your compound chest lifts.

Clavicular (Upper Chest) Workouts

The clavicular head is much smaller than the sternal head and is located at the top of the pectoralis. This muscle can be a bit trickier to work out, because you need to lay down and push something at a slight incline, but not too high or your shoulders will do all of the work! Below are a few of the workouts I do to target the clavicular head. 

Incline Bench Press. This is very similar to a barbell bench press; except the bench you're looking for is at a slight incline. Usually, gyms will already have an incline bench set up and ready to use! It's great to target the upper pec, however it isn't without its drawbacks. This workout can be difficult without someone to watch you, and sometimes my back will cramp after being crunched up in an incline position for too long.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press. This is also very similar to the dumbbell bench press, but at an incline. As a beginner, I found this very difficult to do, because you not only have to set up a bench properly to ensure the angle is just right (usually between 15 and 45 degrees), but you also have to be skilled enough to get the dumbbells in the right position. I only began to do this workout once I mastered the flat dumbbell bench press.

Low to High Chest Fly. This lift must be done using two sets of cable machines and is great for isolating your clavicular chest! Set both cable handles at the lowest setting, then grab the handles and push them up and out. This is great to do after I'm done with my compound chest lifts.

Put It All Together!

Differentiating between the sternal and clavicular head has been the key to my success on my chest days, due to being able to effectively target exactly what I want to accomplish. I have found the greatest success not doing ALL of these workouts in one day, but rather cherry-picking in order to achieve a diverse workout program. I generally do three of these workouts on any given day, where one is a flat press movement, one is an incline press movement, and one is a cable fly. I just make sure that every workout I push myself as hard as I can. Results won't happen immediately but knowing what you're doing while you're at the gym will certainly make the results come faster!

Disclaimers

These workouts are only what I have had success with, and I am not recommending it to anyone. I am by no means a licensed personal trainer and am only sharing what I've learned over the past five years. Credit to the images used can be found below:

Chest diagram: 

Jones, Oliver. (2024). Muscles of the Pectoral Region. Teach Me Anatomy. Muscles of the Pectoral Region - Major - Minor - TeachMeAnatomy

Barbell bench, dumbbell bench, incline barbell bench, fly movements: 

Strength Level. Strength Level - Weightlifting Calculator (Bench/Squat/Deadlift)