Best excersize to build inside of chest muscles?

[Harie]

Arnold had super great genetics! He was pretty ripped before he ever started working out. Plus he juiced like mad to get the body he had.

I'm sure you can give just as many links that say you can shape inner/outer walls of your pectorals as I can give that say you can't. Just because my links aren't Arnold doesn't mean they're BS...And just because Arnold felt he could do that does not make it so. So believe what you believe and I'll believe what I believe.

As for my pics. I never said I was huge/ripped or anything. I just know a lot about exercising and muscles/anatomy etc. It's something I've been interested in ever since I turned 18. Also, being huge and ripped isn't what I'm going for. My goal is to be able to squat, bench and deadlift as much as possible, no matter what I look like muscle wise.

So if I were huge, would what I say hold more weight than if I were small?

 

[s.a.f]

I saw a training vid on youtube the other day where Milos Sarcev was demonstrating bench press and he said you can adjust the hand spacing on the bar to work mainly either inner or outer chest.
The bicep is also just 1 muscle but it too can be shaped by using different techniques.

 

[joseph49853]

Theoretically you cannot isolate your inner and outer pectoral regions, only the sternal and clavicle head of the pectoralis major, and the pectoralis minor. However, you can change the emphasis and stress on your pectorals, and the role of stabilizers and synergists, by changing weight position and path, and the arm and wrist angle. This can, in practice, slightly alter the shape of the pectoral, and surrounding muscles.

For instance, by attacking the pectoralis minor and serratus, you can further change the look of your overall pectoral. These exercises would include standing cable flyes, chest dips, and incline shoulder raises. I've also noticed especially flyes and standing cable flyes give a much nicer roundness/plumpness in the inner chest vs. traditional chest presses. Just like Newton's third law, for every (separate) action there's an equal and opposite reaction. Just don't expect dramatic results.

 

[Harie]

Thank you Joseph for sort of correlating what I said.

Now to totally screw up my argument. Check this link out. http://www.shobix.co.jp/ijshs/tempfiles ... 050199.pdf

This article is not widely accepted though.

 

[joseph49853]

And just because Arnold felt he could do that does not make it so.

This is true. I once heard Shawn Ray state that the triceps consisted of two heads, inner and outer. And he was gargantuan at the time too.

 

[dietcola]

im not saying the inner chest is a seperate muscle, i'm saying that specific excercises can develop the inner chest more than others. which is essentially what muscle shaping is. if you are convinced your muscles are shaped the way they are by genetics and that's the end of that, then you workouts should be blissfully simple.

 

[Harie]

then you workouts should be blissfully simple.

They sure are...The last 3 weeks it's just been squats 4x/week. Though it's only 1 exercise, it's the hardest program I've ever done. Before that it was Starting Strength, also simple...Squat, flat bench, row, deadlift.


Muscles can, of course, grow, thus being reshaped. I'm not arguing that. You can develop your pectoral muscles to be bigger, thus making the outer and inner walls bigger.

Bottom line - if you want your pectoral inner/outer walls to be bigger, lift chest...Which will tear down muscle fibers. Then eat protein to help your body rebuild muscles.

 

[dietcola]

then you workouts should be blissfully simple.

They sure are...The last 3 weeks it's just been squats 4x/week. Though it's only 1 exercise, it's the hardest program I've ever done. Before that it was Starting Strength, also simple...Squat, flat bench, row, deadlift.


Muscles can, of course, grow, thus being reshaped. I'm not arguing that. You can develop your pectoral muscles to be bigger, thus making the outer and inner walls bigger.

Bottom line - if you want your pectoral inner/outer walls to be bigger, lift chest...Which will tear down muscle fibers. Then eat protein to help your body rebuild muscles.

ah yes i uderstand now, you are a power lifter.

you will never agree with someone like me, who conditions the entire body to be healthy, muscular and fit. i'm sure you know nothing about toning and shaping and probably don't care to.

 

[Harie]

ah yes i uderstand now, you are a power lifter.

you will never agree with someone like me, who conditions the entire body to be healthy, muscular and fit. i'm sure you know nothing about toning and shaping and probably don't care to.

Yes, I am a wana-be power lifter. Everything else you said is not true. I know a lot about toning and shaping my body. Just because you're a power lifter doesn't automatically mean you're a 300lb fat ***. I'm just not solely focused on how my biceps and triceps look...

 

[dietcola]

ah yes i uderstand now, you are a power lifter.

you will never agree with someone like me, who conditions the entire body to be healthy, muscular and fit. i'm sure you know nothing about toning and shaping and probably don't care to.

Yes, I am a wana-be power lifter. Everything else you said is not true. I know a lot about toning and shaping my body. Just because you're a power lifter doesn't automatically mean you're a 300lb fat ***. I'm just not solely focused on how my biceps and triceps look...

you already said all you care about is how much you can bench/squat/dead.

 

[Harie]

you already said all you care about is how much you can bench/squat/dead.

Yes, I did say that. Obviously when you lift weights and eat, you're going to have muscle growth. I don't lift like a body builder, and don't do a huge amt of reps either. You can be a power lifter and have a pretty decent body though...You just won't be 6% body fat.

In order to bench, it requires strong triceps and shoulders as well as chest. In order to squat, it requires strong legs, abs, back & calves. To dead lift, it requires strong everything. Your weakest link is where you'll get injured. So just because you've got the leg strength to dead lift 500lbs, doesn't mean you've got the core strength to dead lift 500lbs.

Just because I said I was focused on squat, bench and DL doesn't mean that's all I lift. I'd be constantly injured, and grossly out of proportion if that were the case.

 

[joseph49853]

Except for Harie's advice and invitation to overtrain, I pretty much agree with the core of what he's saying. Especially that: isolation movements have their place, but compound exercises should be the foundation of every exercise program: bodybuilding/weightlifting, sports training, powerlifting etc. I compare it to making a cake with all icing or single-jointed movements, with very little actual cake.

Basically in order to make any progress, you've got to master the bench press, squat, deadlift, and upright row etc. Once you are able to get to a certain level, after many months, then you can mess around with variations (angles, repetitions, speed,) but still centered around very basic compound exercise.

 

[Harie]

Except for Harie's advice and invitation to overtrain,

Hey now, I can say the same thing. Except for Joseph49853's advice to do upright rows.

Joseph - Are you on bb.com?

 

[joseph49853]

No, I'm not on BB.com. I've been training too long and have become jaded... in my late twenties. I pretty much now go completely on instinct. Just recently I started catching up on some reading though, which includes BB.com. I've also become very fascinated with isotonic vs. isometric vs. isokinetic, and agonists to induce greater HGH secretion.

 

[dietcola]

harie, you're rambling off about things no one asked about just to prove that you know what you're talking about. why don't you go make a thread on power lifting? makes sense. this thread is about isolation and muscle shaping, i dunno why you insist on jumping up and down "look at me look at me", you clearly know little about this type of weight lifting, as you yourself admitted you don't even do it. just because you workout doesn't make you fit to answer every question.



anyways, to the original thread starter. if your goals are similar to mine, be lean, muscular, possibly even ripped. then take my advice. try the excercises i suggest, i'm sure you'll like em. there's just no way anyone is going to see the full extent of their muscle definition and shape with just compound excercises like bench press. they will definately help you build mass though.

 

[Harie]

harie, you're rambling off about things no one asked about just to prove that you know what you're talking about. why don't you go make a thread on power lifting? makes sense. this thread is about isolation and muscle shaping, i dunno why you insist on jumping up and down "look at me look at me", you clearly know little about this type of weight lifting, as you yourself admitted you don't even do it. just because you workout doesn't make you fit to answer every question.

I heard a quote once that said, "In a debate (argument) you can tell when one side is losing because they resort to personal attacks". That's all you've done in this entire thread...

You have no idea what I know or don't know.

 

[Harie]

To comply with Diet Cola's suggestion that I had pushed the thread off topic...

I will post 1 last picture and a good explanation of why you can not target only inner chest. Then I give up and leave the rest to everyone else to determine for themselves. (Yes, the pic is linked from bb.com, so shoot me)

Much better pictures of the pectoral muscle. See how it fans out from your arm pit? See how the fibers run horizontal? See how it's just a mass of muscle fibers running the entire length from your arm pit to your sternum? http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/issa67abig.jpg

Good explanation:

"There is NO such thing as inner chest or outer chest! The fibers of the chest run horizontally somewhat like a fan shape. Therefore, you CANNOT target the inner portions more than the outer portions or vice versa because it's IMPOSSIBLE to work a portion of a fiber more than the other. Also, the entire length of a fiber will ALWAYS work at the same degree of stress and that applies to ANY muscle. The supposed feeling you thought you had in your inner chest from certain exercises is just a cramping sensation you got in your tendons by the sternum. A lot of this "inner chest" stuff has to do with GENETICS meaning muscle insertion points and bone structure. Some people's pectorals originate farther from the sternum, which would result in that gap. And your pectorals will usually follow the shape of your ribcage. Your best bet is to get your chest as developed as possible and in time it'll fill out. Lowering your bodyfat will also help a great deal in revealing your inner chest."

Now everyone that still believes there's an inner chest, have fun working it. I'm spent...lol

 

[joseph49853]

Except for Harie's advice and invitation to overtrain,

Hey now, I can say the same thing. Except for Joseph49853's advice to do upright rows.

Joseph - Are you on bb.com?

Harie's right, major brain-freeze. I meant bent-over rows. Upright rows are a big no-no, especially close grip, even if done 100 percent correctly. I've stated it before, but it bares repeating.

 

[dietcola]

you keep trying to prove that the chest muscle is one slab and we can see that already. and i never took any personal shots at you, did i ever make fun or call you names? no, i just said you're a powerlifter, you don't care about muscle shape and definition and have no first hand experience with that type of training, so you're probably not the best candidate to answer the question.

read this article, that i found using bodybuilding.com

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/pecs.htm

what do you think harie?

 

[roki]

dietcola how long did it take you to get to the level that you really focus on each muscle and try to perfect it and get all proportions perfected ?
i wish i had more time for al this gym stuff i really like it