A lot of guys go to the gym to build a big, thick chest. It's not
uncommon to see a novice hit the gym and knock out 20, 30, or 40 sets of
bench press in one workout. Doing that many sets of bench in one
workout can spell bad news for your shoulders, but it also neglects the
many other effective chest exercises available.
I'm going to teach you how to train your chest more effectively, how
to target specific chest muscles, and how to get the most from your hard
work in the gym. It's time to harness the power of science and apply it
to your best body.
Built By Science
Muscular Anatomy
To better target and more effectively train your chest, it's
important to understand how the muscles are put together. Here's what
you need to know about the muscles in your chest.
Pectoralis Major
This is the one you're probably most interested in training. Your pec
major, which is your biggest chest muscle, actually has three
sub-heads: the clavicular head, the sternal head, and the abdominal
head. These heads are important to know because they can be specifically
trained through particular movements.
Clavicular head
The clavicular head is the upper part of your pectoralis major. It
runs from your clavicle—your collarbone—down and across the top part of
your chest. It attaches to your humerus, or upper arm. Most guys
struggle to build the top portion of their chest, so we'll pay special
attention to this area.
Sternal Head
The sternal head is quite a bit larger than the clavicular head. It
runs from your sternum, comes across your chest, and inserts at your
humerus.
Abdominal Head
The abdominal head runs from your rectus sheath, which is a big piece
of connective tissue that surrounds your abdominal muscles, continues
up and across the bottom portion of your chest, and attaches to your
humerus.
Pectoralis Minor
Your pec minor lies beneath the pec major. It's a really small muscle
group that you're probably not going to spend too much time trying to
develop.
The pec minor runs from a little boney prominence at the top of your
scapula (called the coracoid process) and attaches to ribs three, four,
and five. I want you to know that it's there, but you don't need to
worry about it too much. It's mostly there to help you breathe.
Serratus Anterior
The serratus anterior starts from the inside of your shoulder blade,
wraps around your side, and attaches onto the front of your ribcage.
Really lean bodybuilders have great looking serratus muscles.
Although it's another muscle you probably won't spend a lot of time
developing, it's crucial for a balanced physique and healthy shoulders.
Dumbbell Pullover
Skeletal Anatomy
Your bones and joints play a critical role in how your chest works
and how you train it. You can't train your chest without also thinking
about your shoulders, back, and elbows.
Scapula
Your scapula is an important part of your pressing movements. When
you set up on a bench press, you want to pin the shoulders down and back
to create a stable base from which to press. It might be on the
posterior side of your body, but your scapula is definitely going to
come into play during chest training.
Shoulder Joint
The scapula and humerus come together to form the glenohumeral joint.
This joint is essential to chest training. It's also the most prone to
injury. If you don't set up well for your presses, you could do some
serious damage to your shoulders.
Elbow
A lot of people don't think about this, but every time you do a
pressing exercise, you extend your elbow. Your elbows have to function
smoothly and pain-free for your chest training to be at its best.
Muscular Function
Let's put all the pieces together and see how your muscles and bones
work together in real-world, functional movements that you do every day.
Pectoralis Major
All three heads of your pec major work together to create internal
rotation. If you put your arm out to the side and rotate it down and
forward, you're rotating your arm internally. Your arm can't do that
without the help of your pecs.
A lot of us aren't too worried about how functionally our chest can
rotate our arm. Instead, we want to see striations and learn how to get
big and lean. One of the best exercises to do this is the incline flye.
This movement is called horizontal adduction—you pull across your body.
As you do the movement, those pec fibers elongate and then shorten
and get tight. All the heads must work together to perform horizontal
adduction.
Clavicular Head
Your clavicular head is responsible for shoulder flexion, or raising
your arm over your head. Incline presses, when your arms go overhead,
are going to hit that top portion of your chest.
Sternal and Abdominal Heads
To best hit the bottom portion of your chest, decline presses and
dumbbell pull-overs are best. Your torso position and the position of
your shoulders make a huge difference in which portion of your chest you
train.
Serratus Anterior
Your serratus anterior is most noticeable when you do something which
protracts your shoulder. When you reach forward like you're doing a
row, you protract your shoulder. The top part of a push-up really works
the serratus anterior. Push-ups may not make your chest massive, but
they definitely train that serratus.
The serratus is also one of three muscles which allow your shoulder
blade to rotate upward so you can put your arms over your head. Your
serratus, lower traps, and upper traps work together to create upward
rotation. Visible serratus muscles look cool, but their function is
critically important to your shoulder health.
Key Exercises
These are the movements you'll see throughout Built by Science.
They're some of the best options for developing a strong, powerful
chest.
EXERCISE 1
Dumbbell Incline Bench
Keep your legs and abs tight for this exercise. As you move the
dumbbells overhead, tuck your elbows down and in. Flared elbows put a
lot of stress and torque on your shoulders.
Although you use all three heads of your pec major for this movement,
putting your arms overhead will especially tax your clavicular head. If
you're having trouble filling out the top part of your chest, make sure
you add the incline bench or flye to your program.
If this movement bothers your shoulders, move to a neutral grip with
your palms facing each other. Having your hands this way will give your
shoulders a little more breathing room and should make you feel better.
EXERCISE 2
Dumbbell Flye
To hit the pecs and get that great horizontal adduction, dumbbell
flyes are the way to go. Get a stable base: abs tight, back tight, and
legs tight. Keep your elbows soft and stretch through your pecs.
As you bring your hands together, those fibers will pull together
and shorten. This movement hits all three of your pec major heads
evenly.
EXERCISE 3
Pushup
I know, you've probably been doing push-ups for years and haven't
noticed how they've trained your chest. I want to give you a few subtle
cues to and tricks to make your push-ups more effective.
This total-body lift connects your upper and lower body. Keep your
abs tight, tuck your elbows on the way down and then, to hit the
serratus, exaggerate trying to push your body as far away from the floor
as possible. The upward squeeze will engage the serratus at the top of
the push-up.
Better Chest, Built By Science
A good understanding of how the bones, joints, and muscles work
together will help you build a program to develop unbelievable pecs.
Mixing up your movements, adding incline and decline presses to your
regular flat bench program, and swapping barbells for dumbbells
influence how your muscles work. The better you understand this, the
better your physique is going to look.
Follow the Built By Science Program
Look for the exercises and techniques discussed above in the weekly
chest workouts of the six-week Built by Science program. Watch all the
overview videos before attacking the gym. Remember, you need to combine
mind
and muscle to build your best possible body.
The original article:http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/built-by-science-chest.html 
