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If you want to build your upper chest and traditional chest exercises like incline bench press and incline flys are too uncomfortable because of a shoulder injury, then this video is going to be extremely helpful. In fact, even if you aren’t injured, the upper chest exercise shown here will be a great addition to your chest workouts to help you start packing some mass onto the upper portion of your pecs in quick order.
To start, it helps to understand the anatomy of the upper fibers of the pectoralis major. The pec has both a sternal portion and a clavicular portion (as well as a much smaller costal region). The fibers of the upper chest are separately innervated and run at an oblique angle from the clavicle down to the biciptal groove of the upper arm bone or humerus.
That said, if you look just to the side you will also see the front delts. These neighbors of the pecs are more than just a different muscle. They are in close proximity because they share many of the same functions of the pecs. If you understand this, you can see that by stealing from some of the exercise options used to train the delts you can come up with chest exerise alternatives that are much more tolerated than traditional movements like the fly or incline bench press when injured.
The fly, done unsupported, has never been a top exercise choice for me. Not only is the risk to reward ratio low considering the athletic population that I train but even for the non athlete, removing some of the risk by performing the floor fly variation is a much better option. Not to mention, this version allows me to overload the eccentric and get much more out of the movement. That said, the anterior shoulder capsule gets put in a very vulnerable position at the bottom of the fly that is particularly aggravating to someone who has a shoulder injury already.
On the other hand, the incline bench press is phenomenal chest building exercise but one that becomes really difficult to perform if your shoulder is hurting. This is because the elevation component of the movement can lead to an aggravation of an existing shoulder impingement or rotator cuff tendonitis or strain.
If you perform the upper chest crossover shown in this video however, you can train the fibers of the upper chest without the potentially harmful components of the previously named exercises and not have to abandon your chest training all together. To perform this movement, simply grab a dumbbell and stand with it at your side. Bring it up as if you are going to perform a front delt dumbbell raise but instead of tracking in line with your shoulder, bring it across your chest at the same time.
This line of pull will engage the upper chest much more and turn this into an incredible exerise for your upper pecs. Though you may be using lower weight than you would in a traditional incline bench press you will likely be placing a much higher load on the chest muscle itself which is all that matters when it comes to building a bigger muscle.
Contract the muscle hard at the top and lower slow. Continue until failure on both sides to develop an evenly built upper chest. This may be one of the only exercises you can do depending on the severity of your shoulder injury at this time. That is ok. Keep your volume up without having to abandon your chest workouts all together and you not only will keep your chest strong but you will be able to bounce back from your injury much sooner.
For a complete training program that puts the science back in strength to get you faster results, head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System. Start training like an athlete and be amazed at how much better your body responds by doing so.
For more chest workouts and exercises for your chest, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at
I’m black so marker doesn’t show up well on me 🙁
Lol☻
@Norre hahaha couldn’t help laughing at this
Omg this is so sad. Alexa play despacito
no gainz for you bro. no marker, no hypertrophy
white scribbleage
I always wanted him to start a video w “my name if Jeff”
Rumpofsteelskin he did do that for a new years video like a few days ago
Rumpofsteelskin
He did it on his “Jeff Cavaliere EXCLUSIVE footage” video
Pedro Filipe no way I gotta look for it !
Rumpofsteelskin that’s the stalest meme it’s like middle last year
@Pungent Pelodia haha u got me haha
So shredded that he can explain muscle anatomy on his own body. <3
This
Shayantan Shivam Chakraborty thats an excellent point. That’s shredded. Fucking shredded.
John Brady its actually crazy I mean profs use mannequins …but even the mannequin is not as shredded as Jeff Cavaliere^^ lol
why am i watching a half naked man draw on himself
Because u r dog
dog i don’t know your watching this
That was freaking funny.
Because you need step out the closet xD
good video, been looking for another option instead of fly’s for the outer upper chest… would love to see 1for the the inner, upper chest
No such thing as targeting inner chest
Hugely Helpful for a guy who’s been through a shoulder reconstruction. Thanks Jeff
Hey Jeff! Could you maybe do a video on how to fix/cure shoulder impingement? Thanks!
Low to high cable fly for the win!
A-men…
Jeff says no fly and then does a replica low to high dumbbell fly?
G Beez he suggested to stop doing flys because of the risk of damaging your shoulders, in this case it’s much safer for the shoulder because its going against gravity
if he keeps on with such creativity mixed with his knowledge of human muscle anatomy and functionality ..
athleanx will become a religion .
chest[3:16]
Thy shall workout front delt and upper chest together .
its already a religion
you think athleanx is bad?
My mom came in when i was watching this, I couldn’t explain very well why I was watching a half naked man draw on himself. I quickly pulled up my pants so I think she missed that bit.
He can pull your pants and your mum’s pants if he meets you, but sure you will walk away pantsless then. Maybe assless too
Barf
What a quack Everyone knows you use a red marker for the front deltoid. Sheesh
Jeff, you´re the man
I am so thankful with you for giving exercises for people with injuries
Exactly what i needed..wish I’d known that before..no more shoulder pain. Thank you!
And it works
How could i be so blind! You just have to draw your muscles! Thanks Jeff!
Ignore these silly comments… YOU ARE AMAZING !!!! you have inspired me to go to the gym and persevere in a way I didn’t think possible for myself. I OWE YOU A MASSIVE THANK YOU!!! These videos for free are such a blessing and they are so beneficial. I have see a huge difference in the gains that I make for myself. Pt’s in the gym always seem to muck me about for time till they’re done. Please Don’t stop!!!! Thanks a million!! No. 1 fan over here!!!
That exercise is even better at the cables. You can get consistent resistance through a wider range of motion and a more isolating angle as well. Something I’ve seen on this channel.
You think it makes a difference to change the direction of your arm and target upper chest / front delt? you need to bend over to the side and do a vertical lift to target upper chest. if you are standing up right you will be targeting front delts no matter which direction you move you arm to.
Nice info, Jeff, thanks for sharing.
I’ll give this a try, for sure.