If you want to develop the middle chest or the inner chest to get more defined pecs, you need to watch this video. Here I’m going to show you the only way you can effectively improve the visual appearance of this portion of the chest muscle. Here’s a spoiler, you cannot directly improve only this portion of the pecs but because of the contrast this area provides, you can get it to start looking better quickly if you do the right things.
First thing again that you need to realize is that the inner chest or middle chest is not something you can directly hypertrophy. This is simply the attachment point or the origin of the pec major muscle. As with all muscular attachments however, we are talking about a tendon connecting to a bone (in this case the sternum) at this inner most portion of the pectoralis major.
As we know, tendons are not capable of the hypertrophy that a muscle is. At the point of attachment, the muscle is going to be essentially sutured down to the bone and stay close to that point even as the muscle itself starts to grow. It is the visual differential in depth that is created as the muscle starts to grow away from the ribcage that gives the deepening effect of the middle chest.
This means, if you want to get your middle chest to look more defined and better overall, you are going to have to grow the entire chest muscle.
That said, as with any muscle that you are seeking to improve the way it looks you should always start with looking at your diet. If you have too high body fat levels you are never going to get the chest to look as ripped and muscular as you would like. Higher body fat levels tend to accumulate in chest fat for men making even a larger chest look less desirable than one that is smaller but more lean.
Beyond the chest anatomy however is the way you train it and the type of chest workouts and chest exercises you perform.
One of the most important things you can do if you want to build a bigger chest is remember to not just focus on strength building exercises. Some of the most classic chest strength exercises like the bench press, incline bench press, weighted dips and weighted pushups are all lacking one very important element – chest adduction capability. Because your hands are in a fixed position on every one of those chest exercises you are not able to bring them close together or across midline to get a complete chest contraction.
When you are trying to build the inner chest or any portion of your chest really, you have to make sure you don’t forget to include some exercises that allow your hands the freedom of motion to do this. That said, take an exercise like the cable crossover. Even if you perform this regularly in your chest workouts but stop your arm as soon as it gets to the point of your midline you won’t get the type of results you would if you brought it all the way across your midline.
When looking to build your chest you have to remember to take it to a point of a complete pec contraction.
Now of course you will visually see the improvement of the inner chest appearance just by getting into this position. Don’t be confused. This is just the shortening of the muscle due to this increased contraction that makes it stand out more. However, the repeated repetitions that you will accumulate by doing this the right way on your chest exercises will allow the overall growth of the muscle to be higher which is going to result in the depth of the line increasing over time.
There is some additional science that supports the need for more adduction of the arm across the body if you want to grow a bigger chest. The existence of something called non-spanning fibers. When these fibers are engaged by the contraction of the fully spanning fibers that run from your arm to your sternum, they too can participate in the contraction and experience the same growth that typical fibers do.
If you don’t engage them by ever bringing your arm far enough across your body to do so, they will never experience the growth stimulation possible and the overall size of the chest will remain smaller. Remember, if you want to get your middle chest to look more defined you have to be sure you are growing the muscle as much as possible. Maximum stimulation of the muscle across the chest exercises you perform is the goal always.
If you are looking for more advanced training techniques built on muscle science to get more than just defined inner pecs, be sure to head to athleanx.com via the link below and use the program selector to find the program that matches your current goals.
For more videos on chest workouts for the middle chest and the best inner chest exercises, be sure to subscribe to our youtube channel via the link below and remember to turn on your notifications so you never miss a new video when it’s published.
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Chris Wright
*NOTIFICATION SQUAD GIVEAWAY* – It’s back!! Alright guys, I’m giving away a complete 30 Day Workout program to 100 lucky clickers within the first hour this video is published! Remember, this is NOT THE FIRST 100, but those randomly selected within the first hour the video is published. Click the link to see if you’ve won. No strings attached!
https://giveaway.athleanx.com/ytg/middle-chest-solution
If you don’t win, no worries, you’re not going away empty handed. Just be sure you have your notifications turned on so you can get to my next video quickly and try again. Good luck and thanks for being a loyal subscriber…
Sucks when the working class people miss out on all the good stuff during work hours
@NordicBeast athleanonline.com or just google athleanx support mail
Will you finish the band workout series, please? I, and many of us still need it in the current situation, let it be due to the restrictions or other reasons (e. g. financial) to why we can’t go to the gym. Especially the leg workout.
As a physiotherapist student and a long-time follower of the channel, I put together some really tough band exercises that I do on leg day. These are:
1. Banded pistol squats w/o a box (from or onto a box)
2a. Banded hip thrusts, single or double leg
2b. Banded hyperextensions (bench needed, but can be found in most fitness parks)
3. Banded side-step ladder for abductors – ATHLEAN-X style
4. Standing leg adduction with a band
Of course, there are a lot more leg exercises with bands like Bulgarian split squats, single-leg RDL-s or your TKE drop lunge, but these are the ones I find the hardest. My question is, are there even harder/better exercises for legs than these? Best regards.
When Jeff proposed to his wife, he didn’t kneel down, he reversed lunged into position
this chum is fum
This comment is hilarious…lol
Legend has it… Jeff wipes using both hands to prevent muscle imbalances
Not legend, fact
I also prevent muscle imbalances by not wipes at all
I already gained 3 pounds of lean muscle for being so early
666th like
@cam beck speed kills gains
@Carlos Subero Helo gringos bengo a bendecirlos
WOW THIS IS HILLARIOUS
My faith in Jeff dipped when I saw the title but it was quickly redeemed
@bark ruffalo there’s definitely a big genetic factor. I don’t feel any contraction in my inner chest unless I cross parallel on flies. My pec development kinda makes a U shape where the upper middle part has almost no development whatsoever while everything else does
@ShadowKiller571 that’s not what he was saying lol he literally said the workouts he shows are better at contraction NOT targeting
@David that’s what I was getting at idk the correct terms
@Cameron Smith well if what Jeff is saying is true, you CAN target your inner chest, by adducting your arm across your chest in a fully contracted position. However you will still use the other parts of the chest. I think the subtle distinction that Jeff is making is that you can’t target the inner chest IN ISOLATION without using other parts of the chest, but you CAN activate the inner chest (while still using the rest of your chest, obviously) more by changing the angle of your arm.
2% of people post a comment before watching the whole video
That’s killing your gains
I come for the comments. Never disappointed
Finally caught a video within the first hour!
Facts. Spit. Raw. Thank you, your channel helped through a lot of injuries.
Me: Gets born and takes my first breath
Jeff: “And this is were it goes wrong”
“Why Crawling out of the Canal to be Birthed is killing your Gains”
@Prabsharan Kaknia thank you Captain Obvious. It was a joke but not everyone gets it I guess
You need to learn proper breathing to maximize your gains.
Just realizing how hard it is to maintain the stream of words those last few minutes were
jeff: “we have science to support that there may be non-spanning chest fibers in the middle portion of the chest”
the science: literally jeff’s pecs
When Jeff does cardio, he makes sure his heart has a full contraction.
Holy fucking lol
Lmfao
…..and Jeffs heart is so balanced, it has 4 chambers.
I’m laughing
Good news: I won 30 days NXT which is advanced level! Bad news: I don’t think I’m ready for AX1. I feel guilty I won something from which someone else could have benefited more. I will check it out but those of you who click early never give up. And never give up on your fitness goals!
Good news: you found the guy you looking for.
@Pradeep kumar Sorry but I contacted the company asking if I could exchange it for AX1. Can’t exchange can’t transfer but I can hold onto it until I’m ready. Good luck to you.
Jeff drops gold on Youtube, I press like. It’s that simple.
wow, it seems that Jeff knows what’s my problem right now. love him so much
That missing chest line is gonna haunt me for life.
It looks so dumb and unnatural lmao
Jeff’s gonna have to buy new markers one day cause their ink will finish soon.
Lmaoo
me too
When Jeff talks, he repeats what he said backwards and twice as slow to make sure he gets the eccentric contraction
I never hear Jeff say how packaged, creme filled, chocolate cupcakes aid in any of this stuff.
It’s honestly starting to bug me too
Nothing worse than finishing a workout of that exact muscle group and coming home to see this video about how I could have done it all better……
There’s always tomorrow, or go back to the gym for a do over. But I know what you mean!