Chest/Pec Development

Wookinpanub
Wookinpanub Posts: 635 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
My chest has always been my weak area and specifically my upper chest. I am tall (6-3) and never really lifted during my younger days. I am 44 now and have been lifting regularly for over a year. Doing flat barbell bench and occasionally cable cross overs. I also added push ups recently and that actually seemed to help my progress on my bench press.

Any recommendations given my age & height? I could probably lose about 15 lbs too which could help as I do have some side moob action going on. I am 6-3 207 lbs if that helps.

Replies

  • armylife
    armylife Posts: 196 Member
    Are you on a program that works bench press? What are your goals, strength, size, or both? What is your current program? How long have you been doing it?

    Not a whole lot of information in the original post and I am kind of confused about what you are asking. Do you want to bench more, or develop your chest/pecs? They are not mutually exclusive but you need to further define what you are asking.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
    DB flat and incline press. Stretch the pecs at the bottom.
  • FrankWhite27330
    FrankWhite27330 Posts: 316 Member
    Butterflies... IMO work chest more then bench press
  • DomOfEbbAndFlowmotion
    DomOfEbbAndFlowmotion Posts: 3 Member
    edited October 2015
    Decline=lower, Flat=midrange, Incline=upper. In general, bench is a great exercise that will add mass to the chest, delta, and triceps; it also puts a lot of stress on the shoulder joint, elbows, and wrists. If your pushing yourself, then your gonna need a spot you can trust as well.
    With that said, I swore off bench almost 10 years ago after my shoulders were in a perpetual state of injury and have never looked back. I switched over the to Cable Variations and had the best chest development I'd ever had(well enough to bring home hard ware in two natural bodybuilding shows).
    Being tall and long is a blessing for pulling exercises and a curse for the pushing; you are what might be descibed as mechanically disadvantaged lol.
    For the last 8 years I've done nothing but pushups and am content with the chest development they provide. I guess you might say that my chest development is the result of the rest of my training program and pushups put the icing on the cake.
    Dropping a few lbs will also bring out some more of the definition you after by method of tighter nutrition and cardio through higher intensity exercise(kettlebells and activity based fitness are my perfered methods). Good luck!
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Choose a couple of chest exercises to work the entire chest and get stronger at them over the course of the next year.
  • hamlet1222
    hamlet1222 Posts: 459 Member
    Wookinpanub wrote: »
    My chest has always been my weak area and specifically my upper chest. I am tall (6-3) and never really lifted during my younger days. I am 44 now and have been lifting regularly for over a year. Doing flat barbell bench and occasionally cable cross overs. I also added push ups recently and that actually seemed to help my progress on my bench press.

    Any recommendations given my age & height? I could probably lose about 15 lbs too which could help as I do have some side moob action going on. I am 6-3 207 lbs if that helps.

    You say you're just doing flat bench press and push ups (I assume without your feet elevated)? This did lead to my upper chest lagging behind too. It was incline bench press (30-45 degree) that made a difference to me - I can totally feel it hitting my upper chest.

    Don't worry about your age ;-)
  • Wookinpanub
    Wookinpanub Posts: 635 Member
    edited October 2015
    My goals are overall better definition - ie looking good in a t-shirt or more form fitting clothes. I don't want mass.

    I started SL 5X last December and modified it after 4-5 months to 3X5 then 2 sets are progressively lower weight.
  • Soundwave79
    Soundwave79 Posts: 469 Member
    FrankWhite27330 wrote: »
    Butterflies... IMO work chest more then bench press

    Any particuliar fly's you recommend? Dumbbell, cable, machine? I find doing heavy butterflies with dumbells puts a ton of stress on my shoulders and elbows. :(

  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Soundwave79 wrote: »
    FrankWhite27330 wrote: »
    Butterflies... IMO work chest more then bench press

    Any particuliar fly's you recommend? Dumbbell, cable, machine? I find doing heavy butterflies with dumbells puts a ton of stress on my shoulders and elbows. :(

    Cable flies tend to have more even tension throughout the entire ROM. DB flies provide minimal tension at the peak of the movement.
  • SideSteel
    SideSteel Posts: 11,068 Member
    Wookinpanub wrote: »
    My goals are overall better definition - ie looking good in a t-shirt or more form fitting clothes. I don't want mass.

    I started SL 5X last December and modified it after 4-5 months to 3X5 then 2 sets are progressively lower weight.

    That's going to primarily come down to fat loss.
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