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Exercises for Inner Chest Striations

...It's Not What You Expect.

Inner Chest discussion starts at the 3:10 mark in the video.

The chest workout shown in this video is a great well-rounded routine to grow the overall size of all regions of the chest. Follow this workout on Instagram here.

Before discussing the inner chest, we must quickly cover the basics of chest anatomy. Here are the two muscles that comprise the chest. 👇

...and here are the three regions of the Pectoralis Major we'll want to focus on when we train our chest. 👇

While all chest exercises will activate every region of the chest to a certain degree, there are specific exercises we can do to emphasize (not isolate) each region.

CLAVICULAR: Focus primarily on incline chest exercises like Incline Barbell Bench Press and Incline Dumbbell Bench Press.
STERNAL: Focus primarily on flat chest exercises like Flat Barbell Bench Press and Flat Dumbbell Bench Press.
COSTAL: Focus primarily on decline chest exercises like Decline Barbell Bench Press, Decline Dumbbell Bench Press, and Dips.

Now let's address the Inner Chest.

Notice how the fibers of the Chest run side-to-side?

Because these fibers run horizontally - originating from the clavicle and humerus (shoulder & upper arm) and attaching along the sternum (in the center, between each side of the chest) - this means we cannot emphasize the inner chest specifically.

The fact these fibers run horizontally is why we can emphasize the upper, middle, and lower chest.

Hypothetically-speaking, if the chest fibers ran vertically, this would then allow us to emphasize the inner, central, and outer chest. (Even though changing the chest fiber direction would give the pectoralis muscles a different function entirely - I say this to hopefully give you a better visual.)

Last note before concluding...

A false belief I often see - a belief I also held when I was a beginner - is the idea that doing Chest Fly exercises will grow our inner chest.

Again, not the case. Just because we are adducting (bringing in) the arm and seeing our inner chest pop at the peak contraction does not mean it's emphasizing the inner chest more effectively than a powerful set on Flat Bench Press.

Chest Flys with cables and dumbbells are important and definitely have their place, but the Bench Press wins in this competition. 10/10.

"So... how do I grow my inner chest then? Are you saying this can't be done? 🤔"

Not at all. We can grow the inner chest and reveal the coveted striations by doing two things:

GROW THE OVERALL SIZE OF THE CHEST. How do we do this? Focus on hypertrophy-style training (hypertrophy means size growth) and increasing strength by performing proven compound exercises to grow the chest, like Bench Press (Incline, Flat, and Decline).
REDUCE YOUR BODY FAT PERCENTAGE. Reducing the amount of fat covering your chest muscles by eating in a caloric deficit will reveal the chest striations. You technically already have them, they're just currently not visible because they're covered by a layer of fat.

The inner chest secret is out!

Armed with this information, I hope you're looking forward to the next Monday your gym buddy attempts to drop some inner chest bro tips on you, at which time you can drop some truthful #shredknowledge back on him.

Then clasp hands, smile, and dance merily into the sunset.

Towards an open bench.

'til next time 🤙