How to Build Chest Muscle Mass for Your Lower Pecs

Learn how to build chest muscle mass for your lower pecs with these great tips from Jeff at Athlean X.

“The lower chest line is something that many guys struggle to develop.  In this video, I’m going to show you how to get defined lower pecs by hitting the bottom most portion of your pec muscles with the right exercise selection.  In fact, I’m breaking out 8 exercises that will help you to hit your lower chest more effectively than ever before.”

“I start by showing you the classic decline bench press and explain why this exercise is a little better at developing your lower pecs than the flat or incline variation.  It all has to do with the position of your arms in relation to your torso when doing the movement.  You will see that when you sit up after finishing a set of decline bench press that your arms are not angled perpendicular to your body but downward.”

How to Build Chest Muscle Mass for Your Lower Pecs

“The anatomy of the chest explains why this is the preferred angle for attacking the bottom of your chest.  The pectoralis major is broken up into two main sections (the clavicular or upper and the sternal or lower).  In the sternal area of your chest however you have an additional head of the pecs called the abdominal head.  This is the lowermost portion of the pecs and angle from bottom to top heading towards your humerus.”

Source: CrossFit Games / Depositphotos

“If you follow the fibres and train in the same plane as these lower chest fibres then you will more effectively allow them to be activated and recruited during your chest exercises.  Knowing this, we can select chest movements that are better able to hit this lower chest than what you might currently be doing.  If your chest workouts consist of simply dips or decline bench press to hit your lower pecs or worse, you avoid these exercises all together, then you are going to benefit from trying some of these out.”

“First, we revisit the classic dip exercise (which is again a great way to hit the lower chest) and make it even better by including a plus push at the end of every rep.  This extra scapular protraction allows you to hit the serratus anterior muscle as well, which ties in perfectly with the function of the chest and helps to stablize your shoulder during the exercise as well.”

How to Build Chest Muscle Mass for Your Lower Pecs

“Next, we can do a straight bar dip to hit the bottom pecs.  Because you have to angle your entire body more forward during this exercise to keep yourself balanced over the bar, you automatically wind up placing your arms in the proper position to effectively target the lower chest more.  The additional internal rotation of the arms during the exercise helps to get a better contraction on the chest at the top of every rep.”

“From here, you can get more adduction into the exercises you are doing for your lower chest by performing either the D2 flexion pattern with a band or the kneeling x crossovers.  Both of these allow you to train with either one arm at a time or both and help you to build a better mind muscle connection with the working muscles.  This carries over to help you get better muscle development and a defined lower chest in the long run.”

“There are many other exercises that I show for getting a sculpted lower chest including some home options that don’t require any equipment at all.  The bottom line is, if you want to work the bottom of your chest and want to get rid of flat or saggy pecs then you have to start selecting the right exercises for this area.  Here I have shown you 8 exercises but you don’t have to do them all.  Pick a couple and add them to your chest training and you will see a difference in no time.”

Video – How to Build Chest Muscle Mass for Your Lower Pecs

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