Sometimes we take common sense for granted. Thanks Eugene, I always found dificulty on developing my upper chest. Testing angles and different variations (barbell and dumbell press and cable variants). made me find the perfect angle for my upper chest anatomy. John Meadows was always an advocate for lower angles. Yes these lower angles presses feels great, but I feel for my specific case, a minimum 30º angle works wonders!
it's common sense only to those who have the knowledge...to the rest of us who dont know, thank you Eugene for this teaching video...its much appreciated!!
My experience has proved to me that the more the chest protrucion (due to development and/or ''barrel chestedness'') the steeper the incline on the bench is needed to better cover the fibers of upper chest. 👍
I have built sooooo much muscle in my upper chest with DB 30° press and Smith Machine 30° press in the past 6 months. I also always tuck elbows and do full rom
@Johnny Comps I’d say try a 30° incline press with dumbbells and tuck your elbows slightly and press from about nipple height. Make sure your controlling the weight in the bottom position because that is where your chest is working the hardest
yes! I was always told 45 degrees was ideal and it always caused me pain and i couldn’t feel my chest that well, but 15 has been perfect for me anatomy and mobility
Happy to finally find someone in line with me about the bench angle. I see many guys claiming they are targeting upper chest on a very inclined bench, but they arche so much in order to lift heavy, they are definitely working on the mid, almost low part...
Nice. I kind of expected there to be no definitive answer as it all depends on the angle and people’s choices on the matter but it’s great to know the way the function of the chest muscles work and how to optimally utilize them. Fantastic video
I believe that the costal region is more developed in most people than the upper which is less developed so it needs much less focus but of course should not be neglected. Perfect as always Eugene!
Great tips uncle Eugene! 💪Chest is definitely my weakest body part. Actually experience pain in my left side of middle traps/rhomboid when going to heavy. It's really keeping me from progressing at the moment. Hopefully I can adjust it with better angle and technique.
have you tried doing a little rowing before your bench sets ? Maybe it would be a good idea to activate your back muscles before entering a heavy bench set
@@user-us4mc7ej3c I never tried rowing as a warm up, but I do warm up the rotator cuff with band exercises a lot more these days. And it has improved a lot over the last few months. I'm basically painless at the moment, but I'm still holding back a bit as don't want the injury to get worse again. So I load about 70% of what I used to on bench. Maybe it will take a few months, maybe it will take a year. As long as it's done in a safe manner I'm confident it will get better. Will give it a shot with some rowing for warm up next workout. Thanks.
Mr Teo did you know that no matter the incline the bar must start higher than your shoulders and end over the eyes.The military press also works the upper pecs because the back is arched and you start from your clavicles.You can try the one dumbell chest shrug which you hold the dumbell in one hand and shrug it up and inside and squeezing the pec following the upper chest fibers.
At 6' tall with high upper chest insertions, I've noticed a higher incline angle absolutely hammers my upper chest. Even a slightly inclined shoulder press I can feel the chest working.
If you have trouble feeling your chest on barbell exercises just kick them out if you st won’t focused on powerlifting what helped my chest development and shoulder health was to just do dumbbell and a little machine exercises
although i'm against barbell guillotine press i think that doing it on the smith machine and inclined is probably the best exercise for the upper chest because it removes the stability issues and is overall safer than free weights, i think you should really take it into consideration ^^
I do mostly barbell bench press with - I think - the 15 degree incline. I do like alternating between what i would regard as a "standard" width grip and a narrower one (where the knurled or rough parts of the barbell starts)...harder to press but can get a bit more range of motion :-)
Hey Eugene. Good channel. I personally got away from incline work a while ago as IMO the whole upper chest thing is up for debate IMO. I believe all portions of the chest muscle are working maximally in just the flat or slight decline. Throw in genetics and you get what you get. Otherwise every pro bodybuilder who have maximized all variable would have great upper pecs yet we see many that do not and they are doing all these incline variation. Again, my opinion based off biomechanics and how the muscle loads. Also…I am with you on dumbbells and cable work as being most optimal from resistance curve standpoint and safety as well. No one is blowing there pecs out on dumbells or cables. Very rare
If you think about it, flat DB press works pec and seated DB press works delts. It is only logical that playing with the incline will target different parts of chest / delts .. it's common sense. Although I will have to agree on the genetics part. Personnally I rarely see a person whose pecs have a clear separation
bingo ,thanks mate i had a feeling of going into dips and its because of that part of the chest muscle groups ,,,,u saying it like that gave me confirmation ,,,see ya soon eugene
Trust me. Dumbbell Floorpress is the way to go if you have any shoulder, back or rotatorcuff issues. Even if you dont have any issues I would still prefer the floor presses. It hits the chest way better. My chest exploded after doing floor presses with dumbbells and you have full stability and its a shoulder saver!
That's the exact opposite for me personally, for some weird reason I cannot feel the chest at all when floor pressing, I actually can't feel anything although I still get tired
@@maxvonbecker1830 I agree. My arms are 6 feet long, so it's really hard to get the full contraction with that little range of motion, excpecially because my chest isn't really big, dumbell flat/incline bench press really stretch my chest to the fullest
My issue is more that my triceps are weak and my right elbow gets angry sometimes. I do find that alternating between incline and decline every couple months causes better strength gains though.
Recently I've been playing with the angles again as I noticed my upper chest has flattened out quite alot in the last year with the lockdown crap. I always followed what John said and that's a low incline, recently I added a set to failure at 45 deg and 60 deg, I looked at Charles glass and his renowned for the guillotine high incline press, my upper chest has sprung back up forsure in the last month. I always added in a pad behind my back to keep my chest up and pushed out for correct posture which has helped immensely on hammer strength pressing another concept of Charles glass.
According to what data did you made these sugestions. As to what i know from EMG measures. The only noticible change in activtaion on chest muscles was whit a 20 degree downward angle. Also let my remind you about the anatomy of the chest. Its one muscle. You can not isolate or target a specific part of one muscel. Much like you cant target a specific part of rectus abdominus. So leaning bench up will no activate upper chest fibrers as you claim more than a flat one. the only thin that will happen is that you shift more to shoulder and triceps dominant movement then chest. So flat or decline is the way to go. And ofc Dips is the king for overall chest development. And flyes is ofc also a good one.
Been searching RUclips for chest building videos on how to build bigger chest and nobody explains how the chest muscles work like you do you uncle Eugene lol
I have a question with respect to tip 4. I tend to avoid the converging motion that you mentioned as it tends to trigger tendinitis in my upper left arm (both cable flys and db flys). Do you know of any good machine exercises or exercises that are in a more stable position that might help me out?
Hi. Thanks for the informative video. Could you refer to an article that supports the optimal arms position which you discussed? I read other articles which support the opposite so I'm interested to compare between them. Thanks once again!
I saw your video about doing mobility exercises for strength so you don't have to do an extensive warmup and generally have good ankle and hip mobility. I was wondering if you have anything for the upper body specifically the shoulders? I want to have healthy shoulders so I can lift for the rest of my life and hopefully protect them from injury. It seems like the more consistent I lift the more my shoulder starts to ache, and now I avoid certain movements like the incline dumbbell press or lateral raise.
Alternate title: Eugene talks about pecs while pup outsmarts him to get plastic bag
🤣🤣
@@coacheugeneteo to those that don’t know, the doggie is doing what is known as baggie burpee‘s! 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah that was pretty cute
Guys, we are literally getting amazing and in-depth information, broken down in easy-to-understand terms, FOR FREE. Thank you, Eugene. King.
Thank you! 🙏
For FREEEEEEEEEEE
I second this years later!!! 🔥 Thank you, we appreciate this 🙏
I was literally asking myself this a few days ago. Thanks for the video
My pleasure!
Eugene heard you bro
Same here ... . Great find. Excited for next chest/push-day.
Sometimes we take common sense for granted. Thanks Eugene, I always found dificulty on developing my upper chest. Testing angles and different variations (barbell and dumbell press and cable variants). made me find the perfect angle for my upper chest anatomy. John Meadows was always an advocate for lower angles. Yes these lower angles presses feels great, but I feel for my specific case, a minimum 30º angle works wonders!
Yes!
it's common sense only to those who have the knowledge...to the rest of us who dont know, thank you Eugene for this teaching video...its much appreciated!!
That doggo looks like a twin to my terrier mix, love ‘em
My experience has proved to me that the more the chest protrucion (due to development and/or ''barrel chestedness'') the steeper the incline on the bench is needed to better cover the fibers of upper chest. 👍
Yes!
Am I the only one who was just laughing at the dog? 🤣
Thank you for the time stamps Uncle Eugene.
Outstanding! I've picked up bits and pieces of these points over the years. But you perfectly condensed it all into this video. Well done! Thanks!!!
Thank you! 🙏
I never knew I could learn so much useful knowledge in 7 minutes. Thank you!!!
Thank you! 🙏
thank you for the guidance. your dog made me smile
Thank you! 🙏
I have built sooooo much muscle in my upper chest with DB 30° press and Smith Machine 30° press in the past 6 months. I also always tuck elbows and do full rom
Nice
@Johnny Comps start your chest workouts with a incline variation that you like and try to add weight/reps over time!
@Johnny Comps I’d say try a 30° incline press with dumbbells and tuck your elbows slightly and press from about nipple height. Make sure your controlling the weight in the bottom position because that is where your chest is working the hardest
This is only the 3rd video I've seen from this channel, and it is already one of my all time favorite fitness channels. Eugene is the man!!!!
Very useful and clearly explained. I take away a lot as chest has always been my worst body part, both in size and strength
Hope this helps
yes! I was always told 45 degrees was ideal and it always caused me pain and i couldn’t feel my chest that well, but 15 has been perfect for me anatomy and mobility
Nice p
Same here. Above 15 just feel like front delts doing all the work
I was always told 30 degrees and it works the best for me
Happy to finally find someone in line with me about the bench angle. I see many guys claiming they are targeting upper chest on a very inclined bench, but they arche so much in order to lift heavy, they are definitely working on the mid, almost low part...
Nice. I kind of expected there to be no definitive answer as it all depends on the angle and people’s choices on the matter but it’s great to know the way the function of the chest muscles work and how to optimally utilize them. Fantastic video
Thank you Uncle Eugene for the timestamps, and the helpful advise as always.
Uncle Eugene Is the best uncle. Big, strong and wise. Marry Christmas from Italy!
I believe that the costal region is more developed in most people than the upper which is less developed so it needs much less focus but of course should not be neglected. Perfect as always Eugene!
I've been doing single arm band flys , kind of like your cable flys shown. Really feel it in the upper chest.
Nice!
Massive props for doing this in one take with your dog in your face haha, actually impressive
🤣🤣 Thank you! 🙏
Thank you for this and all other videos, Brother Eugene. Eloquently explained, and cleverly comical when it needs to be.
Thank you! 🙏
I'm pretty sure the puppy wanted to add some of its favorite chest exercises too. 😁
Always nice to see a new video from Eugene 👏
Thank you! 🙏
Just binged watch all of your techniques and tips videos.
Can't believe all of these are for free.
Loved the playing pup action - unexpectedly helped me pay attention through the whole video in one go 😂
Mark Bell's Sling Shot works similar to bands or chains. Instead of adding tension at the top, it assists at the bottom.
Yes! It's great
In my case, my middle part is good, lower chest is okay and my upper chest is nil...
Thanks for this vid! Really informative!
Great tips uncle Eugene! 💪Chest is definitely my weakest body part. Actually experience pain in my left side of middle traps/rhomboid when going to heavy. It's really keeping me from progressing at the moment. Hopefully I can adjust it with better angle and technique.
rotator cuffs
@@tomodomo1000 Perhaps. Although I do not experience any issues at any other point during my work outs.
Good luck!
have you tried doing a little rowing before your bench sets ? Maybe it would be a good idea to activate your back muscles before entering a heavy bench set
@@user-us4mc7ej3c I never tried rowing as a warm up, but I do warm up the rotator cuff with band exercises a lot more these days. And it has improved a lot over the last few months. I'm basically painless at the moment, but I'm still holding back a bit as don't want the injury to get worse again. So I load about 70% of what I used to on bench. Maybe it will take a few months, maybe it will take a year. As long as it's done in a safe manner I'm confident it will get better. Will give it a shot with some rowing for warm up next workout. Thanks.
This was really usefull i watch you cause I have the same height
Thanks
Always a treat when u post a video
Thanks for your work dude💕🙏🏻
Thank you! 🙏
I always wondered about incline heights with chest press , the knowledge you have shared is very helpful. Thank you Master Teo
30
hi gregory
For some people, yes
Mr Teo did you know that no matter the incline the bar must start higher than your shoulders and end over the eyes.The military press also works the upper pecs because the back is arched and you start from your clavicles.You can try the one dumbell chest shrug which you hold the dumbell in one hand and shrug it up and inside and squeezing the pec following the upper chest fibers.
Great video, thanks Eugene!
Going to start implementing this tomorrow. Thanks boss
🤘
At 6' tall with high upper chest insertions, I've noticed a higher incline angle absolutely hammers my upper chest. Even a slightly inclined shoulder press I can feel the chest working.
I’m a bit over 5’11, so I’ll try that too.
Thank you uncle Eugene ❤️
😃
The dog being a weapon in the background was excellent.
Man I feel so much more knowledgeable after watching your videos. This is great
Good advice. Thank you. And adorable dog!
If you have trouble feeling your chest on barbell exercises just kick them out if you st won’t focused on powerlifting what helped my chest development and shoulder health was to just do dumbbell and a little machine exercises
The bad snatch from the pup had me weak 🤣🤣. Vids are good too lol
Thanks for great info! I really like your channel! 💥💯
Thank you! 🙏
Thank you for your channel brother!
Thank you! 🙏
although i'm against barbell guillotine press i think that doing it on the smith machine and inclined is probably the best exercise for the upper chest because it removes the stability issues and is overall safer than free weights, i think you should really take it into consideration ^^
I really like that one too! No worries about stability, just focusing on pressing
Very educational video thank you
I do mostly barbell bench press with - I think - the 15 degree incline. I do like alternating between what i would regard as a "standard" width grip and a narrower one (where the knurled or rough parts of the barbell starts)...harder to press but can get a bit more range of motion :-)
Top notch instructions
Thank you! 🙏
Thanks unco
You're a treasure chest (see what I did there) of knowledge. Thanks.
🤣 Thank you! 🙏
No questions to ask, just wanted to tell you that your dog is adorable lol.
Thank you! 🙏
That dog is persistent. I laughed immediately when it jumped on the couch.
🤣🤣
Thanks for the video! Was literally thinking about this a week ago
Why
@@shaftofwisdom Wdym why?
You're welcome!
I had to watch twice because of the cute, fluffy doggo😍
dammmmn uncle's channel is growing
👏
😄
amazing content !! Thanks mate 🖤🖤
Keep more of these coming.......
Great information! Thank you! However Your puppy won the spotlight!😅🐕
🤣
Deep decline weighted ring push ups with a focus on arm adduction are so underrated for the chest imo
Hey Eugene. Good channel. I personally got away from incline work a while ago as IMO the whole upper chest thing is up for debate IMO. I believe all portions of the chest muscle are working maximally in just the flat or slight decline. Throw in genetics and you get what you get. Otherwise every pro bodybuilder who have maximized all variable would have great upper pecs yet we see many that do not and they are doing all these incline variation. Again, my opinion based off biomechanics and how the muscle loads. Also…I am with you on dumbbells and cable work as being most optimal from resistance curve standpoint and safety as well. No one is blowing there pecs out on dumbells or cables. Very rare
If you think about it, flat DB press works pec and seated DB press works delts. It is only logical that playing with the incline will target different parts of chest / delts .. it's common sense.
Although I will have to agree on the genetics part. Personnally I rarely see a person whose pecs have a clear separation
Merry Xmas🎄 Cheers for all the vids.
bingo ,thanks mate i had a feeling of going into dips and its because of that part of the chest muscle groups ,,,,u saying it like that gave me confirmation ,,,see ya soon eugene
Ditched flat bench and replaced it with Dips and Incline Bench. Chest size blew up.
brilliant video mann!
Thank you! 🙏
Trust me. Dumbbell Floorpress is the way to go if you have any shoulder, back or rotatorcuff issues. Even if you dont have any issues I would still prefer the floor presses. It hits the chest way better. My chest exploded after doing floor presses with dumbbells and you have full stability and its a shoulder saver!
That's the exact opposite for me personally, for some weird reason I cannot feel the chest at all when floor pressing, I actually can't feel anything although I still get tired
@@emanuelegaddi3545 Because you can’t fully stretch your chest fibers. In floorpress the ROM isn’t so good
@@maxvonbecker1830 I agree. My arms are 6 feet long, so it's really hard to get the full contraction with that little range of motion, excpecially because my chest isn't really big, dumbell flat/incline bench press really stretch my chest to the fullest
hahah the casualness of dog and him being a cool dog owner while dropping wisdom bombs
😄😄
Because of the dog alone, I've subscribed.
Thanks for this mate
Great content as always👌
Thank you! 🙏
thanks
My issue is more that my triceps are weak and my right elbow gets angry sometimes.
I do find that alternating between incline and decline every couple months causes better strength gains though.
There are some things that just are not meant to be changed, your body is not one of them. 🙌
Came for the tips, stayed for the dog
All of em
Truth 😆
Good bg music by the pup using the plastic 😜😂
Recently I've been playing with the angles again as I noticed my upper chest has flattened out quite alot in the last year with the lockdown crap.
I always followed what John said and that's a low incline, recently I added a set to failure at 45 deg and 60 deg, I looked at Charles glass and his renowned for the guillotine high incline press, my upper chest has sprung back up forsure in the last month. I always added in a pad behind my back to keep my chest up and pushed out for correct posture which has helped immensely on hammer strength pressing another concept of Charles glass.
At 6'5", 15 degrees hits my upper chest perfectly. 30 degrees is OK, but front delts start taking over. I might even rank flat bench above 30 degrees
I was able to do 2 reps with 45 kg dumbells in a 30° incline dumbell press.. a good number to end the year on 😍
45 both or 45 kg each?! 😮
@@dauud4970i think its 45kg each since its dumbells
I do 60 because I don't have a holder so I have to grab the barbell from the floor and a higher degree just makes it easier to get into start position
I have one day low incline press and one higher incline press
The pup 😆 love me!
According to what data did you made these sugestions. As to what i know from EMG measures. The only noticible change in activtaion on chest muscles was whit a 20 degree downward angle. Also let my remind you about the anatomy of the chest. Its one muscle. You can not isolate or target a specific part of one muscel. Much like you cant target a specific part of rectus abdominus. So leaning bench up will no activate upper chest fibrers as you claim more than a flat one. the only thin that will happen is that you shift more to shoulder and triceps dominant movement then chest. So flat or decline is the way to go. And ofc Dips is the king for overall chest development. And flyes is ofc also a good one.
Great video
Thankyou sir.
Thanks Eugene this was a great help. Do you have a coupon for your app? Really interested in buying.
@ 0:14 unexpected popup
😂😄
Man you are best i can't totally relate to everything i am 5'5🙈...
And tomorrow is my chest day❤️
When choosing the incline was the one on the left the better one or the one that was shown on the right side
Do all of them.
awesome
Been searching RUclips for chest building videos on how to build bigger chest and nobody explains how the chest muscles work like you do you uncle Eugene lol
A little late to this video - but as a trainer of 10 years I still learnt stuff. Quality video.
For the last tip, wouldn’t a normal cable fly emphasize the shortened range? How would it be different than a press around?
Fixed inclined barbell bench is probably the worst equipment in gym, most of them are usually at 50-60 degrees.
True!
Luckily for me the bench is fixed at 30 - 45 which is pretty much the perfect angle
Nobody explains this better. 💪
I have a question with respect to tip 4. I tend to avoid the converging motion that you mentioned as it tends to trigger tendinitis in my upper left arm (both cable flys and db flys). Do you know of any good machine exercises or exercises that are in a more stable position that might help me out?
Not sure sorry you'll have to experiment a bit with grip position too
did you solve the issue matthew? did you experiment with different levels of suppenation?
Hi. Thanks for the informative video. Could you refer to an article that supports the optimal arms position which you discussed? I read other articles which support the opposite so I'm interested to compare between them. Thanks once again!
I saw your video about doing mobility exercises for strength so you don't have to do an extensive warmup and generally have good ankle and hip mobility. I was wondering if you have anything for the upper body specifically the shoulders? I want to have healthy shoulders so I can lift for the rest of my life and hopefully protect them from injury. It seems like the more consistent I lift the more my shoulder starts to ache, and now I avoid certain movements like the incline dumbbell press or lateral raise.