Use This New Technique To Build Your “Inner” Chest!(Yes, It IS Possible)

To begin, if you’re one of the many who (through no fault of your own) have been taught that it’s not possible to selectively target different regions of the same muscle fibers, and therefore not possible to preferentially work the medial region of pectoralis major (AKA “inner chest”), I refer you to this video where I do a deep-dive into all the incredible scientific research proving the principle of nonhomogeneous (AKA inhomogeneous, AKA region-specific) hypertrophy. The truth is actually the complete opposite, in that it’s impossible to work every region of a muscle fiber perfectly EQUALLY, since so many different factors have been proven to affect how each sarcomere (fiber bundle) is worked (i.e. resistance angle, contraction type, pennation angle, joint position, contraction speed, etc.) So yes, while every region of a muscle fiber will be activated to at least some degree, you CAN preferentially activate one region MORE than another!

Now that we have straight, I want to share a new technique I recently developed and started using to work my own inner chest! One of the most effective ways to target the medial regions of pectoralis major is to use its horizontal adduction movement), and cross the midline of your body with the contraction, which is usually done via a fly-type motion. However, flys don’t allow you to use very heavy weight… which is why I came up with this one, as it DOES allow you to use heavy weight, which is ideal for stimulating muscular hypertrophy (unless you’re using BFR bands).

See GIF #1 below for a visual of the exercise! You perform it by standing several feet directly to the side of a cable (NOT in front of it) that’s set chest-high, and then while gripping the handle you adduct your arm directly across the front of your body, pushing as far to the other side as you can. The straight-across version works mostly the inner region of the sternal head (middle chest), but you can also vary the technique by angling the motion upwards to target the inner region of the clavicular head (upper chest), and angling it downwards to target the inner region of the costal head (lower chest). (See GIF #2 below for an example)

CHALLENGE: Record yourself doing the 3-variation version this exercise (2nd GIF), post it on social media and tag me (@Michael_Kamalu), and I’ll give you an extra 25% off the Hypertrophy Series Total Chest Program! (that’s 50% OFF total with the Deal of the Week below!)

Relevant Research Article(s):     
      1) The Role of Exercise Selection in Region-Specific Hypertrophy: A Randomized Controlled Trial 
      2) Architectural, functional and molecular responses to concentric and eccentric loading in human skeletal muscle 
      3) Inhomogeneous Quadriceps Femoris Hypertrophy in Response to Strength and Power Training

Related Dr. Gains YouTube Video(s):   
      1) YES, You CAN Work Your “INNER” CHEST – Here’s How! (Region-Specific Hypertrophy – 6 Studies)