The 8 Best Inner Chest Exercises to Build a Massive Chest

If you’ve been working out your chest and doing traditional push-ups since the first day at the gym, you may have observed that one area of your chest is lagging behind the others. The innermost section of the pec muscles – where the muscle fibers join to the breastbone – appears to be lacking in size and definition no matter how strong you grow or how much you pump your pecs.

However, it is believed that such development is genetically determined — either you have the potential for it or you don’t. Some trainers say that a well-defined chest is a result of steroid use and that “natty” lifters simply can’t isolate their pecs well enough to achieve that level of definition.

But the truth is that anyone can chisel out a deeper inner-pec grove with determined, regular effort. Mastering three inner pec-focused movements and adding one chest workout each week to your routine are the keys to getting there.

Anatomy of the Chest

Let’s take a quick look at the anatomy of the chest before we dive in and pick up those weights.

The primary pectoral muscles, which originate at your collarbone and extend all the way down your sternum, make up the chest area. The upper chest connects to the collarbone, whereas the lower chest connects to the latter.

Because of the way the muscle is linked to the rib cage, it’s tough to target the inner chest specifically, but some workouts hit the entire chest while focusing on the inner pectoral.

Why Doing Inner-Chest Workout is Important?

Apart from the glaring noticeable fact that your body will look a lot better. An aesthetically developed chest region offers more strength and support to the other muscle groups in your upper body.

This means that a strong chest will support your arms and shoulders, making vertical, lateral, and rotational movements easier. Apart from providing support, it also contributes to the improvement of posture, back strength, and, if you play rugby, your tackles will improve dramatically.

8 Best Inner-Chest Exercises to Build a Massive Chest

Isolation workouts, as previously stated, are inappropriate for the chest muscles. However, if you want to strengthen your inner chest, the greatest technique is to do exercises that encourage you to move your arms towards your chest’s midline.

1.      Dumbbell Flyes

• Lie down on a flat bench with weights in your hands.
• Keep your hands parallel to the ground and bring them together over your chest.
• At the peak, try to compress your chest as much as possible before returning to the starting position.

2.      Diamond Push-Ups

• Begin in a push-up position with a narrow grip
• Close your chest and lower your body
• Push yourself back to the beginning position with a hard contraction

3.      Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

• Hold dumbbells in your hands and begin a fly motion.
• Raise the dumbbells and twist into a press.
• Lower the dumbbells in a controlled action.
• Contract your chest and then raise your arm to take the dumbbells outwards with a great stretch.

4.      Cable Crossover

• Select the resistance and draw the cable to the middle of your chest
• Move your arms outward in an arc until you feel a stretch in your chest. If you’re moving your arms, make sure they’re moving smoothly and without any needless jerks.
• Hold for a time before returning to the starting position, squeezing your pectorals towards your chest’s midline.

5.      Single Arm Chest Fly

• Begin by raising the pulleys, selecting the resistance to be utilized, and taking a handle in one hand.
• Extend your arm and make sure your elbow is slightly bent.
• While keeping your upper body straight, pull your hand to the midline of your chest.
• Pause for a second before returning to the beginning position to complete one rep.

Follow these steps to perform this unilateral exercise with a single arm and then switch the arm and follow the same steps. 

6.      Plate Press

• Place a weight plate on a flat bench and squeeze it with your open palms.
• Lift the plate up and down, making sure the center of your chest is exactly aligned.
• Squeeze hard to keep your chest contracted. The goal is to use slow, controlled movements with a lot of repetitions.

7.      Hex Press

• Start in a dumbbell bench press position, keeping the dumbbells together.
• Extend your arms overhead, then return to the starting position (Remember to keep squeezing the dumbbells throughout the rep)

8.      Low Cable Fly

• Choose a weight and stand straight
• Face your hands upwards and bring the cable up to your chest
• Keep the ends of the handle as close together as possible throughout the rotation
• To truly hammer those inner pecs, squeeze your chest at the peak of the rotation.

Beginner Inner-Chest Workout

The following inner-chest workout is highly effective and would show results if done with proper technique and sequence. You can perform the inner-chest at home if you have complete equipment in your arsenal. Otherwise, you can perform this inner-chest workout at the gym.

However, this can be done once a week in place of your existing chest workout routine. Along with training inner-chest muscles, you can also train other muscles like triceps, back, or shoulders, after completing your inner-chest workout session. To get the best gains in chest size, you should work your pecs one other day in your training week, either with the same exercises or the same chest moves of your choice.

Instead of training for power and strength, this workout focuses on hypertrophy or muscle gain. So, we are going to implement higher reps on the inner-chest exercises and more total volume to deliver a good pump. You’ll definitely feel the pump in your pecs.

1. Hex Press

Sets: 3 sets

Repetitions: 12-15 reps

2. Plate Press

Sets: 3 sets

Repetitions: 3-8 reps

3. Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

Sets: 3 sets

Repetitions: 10-15 reps

4. Diamond Push-Up

Sets: 2 sets

Repetitions: To failure

Advanced Inner-Chest Workout

This advanced inner-chest workout should be done once per week to prevent fatigue and cramps (caused by muscle contraction). The extra volume or increased set variation makes it slightly more challenging than the beginner’s routine above. Though, it is still based on the same exercises that offer the best inner-pec hit.   

1. Hex Press

Sets: 4 sets

Repetitions: 12-15 reps

2. Plate Press

Sets: 4 sets

Repetitions: 3-8 reps

3. Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

Sets: 3 sets

Repetitions: 10-15 reps

4. Diamond Push-Up

Sets: 2 sets

Repetitions: To failure