Build Jacked Upper Pecs Fast: 3 Proven Exercises and Workout for Ultimate Results

Go to any gym and you’ll see lots of people training their chests. Invariably, they’ll be doing things like bench presses, dumbbell flyes, and cable crossovers, all of which are popular, effective exercises.

However, despite the time and energy most lifters spend working their chests, in my experience as a veteran personal trainer, many are unhappy with the shape of their chests.

Why?

The main reason is that most do too many horizontal pushing exercises. In other words, much of their training revolves around flat barbell and dumbbell bench presses, flat bench flyes, and conventional chest presses.

This makes a certain amount of sense because these are classic exercises that put your body in a mechanically advantageous position so you can lift more weight. However, it’s this overreliance on flat presses and flyes that ultimately hurts the shape of your chest.

Horizontal exercises tend to emphasize your mid and lower chest, doing very little for the upper region of the pecs. Consequently, many exercisers have good general chest size, but their pecs lack shape.

The good news is that you can quickly build your upper pecs by adjusting your workouts and incorporating some new exercises.

In this article, we reveal the three best upper pec exercises and share a tried-and-tested upper chest specialization workout.

Chest Anatomy 101

While you don’t need a degree in functional anatomy to build picture-perfect pecs, a little knowledge will make it easier to choose the right exercises for your training goals. So, feel free to skip this section and go straight to the exercises and workout if you wish. But, if you want to understand how the pecs work, please keep reading!

The pectoralis major is the large fan-shaped muscle that covers most of your chest. Its functions are (1):

• Horizontal shoulder flexion
• Shoulder adduction
• Shoulder medial rotation

As such, the pecs are involved in all horizontal presses and flyes. However, the pecs comprise three sets of differently angled fibers, which are commonly described as heads.

These three heads are:

• Sternal head (mid-chest)
• Costal/abdominal head (lower chest)
• Clavicular head (upper chest)

While all three pec heads always work together, it is possible to emphasize each one by adjusting the angle of your arm relative to your body.

Keeping your arms perpendicular to your torso targets the mid-chest while pressing downward at an angle works your lower chest more. Pressing up at an angle puts more tension through your upper pec fibers. Consequently, most upper chest exercises are performed at an incline.

Building an impressive upper chest usually means doing less flat and decline pec training and more incline work.

But which exercises should you do and why? Check out the next section and find out!

The Three Best Exercises for Jacked Upper Pecs

 

There are lots of upper pec exercises to choose from. However, in my experience, some are better than others. Here is a list of my three favorite exercises for building an awesome upper chest. Write your workouts around these exercises to transform your upper pecs.

1. Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

If you only do one exercise for your upper pecs, the incline dumbbell press should probably be it. The incline dumbbell bench press puts your arms in the perfect position to hit your upper pecs while allowing for a large range of motion and a big stretch at the bottom of each rep. It’s also a very joint-friendly exercise, making it ideal for anyone with banged-up shoulders.

Unfortunately, some lifters fail to reap the benefits of this exercise because they set their bench to the wrong angle. Research and experience suggest that 30-45 degrees is optimal for hitting the upper pecs (2). A lower angle works the mid-chest more, while a steeper angle turns what should be a chest exercise into a deltoid (shoulder) exercise.

Steps:

1. Set the angle of your bench to 30-45 degrees.
2. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and sit on your bench. Brace your core and pull your shoulders back and down. Plant your feet firmly on the floor for better balance.
3. Lie back and raise the weights to the outside of your shoulders, palms facing down toward your feet. Your lower back should be slightly arched.
4. Press the dumbbells up and in until your elbows are straight but not locked.
5. Bend your arms and lower the weights back to the starting position.
6. Pause for 1-2 seconds and continue for the prescribed number of reps.

Trainer Tips:

• Experiment with different bench angles to determine what feels most comfortable and effective.
• You can also do this exercise with your palms facing inward, i.e., a neutral grip.
• Lift your chest up toward the ceiling to maximize muscle engagement.
• Incline barbell bench presses are also a good option however some lifters find them uncomfortable and they do not allow for such a large range of motion.

Read more about incline dumbbell presses in this in-depth guide.

2. Incline Cable Flyes

When it comes to flyes, many lifters opt to use dumbbells. While this can be effective, I’ve found that cables are usually better. Using cables creates more even muscle tension, so your pecs are working throughout the entire range of motion. This creates a better stimulus for growth, as there are no “dead spots” during the movement.

Most people do standing cable flyes but I have found that this limits the amount of weight you can lift and also allows for cheating. In contrast, using a bench means stricter reps and more tension on the part of your chest you want to target.

Sure, incline cable flyes will require a little extra set-up time, but I assure you it’ll be time well spent and you’ll be very pleased with the results!

Steps:

1. Place a bench in the middle of a cable crossover station. Set the backrest to 30-45 degrees. Attach D-shaped handles to the low pulleys.
2. Sit on the bench and hold a handle in each hand.
3. Lie back and extend your arms so they form a T-shape. Your elbows should be slightly bent but rigid and your palms should face upward, i.e., a neutral grip.
4. Squeeze your arms up and together until your hands meet above your chest.
5. Open your arms and lower the handles back down, getting a good stretch in your chest.
6. Pause for 1-2 seconds and continue for the prescribed number of reps.

Trainer Tips:

• Lower the handles slowly and then lift them dynamically to maximize muscle engagement.
• Imagine you are hugging a large barrel to make this exercise more effective.
• Take care not to lower the handles too far and hyperextend your shoulders. This can cause shoulder pain. Descend as far as you can comfortably.

Learn more about the incline cable fly in this detailed exercise guide.

3. Reverse Grip Bench Press

The most reliable way to target your upper pecs is by doing presses and flyes on an incline bench. However, that is not the only way to target this often-underdeveloped part of your chest.

Old-school lifters didn’t always have access to adjustable benches and instead built their upper pecs with a unique flat bench exercise – the reverse grip bench press.

Despite being very unusual, research indicates that adopting a reverse grip for bench presses increases upper pec engagement, making it a great alternative to incline flyes and presses (3). This movement also allows you to lift heavy weights while being quite shoulder-friendly.

While I’ll be the first to admit that reverse grip bench presses look and feel a little weird, I’m happy to report that they really are a very effective upper pec builder. Try ’em – I think you’ll like ’em!

Steps:

1. Lie on your bench press bench with your eyes directly below the bar.
2. Plant your feet firmly on the floor, press your upper back and butt into the bench, and pull your shoulders down and back.
3. Reach up and grasp the bar with an underhand grip, hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
4. Unrack the bar and hold it over your chest.
5. Bend your arms and lower the bar until it lightly touches your sternum.
6. Press the weight back up and repeat.

Trainer Tips:

• Do this exercise with a spotter who can help you if you unrack and rerack the bar and provide assistance if you fail and cannot complete a given rep.
• Experiment with your grip width to determine what feels most comfortable and effective.
• You can also do reverse grip dumbbell presses, which some lifters find more comfortable.

Upper Chest Workout

Adding any of these proven upper chest exercises to your workouts will help you build more impressive upper pecs. However, for faster progress, try adopting an upper chest specialization program. This means putting your mid and lower chest on the back burner for a while so you can concentrate on bringing your upper pecs up to par.

Feel free to write your own upper chest workout or, to save you the bother, simply do the following program 1-2 times a week for the next couple of months. Gradually increase the weights as you get stronger and try to do more reps per set. This is called progressive overload and is one of the keys to successful muscle building.

But, before you start, make sure you prepare your muscles and joints for what follows. Begin with 5-10 minutes of light cardio followed by dynamic mobility and flexibility exercises for your shoulders and elbows. Finish your warm-up with a couple of easy sets of push-ups.

Warmed up and ready to go? Then let’s train! 

	Exercise	Sets	Reps	Recovery
1	Reverse grip bench press	4	4-6	2-3 minutes
2	Incline dumbbell bench press	3	8-10	60-90 seconds
3	Incline cable flye	2	12-15	30-45 seconds
4 *	Feet elevated deficit push-ups	1	50	N/A

* Optional upper chest finisher – do the 50 reps in as few sets as possible.

Conclusion

You need more than flat bench presses to build an impressive chest. While there is no denying the power of the bench press, it’s more of a general chest exercise. In other words, it’s good for building general size and strength, but may not do much for muscle shape.

The best way to build the chest of your dreams is to hit your pecs from a range of angles – incline, flat, and decline – using a mixture of compound and isolation exercises. Emphasize the pec regions that you feel are lagging behind, using exercises like a sculptor uses their hammer and chisel.

Finally, remember that your chest is just one of many muscle groups, all of which need your attention if you want to build a physique you can be proud of. Make sure you also train your back, shoulders, arms, and legs to develop all your muscles equally. Massive pecs on an otherwise slender frame look weird!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EIOd7WIWwAEpi3W?format=jpg&name=small

References:

1. Baig MA, Bordoni B. Anatomy, Shoulder and Upper Limb, Pectoral Muscles. [Updated 2023 Aug 28]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-.
2. Lauver JD, Cayot TE, Scheuermann BW. Influence of bench angle on upper extremity muscular activation during bench press exercise. Eur J Sport Sci. 2016;16(3):309-16. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2015.1022605. Epub 2015 Mar 23. PMID: 25799093.
3. Lehman GJ. The influence of grip width and forearm pronation/supination on upper-body myoelectric activity during the flat bench press. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Aug;19(3):587-91. doi: 10.1519/R-15024.1. PMID: 16095407.

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