The Ultimate Lower Chest Workout
There are many guys out there that have no problem whatsoever developing size and thickness on their upper chest, with the incline barbell bench press and incline dumbbell press being two of the most common exercises I see guys performing in the gym on international chest day... however when it comes to developing the lower portion of the chest it's a completely different story... enter the need for my lower chest workout.
It's honestly not that hard to build up your lower chest if it's lagging behind, it's just a matter of hitting the right exercises which place greater emphasis on the lower chest.
If you're only performing one or two pressing movements on either flat or incline it comes as no surprise that your lower chest is lagging as you aren't hitting it directly.
That's like performing sets of close grip chin-ups and being surprised when you don't have wide lats. It's a different focus.
Understanding How To Train Your Lower Chest
In terms of lower chest exercises we're going to be performing common chest exercises - the barbell press, the dumbbell press and dumbbell flyes however, we're going to be doing them using a decline bench to increase the emphasis on the lower chest. These decline bench movements along with the good old cable crossover (utilizing a high pulley setting) and chest dips will be more than enough to blow up your lower chest.
The Lower Chest Exercises
Below you'll find my guide to each of the aforementioned exercises that targets the lower chest.
1- The Decline Barbell Bench Press
When performing heavy sets of your decline barbell bench press a spotter is required as getting stuck under the bar is a concern.
Movement: Compound
Targets: Chest
Required: Barbell & Decline Bench
Optional: Spotter
Lay on a decline bench.
Grip the barbell with thumbs wrapped around the bar at a slightly wider than shoulder width grip.
Assume a slight arch with your back (you should be able to just fit a fist between your lower back and the bench), plant your heels firmly on the ground and squeeze your shoulder blades down and back.
Unrack the barbell and slowly lower it down in a controlled manner to the middle of your chest, stopping just shy of the barbell touching your chest.
Drive through your chest to power the barbell back up to the starting position, with arms fully extended.
2 - The Decline Dumbbell Bench Press
The decline dumbbell bench press is an excellent exercise to add mass and build strength in both the lower chest and triceps.
Although the barbell variation of the bench press is seen as the most popular variation of the chest press there's a few advantages of performing the decline dumbbell bench press as opposed to the decline barbell bench press... these include:
Range Of Motion
When pressing a barbell the barbell is always above your chest, there's only so low that the barbell can be lowered.
Dumbbells on the other hand can be moved around the body, resulting in a far deeper range of motion and a better stretch and contraction in the chest.
No Spotter Required (Safer!)
Lifting heavy with dumbbells? No problem.
Unlike the barbell variation in which you're always running the risk of getting the barbell stuck ontop of you when it comes to dumbbells because they're by your side as opposed to ontop of you they can easily be released, exiting the set should things not go your way.
Less Risk Of Shoulder Injury
I have seen far more guys injure their rotator cuffs and shoulders as a result of poor form and flaring of the elbows from the barbell variation of the bench press in comparison to the dumbbell bench press.
Movement: Compound
Targets: Chest
Required: Dumbbells & Decline Bench
Optional: N/A
Sit on a decline bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Rest the dumbbells on your thighs with your palms facing each other.
Using your thighs kick the dumbbells up one at a time.
Once the dumbbells have been loaded into place rotate your wrists until your palms are facing away from you.
The dumbbells should be just to the sides of your chest, with your upper arm and forearm creating a 90 degree angle.
While exhaling use your chest to drive the dumbbells up. Lock your arms at the top of the lift and squeeze your chest and triceps, hold for a second and then begin coming down slowly until the dumbbells are just shy of touching your chest.
3 - Decline Dumbbell Flyes
If you take one thing from this instructional article for dumbbell flyes be it this:
Forget the weight, focus on your form, a nice slow tempo and hold that contraction at the top of bottom of each repetition momentarily - save the heavy lifting for your pressing movements.
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Chest
Required: Dumbbells
Optional: N/A
Sit on a decline bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Rest the dumbbells on your thighs with your palms facing each other.
Using your thighs kick the dumbbells up one at a time.
Once the dumbbells have been loaded into place ensure your palms are facing towards each other.
Maintain a slight bend in your arms as you proceed to slowly lower the dumbbells down to your sides, keep your arms as straight as possible without having them locked out.
Squeeze and contract your chest at the bottom of the repetition for 1 second.
Maintaining the same slight bend in your arms proceed to fly the dumbbells back up to the starting position. The best analogy I have heard (which helped me finally get the right form!) for dumbbell flies is to imagine you're hugging a tree - practising this movement standing up without weights and familiarize yourself, then take it to the bench with your dumbbells.
4 - Chest Dips
Unlike many other chest and triceps exercise which merely relying on your pushing and lowering a barbell or a pair of Dumbbells the dip is slightly more technical – shoulder positioning, depth, leg placement, there’s a lot more to take into account as you begin to dip on those parallel bars..
Movement: Compound
Targets: Chest & Triceps
Required: Parallel Bars
Optional: Weight Belt/Dumbbell
Raise yourself up onto a pair of parallel bars.
With your elbows slightly outward tilt your torso forward by looking ahead and bringing your legs up behind you.
From this position contract your arms while maintaining this slight angle in your torso, this ensures we're targeting the chest and not the triceps as our primary muscle group.
Lower yourself down as far as possible, hold this contraction for 1 second.
Driving through your chest explode upward and extend your arms to return yourself to the starting position above your parallel bars.
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, add a dumbbell between your legs or strap on a weight belt when possible.
5 - Cable Crossovers (High Pulley)
The cable crossover is a popular and effective isolation exercise for the lower chest.
Albeit not a primary mass builder like the barbell and dumbbell bench press variations the cable crossover is without a doubt a worthy accessory exercise in any lower chest workout routine.
The big benefit of the cable crossover is the constant tension on the muscle on both the concentric and eccentric portions of each repetition - unlike any dumbbell flies variation.
Movement: Isolation
Targets: Chest
Required: Cable Machine + Attachments
Optional: N/A
Set up your cable machine with 2 handles on a heigh pulley (puts emphasis on lower chest), grasp the handles and take several steps forward with a karate-esque stance (one foot infront of the other).
Maintain a slight bend in your arm as your drive through the chest to arc the cables down infront of you.
Pause and contract for 1 second.
Maintaining this bend in your arm begin to arc your arms outward as wide as possible, returning the cables as far back as possible while contracting the chest.
Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Putting It All Together (My Lower Chest Workout)
Below you'll find my complete lower chest workout, if you have a lower chest that is particularly lagging behind I recommend alternating your regular chest workout with this workout every other week.
- Decline Barbell Bench Press - 8 reps per set - 4 sets
- Decline Dumbbell Bench Press - 8 reps per set - 4 sets
- Decline Dumbbell Flyes - 10 reps per set - 3 sets
- Chest Dips - rep until failure - 3 sets
- Cable Crossovers - 10 reps per set - 3 sets
If your lower chest isn't particularly lagging but you'd like to target it further below you'll find another variation of my chest workout that'll hit all portions of the chest (including some emphasis on the lower chest).
- Decline Barbell Bench Press - 8 reps per set - 4 sets
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press - 8 reps per set - 4 sets
- Flat dumbbell Flyes - 8 reps per set - 4 sets
- Chest Dips - rep until failure - 3 sets
- Cable Crossovers - 10 reps per set - 3 sets
