...the middle of my chest? Specifically the top center.

I only seem to be able to affect the outside, and the top of my chest looks totally scrawny.

Inclines? Declines? Little Debbies?

I would say militiary press, is the best. Followed by diamond pushups. I would then say to do inclines.

Pics please...

karmatornado said:

Diamond pushups, do you mean hands together like Jay Z? I'll try that.

I did military but it seemed to do my shoulders mostly. Not a bad thing, just not my chest

Butterfly press/machine?

CynthiasSocks said:

I'm on the left


http://www.prince.org/msg/100/231522

Hire a personal trainer for one session, if you can. Many of the machines show which muscle groups are affected with the exercise. If you belong to a gym/club, ask the staff.


I do butterflies, lying on a bench. There are many upper body excercises that affect that area directly, or indirectly.
[Edited 6/19/07 16:20pm]

I do these

Do flat/incline dumbbell flyes....machine flyes....cable crossovers.....don't go too heavy, do between 6-10 reps and be sure to squeeze at the top of the motion....4 count cadence throughout the movement....incline bench presses (dumbbell or barbell) will make the center pecs pop as well...but avoid the common mistake of touching/bouncing the bar to/off your chest because that removes the focus from your chest and makes your triceps do all the work....stop the movement about an inch from touching, then explode up to the starting position (3 count cadence) and squeeze your pecs at the top of the movement....

...also, as was suggested, do close hand pushups....same general form as above...squeezing your pecs when you return to the "up" position....maintain strict body position and form....

with all of these exercises, you can do negative reps....a two count up/in, four count down/out (the in and out apply to the crossovers/machine fly)...

another exercise you can do is taking the cable station low-row V-bar and using it on the lat pulldown station....basically a close grip pulldown....lock your shoulderblades back so that your chest pokes out when you complete the downstroke....which keeps the focus on your pecs and not your lats....

just a few suggestions.... Sorry to be so long winded....

eat more protein, do some heavy power lifts on the bench press
and lots of reps on the chin ups, with your arms chest apart and together...
and everything renegade says

eraclito said:

I forgot about pullups.... ...probably because as good of an exercise that they are....I FUCKING HATE PULLUPS....with the heat of a thousand suns.....

but they are probably the best overall bodyweight exercise....thats why most Marines look like they're chisled out of stone....all they do is pullups....

CynthiasSocks said:

Yeah, pictures please. We need to know what you're talking about.

Incline pushups where your feet are elevated higher than your arms are good. Handstand pushups and Incline presses work as well. Try this:

10 incline pushups, 1 pull up
9 incline pushups, 2 pullups...and so forth.

You might also try www.crossfit.com for more ideas.

reneGade20 said:

No, that's great, thanks!

This thread is making me realize that more than likely what I'm doing wrong is just not working out enough

scififilmnerd said:

Are you kidding?! You want me to post a 'before' picture?

Picture! Picture! Picture! You saw my Britney photo, so pony up!!

hokie1 said:

That's not fair!! your chest obviously didn't need any developing

NDRU said:

People have been known to tell me that from time to time.

reneGade20 said:

i love pull ups, its all i do.. with some crunches and light running...

eraclito said:

I think my body's been missing pull ups. I used to do a lot of them.
[Edited 6/20/07 11:05am]