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When performing dumbbell bench presses, does changing the hand position from pronation at the bottom to neutral or supination at the top have any affect on the chest? I've heard claims that doing this targets the inner chest.

I think it allows your pecks to contract a little more fully, but in my experience, you can't use as much weight that way.

I think it would be more helpful to just include both dumbbell presses and flyes, but I guess if you're pressed (pun intended) for time then combining the hand positions in one exercise might help.

Actually, come to think about it, I don't think it makes a difference since it's mainly the biceps that supinate the forearm right? And since the dumbbells' actually weight is close to your hands your biceps wouldn't even have to do much work to spin them.

Am I wrong?? Gah, now I'm confused.

If your going for inner pecks Cable Crossovers would probably be a better choice than Dumbbell Flyes, since you can cross your hands against resistance.

Im sure someone will jump in with a more descriptive post, but as far as i know there are no "inner pec" muscles.

Comparing this:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Pec ... DBFly.html
to this:
http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Pec ... ngFly.html

It seems that dumbbell flye does (in addition to muscles worked by each exercise) the short head of the biceps brachii, while cable flye (crossover) does (again, in addition to...) the pectoralis minor, rhomboids, levator scapulae and latissimus dorsi.

But it is true that there is no particular inner pec muscle separate from the pectoralis major. In fact, working the inside (in order to get a noticeable crease) would only make one less balanced.

There isn't an inner pec muscle, but there is an inner chest:



I thought that I might be able to kill two birds with one stone, and not have to do a separate exercise for the inner chest. But if not, I'll still do them, since I do full-body workouts and want to keep them under 1 - 1.5 hours

Well just because this guy who wrote the article is ripped still doesnt necessarily means he knows what he's talking about. I think the whole inner chest thing is just a myth...ala spot reduction.

http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/Tri ... Press.html

I don't see how he says that this does inner chest, the pecs aren't even a target of that exercise. What may be happening is that close grip pushes his pecs together more, so he is mistaking that for the extra squeeze one gets at the top of a bench press rep. Then again, I've just realized that I have basically no qualifications in this area, so no one should listen to me over him. All I know is, there isn't a separate muscle for inner chest, and the pectoralis only has two heads, sternal and clavicular, which cut it horizontally, not vertically.

I think I've overstepped the bounds of what my (limited) amount of training allows me to say, so I'll be quiet for a bit.

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Bodybuilders are notorious for altering/modifying exercises to target specific parts of a muscle's structure. If it isn't effective, one wonders why they continue to do it. Pro bodybuilders have little use for training methods that don't work.

I agree with you guys that say there is no inner chest.

A good way to train if you dont want to do flys separately is to do db presses and allow the dumbbells to drift outward as you raise them. This simulates a fly in every way except with vastly larger weight.

For upper chest, you can simply lower the bar to your upper chest and get similar results as inclines. In fact, they might be better since the horizontal motion excludes the shoulders more.

These are both per doctor Squat and can be read about more under the articles section.

They aren't the target, but they are a synergist

I can't scientifically prove or disprove whether the inner chest is actually worked, but from my google search the notion that it is is widespread.

True, but if the point is to work the pecs then shouldn't the bench press/incline bench press (for which the pecs are the target) be better suited? I still think he's confusing added muscle squeeze with actual work done.

Obviously there is no seperate inner chest muscle. I was refering to inner portion of the sternal and clavicular pectorals, near the point where these muscles attach to the sternum. While it's impossible to contract only a portion of any muscle, some exercises seem to shift more emphasis to specific areas.

I don't think close-grips or dumbbell flys are a good way to targer this area, because there's no resistance at the top of the lift. The weight is pushing straight down, not pulling your arms apart as in a cable crossover.

Of course, it's debatable whether this type of stumuli is neccessary for well rounded pectoral development (I haven't done regular isolation work for my chest in works). My point is merely that crossovers alow you to targer your chest in a very different way than presses and dumbbell flyes.