How to Work Out Your Upper Chest
You can do a variety of exercises in the gym or at home to work out your upper chest. If you don't have any weights at home, try doing pushups to work out your upper chest. If you have dumbbells at home, lie on your back and hold a dumbbell in each hand. Then, lift the dumbbells into the air until your arms are straight. Try 2 or 3 sets of 10 reps per workout. If you're in the gym, lie back on a flat bench and lift a barbell. Start by loading the smallest weights onto the barbell so you can work on your form, then move onto heavier weights. For a more intense workout, use an incline bench and set the angle to between 45 and 60 degrees.
Perform a guillotine press to work your pectoral muscles. Load weights onto both sides of a barbell. Lie on your back on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor or feet flat at the end of the bench. Use your core strength to hold your lower spine in a neutral position. Hold the bar with an overhand grip with your arms slightly more than shoulder-width apart. Slowly lower the bar toward your neck until the bar almost touches your throat. Avoid arching your back, which can cause a lower back injury. If you've never performed this exercise before, start with the lightest weights available. If you don't feel any resistance, add another disc of weight to each side of the barbell until you do. Repeat this as many times as you can. Remember that your shoulders can be easily injured if you lower the weight too far. Check your elbow height and keep your elbows above chest level to protect your shoulders. Do a dumbbell fly to exercise your chest and back. Lie on your back on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Keeping your arms slightly bent at the elbow, bring the dumbbells up and out in front of you so your arms are extended in front of your face and your palms are facing. Slowly lower your arms to the sides, keeping your arms bent at the elbow, until the dumbbells are parallel with the floor. Then push them back up into the starting position. To find the right dumbbell weight for you, begin with a weight that might allow you only 6-8 reps for bicep curls. If that feels too light for you while doing the fly exercise, increase the weight a little bit at a time to find your sweet spot. It's better to get a lighter workout when starting out than to cause yourself a shoulder injury by starting with weights that are heavy. Take care as you lower the weight to your sides. Your elbows should not drop below back level. Perform a dumbbell neck press. Lay on a flat bench. Hold a dumbbell in each hand at shoulder height. Press the weights up so they're directly over your head. Be careful not to lock your elbows. Then slowly lower your arms back down so the dumbbells move toward the top of your chest. Your elbows should flair out to the sides as you lower the dumbbells. The dumbbells should weigh about 60 to 70 percent of the most weight you can lift. Increase resistance with an incline bench press. Set the incline to between 45 and 60 degrees. Hold the weight or weights above your head, with your arms just slightly more than shoulder-width apart and your elbows pointing outward. As you inhale, slowly lower the weight(s) to the nipple line. Pause at the bottom of the move before pressing your arms up. You can perform this move with a barbell or dumbbells. Dumbbells are better if you're new to this type of exercise. You should be lifting about 60 percent of the heaviest weight you can lift. Perform 3 sets of 6 to 12 reps. Do an incline fly to work your pecs and back. Set the incline to between 45 and 60 degrees. Pick up a dumbbell in each hand and rest them on your knee. Then lean back against the bench. Raise the dumbbells so they're in front of your face, slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. As you inhale, slowly lower both arms out to your sides like wings until your slightly bent arms are parallel to the floor. Exhale as you raise the dumbbells back to their starting position above your body. Use dumbbells that are about 60 percent of the heaviest weight you can lift. Be careful to keep your elbows above the level of your back to avoid shoulder injuries. If you are less flexible, it may be wise to lower your arms only to where your elbows are level with your chest. Perform an incline pushup. Place your hands on the floor directly under your shoulders. Put your feet up on the flat of the bench, resting your toes. Slowly lower your upper body by bending your arms at the elbow until your chest is almost to the floor. Then push up to your starting position. Do a burpee to work your whole body. Perform one pushup. When you've returned to the starting position, jump your feet forward so your knees are even with your elbows. Then jump up so your arms reach above your head and your feet leave the floor. Squat back down and then jump your feet back to a pushup position. Then repeat the move. You should do about 20 reps in 2 to 3 sets. Perform a medicine ball pullover to work your chest and abs. Lay on the ground with your upper back and butt flat on the floor. Keep the natural curve in your lower back - it shouldn't touch the floor. Bend your legs at the knees, with your feet flat on the ground. Hold a medicine ball in your hands, hovering just above your belly button. Lift the ball back and lower it behind your head. Pause for a second, and then bring the ball back up over your head and to the starting position. Start with the lightest medicine ball available to you. Test increasing weights until the ball offers you some resistance, but isn't so heavy you feel a strain in your chest or abs. You can also do this exercise with dumbbells. Hold one dumbbell, with your hands on either end. Then perform the move as described above. Repeat this for 2 to 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps each. Do a dumbbell touching press to increase resistance. Lay on your back, with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand just above your chest. Your palms should be facing each other and the dumbbells should be touching at both ends. Push the dumbbells up, but don't lock your elbows at the top. Then slowly lower them back down to the starting position over your chest. Use dumbbells that are about 60 percent of the heaviest weight you can lift. The dumbbells should remain touching throughout the entire exercise. Repeat this for 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 reps each. Start with exercises that require an incline to make the most of your energy. Beginning your workout on a flat bench is a good way to ease yourself into a workout. But it also means that you leave exercises with an incline bench – the exercises that work out your upper chest the most – for last. That leaves you less energy. Switch your workout around so you start with the exercises that require an incline. Use an adjustable incline bench to control the resistance. An adjustable incline bench will let you change the incline during your workout. Switching between low, moderate, and steep inclines will target your upper chest muscles in different ways. Switch the incline between workouts, or even between sets. You can buy an incline bench for your home. If you can't, you'll have to join a gym to use one. You can also lean back on an exercise ball to create an incline. Diversify your workout. Don't perform just one upper chest exercise during each workout. Instead, add multiple exercises for your upper chest, but vary the number of reps and the equipment you use. It will target and work out your muscle in different ways, which is the best way to build muscle. For example, if your first exercise was an incline barbell press for 8 reps per set, try 2-3 reps with a dumbbell press at a lower incline. Work out your chest more than once a week. Most workouts have you focus on a different area of your body each day. So Monday might be leg day, Tuesday might be chest day, and so on. To work out your upper chest more, have 2 chest days per week. Make sure you give yourself 48 hours between workouts that target similar muscle groups and diversify your chest workouts. For example, if you do chest and arms on day 1, and back and biceps on day 2, then rest on day 3 before you do your chest again on day 4. Don't just repeat the same exercises on chest day 2 that you used on your first chest day. Use different exercises, different intensities, and a different number of reps. Work out your chest after a rest day for maximum results. Your pectoral muscles are pretty big, which means it takes a lot of work to build them up. To make sure you have the most energy to work on your chest, plan chest day for after a rest day. It gives you some extra energy to really focus on a good workout. 
Perform a guillotine press to work your pectoral muscles. Do a dumbbell fly to exercise your chest and back. Perform a dumbbell neck press. Increase resistance with an incline bench press. Do an incline fly to work your pecs and back. Perform an incline pushup. Do a burpee to work your whole body. Perform a medicine ball pullover to work your chest and abs. Do a dumbbell touching press to increase resistance. Start with exercises that require an incline to make the most of your energy. Use an adjustable incline bench to control the resistance. Diversify your workout. Work out your chest more than once a week. Work out your chest after a rest day for maximum results. 