A Top Trainer Ranked Upper Chest Exercises From Worst to Best
Strength coach Jeff Cavaliere C.S.C.S. has made several videos in which he goes through his personal favorite exercises that he finds to be most effective for boosting gains, from the abs to the shoulders to the triceps. Continuing on from his 2021 ranking of the best (and worst) chest exercises, Cavaliere has just released another video on the Athlean-X channel focusing on the moves that will help you to build strength specifically in the upper chest area—and flagging some others that you can go ahead and remove from your next chest day workout routine.
Worst
Instagram chest swipes
"No matter how flashy the exercise may be, if it's ineffective then it's going to fail every single time," says Cavaliere. "It's truly revealing your lack of professional knowledge."
Guillotine press
"This exercise completely disregards the health of the shoulders on the person performing it... When you place your elbows this far out to the side, and have that high a target point, you are placing an inordinate amount of stress on your rotator cuff tendons," says Cavaliere. "Not to mention the potential slippage of the bar on any point during this exercise."
Incline dumbbell fly
Cavaliere dislikes this exercise as it is performed unsupported, which puts the shoulders at risk of injury. He also advises against trying to "Crucific fly" variation, which places strain on the biceps.
Better
Decline pushup
This exercise is effective at hitting the upper chest, it still suffers from the same drawback as other pushup variations, Cavaliere explains, i.e. the inability to increase overload.
Kneeling landmine press
"This gives you a much more natural and gentle pressing motion and arc to press in," he says. "You're not just pushing up overhead, you're pushing up and away from your body... it gets a nice isometric contraction of the chest involved."
Cavaliere crossover
Despite being coined by Cavaliere himself, this move only makes it into the "better" category and no higher because it has a limited range of motion.
Better Still
Dumbbell UCV raise
By lightening the load on the Cavaliere crossover and increasing the distance and arc for the dumbbell to travel in front of the body, this move creates a greater stretch and adduction.
Dumbbell incline squeeze press
"Like the landmine press, this gives us a chance to introduce some isometric adduction," says Cavaliere. "We can create that isometric midline stress simply by pressing the insides of the dumbbells against each other throughout the entire press." He adds that while pressing the weights together, be mindful not to allow your elbows to press too tightly to your sides, which will turn this into a tricep exercise.
Dumbbell upper chest pullover
While traditionally more of a back exercise, Cavaliere explains you can shift the load towards the upper chest, by increasing internal rotation of the shoulders.
Almost Best
Underhand dumbbell press
Reversing the grip here makes for a safer alternative to the guillotine press that can still target the chest while being performed on a flat bench.
Incline cable press
"The real benefit here is being able to not just resist the act of putting the arms out in front of the body, but having the resistance to adduction of the arms across the body at the top," says Cavaliere. "When you're looking for a peak contraction on the chest, this exercise is going to be able to provide that in a much more significant way than simply pressing dumbbells up overhead."
Low to high crossover
"When it comes to building your chest, adduction is critical," says Cavaliere. "But beyond that, when hitting your upper chest, the direction of the movement is critical. Follow the fibers."
Best
Incline bench press
It's a toss-up here between the dumbbell and barbell versions of this exercise, and Cavaliere can see the merit in both. Ultimately, it's down to what works best for you. If the weight you're lifting on dumbbell press still allows you to perform 3 to 6 reps, at a challenging load, then you're probably good.
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