If free weight pressing hasn’t filled out your upper chest the way you hoped, you’re not the only one. The flat and incline bench are great for overall mass, but they aren’t the sharpest tools for loading the clavicular fibers up top.
That’s where cables earn their keep. A cable holds tension on the muscle through the whole rep instead of dropping off at the bottom the way a dumbbell does, and the adjustable pulleys let you attack the upper pecs from angles a barbell can’t reach. They’re also easier on the shoulders than heavy overhead work.
Below are the five cable exercises I’d actually program for the upper chest. For each one I’ll cover why it works, how to perform it, and a video so you can see it in action. If you train the bottom of your chest too, pair these with our picks for the lower chest cable exercises, and our guide to the best cable upper body exercises covers the rest of your pressing and pulling.
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