7 Best Lower Chest Exercises to Build Your Pecs + Workout

Best Lower Chest Exercises – Introduction

A lot of exercisers want a strong, muscular chest, and at the gym, that invariably means set after set of bench presses.

However, if you want a more defined, shapely chest, you’ll need a few more exercises in your upper body workouts.

In this article, we reveal how to build the chest of your dreams, paying particular attention to your lower pecs.

How to Train for Muscle Definition

Let’s get one thing straight from the outset – you can’t spot reduce fat from your chest.

If you want to see more muscle definition in your pecs, or any other muscle groups for that matter, you need to get lean.

This usually means eating less and exercising more to create a calorie deficit.

All types of exercise can help get you lean, including strength training and cardio.

Diet-wise, your choices are endless, and options include meal replacements, intermittent fasting, paleo, keto, the Zone, Atkins, and just eating a little less food and more healthily.

So long as you burn more calories than you ingest, you’ll lose fat and, as the weeks pass, your body fat percentage will fall, making your muscles more visible.

All of that said, once the fat comes off, the more developed your muscles are, the better they’ll look.

Larger muscles combined with a low level of body fat make for an impressive physique.

So, don’t just train for fat loss and definition; train for muscle hypertrophy too.

That way, as you lose the fat, you’ll have more muscle to show off.

Pec Anatomy 101

If you want to build picture-perfect pecs, it pays to know a little more about the anatomy of this body part.

That way, you’ll have a better understanding of how these muscles work, so you can choose the best exercises for your training goal.

Pecs is short for pectoralis major.

Located at the front of your upper torso, your pecs are basically your chest muscles.

The pec major is made up of three bundles of fibers, often referred to as heads.

While these fibers all work together to flex and adduct your upper arms, it is possible to emphasize each one by adjusting the angle of your upper arm.

The three pectoralis major heads are:

Clavicular head

Also known as your upper pecs, this set of fibers is more active when you work at an incline, e.g., incline dumbbell presses.

Sternal head

The sternal head is your mid-chest.

It’s most active during horizontal movements, such as the bench press.

Costal head

Also known as your lower pecs, the costal head is most active during decline movements, such as dips and high-to-low cable crossovers.

Pec minor

The pec minor is a small, flattish muscle located beneath the pectoralis major muscle.

It assists the pec major in shoulder flexion and also helps keep your shoulders down to prevent unwanted movement.

Pec minor does not contribute much to the size or shape of your chest.

The 7 Best Lower Chest Exercises

Strengthen and build your lower pecs with the following exercises.

#1. Decline barbell bench press

Most gyms have a decline bench press station, and you can also do this exercise using a home adjustable bench.

Take care when doing this exercise; if you fail mid-rep, you could find yourself pinned under a heavy weight.

For safety, do this exercise with a spotter on hand or in a power rack.

How to do it:

1. Set your bench to about a 30-degree decline.
2. Lie on the bench with your head lower than your torso at the bottom position.
3. Hold your bar with an overhand, slightly wider than shoulder-width grip.
4. Pull your shoulders down and back and brace your abs.
5. Bend your elbows and lower the bar down to lightly touch your sternum.
6. Push the bar back up and repeat.

See 5 Budget Weight Benches for Your Home Gym in 2024 for the best and most affordable home exercise bench options on the market today.

#2. Decline dumbbell bench press

A lot of exercisers find dumbbells more comfortable to use than a barbell.

Using dumbbells means you can take your muscles through a larger range of motion, which may lead to better muscle growth.

You’ll also have to work harder to control both weights, increasing muscle fiber activation.

Dumbbells may also be safer than a barbell, as you can just drop them out to the side if you cannot complete a rep.

Home exercisers like using dumbbells because they don’t take up as much space as a seven-foot barbell.

Decline dumbbell bench presses are very similar to the barbell version.

Use the same bench angle but lower the weights down and out to the side of your lower chest instead of your sternum.

#3. Decline dumbbell fly

Where decline barbell and dumbbell bench presses are compound exercises, dumbbell flyes are an isolation exercise.

That means just one joint moves, and your pecs are the only major muscle working.

While this is not a great building exercise, it is good for muscle shape.

How to do it:

1. Set your bench to about a 30-degree decline.
2. Lie on the bench with your head towards the bottom position.
3. Hold a dumbbell in each hand over your chest, hands turned inward.
4. Bend your arms slightly but then keep them rigid.
5. Open your arms and lower the weights out and down to your sides to form a T-shape.
6. Get a good stretch but don’t go so far that you hyperextend your shoulders.
7. Use your pecs to squeeze the weights back up and together.

#4. Resistance band high to low crossover    

High to low cable crossovers are a great lower pec isolation exercise.

Unlike when you do decline dumbbell flyes, this exercise keeps your muscles under constant tension, making it potentially more challenging and productive than the free weight version.

No cable crossover machine?

No problem!

You can also do this exercise using a resistance band.

How to do it:

1. Attach a resistance band to a shoulder-high anchor point.
2. Stand with your back to the anchor and hold a handle in each hand, arms apart and parallel to the floor.
3. Use a staggered stance for balance.
4. Keeping your arms slightly bent but rigid, flex your pecs and bring your arms forward and down to meet in front of your hips.
5. Open and raise your arms and repeat.

#5. Push-up

If you take a side-on view of the humble push-up, you’ll see that they look a lot like decline barbell presses.

Providing you keep your feet on the floor, push-ups are an excellent lower pec exercise.

However, if you raise your feet, you’ll make it more sternal pec dominant.

How to do it:

1. Squat down and place your hands on the floor, a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Walk your feet back until your body and legs are straight. Brace your abs.
3. Bend your arms and lower your chest down to within an inch of the floor.
4. Do not let your hips drop out of alignment.
5. Push yourself back up and repeat.
6. Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise easier. This is still a lower chest exercise.

#6. Parallel bar dip

A lot of exercisers do parallel bar chest dips to work their triceps.

While dips ARE a great triceps builder, they’re also a very effective lower chest exercise.

They’re a useful option for anyone who no longer finds push-ups demanding enough.

How to do it:

1. Place your hands on the parallel bars, so your palms are facing inward.
2. Step or jump up and support your weight on straight but not locked arms.
3. Bend your legs and cross your feet behind you.
4. Bend your elbows and descend until your lower chest is roughly level with your hands.
5. Push yourself back up and repeat.
6. Take care; dips can be hard on your shoulders and are best avoided if you have any pre-existing shoulder aches and pains.

#7. Dumbbell pullover

Dumbbell pullovers are often thought of as a latissimus dorsi exercise, but as well as working your lats, this isolation exercise also works your lower pecs.

It’s a valuable exercise if you train your chest and back on the same day.

How to do it:

1. Hold a single dumbbell in both hands.
2. Lie on a flat exercise bench with your feet planted on the floor.
3. Press the weight up and hold it over your chest.
4. Bend your arms slightly, but then keep them rigid for the duration of your set.
5. Lower the weight back and over your head until your biceps are next to your ears.
6. Pull the weight back up and over your chest.

Some people do pullovers across rather than along an exercise bench, dropping their hips below their shoulders to increase the range of motion.

However, all this does is hyperextend your spine and does nothing for the effectiveness of the exercise.

Pullovers along the bench are the safer option.

Home Lower Chest Workout for Beginners

While there is nothing to stop you from doing a few random lower pec exercises, you’ll get much better results if you follow a more structured workout program, like the one provided below.

Before you begin, prepare your body with a few minutes of easy cardio followed by some dynamic flexibility and mobility exercises.

Do this workout 1-2 times per week as part of a split routine.

If you choose to do it twice, make sure you train on non-consecutive days, e.g., Tuesday and Friday, to give your muscles adequate time for rest and recovery.

Do 2-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions of the following exercises.

* AMRAP – as many reps as possible. Just rep out to failure, rest, and repeat.

Best Lower Chest Exercises – Wrapping Up

Resist the temptation to go all lower pecs all of the time.

Overdeveloping your lower pecs can make it look like you’ve got a droopy chest, especially if you don’t work on your upper pecs too.

That said if you want a more defined lower chest, a month or two of dedicated lower chest training will help your cause.

Remember too that your chest will look better if you have good posture, so don’t neglect your upper back.

Balance your chest workouts with plenty of rows, face pulls, band pull-aparts, and pull-ups.

Finally, if you are training hard but still aren’t seeing the chest definition you want, it’s probably time to overhaul your diet and shed that layer of fat hiding your pecs!

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