Chest Training for Pectus Excavatum

Developing the pectoral (chest) muscles is a key component for fixing Pectus Excavatum through. The reason this works so brilliantly is if you can develop large pecs it will ‘disguise’ the indent.

Furthermore, if you can develop your lower and inner chest, essentially developing the muscular fibres around the actual indent itself, you potentially will grow muscle that overlaps over the indent which will reduce the severity of your case of pectus. (see my client Jakes transformation below as an example of how developing your muscles can completely minimise the extent of your condition). 
CAUTION: Before you start training your chest I want you to note that if you train chest more so than you train back then you will further contribute to the rounded forward posture associated with tight chest muscles which will make your condition look worse! So make sure you do not neglect back training or chest stretching.Stretching the chest is imperative for correcting posture but also to enable full activation of the chest muscle during resistance training and will prevent the over tightening of the chest which can potentially exacerbate the condition.

When training chest you should start with heavy compound movements such as the bench press or incline dumbbell press. Focus on progressive overload on these lifts and ensure you get a full range of motion on every rep whilst cycling between strength and hypertrophy rep ranges for these movements weekly. Becoming stronger at these moves will correlate with chest muscle growth.

After the initial compound movements like the bench press you should then partake in some fly movements such as the cable fly. Emphasise stretching your chest at the start of the movement followed by a hard-muscular contraction with a heavy squeeze as you bring the weight to the mid line of your body. If you do this movement right you should feel a painful burning sensation in your chest and if you can get a great mind to muscle connection whilst during this exercise you should be able to focus on contracting the muscular fibres around your pectus indent itself. 

After performing fly's I recommend performing exercises that target the inner chest fibres such as the Landmine press or Crush Grip Dumbbell press. These movements are critical for improving your case of pectus through exercise. When doing the movement ensure have a good mind muscle connection and are feeling blood pumping to this target area during your set.

There is one more exercise that I recommend you do. This movement is unlike any fly or press variation I have mentioned above and if included into your regime will be the topping to the cake that will take your physique to the next level. It is Dumbbell Pullover. I often call this exercise the king of all exercises for pectus.  Read this article to learn why the Dumbbell Pullover is so effective 

If you want to start following a program specifically designed to make your pectus less noticeable & receive coaching from Riley Byrne (the worlds only Pectus Excavatum specialised Personal Trainer) then go to www.fixpectus.com/ to apply.