How to Fix a Sunken Chest! (PECTUS EXCAVATUM) – ATHLEAN-X™

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If you have a sunken chest or something called pectus excavatum, you are going to want to watch this video to see what you can do about it. The condition known as pectus excavatum is a bony deformity that tends to get worse with adolescence. It is characterized by a sunken in sternum that makes pec development very challenging and can make those that have it self conscious.

The degree to which you can do something about fixing your sunken chest without surgery is dependent on the severity of the condition you have. If your chest looks like the one shown in this video as an example of a severe case or if your pectus is making it hard for you to breathe when exerted you will unfortunately have to resort to one of the two surgical means shown.

The first is the Nuss procedure where they surgically reshape your sternum with the help of a brace that is worn for a long period of time to help reshape and rebuild the structure. This can be very invasive and can cause a good deal of discomfort early on post op. The second option is a newer one in which they implant a strong but small magnet in your lower chest and then have you wear an external magnetic brace that helps to pull the bony deformity into a better position over time.

That said, many cases of pectus excavatum are not as severe and intervention with weight training and stretching can be of great help to minimizing the appearnace of the defect while not completely fixing it. Here I show you that the condition must first be addressed for the posture aggravations that generally accompany it. For example, rounded shoulders and a sunken chest are often times seen together since the pecs tend to get shortened. A good stretch for the pec major and pec minor will help to expand the chest and ribcage while allowing the muscles on the back to get stronger and hold your posture in place better.

It is the latter that allows you to build stronger rhomboids while expanding the chest with an exercise called the band pull apart. This exercise is better to be done as twenty sets of one rather than one set of twenty, to illustrate the it is the quality of the movement and not the quantity that establishes the potential for improvement from your intervention.

The other exercises shown here for a sunken chest or pectus excavatum are all meant to improve the development of your chest. That said, it is again the way in which you perform them and the frequency of which you perform them that will make all the difference in their ability to bring about change. The exercises shown here, while all capable of adding mass to your chest when performed in lower reps and in a higher intensity workout, are not prescribed that way here.

You should instead perform these in higher reps, fewer sets and much more frequently (4-5 times per week) to accumulate the volume of lower intensity that is going to be needed to bring about change over time. Do not expect a quick fix here. You must accumulate many hours of effort here, however if you do, you will notice a change in the appearance of the sunken chest and pectus excavatum.

For a complete list of the exercises that will have the most impact for how to fix a sunken chest and pectus excavatum be sure to watch the entire video. For a complete workout program that shows you how to train like an athlete and put the science back in strength to build a completely developed body, be sure to head to and get the ATHLEAN-X Training System.

For more videos on how to build a bigger chest and fix pectus excavatum or other things like anterior pelvic tilt, be sure to subscribe to our channel here on youtube at

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