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8 Killer at Home Bodyweight Exercises For Your Chest

I get it.

You wanna tone up that Chest of yours but get sick of the thought of going to the gym? Wish you had chiseled pecs but you don’t own one of those fancy a** “Muscle master deluxe GT7600 ultra home gym”?

Relax…

With the right exercises and techniques, anyone can develop strong muscles simply by working out at home. All it takes is motivation and dedication…

And in this article I’m gonna give you the recipe:

Presenting to you -“8 Killer at Home Bodyweight Exercises For Your Chest”. Lets go!

No Equipment At Home Chest Exercises


Traditional Push-Ups

Surprised I’ve included this old-school classic? Of course not…

This straightforward exercise helps build up your shoulder (deltoids) and chest muscles (pectorals) better than no other equipment-less exercise.

So, do as follows:

When you lie down and then push yourself up, you want to make sure your hands are shoulder-width apart with your legs stretched out behind you. Make sure your hands are below the chest area for a better results. Then, push your body up off the floor using your hands until your elbows are straight.

During the whole movement, make sure to engage the core at all time avoiding your butt to “sag”. Keeping a good form throughout the whole exercise is essential to maximize it’s potential and prevent any injuries.

Ideally, do at least four sets of 8-10 for a time before adding more. But, any other variations can be done as well as you build yourself up…

One reason why doing push-ups correctly is so important is because doing variations of them can help sculpt your chest on its own. So, make sure you develop good, strong fundamental form as this will be the “corner stone exercise” to build the variations upon.

NB! As you get stronger the resistance from your bodyweight will not longer be sufficient to challenge your muscles to promote growth. When you reach the stadium where more resistance is needed, invest in some resistance bands or a weight vest. I personally use a hefty resistance band when I do my push-ups, and it sure as h*** gives those pecs a good beating!

Decline Push-ups

No at home chest exercise guide would be complete without including this beautiful push-up variation…

These push-ups hit your chest in a different angle bringing the difficulty level one step up.

The difference between this and regular push-ups are the placement of the feet above your hands on a vertical plane.

You can place the toes of your feet on a chair, your couch, a table, steps or whatever you have around your house. While resting your hands on the ground, you’re creating a decline from your feet to your head.

Next, go through with the same push-up routine while maintaining a straight line with your body.

These exercises help further develop your chest muscles as well as the shoulders, arms, and the upper back. The difficulty varies with how much higher your feet is compared to your hands. -But beware. The larger the angle the more you will challenge your shoulders. If your main goal is to workout your chest, try keeping your legs no higher than at a chairs height.

Towel Fly (Slide-Out & Slide-In versions)

In this variation you need to be on a smooth surface with two towels that allow you to glide along the surface… Here in Norway we use wool socks in the winter, these slide pretty darn well on smooth surfaces. If you have a pair, -put one on each hand and you’re ready to rock!

Assume the basic push-up position where you are at the top of the push-up movement, -but with each of your hands on a towel (or in the wool socks you got from your granny).

Instead of pushing yourself off the ground, gradually open the arms outward when you bend your elbows and let your chest slowly sink toward the ground. The hands on the towels will be sliding slowly off to the side…

Then, when your chest hits the ground, slide your arms back inwards bringing your hands (and the towels) back to the starting position. This is the slide-out version.

“When you want to specifically zero in on the chest, the one way to do this is with flyes. Since the flye movement will place much more emphasis on the pectoral muscles, it’s a good movement to use during your chest workout for maximum definition.”

Reference: bodybuilding.com – Expand Your Chest Dimensions With Flyes!

For The slide-in version you will only need to use one towel (if your still not using those cozy socks). Lay the towel on the floor before you assume the standard push-up position. Both your hands should be placed on the towel. While you push up, slide your hands together making the hands touch each other at the push-up top position.

Slowly lower yourself to the starting position while your hands slide back to the sides. Repeat.

As mentioned a couple of times by now, make sure to keep the core tight and a proper form during the whole exercise.

These versions work out your pectorals, deltoids, and triceps (upper arm muscle).

Lets move on…

Diamond Press-Up

Yet another push-up variation, but you don’t need other than your bodyweight to complete them.

This one has your hands next to each other with your index fingers and thumbs touch to create a diamond shape on the ground, thus the reason for its name.

Then, you press upward as in a normal push-up, but with your hands close together.

Nothing more fancy than that.

This type of push-ups really work your pectoral muscles, as well as your elbow flexor, because you tend to squeeze these muscles in order to complete the repetitions.

In addition, this push-up version gives the triceps a real beating as a bonus.

Side-to-Side Push-Up

Yeah, I sure do love those push-ups variations!

For this version assume a straight push-up position to start. Then flex one of your elbows while moving to the same side, lowering yourself close to the ground. However, don’t touch the ground!

You return to your starting position by pushing up to the top of your push-up, then flex your other elbow and move over to the other side.

A harder version is when you flex downward to one side, and then crossover to the other side low to the ground -but not touching, before pushing back upward.

Clumsy explained?

Well, then watch this video to check out how it’s done:

Chair/Couch Dips

Though this can be done in a gym, you can easily modify it as a home workout.

Find a place where you can either use two chairs to put on either side of you, or alternately some other firm furniture that are of even height.

With the chairs flanking you, place a hand on each chair and push yourself up. Lock your elbows, and lift your legs off the ground. To target the chest as “main muscle” instead of the triceps, make sure to lean a bit forward (about 30 degrees or so).

Now the hard part starts:

Slowly flex your elbow to dip downward. Your underarm should not move during this movement, only your upper arm. When reaching a 90 degree angle in your elbow joint, lift yourself upwards pressing with your chest and triceps until your reach the starting position with straight arms.

For the couch dip, sit on the edge of a couch and then slightly lift your body using your hands and walk your feet out. When your knees are above your heels, bend your elbows and lower your hips toward the ground before pushing yourself back up.

The trick is to keep your hips going up and down and not moving towards or away from your furniture prop.

To make the exercise harder, find another piece of furniture to place your feet on. So, instead of resting your feet on the ground below your knees, hold your feet straight and rest your heels at the same height as your hands.

In addition to working the chest, dips also gives your triceps, core, shoulders and back some fun.

Burpee Push-Up AKA “Bastardo”

Ahhh, burpees…

Raise your hand if you do not love the burpee. You kept it low, right?

I hope so, cause the next exercise involves some burpee-action:

Burpee is as you might know a type of aerobic exercise. It haves you moving continuously and gets the blood flowing like crazy.

If you add the push-up element to it, then you get a complete workout while strengthening your pecs at the same time. Nice, huh?

Begin in a standing position before dropping into a squat. Then, kick your feet out behind you while your arms remain extended, making you land in the upper push up position. Next, simply do a push-up and get back into a low squat position. Raise your arms above your head and jump as high as you can up in the air. Land in a standing position and clap your shoulder… You just did a burpee with push-up, nice work! Keep repeating the process (without the shoulder clapping) over and over at a steady tempo.

Doing 2 minutes of this burpee variation each morning will have your general fitness level reach new heights in no time!

Crucifix Push Up

Getting bored now? Here’s yet another version of the, you guessed it; -the push-up.

So, whats so special about this one then?

Let me explain:

The crucifix push up is hard as h****, but it’s really worth mastering as it gives both the deltroids and core a real bang for the bucks in addition to making your chest soar…

Lie down with your chest front against the floor. Your arms should be straight to your sides and in line with your shoulders, -having you in a crucifix position.

Not to hard, right?

Well, lets see how you manage the nest part..:

Lift your whole body up using your hands and fingertips until your chest is elevated several inches above the floor. Hold for a couple of seconds, and SLOWLY return to the starting position where your chest touches the floor again.

Hah, that should have you struggling!

To make the exercise easier, simply place your hands closer to your shoulders. Just make sure you still remain in the crucifix position even while your hands are closer to your body. When you manage 10 proper repetitions, move your hands gradually further away from your shoulders until you reach the full crucifix position. Here on out you will need to add extra resistance by adding a weighted vest to the mix, or if you have kids; -let them sit on your back while doing your push ups.

Good luck!

The No Equipment Bodyweight Chest Workout Routine


Okay. Now that you know how to do some chest exercises, lets combine some of them and set up a routine to rip up that chest of yours.

FUN FACT:

“Charles Servizio holds the record for most pushups in 24 hours: 46,001. The non-stop Pushup title went to Minoru Yoshida in 1980 for 10,507. And in 1989, Paddy Doyle was recognized for the most pushups completed in a year: 1,500,230.”

Reference: livestrong.com – 5 Facts About Push-Ups

As you might know I’m all about time efficient exercises. As a father of two and a working class 9-5 hero I really do not have that much “me time” during on a day to day basis.

That’s why I swear to the concept of “myo reps”. This routine will basically follow these principles, -with a little twist.

Here goes:

Start the workout with a couple of minutes of star jumps or whatever activity makes your body going.

You are allowed 10-20 seconds rest between each set. Between each exercise you are granted 30-40 seconds rest. Each exercise will start off with a high number set to have your muscles activated, followed by multiple low repetition sets hitting the targeted muscles trough every single repetition.

It is important that while doing the low repetition sets you should NOT be able to do a single repetition more than the given number. If the stated number of repetitions in 4-6, you should struggle to do the sixth, -and you should not be able to do seven. If you can do more than the required number you need to add more resistance.

Understood?

Good!

When you feel warm and ready, start the workout:

Push ups 1 set 12-20 repetitions, followed by 5 sets 4-8 repetitions
Decline push ups 1 set 8-16 repetitions, followed by 5 sets 3-6 repetitions
Towel Flys 1 set 8-16 repetitions, followed by 5 sets 3-6 repetitions
Chair/ Couch dips 1 set 8-16 repetitions, followed by 5 sets 3-6 repetitions

If you have any thing left to give, top the workout off by adding this little bad a**:

Crucifix push up 5 sets 2-6 repetitions

There you have it.

This routine comes with a hometraininghero chest-pump guarantee. Even though it might seem “childish” just playing around with your bodyweight I promise you it ain’t…

Doing these exercises regularly will help you build massive strength in that chicken breast of yours, and in addition strengthen both your core and other supporting muscles.

Why don’t you put your laptop or whatever to the side and try for your self?

Final Words – You do Not Need Expensive Equipment to Build Chest Muscle


I really hope you made it to the end, and that this article have inspired you to try out some of the exercises for yourself.

It’s a common misinterpretation that you need to do bench press to build chest strength. I personally have not been to a gym for the last 6 years, and to be honest -I have never been stronger.


You don't need no fancy a** bench press to build chest power... Do gorillas own bench presses? NO!
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One thing though:

As you get stronger your bodyweight might just not be enough anymore… But with a pretty low investment you can get yourself a weight vest or a resistance band to add those extra pounds, making these exercises still more than enough to build lean muscle!

Have I forgot any exercises worthy of mention? Please send me a mail or add a comment and I will be sure to have it included!

References


Further Reading


Recommended Resources


  • 8 Great at Home Bodyweight Exercises For Your Back

The post 8 Killer at Home Bodyweight Exercises For Your Chest appeared first on HomeTrainingHero.



This post first appeared on Hometraininghero, please read the originial post: here

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