01/08/2024
While weightlifting exercises like bench press are undeniably great for building your chest, it is possible to get a good chest workout with bodyweight only.
In this blog, PureGym Personal Trainer Alvin Walters shares the best exercises to include in a bodyweight chest workout, including exercises for upper chest, lower chest, and triceps.
Bodyweight workouts are often thought of as inferior to lifting weights but that doesn’t have to be the case. Some of the benefits of training with bodyweight include:
Building strength. To build strength, you need to train your muscles to move heavier loads. While this is typically done through lifting weights, the body cannot distinguish between load from external weights, or load from bodyweight. There are plenty of bodyweight exercises that expose the chest to various loads, so you can create the right amount of resistance for the level of strength you have.
Improves power. The best chest bodyweight workouts include a mix of strength, speed, and explosive exercises which help to build upper body power as well as strength.
Creates full body coordination. Bodyweight workouts are often better at recruiting muscles across the full body and improving coordination, as well as core strength.
No equipment needed. One of the biggest benefits of bodyweight workouts is that they can be done anywhere, any time. Not needing to use kit means you can do a bodyweight chest workout without needing to drive to a gym – great when you’re short on time or even on holiday.
For a basic bodyweight chest workout with no equipment, Alvin says a mix of push up variations is a great starting point:
Push Ups
Conventional push ups are great for building well rounded chest and tricep strength while working the core, stability and coordination.
Decline push ups
Decline push ups are a challenging variation that involve the feet being higher than your hands. This adds more weight to the push up and places more emphasis on the upper chest. If decline push ups are too challenging, you can perform this as a modified decline push up on your knees so you still work the upper chest while removing some of the load.
Incline push ups
Incline push ups involve the hands being higher than the feet. This variation places less weight on the chest and triceps, and works the lower chest more than other variations.
One leg push ups
Keeping one leg off the ground throughout the push up puts more work on the chest, triceps, and shoulders while engaging the obliques, as well as the glutes, quads and hamstrings in the lifted leg.
If you are performing chest workouts to improve the shape of your pectorals, you may prefer exercises that place more emphasis on either the upper or lower chest.
If upper chest is a focus, make sure to include these exercises in your bodyweight chest workout:
Decline push ups
The angle of the arms makes decline push ups the bodyweight version of an incline bench press, great for targeting the upper chest.
Diamond push ups
Diamond push ups involve making a diamond shape with both hands, rather than keeping hands shoulder width apart. This variation works the upper chest, shoulders, and triceps.
Pike push ups
Pike push ups are performed from a pike position, placing more tension on the shoulders and upper chest while stretching the hamstrings
If your aim is to build more strength in the lower chest, these exercises are great to include:
Chest dips
Chest dips involve lowering your body between parallel bars and pushing back up by extending the arms. This is a challenging exercise that is great for triceps and the lower chest.
Incline push ups
Incline push ups place more emphasis on the lower chest. You can vary the angle to make it more or less challenging, and to move the focus from lower to mid chest.
One handed push ups
One handed push ups are incredibly challenging, with the arm, chest, and core all having to work harder to stay stable and move through the push up.
The triceps help to extend the arm in pushing exercises, so are worked in most chest exercises. For a chest and tricep focused bodyweight workout, include:
Plank to push ups
The plank to push up combines the forearm plank and push up. Pushing up from a forearm plank into a high plank, and then performing a push up, provides plenty of resistance to work the triceps and chest.
Tricep dips
Tricep dips involve lowering the body with the arms behind your torso, hands on a bench. This arm position places more emphasis on the triceps than a chest dip.
Inner/outer push up
This exercise alternates between a wide grip and narrow grip push, switching between more emphasis on the triceps and the outer chest. This is a great way to work the entire chest with bodyweight only.
Interested in more bodyweight workouts? Check out our calisthenics blog here, or find some of the best bodyweight exercises here.
If you're looking to combine bodyweight training with weight training, find your nearest PureGym here.