Pecs muscles comprise a major part of your upper body, so strengthening this area for both strength and aesthetic purposes is vital. Furthermore, doing so helps facilitate breathing as well as promote good posture.
Your pectoralis major consists of two major heads — clavicular in your upper chest, and sternocostal at your lower chest.
1. Push-Up Walkout
The chest plays an integral part in everyday activities. From lifting heavy objects, pushing open doors or simply rising off of the floor, strong pecs are vitally important. You don’t need a gym membership in order to give them their due; all that’s necessary are some floor space and your own bodyweight – these bodyweight exercises for chest strengthening will get the same job done just as effectively!
Push-ups are a classic upper-body exercise that simultaneously engages pecs, triceps, and shoulders in one movement. If you find it challenging to complete full standard push-up sets with ease, try gradually lowering yourself slowly but with control down to just above the floor instead. This allows your muscles to stretch under load for increased muscle growth.
A unique variation of the standard push-up, the walkout push-up offers another effective alternative. Begin by positioning your feet a bit wider than shoulder width apart on a stable bench or chair that won’t slide, then lower into standard push-up position as usual, but don’t stop there; as you come back up move arms outward in a wide sweeping arc and back again before repeating this action for multiple reps before returning back to starting position.
Plyometric push-ups offer an effective way to boost power output in the chest and triceps while developing superior core strength. To perform one, place both hands on an elevated surface such as a bench, stable bar (such as that found in Smith machines), bumper plates or step platform; brace both hands against it then slowly lower your upper and lower body together into standard push-up positions allowing muscles to fully stretch under load and increase recruitment of new muscle fibers.
If you don’t quite have the strength for single-arm push-ups, a medicine ball walkout can still help develop unilateral strength. It works the pec minor muscle which often gets tight after chest strength training. Or try adding it as part of a push-up circuit by placing a lacrosse ball against your pec minor and performing push-ups against a wall using this resistance as your guide.
2. Wide-Grip Push-Up
Push-ups are an essential bodyweight exercise, making them one of the most effective exercises for building pec mass. Push-ups target chest, triceps, and back muscles, with wider-grip push ups offering added chest stimulation as well as shoulder strengthening benefits.
Use of wide-grip push-ups can help reduce shoulder fatigue and allow more reps before reaching maximum capacity in your upper body. Furthermore, this form of exercise targets additional angles of your chest muscles not targeted by traditional push-ups; this ensures all angles of chest are exercised for various training goals and adaptations.
The wide-grip push-up can also help train the clavicular head of your chest, which many neglect. This triangular muscle plays an essential role in arm flexing; exercises which target this head include clap push-ups, diamond push-ups and decline push-ups.
For the wide-grip push-up, begin in push-up position with hands slightly outside shoulder width and then bend at your elbows as you lower yourself until your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Pause briefly at this point before pushing yourself back up back up again until desired number of repetitions completed.
Push-ups should always be performed with proper form in mind, which includes making sure that your core and shoulders are tight, while your hips remain elevated throughout. Over time, you should work up to wide-grip push-ups if they cause you pain or discomfort in your shoulders; otherwise, discontinue immediately and let them recover before continuing the movement again. If any discomfort occurs while performing push-ups, stop immediately before continuing or rest your shoulders for some time before trying again.
When beginning push ups, it’s advisable to practice them on the floor rather than elevating your feet with benches or walls. This will make the exercise simpler without risking injury to shoulders or back muscles. For an added challenge, try placing a box or step under your feet for doing them in an inverted position.
3. Ultra-Wide Push-Up
Wide pushups not only work your pectoralis major (the fan-shaped muscle that composes your chest), but they also strengthen your serratus anterior. This small triangular muscle spans your upper ribcage and assists with moving arms, shoulders and back. Studies have revealed that performing pushups with wider hand placement not only targets this muscle directly but works it harder due to shifting more of your weight onto non-dominant arms than usual and forcing the working arm to do more work lifting your body upwards.
Undertake a standard pushup, but when coming up, bring your left knee inside of your elbow (a la Spiderman). This variation engages your core while adding explosiveness and explosive reps – you could do this for multiple sets or the entirety of your pushups!
As an additional way to maximize this movement, resistance bands provide an added challenge and may help beginners begin building the ultimate pecs by keeping reps high while increasing intensity and maintaining form.
Wide pushups are not only an excellent exercise to target your pecs; they’re an all-round upper body exercise perfect for beginners who wish to add variety into their routines. Wide pushups can be performed using various methods with or without bands – an ideal option for developing strength before progressing to more demanding exercises.
Wide push ups can also be performed on a bench with your feet on chairs or steps for an increased challenge. Try not to let your hips drop into an inverted bow position as this is bad for your spine and may exacerbate back problems. Grabbing parallel bars or rings adds another challenging element by placing more focus on outer and lower parts of your chest, creating an additional exercise regiment.
4. Chest Fly
What do Superman, Batman and Aquaman all share in common? Enviable pecs. With hard work, you too can achieve these impressive pecs without needing to don spandex suits or save anyone from danger. Although most chest days include incline presses and bench presses, adding flyes is one of the best ways to develop pecs without the use of extra weights or barbells.
Bench pressing targets the sternocostal head of pectoralis major while fly targeting its clavicular head, with both areas playing important roles in raising your arm above your head or flexing. While the latter helps flexing, pressing, and extending, while the former also promotes flexibility.
Solstad et al, conducted a new study which concluded that flyes stimulate more pec major muscle activity than barbell bench presses do, likely due to flyes allowing full range of motion while pressing, while many bench press users typically only achieve limited stretch and tend to employ shorter ranges of motion while pressing.
Chest fly exercises are great exercises for beginners or those with shoulder issues as they don’t rely on external weight to target muscles and focus on form – an integral aspect of movement success.
Slumping yourself onto a bench or exercise ball with straight back and feet flat on the floor, hold two dumbbells against your chest with palms facing each other on both sides – then slowly lower them until you feel a stretch in your chest; squeeze your pecs back up to return them back into their starting positions.
The Chest Fly can be an effective addition to any fitness regime, but for optimal results start slowly and build your strength and endurance over time. Incorporating several sets of this exercise as part of a warm-up to prevent injury and prep the muscle groups for training.
