Unlock Your Potential for a Bigger Chest with Proven Techniques
Jeff from Athlean X explains the best way to do Push ups for a bigger chest.
Best Way to do Pushups for a Bigger Chest
“The pushup is definitely one of the best (and only) options for building a big when training at home. That said, most of us don’t do this bodyweight exercise as effectively as we can, which is costing us a chance to build the biggest chest or pecs that we can. In this video, I show you the best way to do pushups for a bigger chest by making just one small but important change to the way you do them.”
Source: Depositphotos / CrossFit Inc
“To begin, it is important to understand what the function of the chest muscles is in the first place. We are all familiar with their ability to push our arms away from our bodies, as in a bench press. That said, given the orientation of the fibers of the chest, it is actually more important for the pecs to pull your arm across your chest into what is called horizontal adduction.”
Best Way to do Pushups for a Bigger Chest
“This motion occurs most visibly in exercises like cable crossovers and even dumbbell flyes. That said, especially for athletes, flyes present a risk/reward ratio that isn’t necessarily optimal or even necessary if performed with the arms too far out in an attempt to maximize chest stretch. Even Arnold himself tore his pecs twice during the pec fly while chasing that elusive extra stretch he felt the exercise was providing him.”
Best Way to do Pushups for a Bigger Chest
“That said, the portion of the horizontal adduction that we should be chasing the most is the end contraction. This comes when are hands are positioned in front of our chests and at or crossing over the midline if possible.
In pushups, since our hands are fixed on the ground, moving them closer with each rep is impossible.We can still simulate the movement to engage the chest more strongly.
“As I show you here, you want to be sure that when you come up to the top of each push-up, you attempt to pull the hands closer to each other (though they won’t move since they are pressed into the ground) and then turn your forearms away from you. This second part can be accomplished by trying to envision your biceps turning towards the front as you come up. Both of these moves act to fire up the pec muscles even more and get a much stronger contraction on each pushup than you would otherwise get.”
Best Way to do Pushups for a Bigger Chest
“Counting reps during push-ups isn’t crucial for effective muscle building during this home chest exercise. You want to focus on increasing the number of quality reps you perform. The quality means everything. Contract your pecs more for improved development and chest growth during home workouts (or wherever you apply these tips).”
