How To Build Upper Body Strength And Mass With Push-Ups

May 24, 2023
Workout
How To Build Upper Body Strength And Mass With Push-Ups

Using the arms while lying face down and horizontal, the push-up strengthens the chest, arms, deltoid, back, abs, and glutes at the same time.

A chest push-up and other push-up variations for the chest are excellent general conditioning exercises for beginners and athletes. You can do them anywhere without any equipment.

Everyone can benefit from regular push-ups, whether they're beginners, intermediates, or advanced.

The best thing about chest push-ups is that they can be performed anywhere, without expensive equipment or membership fees.

PushUps For Strengthening Your Chest

Next, let's look at the best bodyweight exercises you can do at home to strengthen your chest and build a large chest.

The chest push-ups exercises have been divided into many sections, such as:

  • Chest Push ups for beginners
  • Intermediate Chest Push ups
  • Chest Pushups for Advance

How To Do Train Chest With Push Ups

Many biomechanical variations can be performed to alter muscle activity by providing either a lesser or greater challenge to the target chest muscles. Push-ups can be performed to work different regions of the chest muscles.

Most types of push-ups involve varying hand and foot positioning, affecting muscle recruitment patterns. That's why some types of push-ups target the upper chest, some target the lower chest, some target the triceps, and others target the shoulders.

In addition to strengthening the chest, arms, deltoid, lower back, abs, and glutes, the standard push-up has stood the test of time.

Due to the angle at which the exercise has to be done, incline chest push-ups are easier than regular push-ups. Because of the incline surface, incline chest push-ups are ideal for beginners because they use more lower chest muscles, shoulder muscles, and triceps.

With decline chest push-ups, more of the upper chest, shoulder muscles, and tricep muscles are used, as compared to standard push-ups.

Close grip push-ups can be used to build the inner chest by narrowing your hand spacing.

Chest Push Ups Made Easier Or Harder (Modifications & Variations)

Push-ups can be modified to make them easier or harder, but not every modification will work with every push-up.

Make It Easier

  • Cross one ankle over the other, so only one foot is on the ground. This requires more core activation.
  • Elevating your feet on a box or bench will increase the activation of the upper chest muscles and the front of the shoulders (anterior deltoids). The higher your feet, the harder the exercise will be.
  • For an additional strength challenge, have a friend place a weight plate on your back.
  • Get creative with your plyometric combinations. Try switching back and forth between narrow and wide hands, or the fore and after positions of staggered hands.

What are the best types of push-ups for the chest (variations)?

Here are a few of our favorite chest push-up variations, in more or less ascending order of difficulty.

Here are 3 types of chest push-up variations for beginners, intermediates and advanced. Stand approximately 2 to 2.5 feet away from the wall with your arms at shoulder height in front of you.

Put your hands against the wall, your body straight, and your legs a few feet behind, so that your body forms a triangle with the wall and the floor.

Lean forward, keeping your feet firmly on the ground, so that your elbows flex and your chest is inches away from the wall.

Put your hands on your hips and push yourself back up.

Strengthen your upper body.

Push-ups for beginners

Wall Push ups 

The "wall" push-up reduces the stress on the arms, upper back, and abs dramatically.

As you perform this chest push-up, you must be aware of your body alignment as you stand closer to the wall.



How To Do Wall Push-Ups

  • Hold your arms at shoulder height in front of you while standing about 2 to 2.5 feet away from the wall.
  • Hands against the wall, body straight, and legs a few feet behind, forming a triangle with the wall and floor.
  • Lean forward so that your elbows flex and your chest is within inches of the wall, keeping your feet firmly on the ground.
  • Push yourself back into a standing position with your hands.

Tips

  • Smooth and controlled movement is essential.
  • Don't flare your elbows out.

Push-ups on the knees

Knee push-ups, also known as modified push-ups, are bodyweight exercises that strengthen your upper body muscles.

Knee push-ups are a great chest exercise for beginners. If you have trouble doing a full push-up, try the knee push-up.

How To Do Knee Push-Ups

  • Put your hands shoulder-width apart on the floor in front of you while kneeling on the floor.
  • Make sure your body is in a straight line from head to knees by flexing your elbows until your chest is within a few inches of the floor.
  • Push your arms up to raise your body to the starting position.
  • You may repeat the repetitions as many times as you like.

Tips

  • When you are on the ground, keep your chest active.
  • Always keep your back straight, never slump.
  • Push-ups work your core by tightening your abs and butt.

Incline Push-Up On Bench

A great bodyweight exercise to build your chest, the incline chest push-up offers numerous benefits for both beginners and experienced athletes.

As a variation of the push-up, you push yourself off from a raised object instead of the ground in the incline push-up for chest.

A chair, a gym bench, a sofa, a bench, a sturdy table, or anything else can be used.


How To Do Incline Push-Up On Box

  • Reach forward with your hands and grab the sides of a low bench or sturdy chair, keeping the balls of your feet on the floor.
  • As you lower yourself, flex your elbows until your chest is within a few inches of the edge of the chair or bench.
  • Push yourself back to starting position while maintaining a straight body position from head to ankle.
  • Smooth and controlled movement is essential.

Tips

  • Before you perform push-ups, make sure the bench or chair is stable and secure.
  • Always keep your back and legs straight.

Intermediate Chest Ups

Standard Push-Ups

You can build your entire upper body, shoulders, chest, and arms by doing Standard Chest Push-Up workout.

This workout must be included in your push-up arsenal. Watch how to do them correctly and blast your muscles at home or in the gym.

How To Do Standard Push-Ups For Chest

  • Lie face down on the ground with your legs straight and your arms supporting your upper body. Keep your knees off the ground.
  • Straighten your elbows and arms as you lift yourself off the ground.
  • At the top of the movement, pause for a moment and raise your elbows until they are locked.
  • Slowly lower your body until your chest is very close to the ground, feeling the motion all the way down.

Tips

  • You should keep your elbows close to your body.
  • Additional variations include incline chest push-ups and decline chest push-ups.

Knuckle Push-Up

Push-Ups on your knuckles may be a better alternative if you experience wrist pain when doing chest push-ups.

A knuckle push-up puts pressure on your knuckles rather than your extended wrists.


Knuckle Push Ups

  • Place your fists perpendicular to your body in a standard push-up position.
  • Push yourself up until your arms are fully extended while keeping your body in a straight line.
  • Return to your starting position by lowering yourself slowly.

Tips

  • You should perform this exercise on an exercise mat to avoid any discomfort on your hands.
  • Straighten your back, shoulders, and feet.

Push-ups with a stability ball for the chest

With a Swiss ball, you will have an uneven surface that will make the game more challenging.

Maintaining your balance on the ball allows you to work harder than if you were performing the standard, floor-bound version.


Way To Do Stability Ball Push-Ups

  • Place your hands at the sides of your chest on the stability ball. Lie on your back.
  • Lean forward so that your chest is directly over the ball, and your toes are supporting you.
  • Pause for a moment here, then push yourself up until your arms are almost straight (do not lock your elbows).
  • Bring your upper body back to its starting position by exhaling and extending your arms.

Tips

  • It is important to maintain a straight and rigid body. Don't let your lower back sag or your butt rise.
  • A tilted neck could strain your neck, so keep your neck in line with your body.

Wide Push Up

It is the best push-up variation to train the outer chest. Wide pushups are a simple yet effective way to increase upper body strength and core stability.

Wide pushups are a good option if you can do regular pushups, but wish to target your muscles differently.

Way Do Wide Chest Push Ups

  • Lie face down on the ground with your legs straight and your arms supporting your upper body.
  • As you descend to the floor, retract your shoulder blades and unlock your elbows to get into the 90/90 push up position.
  • Until your upper arms are parallel to the ground or your chest touches the ground, descend.
  • Drive your palms into the floor and extend your elbows back to the starting point.

Tips

  • Always keep your back straight and your abs and glutes contracted.
  • Don't look forward and keep your chin down.

Push-ups with dumbbells

The use of dumbbells makes push-ups a more powerful exercise and increases upper body strength, muscle mass, and balance.

Your inner chest bodyweight workout arsenal should include dumbbell push-ups.


Way To Do Dumbbell Push-Ups

Hold a dumbbell in each hand and get into a plank position with your palms facing down.

As you raise yourself off the ground, straighten your elbows and arms while keeping your elbows close to your body.

At the top of the movement, pause for a moment until your elbows are locked.

Feel the motion all the way down until your chest is very close to the ground as you lower your body.

Advance Chest Ups

Decline Push-Up

As with normal push-ups, decline chest push-ups are performed with your legs on a bench. Though they are called decline chest push-ups, they focus more on the upper chest.

Moreover, since your lower body is raised from the floor, the resistance your body encounters is increased compared to doing a standard push-up on the floor.

Way To Do Decline Chest Push Ups

  • Place your hands firmly on the floor and space them slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Place your legs on the bench or the pad roller.
  • Straighten your elbows and arms. Keep your elbows close to your body as you raise yourself off the ground.
  • At the top of the movement, raise your elbows almost to locking, and pause for a moment.
  • When your chest is very close to the ground, slowly lower your body under sustained motion.

Tips

  • As you exert yourself, exhale.
  • You can vary the position of the bench to hit the upper chest from different angles.

Push-ups with feet on stability balls

Push-ups with feet on a Swiss ball target the upper chest, shoulders, and triceps while engaging the core.


Way To Do Feet On Stability Ball Push-Ups

  • Roll forward until your pelvis and thighs are off the ball and position your feet on top. Lie face down on the ball with your arms supporting you in push-up position.
  • You should place your hands directly beneath your shoulders.
  • Bend your elbows until they form a 90-degree angle as you lower yourself.
  • When you reach the bottom, pause for one or two seconds before breathing out and pushing yourself up.

Tips

  • Throughout the movement, keep your core tight and your back flat.
  • Don't allow your hips to sag or rise. Keep your body in a straight line.

Weighted Chest Push-Up

Practicing weighted type of push-ups can result in a massive chest, stronger core, stronger arms, improve testosterone naturally, transforming the body into a fat-burning machine.

Work your way up from a small weight plate.

Way To Do Weighted Push Ups

  • Place a weight plate on your back while doing a push-up.
  • Lower your body slowly to the ground, keeping your elbows tucked in close by your sides so they form a 45-degree angle with your torso.
  • Press back up to the starting position once your chest touches the ground.
  • At the end of the set, have your partner remove the plate

Push-ups with the fingertip

If you do push-ups on your fingertips, you can look impressive, and you'll be able to increase your grip for basketball, bodybuilding, or rock climbing as well.

In addition, it helps eliminate wrist pain caused by the 90-degree bend when your palms are flat on the ground.


Way To Do Fingertip Push-Ups

  • In a standard push-up position, your fingertips are in contact with the ground.
  • As you lower your torso to the ground, breathe in deeply. Keep your elbows close to your body while you lower your torso.
  • Push yourself up by attempting to push the ground away from you as you breathe out.

Tips

  • For balance, spread your fingers apart slightly
  • You should perform this exercise on an exercise mat in order to avoid any discomfort on your fingers.

Push-ups with one leg

One of the most advanced chest push-up variations is the single-leg push-up.

This movement can only be completed with proper stability from your feet to your head.


Way To Do Single Leg Push-Ups

  • Take a push-up position, but place one foot on top of the other or place one foot straight behind you.
  • Keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe and one leg in the air, lower yourself by flexing your elbows until your chest is a few inches from the ground.
  • Push your arms up to raise your body to the starting position.
  • To create a symmetrical body, alternate legs between sets or repetitions.

Tips

  • Keep your elbows slightly tucked into your body to preserve shoulder health.
  • From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet, your neck should be in neutral alignment with your head.

Push-ups with one arm

Push-ups with one arm require more strength and balance than standard push-ups with two arms.

One of the most challenging bodyweight exercises is this one.


Way To Do One Arm Push-Ups

  • Put one hand directly beneath your chest and the other behind your lower back in the push-up position.
  • Maintain balance by turning your torso away from the pushing arm.
  • Your chin should be a few inches above the ground as you lower your angled torso to the ground.
  • Stop just before you lock out your elbow at the top of the movement as you push yourself up from the floor.

Tips

  • Rotate your arm outwards away from your chest to avoid putting additional strain on your elbow.

Push-ups with clapping

Push-ups with clapping are an advanced type of chest push-ups that work your chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders.

Many athletes perform them to improve their athletic performance by building strength, endurance, and speed.

Way To Do Clapping Push Ups

  • Start with a standard push-up.
  • When your chest is almost touching the ground, lower your body as if you were going to push.
  • As soon as your arms reach full extension, pull your hands up off the floor by pushing hard through the palms.
  • Before your body falls back to the ground, clap your hands together quickly and return them to their original positions.

Proper Form

  • When exploding off the ground, exhale and inhale as you descend.
  • Throughout the exercise, keep your elbows close to your sides.
  • Throughout the movement, keep your core tight and your back flat.

Takeaways

Try different types of chest push-ups if you want to build upper body muscles and gain strength.

If you do it regularly, the results will speak for themselves. It not only helps build muscles but also improves overall fitness.

Also, people ask

Is it possible to grow a chest by doing push-ups?

There are many different types of push-ups that help to grow the chest, shoulder, and tricep muscles. Push-ups are often modified by changing the hand and foot positions. As a result, push-ups can be divided into different types, with some focusing on upper chests, some on lower chests, others on triceps, and others on shoulders.

What Is The Best Push-Up For Chest?

As one of the best chest exercises, the standard push-up has endured for centuries, and is the single most effective way to simultaneously strengthen the chest, arms, and deltoid muscles. The Incline Push Up works your lower chest. The decline push-up, on the other hand, works your upper chest and front shoulders more than the regular or incline variation.

What Is A Good Number Of Pushups A Day?

You can do as many push-ups as you like. Some people do more than 200 per day. For an average person, 50 to 100 push-ups should be sufficient to maintain a good upper body.

Depending on your fitness level, you should do a certain number of pushups per day.

Start of the licensing process:

It is important to keep increasing the number of push-ups to challenge your body if you are a beginner. I recommend doing 10-20 push-ups a day.

You should start with 50-100 push-ups a day if you are an intermediate.