Workout 28: Chest
- Starting out in a regular push-up position, hands slightly more than shoulder-width.
- Engage your core and lower the body all the way to the ground in a slow, controlled movement.
- With your chest on the ground, lift your hands off the ground, squeezing shoulders together.
- Place your palms back onto the ground and complete the push up. This is one rep.
- Stand upright with your knees slightly bent.
- Place your hands together in a praying position in front of your chest. Your elbows should be pointing out to your sides and your fingers pointing ahead of you while pushing tightly against each other.
- Slowly move your hands outward away from your body so that your arms fully extend, town toward your hips and away from your chest, while your hands are still positioned together and pushing tightly against each other.
- To feel this movement to its highest extent, you want to be pushing your hands together as tightly as you possible. You can try putting a weighted plate between your hands to increase the difficulty.
- Bring your wrists back in toward your chest.
3. Incline Push Up
Stand facing a sturdy ottoman, bed, couch, bench, etc.
Position your hands on the edge of the furniture, slightly more than shoulder-width apart, ensuring that your elbows are not locked in place. Step your feet back until your back is straight and you are resting on the balls of your feet. This is your starting position.
Keeping your body straight through the entire exercise, lower yourself down toward the furniture slowly and with control until your chest touches the furniture.
Push your body upward, away from the furniture until you reach the original position. Do this to failure for each set.
*Try different heights of furniture for variety and to utilize slightly different muscles each time.
- Stand upright with your knees slightly bent.
- Place your hands together in a praying position in front of your chest. Your elbows should be pointing out to your sides and your fingers pointing ahead of you while pushing tightly against each other.
- Slowly move your hands outward away from your body so that your arms fully extend while still positioned together and pushing tightly against each other.
- To feel this movement to its highest extent, you want to be pushing your hands together as tightly as you possible. You can try putting ad weighted plate between your hands to increase the difficulty.
- Bring your wrists back in toward your chest.
- Lie on the ground face down and place your hands shoulder width apart. Push your body off the ground through your hands while keeping your back as straight as possible.
- Lower yourself back down until your chest nearly touches the ground as you inhale.
- Exhale and press your upper body back up to the starting position while squeezing your chest, arms, and abdominal muscles.
*Note: This can be done on the knees instead of toes.
- Begin on hands and knees, hands on the ground at shoulder-width or slightly wider (you won’t want to go wider than this or your range of motion will be severely limited).
- Lift one leg and position it atop a sturdy piece of furniture (bench, ottoman, etc.). Do this for the other leg. Ensure that your body is in a straight line before continuing. Pay attention to hips and buttocks and ensure that they aren’t caving or arching. Double check hand placement and ensure that arms are extended.
- Bend at the elbow and allow your chest to lower. You’ll find yourself looking upward slightly. This is normal, just ensure that you don’t try to compensate the movement with your back or buttocks.
- Push yourself back to the starting position, being careful not to lock your elbows. This is one rep.
- Using a sturdy box or other object, get into push up position with one hand on the box and the other hand on the floor. Your hands should be shoulder-width apart.
- Lower yourself down as you would a typical push up, focusing on putting more of a bend in the elbow of the arm on the box than your floor-arm. The goal is to keep your chest as close to parallel with the ground as you can.
- Push yourself back up, place the floor-hand on the box and move the box-hand onto the floor. Once both arms have performed the push up, you’ve completed one rep.