How to pump up your pectoral muscles with push-ups. Effectively pumping up the pectoral muscles at home

Every man can “sculpt” himself an ideal body if he tries. Moreover, this can be done both in the gym and at home. In this case, the correct exercise program is very important, which will depend on the goals being pursued. So, if the main task is to pump up the chest muscles, then the main exercises are push-ups for the pectoral muscles. Push-ups have a number of variations. They can be performed from the floor, on uneven bars, and so on. All of them qualitatively work the chest muscles. Let's look at how to do push-ups correctly to pump up your pectoral muscles.

Push-ups are the main exercise for pumping up the chest muscles, and working the triceps, shoulder girdle, abs and back. In addition, they are good for health. When you perform an exercise, the muscular and cardiovascular system is stimulated. The heart rate increases, causing the muscles to fill with blood.

Push-ups also help burn fat and keep a person in shape. One of their advantages is that they can be performed both in the gym and at home. You can vary the load using all kinds of weights. Of course, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to pump up the pectoral muscles with push-ups will be positive, and by doing it regularly, you can see for yourself.

Pectoral push-ups: rules for training effectiveness

When creating a program on how to do push-ups to pump up your pectoral muscles, initially consider the following important rules:

Before you start training, conduct warm-up. It is also recommended to use warming creams. This will help prevent injuries to muscles, joints, and tendons. Warm up for at least 10-15 minutes.
Pain is an alarming symptom. If you feel it, stop exercising and determine the cause of the discomfort.
Please note that to pump up muscles you need not only to train, but also to take care of your nutrition. Muscles need building material, and this is provided by proteins, of which there should be sufficient quantities in the athlete’s diet.
In the question of how to pump up the pectoral muscles with push-ups, success largely depends on overcoming. When the body gets used to specific loads and it becomes easy to perform them, it’s time to increase the number of approaches and apply additional weights.
While working on your chest muscles, don't forget to also work your outer and inner core muscles. Strong chest muscles combined with weak abs and back are one of the main reasons for stooping. Also, such muscle imbalance can be dangerous due to improper weight distribution.
The force load on the chest muscles causes them to gradually shorten. Because of this, it is possible to bring the shoulders together and visual disproportion of different areas of the back. That is why after push-ups, do a cool-down in the form of stretching exercises.
There is no need to load the body sharply. Start with the minimum number of repetitions and gradually increase it.
The program must include rest days, which will help the chest muscles recover. These days can be devoted to working out the muscles of other areas.

When performing exercises, be sure to control your breathing. If you breathe incorrectly, your body will not receive enough of the necessary substances, which will affect your workout performance. Also, incorrect breathing technique can cause disturbances in the functioning of the heart and internal circulation.

Basic exercises for working the pectoral muscles

The main exercises for pumping up the chest are push-ups for the pectoral muscles, dips on the uneven bars, and also the bench press. Let's take a closer look at them.

Pushups

Let's look at how to pump up the pectoral muscles with push-ups. Such push-ups involve raising and lowering your torso only with your own hands. The body should be horizontal, the face should look down. The fulcrum points are the feet and palms. There are various exercise techniques that will help work out different parts of the pectoral muscles:

Classic push-ups with average hand placement. Your palms should be parallel to each other when performing the exercise. Place your hands shoulder-width apart. The feet should be almost next to each other. As you lower, your elbows should move along your body. When rising, it is not necessary to fully extend your arms at the elbow joint. This exercise allows you to moderately engage the pectoral muscles.
Push-ups with wide arms. You can pump up your pectoral muscles by doing push-ups, placing your arms almost twice as wide as shoulder width. In this case, the middle pectoral muscles are thoroughly worked out. Your elbows should be out to the sides as you lower.
Narrow push-ups. In this case, the pectoral muscles are worked less than the triceps, but this exercise can also be included in a chest pumping program. The work will also include the shoulder muscles - as a result, the torso will look harmonious and proportional.
Push-ups with hands behind the back (face up). In this exercise, your hands are placed on a slight elevation behind your back. The legs can remain on the floor, or they can rest on the opposing bench. This variation of push-ups works well on the lower chest.
Push-ups with feet on a stand. These are push-ups for the upper pectoral muscles. Feet can be placed on a step, box, bench. Otherwise, the exercise is performed in the same way as a classic push-up.
One-arm push-ups. They are performed like this: take a standard starting position, but place all the weight on one hand and lift the other. Leave the leg opposite your supporting hand to the side so that you can maintain balance. When you can do this easily, start doing push-ups. These push-ups work the entire chest area, but they are quite difficult and are best performed after you have mastered the classic two-arm push-ups.

Bench press

If we pump up our chest with push-ups, then it’s worth supplementing the program with a bench press, which helps to achieve very good results. There are three main types of bench press. They allow you to develop, increase the volume and strength of the upper, middle and lower thirds of the chest.

Bench press with a surface parallel to the floor, working the middle group of pectoral muscles.
Decline bench press. With this exercise, both your torso and your head will be tilted towards the floor. It helps strengthen the lower chest. To achieve maximum results, you can straighten your arms as far as possible at the top point. This exercise is quite difficult, so it is better to have someone back you up.
Elevated bench press. This exercise is aimed at working the upper part of the chest.
Press with a reverse grip on the barbell (palms facing your face). This exercise makes it possible to strengthen the muscles of the upper chest. But keep in mind that this exercise can lead to injury to the shoulder joints, so you need to perform it extremely carefully, already having a certain level of training.

Dips

In the question of how to do push-ups to pump up the pectoral muscles for men, you will also be helped bars. Push-ups help work the upper chest. The point is that you need to lift your own body with outstretched arms, while raising your legs. The torso can be held vertically or slightly tilted relative to the floor.

To increase the load, you can use weights suspended by belts behind the neck. They can also be replaced by a special weighted vest or a regular backpack of sufficient weight.

Push-ups for the upper pectoral muscles are recommended to be performed on parallel bars, where the distance between the handrails is greater than the width of your shoulders. With a narrow arm position, the triceps will swing more than the chest.

Push-ups: program for the pectoral muscles

There are a large number of push-up programs. The chest push-up program discussed below is suitable for beginners who want to master the exercise and increase muscle mass. It looks like this:

First week. Every day we do eight push-ups in the first set, then a one-minute break, six push-ups in the second set, and a break again. After that there are two more sets of four push-ups. For the fifth approach, do the maximum number of push-ups that you can handle.
Second week. Do everything the same as in the first week. The rest period between sets can be reduced.
Third week. The program of the first two weeks is repeated again. Exercising during this time may be more difficult.
Fourth week. Increase the number of push-ups as much as you can. By the fourth week, the muscles should become stronger, and it will be easier to perform the exercises. This week you can choose your own program for the next week.
Fifth week. You need to further increase the number of push-ups by at least ten times.
Sixth week. By this time, your muscles will become stronger, more resilient, and you should be able to do about a hundred push-ups. Muscle mass will also increase, and soon you will be able to achieve the desired result.

Thus, dedicating a little time to push-ups daily, you can give your chest muscles a beautiful relief, make them strong and resilient. Combine them with other exercises and do them regularly, and then the results will pleasantly surprise you.

Push-up technique on video

I don't recommend doing the max set unless you want to break the Guinness World Record of 3,461 push-ups per hour. But such training will be productive due to the large number of repetitions, which is both aerobic training and a lot of muscle work. Six approaches will be enough.

For starters, you can exercise every day. As the load increases - every third.

Pump up your chest with push-ups. Warming up

Every workout begins with a warm-up. It is very important. Stretch your shoulders, elbows and wrists thoroughly. Then we do a series of warm-up push-ups. 3-5 slow push-ups from the floor.

The best exercises for chest muscles

Pushups

As mentioned above, we will do six repetitions. Each exercise will have 10 reps (or less if that's too much for you).

It's best to start with fewer reps and then increase the reps in your next workout. Remember that motivation increases with mastery of performance. When you have made some progress, you can increase the load.

Number of repetitions

So, in our article “How to pump up your chest with push-ups,” we come to a very important point - the number of repetitions. They need to be added according to your results. If you easily did 4-5 approaches, then feel free to add the number of repetitions in each approach. The optimal number of repetitions should be such that you do 5-6 sets with maximum effort.

The best results are achieved when you do five sets with great difficulty, and the sixth will be a real challenge.

Digression from the topic: if you are a beautiful girl and want to have beautiful and toned breasts, we recommend studying this.

Don't worry if you can't do a couple of reps on your last set. This is actually good. This is additional motivation to do better next time.

To track your results, keep notes and review them before your next workout.

Pace

Don't rush, but don't push up too slowly either. Try to find the right pace for you. For me, that's 80 push-ups per minute.

Breaks between sets

How long should the break be between sets? Long enough to bring breathing back to normal. The burning sensation in the muscles should also go away. Too long breaks are not appropriate. The break should be approximately 60–90 seconds.

Taking breaks between sets is also a great tool for adjusting intensity. You can lengthen them if you want to increase the number of repetitions, or shorten them for more intensity.

Don't have time for the gym, but dreams of sculpted chest muscles never leave you? Train at home and you will be amazed at the results you can achieve with push-ups!

Chair push-ups

Try pumping up by standing on some elevation. For this purpose, you can use chairs, a coffee table or anything else. The main idea of this exercise is that you will bend even lower. Try to increase as much as possible, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the exercise. To achieve the best result, hold for a second at the bottom point, and only after a short pause return to the starting position.

Dips

You can pump up your breasts very effectively using. If you don't have access to this machine, use two chairs with high, sturdy backs. During the exercise, your legs should not touch the floor; to do this, you need to bend them. How to pump up your chest muscles with these push-ups:

rest your palms on the bars (the backs of chairs), hang on straight, outstretched arms;
go down as far as you can, then go up;
perform the exercise for 4-5 approaches with the maximum number of repetitions.

Do not linger at the top point - this reduces work efficiency.

But don't limit yourself to just chest push-ups, try to use them to further stimulate muscle growth and maintain your physical fitness.

Supplements for chest push-ups

Weider | BCAA?

It is advisable to drink 3 tablets before training with water.

Intense training exhausts the body. It is Weider BCAA that will help optimally saturate the muscles with the necessary amino acids, which, when absorbed by the body, contribute to the effective building of muscle mass.

Gaspari Nutrition | MyoFusion Pro ?

Add 1-2 scoops of powder to 180-240 ml of water and shake thoroughly.

Gaspari Nutrition MyoFusion® Pro is a powerful source of protein, which includes concentrates, isolates and hydrolysates of various types of proteins. This is the reason for the wide popularity of this product; its effect spreads throughout the day.

To achieve the best results, alternate exercises with each other and do not forget about rest. After each set, take a minute break; after working out for a day, take the second one. It is equally important not to exhaust the muscles with overloads; control the quantity and quality of the approaches performed. At the same time, strictly follow your daily routine and diet, lead a healthy lifestyle and you will ensure that your chest muscles become beautiful and sculpted. Don't stop there!

There is a widespread belief that training certain muscle groups is impossible without specific sports equipment, which is found exclusively in specialized establishments such as a fitness center.

However, all this fully applies to professional athletes who work on special programs with heavy weights. But if you just want to have a beautiful, toned, harmoniously developed body or cannot, for one reason or another, train in the gym, training at home is a good solution to achieve a visible effect.

The pectoral muscles are divided into 3 groups - major, minor and serratus anterior. In addition, there is a classification by departments. According to it, there are 3 of them in total - upper, middle and lower. And if the average is worked out in almost any exercise, then others must be trained with emphasis, otherwise there will be no results. The so-called inner part of the chest stands apart. It also requires special training.

Note that exercises for working out the pectoral muscles help reduce the volume of adipose tissue due to the high energy consumption during their implementation, which has a beneficial effect on the entire body as a whole.

Home workouts

Many people are desperate for free time. Someone has a difficult schedule or work itself. There are those who, due to their character, cannot bring themselves to be in a large group of strangers. Perhaps your budget does not allow you to spend money on a gym. In all these cases, it is better to practice at home. Yes, the effect of training will not appear quickly. Yes, it is impossible to develop muscle definition to the level inherent in bodybuilders at home. But it’s still better to have a fit, athletic physique than nothing at all, isn’t it?

Below we will describe in detail the process of how to pump up the pectoral muscles at home, but first I would like to remind you that you must have motivation, otherwise you will not be able to achieve serious success.

Training mode

First, let's deal with such an important issue as the training schedule. The most important rule is that you cannot train every day. This way you will only exhaust yourself, because during training the muscles are heavily loaded, and this inevitably leads to microtraumas. By exercising daily, you will not give your muscles rest (and they grow just during it), microtraumas will accumulate and one day turn into a full-fledged injury.

It is likely that after your first workout you will experience pain. It is important not to practice until they disappear. So it's better to train twice a week. For beginners, it is advisable to perform 1 or 2 exercises in 2 or 3 approaches, then this number (meaning both exercises and approaches) should be increased.

Classic push-ups

An excellent alternative to the basic exercise bench press. This exercise also loads the pectoral muscles, arms, shoulder girdle and partially the lats and abs.

With due persistence and regular exercise, it is possible to pump up your chest at home with push-ups alone, although this will take a lot of time.

Narrow push-ups

The technique is similar to classic push-ups, but during this exercise the palms are not shoulder-width apart, but next to each other - so that the thumbs touch. When lowering to the lower position, you need to touch your chest with your palms, then pause for 1 second, and only then return to the starting position (IP). The exercise is aimed mainly at training the inner chest.

Push-ups on stools

To perform this exercise, you will need 2 strong, stable stools, preferably with a hard, non-slip top. They are placed at the width of your shoulders, and then you take the IP like a regular push-up, the only difference being that your palms are on the stools and your feet are on the headboard (or anywhere else; the main thing is that your feet should be located above the shoulder line). Hands should be placed slightly wider than shoulders.

You need to go as low as possible, and the optimal number of approaches is 3 or 4, with 10-12 repetitions. Over time, we may feel that the exercise has become too simple, but the number of repetitions and/or reps should not be increased. Better use weights; in particular, a backpack filled to capacity with books is perfect for this purpose.

Forward Bend Push-Ups

It is the same as the exercise described above, only performed without stools. The legs should again be above the shoulder line, they should be placed on some level and stable piece of furniture. Because of this position of the legs, the main load falls not on the middle, but on the upper part of the chest muscles. In addition, the triceps and deltoid muscles are actively involved in the work.

Dumbbell floor press

If you don't have dumbbells, you should definitely get them, as this exercise is a great way to work your chest muscles. If we talk about the gym, then there it is performed on a bench; at home you will train on the floor.

Starting position: take dumbbells and lie on the floor, legs should be bent at the knees. Then stretch your arms upward with the dumbbells held in them and smoothly lower them to the sides until your elbows touch the floor (as you inhale). Next, wait 1-2 seconds. and return to IP (as you exhale). It is important to follow 2 rules: keep your elbows apart so that the pectoral muscles are fully loaded, and when lowering your arms, you must not allow your elbows to hit the floor.

Complex

Also suitable for pumping up the pectoral muscles at home are exercises such as lying hands with dumbbells, pullovers and reverse push-ups. If finances allow, buy a folding athletic bench. It will not take up much space when stored, but will greatly increase the efficiency of the dumbbell press.

Program for pumping the pectoral muscles at home

Wide grip push-ups 3 sets of 30 reps
Close grip push-ups 3 sets of 20 reps
Dumbbell floor press 3 sets of 15 reps
Lying dumbbell curls 3 sets of 15 reps
Pullover 3 sets of 20 reps

The shape of the pectoral muscles is determined by genetics, and training cannot change it. But you can increase the volume of muscle fibers. The only question is what load causes the greatest hypertrophy (growth). What does chest training for weight include and how to pump up your chest with push-ups at home? Let’s not let any intrigue arise and let us immediately inform you that you can’t pump up chest like Arnold’s with push-ups. But you shouldn’t give up the exercise. Suffice it to remember that push-ups are a basic exercise used in training boxers and soldiers. So how to do push-ups to pump up your chest and how much do you need to do to see visible results?

The chest muscles consist of the pectoralis major and minor muscles. The large muscle covers the entire chest and is divided into three parts: clavicular, sternocostal and abdominal. All parts are arranged in a fan-shape and the name of each indicates the place of fixation.

The minor muscle has a triangular shape. It is located under the big one, duplicates its functions and plays a smaller role. The listed muscles are responsible for a wide range of movements of the upper limbs and never work in isolation - only together.

Why pump your chest?

Well-developed chest muscles are the adornment of any man. In addition to the aesthetic side of the issue, there is another: the strength of the blow and the ability to perform work, which is considered exclusively masculine, depend on their development. Also, trained chest muscles relieve excess tension from the back and neck, which eliminates frequent headaches and allows you to increase the range of motion in various exercises.

How to make your pectoral muscles grow?

To answer the question of whether you can pump up your chest with push-ups alone, let's first look at what makes muscles grow. The main prerequisite for thickening muscle fibers is increasing strength load. To gain muscle mass, you need to do up to 12 repetitions per set with weights or work to failure with maximum weight.

Of course, doing 12 push-ups will not give you the optimal load. In classic push-ups, a person lifts 70% of his torso weight. If you place your feet on a hill, this percentage will increase. However, sooner or later the load will become habitual.

If you dream of wide and well-developed chest muscles, then you can’t do without hard training in the gym. To achieve results, you will have to train not just for one month, but for more than a year. Subsequently, you will need to constantly exercise to maintain shape.

Don't dream of a muscular body like the Spartans, but just want to shape your breasts, make them a little more attractive and fit? Regular push-ups, which can be performed at home without sports equipment, will also cope with this task. They will not provide a noticeable increase in muscle mass, but they will improve appearance and really increase tone. Don't forget to also exercise your arms, back and core, as muscle imbalances are dangerous to your health.

Advantages and disadvantages of push-ups

Benefits of push-ups:

stimulate the cardiovascular system;
increase strength and endurance;
improve joint mobility;
additionally load the muscles of the arms and back;
give the upper body a beautiful relief;
speed up metabolism.

Disadvantages of push-ups and harm:

increase blood pressure in people prone to hypertension;
worsen the condition if there are problems with the shoulder and elbow joints;
not suitable for people who are overweight;
Without training the back muscles, they lead to stooping.

Push-ups: technique and mistakes

To pump up your chest with push-ups, you need to feel the target muscles. There is no single correct technique. The distribution of the load depends on the nuances that seem unimportant to beginners.

place your hands shoulder-width apart (fingers pointing to the sides);
place your feet almost next to each other (the greater the distance between the legs, the less the load);
when moving down, inhale and spread your elbows slightly to the sides (if you move your elbows along the body, the triceps will receive the load);
keep your abdominal muscles tense;
touch the floor with your chest and begin to rise;
do not move quickly or jerk;
when rising, exhale and do not hold your breath;
at the top point, leave your arms slightly bent;
do not lift your pelvis up and do not let your stomach sag;
do not raise or lower your head - the head, neck and spine should form a straight line;
do not rest at the top point, and after lifting, immediately begin to descend.

Pain is a warning sign. If you feel it, stop training and find out whether errors were made in the technique or if you have contraindications to the exercises. Before training, do a joint warm-up, and at the end, stretch.

Effective push-ups for chest training

Types of push-ups that train the pectoral muscle:

Wide grip. A wide grip does not imply a maximum distance between your hands: the gap between your palms should be twice the width of your shoulders.
Narrow grip. Your palms should not be placed side by side, but slightly narrower than your shoulders. Such push-ups should be done after basic push-ups or separately, as they “clog” the triceps. If you do them at the beginning of the workout, the triceps will be too tired, they will fail before the pectoral muscles and will not allow you to train your chest well.
With your feet up. The footrest must be at least ½ meter. The higher the pelvis, the more emphasis will be placed on the upper chest.
Reverse push-ups (with hands behind back).The exercise works the triceps more, but also works the lower chest. Place your hands on a slight elevation behind your back, shoulder-width apart. The palms should be placed on the edge of the support. During the movement, do not spread your elbows to the sides and do not fall below a 90-degree angle at the elbow joint. The body must move strictly vertically. If the exercise seems simple, you can raise your legs to another support (chair, bench, fitball) and put a weight on your hips (a barbell plate, etc.).
. Elevations allow you to go lower and stretch your chest muscles more. Dumbbells with square or hexagonal edges, stacks of books, etc. are used as stands. It is best to purchase special supports that allow you to place your hands at any angle. If you have had wrist injuries, they will help avoid pain in the joint. The exercise can also be made more difficult by placing your feet on a hill.
Dips for pumping up the pectoral muscles. Leaning your torso forward, bend your elbows and lower yourself between the bars until your hands are level with your armpits. If you keep your body straight, the triceps will receive more load, not the chest. Control every movement, and stay at the bottom for two seconds. Beginners can master the technique in the gravitron, and experienced athletes can attach additional weights to their belts. Push-ups on parallel bars are more difficult than others and the benefits from them are higher.
. Only experienced athletes can perform the movement with one hand (the second is behind the back) and maintain balance. To master the correct technique, you can first place your feet wider than your shoulders. Think you'll never be able to do push-ups like a pro in your videos? Only the lazy say that this is impossible!

How to create a push-up program and combine them with other chest exercises?

In one workout you can combine the following push-ups (3-4 sets of 10-20 repetitions):

with arms placed wide and supported from behind;
on supports and with legs raised.

At the end of the training, do stretches that will return tight muscles to their normal state. Gymnastics will also help to avoid shoulder compression and achieve rapid weight gain.

How to improve your results?

For high-quality muscle growth per kilogram of weight you need:

4 grams of carbohydrates,
3 grams of protein,
2 grams of fat.

If you only do push-ups, which do not require much energy, then a healthy diet will suffice. When doing full strength training, do not neglect gainers and protein. They will be your salvation when you don't have time to cook.

Girls should not pump up their chest with regular push-ups and follow men's training programs. There are no muscles in the mammary glands themselves - they consist mainly of adipose tissue. Therefore, no amount of exercise will increase their size. However, the breasts are supported by muscles and by focusing on training the upper part of the chest, you can visually improve its appearance.

Beautiful pumped chest and broad shoulders are the dream of every man. Stop dreaming about an athletic body - start taking action! If you haven't exercised for a long time, start with a light load, and when your muscles get used to it, do push-ups with a rubber band or weight plate on your back. Who knows, maybe in a year you will already be doing the exercise like Bruce Lee - on two fingers of one hand.