Top 10 Bodyweight Chest Exercises & Workouts
Is it possible to train your chest efficiently only by doing bodyweight exercises? Yes, it is undoubtedly, but it requires more knowledge than weight training.
Isolating specific muscle groups can be harder than with machines since bodyweight exercises are always focused on moving multiple joints at a time.
But if you integrate some of the exercises below into your workouts, you are going to feel your chest burning after just a couple of sets!
The List Of Bodyweight Chest Exercises
Push-up
Begin with both hands at shoulder-width apart and your feet on the ground. Focus on engaging your core & back muscles throughout the entire motion while keeping an entirely straight line from your feet all the way to your head.
Slowly lower yourself down while keeping your elbows as close as possible to your body; hold the position for 1-2 seconds for additional muscular engagement of the chest and then push-up again with as much power as you have.
Wide Grip Push-up
Instead of having your hands at shoulder-width apart, you are going to place them slightly further away. In fact most push-movements will become more effective bodyweight chest exercises with a wider grip.
Think about doing the same factors as with a regular push up, which are:
- Elbows parallel to your body
- Straight Line (engage your core, back & legs!)
Deep Push-up
To make the exercise even more engaging for your chest musculature, you can place both your hands on two yoga blocks/chairs, etc. Also, elevate your feet slightly so that your legs & arms are on the same level.
Perform a regular or wide-grip push-up, but since you have more space, you can go even lower, which engages your chest.
Focus on going down slowly, while exploding up and keep your elbows parallel to your body while having your entire body straight throughout the motion.
Ring Push-ups
Rings are probably by far one of the best tools when it comes to bodyweight chest exercises since they are affordable and add an element of muscular balance, which is primarily performed by your chest muscles.
Find a place to hang your rings and lower them down so that they are just a couple of inches above the ground.
Then perform a regular push-up, but in the starting position, your palms should be facing away from you.
While going down, turn the rings so that your palms face your body; to make the exercise even more engaging, you can try to bring the rings slightly apart while going down to engage your chest even more.
Archer Ring Push-ups
When doing archer ring push-ups, you start in a regular push-up position. Then while going down, bring one ring apart from your body (sideways) while keeping it straight while bending the other arm.
This will make the chest of your straight arm work more while the other arm is going to train the triceps more.
Chest Flies
One of the best bodyweight chest exercises to do in rings are chest flies. When doing this exercise remember, that the higher the rings, the easier the exercise.
If you haven't done chest flies before, begin at knee/hip height and put both your arms in the rings and start in an elevated push-up position.
Then begin bringing your entire body down (feet stay on the ground) by moving your arms to the side. Remember to keep your arms entirely straight. Go as far down as you can go and brings the rings back in front of your chest so that you end up in the push-up position again.
If the exercise is too easy, you can move the rings further down.
Dip
Another excellent exercise to grow your chest are dips; find two parallel bars above hip height or use two boxes/chairs/tables and place them slightly further than shoulder-width apart.
Put each hand on one side of the bar/object and start with your arms straight while your feet are off the ground.
Now slowly lower yourself down and push yourself up explosively. The same form rules apply as with push-ups which are:
- Elbows stay close to your body
- Straight posture (legs can be bent if the object is too low)
- Look Forward (to keep your head straight)
Wide Grip Dip
If regular dips are too easy, you can position the bars/chairs or whatever you use a little bit further apart. Keep in mind that you shouldn't go too wide since the exercise might get too much impact on your shoulders & elbows without the right technique.
Perform the same motion, but with extra focus on keeping your elbows parallel to your body.
Ring Dip
The next level would be to perform ring dips, which are quite similar to a regular dip. Remember to slightly turn the rings outwards when reaching the top of the motion, since this will engage your chest muscles even more.
Focus on control & stability, rather than being explosive and try to avoid wobbling around too much.
Bulgarian Ring Dip
Once ring dips begin to get easy, you can either start adding weights or try the bulgarian ring dip, which will engage your chest far more.
Begin in the same position as you would with a regular dip, but then while going down, move the rings further apart.
Your elbows are going to be bent by 90 degrees at the bottom of the motion, while your "upper" arms should be a straight line. But I recommend you to watch the video below to get the exercise entirely right since it is slightly more technical.
Making a Workout with Bodyweight Chest Exercises:
Each of the workouts is going to consist of 3-4 exercises and 3 sets of each exercise. If you can't do more than 8-12 repetitions in each set, you need to pick easier workouts.
Beginner
- Negative Dips (only go down don't press up)
- Push-ups
- Elevated Wide Grip Push-up
Intermediate
- Dips
- Ring Push-ups
- Wide Grip Push-ups
Advanced
- Bulgarian Ring Dips
- Chest Flies
- Deep Push-ups
- Regular Push-up
Adjusting The Difficulty:
As some of the exercises might be too hard or too easy for you there are several ways on how you can adjust the difficulty of each of the exercises.
About Push-ups:
- The higher your hands in relation to your feet the easier the exercise
- Go onto your knees if the push-up variation is still too hard
- Add weights (backpack/weight vest) to make the exercises harder
- Add a static hold 2-3 seconds at the bottom of the motion to make it more challenging
About Dips/Variations:
- Only do the negative part of the movement (going down) if the exercise is too hard, but focus on slow execution. It should take you at least 3 seconds to go all the way down. Otherwise, you have to pick an easier exercise
- Grip an elastic band one end with each hand and press it against the bars on each side. Then put your knees onto the band to make the exercise a lot easier
- Add weights to make it harder
Conclusion:
With enough knowledge and the right exercises, you can train any muscle group just with your bodyweight. But at higher levels, you will need equipment such as bars or rings. In case you want to know more about bodyweight training, check out our bodyweight training articles:
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