Best Bodyweight Chest Exercises to Build Muscle and Strength

Looking to build a strong and muscular chest? You don’t need to spend hours in the gym or lift heavy weights. With bodyweight chest exercises, you can get the results you want without any equipment.

Not only do they provide the convenience of being accessible from any location, but they also deliver remarkable outcomes that rival those of traditional weightlifting. Bodyweight chest exercises offer many benefits, aside from looking great.

If you want to get well-defined pecs, this bodyweight chest workout routine will help you get a chest workout at home.

In this blog post, we’ll introduce you to the best bodyweight chest exercises. We’ll also provide tips on how to get the most out of your workouts and build a chest that you’ll be proud of.

What is Bodyweight Chest Workout

A bodyweight chest workout is a workout that uses your own body weight as resistance to build and strengthen your chest muscles. These exercises can be done anywhere, and they don’t require any special equipment.

Some think that bodyweight chest exercises are not intense enough to build muscle at home without equipment, they would be wrong.

In this bodyweight chest workout, you will use nothing but your body to push your chest to the limit and force new growth using an intense metabolic training effect. You see, high reps does not mean no muscle.

If you train hard enough and push through the burn, you can create micro tears in your muscles and start new growth.

I’m including beginners, intermediate and advanced versions to allow you to train your chest regardless what level you are at right now.

Benefits of Bodyweight Chest Exercises

If you don’t have access to a gym and don’t know what to do, this is all you need to know. You can build a strong, powerful, broad chest with just bodyweight chest exercises. Moreover, you will do so in an absolutely safe manner.

When it comes to training the pecs, bodyweight push ups and dips exercises are a perfect choice because:

• Bodyweight Exercises will improve muscular endurance within the upper body, strengthen both muscles and bones.
• The movements you’ll learn are highly functional. You’ll not only gain strength and size; you’ll become more powerful all around, your joints will stronger, and your core will tighten.
• It doesn’t matter whether you are a beginner or the most advanced athlete, bodyweight chest exercises can be effective thanks to countless variations, progressions and simply the ability to alter reps, sets, and tempo.
• Bodyweight Chest Exercises require more balance that can lead to greater muscle fiber recruitment.
• Doing bodyweight chest exercises can be a powerful full-body workout and help to burn more calories.
• As you’ll be moving your full body around, these drills will improve your metabolism, get you to burn more fat and help you achieve that mean and lean look.
• Bodyweight chest exercises will improve muscular strength, endurance and get you to burn more fat.
• An important advantage of bodyweight chest workouts is that it is a versatile exercise. If you don’t have much time to go to a gym, these types of exercises are a good option for a home workout.

Why Different Type Bodyweight Chest Exercises Are Required

Bodyweight chest workout are great, to build upper body strength. To increase muscle, we need to increase the intensity, and doing different types of push-ups and dips is important for muscle hypertrophy. Yes, the exercise will target the muscles of your chest, shoulders, and arms efficiently, but there are ways that you can increase the intensity.

We can change the focus of your chest, triceps, and shoulders by making a few changes, such as putting your hands up for incline push-ups or down for decline push-ups and dips.

You can even begin to introduce different implements like elevating your hands or feet to change up your focus. You can also change the hand position, such as close and wide hand position, to change the focus on chest muscles.

For a more well-rounded physique, you might consider using various bodyweight chest exercises.

• Standard push ups are best for chest, shoulder and tricep.
• Incline Push Up works your lower chest more.
• Decline push-up works the upper chest and front shoulders more.
• Wide grip push-ups focus more on the outer chest and shoulder.
• Close grip push ups focus more on the inner chest and tricep.
• Dips focus more on the lower chest and tricep.
• Pike Push-ups focus more on shoulder than chest and tricep.

How To Train Chest With Bodyweight

Start building a big, strong chest with these best home chest workout for beginners to advanced. You can do this home chest workout anywhere. This doesn’t require any equipment.

If you want to build a chest with bodyweight exercises, you need to understand a few things: what exercises to do, how to progressive overload the muscles.

If you know the right kinds of exercises based on your fitness level, you can build muscle without equipment. 

There are many exercises for your chest that you can do with your own bodyweight and without using equipment. These exercises will help you get better and work your chest from different angles.

• Beginners get to perform from the bodyweight chest exercises on their knees or do simpler variations.
• Intermediates perform them in standard fashion.
• Advanced will do this bodyweight chest exercise with a twist to increase the level of difficulty and challenge your pecs even more.

You can also change the tempo by slowing down your descent or pausing at the bottom of the position. This will increase the time under tension, maximizing your muscle-building potential.

20 Best Bodyweight Chest Exercises To Build Muscles

Now, let’s get into the best bodyweight exercises for strengthening your chest and building a large chest size using bodyweight exercises that you can do at home.

We have created the bodyweight chest workout with many sections such as:

• Bodyweight Chest Workout for beginners
• Intermediate bodyweight exercises
• Chest workouts for Advance athletes

Here are the best bodyweight chest exercises for beginner, Intermediate and Advance that you can do at home or gym.

This will help you to build a strong upper body. Make sure that you have a solid grasp of the most important aspects of good form, positioning, etc. and apply them as necessary.

For workout inspiration, be sure also to read our complementary bodyweight exercise posts:

• Bodyweight Shoulder Exercises: Beginner To Advance
• Best Bodyweight Leg Exercises That You Can Do Anywhere
• 15 Best Bodyweight Back Workout: Beginner To Advanced
• 15 Bodyweight Triceps Exercises: Beginner To Advanced

Beginner Bodyweight Chest Exercises

Kickstart your fitness journey with beginner-friendly bodyweight chest exercises for a stronger, fitter you. Let’s begin

1. Wall Push Up

The wall push up dramatically reduces the pressure on the arms, upper back, and abs.

It’s one of the best home bodyweight chest exercises for beginners to do at home.

The closer you stand to the wall, the easier it is to perform, but remember, it’s still important to be aware of your body alignment as you perform this push-up.

How To Do It Properly

1. Stand approximately 2 to 2.5 feet away from the wall with your arms held at shoulder height in front of you.
2. Place your hands against the wall with your body straight and your legs a few feet behind.
3. Keeping your feet firmly fixed to the ground, lean your body forward so that your elbows flex and your chest comes within inches of the wall.
4. Using your hands, push your body back into a standing position.
5. The movement should be smooth and controlled.
6. Try not to flare your elbows to the sides.

2. Incline Push Up

The incline push up is a great bodyweight exercise that you can do to build your chest. It is a variation of the push-up where you push yourself off from a raised object instead of the ground.

It offers a lot of benefits and is great for beginners who want to build upper body strength. You can also use objects like a chair, a gym bench, a sofa, a box, a sturdy table, or anything else

Performing push-ups at an incline angle will put more focus on the lower chest.

How To Do It Properly

1. Stand approximately 3 to 3.5 feet away from a low bench or sturdy chair.
2. Slowly lower yourself by flexing your elbows so that your chest comes within a few inches of the edge of the chair or bench.
3. Using your hands, push yourself back to the starting position while focusing on maintaining a straight body position.
4. Be sure the bench or chair is stable and secure before you perform the push-ups.
5. Your back and legs should be straight at all times.

Know More: Best Push-Ups For Lower Chest That You Can Do At Home

3. Knee push Up

The knee push-up, also known as a modified push-up, is a bodyweight chest exercise that works for muscle groups throughout your upper body.

Beginners should add these bodyweight exercises to their at-home chest workout routine.

If you’re having trouble performing a full push-up, practice an easier push-up variation, the knee push-up.

How To Do It Properly

1. Kneel on the floor. Extend arms and put hands shoulder-width apart on the floor in front of you.
2. Lower yourself by flexing your elbows so that your chest comes within a few inches of the floor.
3. Raise your body to the starting position.
4. Focus on keeping your muscles active even when you’re lowering to the floor.
5. Keep your back straight — never rounded! — throughout the move.

4. Diamond push-up on knees

The diamond push-up on the knees is a brilliant beginner exercise for the development of the triceps brachii and inner chest.

It offers numerous benefits and is perfectly suited for both beginners and experienced athletes looking to build upper body strength.

Practice diamond push-ups on the knee by bringing your hands too close together to form a diamond or triangle shape below your chest, and by putting the knee on the floor.

How To Do It Properly

1. Get into a push-up position, supporting your body on your hands and knees instead of on your hands and forefeet.
2. Your hands should be positioned in such a way as to form a diamond shape with your thumbs and index fingers.
3. Keeping your body straight and rigid and your elbows close to your body, inhale as you lower your chest to the floor.
4. Exhale as you extend your elbows and push your body back up to the starting position.
5. Keep your elbows tucked in to your body
6. Keep your body straight and rigid.

Know More: 15 Bodyweight Triceps Exercises: Beginner To Advanced

Intermediate Bodyweight Chest Exercises

Elevate your chest workout routine with these dynamic intermediate-level bodyweight exercises. Let’s sculpt and strengthen your chest like never before.

5. Standard Push Ups

Push-Ups are the best bodyweight calisthenics exercise to build your entire upper body. The standard push-up is undoubtedly one of the best bodyweight chest exercises, directly targeting your pecs and also your triceps.

Check how to do them correctly and blast your muscles at home or at the gym.

Push-Ups can be a real challenge if done in various forms.

How To Do It Properly

1. Lay face down on the ground with your legs straight, and arms supporting your upper body.
2. Raise yourself off the ground, straightening your elbows and your arms. But keep your elbows close to your body.
3. Raise until your elbows are locked, and pause for a moment at the top of the movement.
4. Now, lower your body all the way down until your chest is very close to the ground.
5. For more variations, you do incline push-ups, decline ups.

6. Knuckle push-up

During Knuckle Push-Ups, the pressure is placed on your knuckles instead of your extended wrists.

If you experience pain in your wrists while doing standard Push-Ups, doing Push-Ups on your knuckles may be a good way to get the benefits without the pain.

How To Do It Properly

1. Assume a standard push-up position but place the knuckles of your fists on the floor perpendicular to the body.
2. Pushing yourself up, until your arms are fully extended.
3. Slowly lower yourself back down to the starting position. This completes one rep.
4. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
5. Perform on an exercise mat to avoid any discomfort on your hands.
6. Be sure to exhale as you push up and inhale on the way down.

7. Stability Ball Push Up

Using a Swiss ball (or exercise ball) can bring an extra element to push-ups, giving you an uneven surface to increase the difficulty.

You’ll have to focus on maintaining your balance on the ball, which allows you to work more than you would be performing the standard, floor-bound version of the classic move.

How To Do It Properly

1. Lay with your chest on the stability ball. Place your hands on the ball at the sides of your chest.
2. Place feet back and lean forward so that your chest is directly over the ball, and you are supported on your toes.
3. Push your body up, until your arms are almost straight.
4. Extend your arms to bring your upper body back to starting position.
5. Do not let your lower back sag or your butt rise. Ensure your body is straight and rigid.
6. Your neck should be in line with your body, not tilted up, which could strain the neck.

8. Feet on stability ball Push-up

The push-up with feet on a Swiss ball is a progression of the decline push-up that targets the chest, shoulders, and triceps while engaging the core. The exercise emphasizes the upper chest and shoulders.

How To Do It Properly

1. Lie face-down on the ball with your arms supporting you in push-up position.
2. Your hands should be directly beneath your shoulders.
3. Lower yourself by bending your arms until your elbows form a 90-degree angle.
4. Pause for seconds at the bottom and using your arms to push you up to starting position.
5. Core tight and your back flat throughout the movement.
6. Keep your body in a straight line. Don’t allow your hips to sag or rise.

9. Wide Push Up

If you’ve mastered regular pushups and want to target your muscles a little differently, Wide push ups are a good option.

By positioning your hands further apart, wide pushups target your chest and shoulder muscles more than standard pushups.

For an easier variation, you can try wide hand knee push-up, also known as a modified type push-up.

How To Do It Properly

1. Lay face down on the ground with your legs straight, and arms supporting the upper body.
2. Slowly descend to the floor by retracting the shoulder blades and unlocking the elbows.
3. Push back to the starting point by extending the elbows and driving your palms into the floor.
4. Remember to keep your back straight.
5. Keep your chin down and don’t look forward.

10. Decline Push-Up

Decline pushups are a great way to strengthen your chest muscles and train your shoulder and triceps. It puts special emphasis on the muscles in your upper chest.

A decline push up is a more difficult version of a regular push-up where you put your feet higher than your hands.

It’s perfect for intermediate and pros who want to build upper body strength.

How To Do It Properly

1. Placed your hands firmly on the floor and spaced slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Put legs on the bench.
2. Now raise yourself off the ground, straightening your elbows and your arms.
3. Raise until your elbows are almost near to locked, and pause for a moment.
4. Now lower your body all the way down until your chest is very close to the ground.
5. Vary the position of the bench to hit different angles of the upper chest.

Know More: Best Push Ups For Upper Chest To Build Size And Strength

11. Dumbbell Push-Up

Dumbbell Push ups are the best intermediate level bodyweight exercise to build your entire upper body and shoulder, chest, and arms.

It is a great exercise to add to your inner chest bodyweight workout arsenal.

Push-Ups can be a real challenge if done at various angles and Intensity to build muscle and strength.

How To Do It Properly

1. Grip a dumbbell in each hand and get into a plank position.
2. Now raise yourself off the ground, straightening your elbows and your arms.
3. Raise until your elbows are locked and pause for a moment.
4. Now lower your body all the way down until your chest is very close to the ground.

Know More: Best Push Ups For Inner Chest To Build Size And Strength

12. Narrow Grip Push-Up

The close grip push-up is a bodyweight exercise that focuses more on the centre of the chest and the triceps due to close hand position.

There are several benefits that can be gained from adding the narrow push-up to a workout routine.

It includes an increase in triceps and chest activity, an improvement in core strength and stability, and an enhancement of shoulder strength.

How To Do It Properly

1. Lay face down on the ground with your legs straight, palm near, and arms supporting the upper body. Take a narrower push up stance than you normally would.
2. Now raise yourself off the ground, straightening your elbows and your arms.
3. Raise until your elbows are locked, and pause for a moment.
4. Now lower your body all the way down until your chest is very close to the ground.

13. Spider-Man Push-Up

A Spiderman push-up is an advance variation of the traditional push-up exercise that targets the core, shoulders, and back muscles.

The twisting motion of the Spider-Man push-up also targets the oblique muscles and abs, helping to strengthen and tone the muscles.

This exercise is primarily chest and arm strengthening, but it also increases hip flexibility and really works your core too.

How To Do It Properly

1. Start in a high plank position with your hands flat on the floor about shoulder-width apart.
2. Keeping your body in one long line, bend your arms and lower yourself as close to the floor.
3. As you lower your body, bend one leg out to the side and bring your knee toward the same-side arm.
4. Push back up to start, and straighten your leg back out. Repeat alternating sides.
5. Engage your glutes, tense your legs and brace your core to keep your body rigid.
6. Keep your knees high and away from the floor, and make sure that your movement is well-coordinated.

14. Knee Bent Bench Dip

Knee Bent bench dip is a medium-intensity exercise that uses your own body weight to strengthen your triceps and pecs.

Bench dips are fairly simple to learn and can be done almost anywhere, making them a great exercise for home-workout. To increase the intensity, you can try the weighted bench dip.

How To Do It Properly

1. Place your hands on the side of a flat bench so that your body is perpendicular to the bench when you place your feet out in front of you.
2. Only your heels should be on the floor, and your legs should be straight.
3. Your arms should be fully extended with just your palms on the bench.
4. Bend your elbows to lower your body down until your elbows reach 90 degrees.
5. Now extend your arms to lift your body back to the starting position.
6. Do not dip down too low as it places unnecessary strain on the shoulder joints.

Advanced Bodyweight Chest Exercises

Unleash the full potential of your chest muscles with our advanced bodyweight exercises. Get ready to take your strength and definition to new heights.

15. Chest Dip

The dip is another bodyweight chest exercise. It is one of the most effective compound movements for the upper body, especially pushing muscles in the lower chest and triceps.

How To Do It Properly

1. Grasp the dip bars with your arms extended and locked.
2. Keep your body as vertical as possible to keep the emphasis on the triceps and away from the chest.
3. Keep your elbows as close to your sides as possible as you bend them to lower your body down until your upper arms are about parallel to the floor.
4. Press your hands forcefully into the bars to extend your arms and raise your body back up.
5. Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions.
6. Do not lock out your elbows at the top of the movement.
7. To focus effort on the triceps, keep your body upright and elbows tucked in.

16. Shoulder Tap Push Up

The shoulder tap push-up is a variation of the push-up that challenges the core to a greater extent than its traditional counterpart.

It is a full-body strength move that focuses on your arms and chest while also strengthening your core.

How To Do It Properly

1. Start in a high plank position with your palms flat on the floor, hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower yourself by flexing your elbows so that your chest comes within a few inches of the floor.
3. Raise your body to the starting position by pushing up with your arms. Tap your left hand to your right shoulder.
4. Place it back on the floor and repeat your next push up and shoulder tap with another hand.
5. Tighten your core, engage your glutes, and keep your spine, head and neck aligned.

17. Hindu Push up

The Hindu push up is a traditional Indian-style exercise practiced by wrestlers.

The Hindu push-up provides better strength and endurance to the muscles.

It is a complete exercise that gives the body a compounded effect. It provides better flexibility and posture to the body.

Hindu push-up works from your whole body, from upper to lower body; it works from your front to back. 

How To Do It Properly

1. Start in a downward dog pose, your body in a V shape.
2. Bend your elbows and lower your chest until it’s just above the floor, going into low plank pose.
3. In a scooping motion, scoop your head upward while arching your lower and upper back and go into cobra pose.
4. Return to the starting position, you do not need to reverse back through the sweeping, arching motion.
5. Engage your core, relax the spine and neck, open the shoulders and keep the movement smooth.

18. One-arm Push up

A one-arm push-up is an advanced bodyweight chest exercise that requires far more strength and balance than a standard push-up using two arms.

It just might be one of the most difficult body-weight exercises to master. Almost 70 percent of your body weight is bearing down on one arm.

How To Do It Properly

1. Get in the standard push up position. Place one hand on the ground directly beneath your chest and the other behind your lower back.
2. To maintain balance, turn your torso slightly away from the pushing arm. Lower your angled torso to the ground until your chin is a few inches above the floor.
3. Push yourself up from the floor.
4. Do not rotate your arm outwards from your chest, as it will put additional stress on the elbow that can lead to discomfort and injury.

19. Clapping Push Up

Clapping Push-ups aka Plyometric (plyo) push up is an advanced bodyweight exercise that works your chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders.

With this type of push up, a “jumping” element is added to the exercise to make it more challenging and explosive.

How To Do It Properly

1. Start in a standard Push-Ups with your palms flat on the floor, hands shoulder-width apart.
2. Lower your body as if you’re going to do pushups until your chest is almost touching the floor.
3. Reverse the motion by pushing hard through the palms, just as your arms reach full extension, pull your hands up off the floor. Rapidly clapping the hands together and placing them back in the original position before your body falls back to the ground.

20. Pike Push Up

Pike Push-ups aka shoulder push up is a variation of the push up that increases strength and stability in the shoulders and triceps.

Performing the exercise in a more upright position will target the shoulders more than the chest.

The pike push-up looks like a mash-up of Downward-Facing Dog and Dolphin Pose, and this move can build major strength.

How To Do It Properly

1. Start in a standard push-up position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
2. Lift the hips up and back until your body forms an inverted V shape. Keep arms and legs as straight as possible.
3. Slowly lower the top of your head towards the ground. Once your head is about to make contact with the ground, pause for a second.
4. Then slowly push back until your arms are straight, and you’re in the inverted V position.
5. Make sure you maintain control throughout the movement.

Chest Muscle Training Volume

The number of repetitions (reps) and sets you perform for bodyweight chest exercises will depend on your fitness goals and current fitness level.

Here are some general guidelines:

Sets

• Beginners: ~10 sets per week.
• Intermediate: ~15 sets per week.
• Advanced: ~20 sets per week.

When a certain amount of volume stops being effective and your progress stalls, you can add sets to increase volume and use that as a driver of renewed progress. 

Reps

The best rep ranges and loads to work with.

• 6-8 reps with heavy load
• 8-15 reps with moderate load
• 15-20+ with light load

Training Plan As Per Your Goal

1. For muscle endurance: Aim for 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps, with a moderate amount of resistance.
2. For muscle strength: Aim for 3-5 sets of 6-10 reps, with a heavier amount of resistance.
3. For muscle hypertrophy (increased muscle size): Aim for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps, with a moderate to heavy amount of resistance.

It is always best to start with a lower number of reps and sets, and then gradually increase as your strength improves.

Furthermore, it is important to allow for adequate rest between sets, typically 60-90 seconds.

Incorporating a mix of bodyweight exercises, cardio, and weight training can help to achieve a balanced and well-rounded workout routine.

Bodyweight Chest Workout Routine For Beginner

Here is a beginner bodyweight chest workout routine that can be done at the home:

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Knee Push ups	10-12 reps	3 sets	60 seconds
Incline push-ups	10-12 reps	3 sets	60 seconds
Dips (using chair)	8-10 reps	2-3 sets	60-90 seconds
Push-ups	10-12 reps	2-3 sets	60-90 seconds

Chest Workout Routine For Intermediate

Here is an intermediate bodyweight chest workout routine that can be done at the anywhere:

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
Plyometric Push-ups	8-10 reps	3 sets	60 seconds
Wide Push-ups	12-15 reps	3 sets	60 seconds
Chest Dips	8-10 reps	3 sets	60-90 seconds
Decline Push-ups	10-12 reps	2-3 sets	60-90 seconds
Diamond Push-ups	10-12 reps	2-3 sets	60-90 seconds

Advance Bodyweight Chest Workout Routine

Exercise	Reps	Sets	Rest
One-Arm Push-ups	5-8 reps	3-4 sets	60 seconds
Archer Push-ups	6-8 reps	3-4 sets	60 seconds
weighted Push-ups	4-6 reps	3 sets	60-90 seconds
Weighted chest Dips	8-10 reps	3 sets	60-90 seconds
Clapping Push Up	2-3 reps	3 sets	2-3 minutes

People Also Ask

How To Add To Bodyweight Chest Exercises to Your Workout?

Bodyweight chest exercises are a versatile exercise. You can do them:

• You can do them at home.
• Mixed into your cardio or strength-training workout
• at the end of a weightlifting session

Is it OK to do push ups every day?

Push-ups shouldn’t be done every day. It’s not a good idea to do push ups every day because muscles need time to recover. Overall, you need to listen to your body. If your chest isn’t recovered, then don’t do push ups. Simple as that.

Can I build a good chest with just bodyweight exercises?

Yes, it is possible to build a good chest using just bodyweight exercises.

Exercises such as push-ups and dips can build your chest muscles.

How often should I do chest workouts?

Beginners can start with 1-2 chest workouts per week, while more advanced individuals may benefit from up to 3-4 chest workouts per week.

It’s important to allow for adequate rest and recovery between workouts to prevent overtraining and injury.

Takeaways

A bodyweight chest exercise will make your chest bigger and broader, which just looks good and is great for those trying to lose chest fat.

There are tons of bodyweight chest exercises without weights that will allow you to constantly progress and hit your chest from different angles.

The key to achieving hypertrophy (building muscle) with bodyweight exercises is maximizing tensions and time under tension.

Thanks for reading, enjoy your Workout!

35 Best Push Up Variations To Build Upper Body