The chest consists of the pectoralis muscles which are considered one of the largest muscle groups in the body. Chest workouts often contain such exercises as bench presses, cable crossovers and dumbbell flys. If you have access to the equipment needed for this type of routine, you have nothing to worry about. If you don't, you need to resort to other means such as using the body for resistance. Push ups fall into this category with the right conditions.
Muscle Recruitment
The pecs get activated when you move your humerus toward the mid-line of your body and shrug your shoulders forward. The humerus is the large upper arm bone. Both of these actions take place simultaneously when you perform push ups so they are in fact a chest workout. You also recruit the deltoids and triceps by doing push ups. The delts are found on the shoulders and the triceps are located on the back of the upper arms. Exercises that recruit more than one muscle at a time are known as compound and they lead to fast gains in size. This makes push ups good for complete upper body development.
Variations
The conventional push up is performed on the floor. You can perform a chest workout based only off this style, but your best bet is to include variations. Decline push ups for example, require you to place your feet or shins on an elevated object and hands on the floor. This variation places more work on the upper chest. By switching this around and placing your hands on the elevated object and feet on the floor, you will shift the emphasis to your lower chest. You can also round out a workout by doing wide-grip push ups and clap push ups. Clap push ups are performed by pushing yourself off the floor quickly, clapping your hands together and placing them back in the starting position before you land . The more angles you use and variations you do, the more muscle you will engage.
Rep Range
The amount of work you do plays a role on the effectiveness of your workout. If you are just starting out with push ups, aim for eight to 12 repetitions. Once you get into better shape, increase your rep range to 12 to 15. Aim for four or five sets of each variation and take one day off in between your workouts to allow for recovery. Even though you are only using body weight, overtraining can lead to injury.
Resistance
The weight of your body makes good resistance with push ups, but a time will come where you need more. By adding weight to your body, you can make your push ups more challenging and enhance your chest workout. You have several ways to do this. One of the easiest ways is to wear a weighted vest. You can also wear a backpack with books in it, or you can have a training partner hold a weight plate against your back as you do your push ups.
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