If anyone ever tells you you can't get a big chest from doing pushups, tell them to talk to Herschel Walker. According to the former NFL star who recently took up mixed martial arts, he owes his massive pecs to doing thousands of pushups daily. Yes, that's right, thousands of pushups. That's not to say you have to do 3,000 pushups a day to get a big chest, but it's just one example of a person who was able to bulk up using one of the most tried and true body-weight exercises ever. You can start developing your own massive chest by incorporating a variety of pushups into your own workout routine.
Weighted Pushups
It's easy to develop a high level of anaerobic endurance by doing lots of pushups on a regular basis. Once you can crank out 40 to 50 reps in one set, you'll get better results if you increase the intensity and lower your reps. You'll also save yourself a lot of time. You can do this by placing a weight plate on back or even strapping on a backpack with some heavy objects in it while you do your normal pushups.
Medicine Ball Pushups
Doing pushups on a medicine ball is a good way to challenge your muscles in a new way. Your muscles will have to work hard to stabilize your balance and you'll find that doing pushups this way is much more challenging than doing them on a flat surface. This exercise will also help you develop larger, stronger triceps.
Elevated Pushups
A lot of bodybuilders know that shoulder presses are a good exercise for getting a bigger chest. Elevating your feet while you do a pushup is kind of like doing a shoulder press. It works out your shoulders a lot more than ordinary pushups and it hits the top of your pecs. You can use any sturdy object that's about 6 to 12 inches off the ground -- a bench, chair or couch -- to elevate your feet. To make the exercise even more challenging, balance your feet on a stability ball.
Stability Ball Pushups
The same principle behind doing pushups on a medicine ball is applied here. Placing your hands on a stability ball while doing pushups will increase the difficulty of the exercise by challenging your muscles to support you on an unstable surface. You'll find that it's more challenging to maintain your balance on the stability ball than on the medicine ball. Switch between wide and narrow grips to confuse your muscles even more and get the most out of this exercise.
Tips
To get the biggest increase in size quickly, try to stay in the six to 12 rep range for three to six sets. This is the range that professional bodybuilders suggest for maximal gains. Give yourself 48 hours to recover in between workouts. Always mix things up by doing a variety of pushup exercises during each workout and frequently changing your grip. You'll get the best results if you're always hitting your muscles from as many angles as possible.
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