10 Push-Up Workouts for Chest Strength and Size

Push-ups are one of the OG bodyweight moves you'll see in any decent workout montage, along with pull-ups and crunches. Nowadays, they're often relegated to the warm-up before bench presses, or relegated to beginner workouts, but they can be so much more.

So long as you treat the push-up like a regular lift by progressing it and trying out different variations, you can certainly build impressive strength and size doing them. Here are ten push-up workouts you can try for all skill levels.

Can Push-Ups Actually Build Your Chest?

Push-ups can absolutely build chest muscle and strength. One study found eight weeks of push-up training grew pec thickness just as much as low-load bench pressing. Another study found push-up progressions were equal to bench press training for upper body strength.

A standard push-up already puts about 66% of your body weight on your hands, which is pretty substantial. However, if your body weight stays relatively the same, you can't progress without adding reps or trying different variations to make them harder.

Who Should Be Doing Push-Up Workouts for Chest

Really anyone can do push-ups, but they make a ton of sense especially for anyone who works out at home without much equipment. They're also great for beginners who want to build a foundation of strength before pressing heavy things. If you already bench and are trying to gain size, the push-up is excellent for adding more volume without all the load and grinding on the joints.

On the other hand, if you want a bigger one rep max, push-ups aren't going to cut it by themselves. You should still include them, but you'll want to push your limits closer to your max load with fewer reps for this kind of goal.

Read More: Want to Live Longer? Build Muscle

10 Types of Push-Ups That Train Your Chest

This list goes from easier variations to harder ones. Try them out and see how many you can do. Add a few to your chest workouts, or build an entire push-up workout out of them. The world is your oyster.

1. Wall Push-Up

Stand about an arm's length from a wall, hands at chest height, and press. This is the easiest version there is, which makes it a great starting point if you can't do a single rep off the floor yet. Walk your feet back a few inches every week to increase the challenge until you can get a few from a lower incline or the floor.

2. Incline Push-Up (Hands on a Bench)

Put your hands on a bench or box with your feet on the floor. The higher your hands sit, the easier the rep, so you can lower the surface in small steps as you get stronger. This version is a better pick than the knee push-up for beginners because knee push-ups don't really hit your chest and triceps very effectively and don't train your body to stay in a tight, straight line you'll need to perform standard push-ups.

3. Standard Push-Up

Place your hands just outside shoulder width, body in one line, chest barely touching the floor with every rep. Keep your hips slightly high instead of sagging so your weight stays forward onto your chest where you want it. Let your chest touch down before your stomach does. Most people lose half their range of motion protecting their face, so keep your head up.

4. Hand-Release Push-Up

Lower all the way down, rest your chest on the floor, lift your hands off for a beat, then press back up. Taking your hands off stops you from using the bounce to get out of the bottom and makes your chest do all the work.

5. Wide Push-Up

Set your hands a few inches wider than standard, elbows tracking back rather than flaring out. Wide push-ups are thought of as being the best version for your chest, but research is mixed. One study found a wide hand position produced more pec activity, while another found a narrow base beat wide for both chest and triceps. Going too wide will shorten your range of motion and irritate your shoulders, so don't go too crazy with the width.

6. Diamond Push-Up

Put your thumbs and index fingers together under your sternum with elbows tucked tight. There's no such thing as the "inner chest" despite what you might hear, but diamond push-ups do highly activate your chest and triceps, so it's a two for one with this exercise.

7. Deficit Push-Up

Put your hands on a pair of bumper plates or parallette bars so your chest drops below the level of your hands. This version gives you an inch or two of extra stretch, which could mean more growth for you. Curl your fingers over the edge of the plate instead of laying your palm flat to protect your wrists.

8. Decline Push-Up (Feet Elevated)

Prop your feet on a bench or plyo box with your hands on the floor. Elevating your feet produces more force through your hands than any other common push-up variation, and it shifts the emphasis toward your upper chest and front delts. Start around knee height because going too high will just put the emphasis on your shoulders more than your chest.

9. Suspension Trainer Push-Up

Grab the handles of a suspension trainer and set your body at whatever angle you're strong enough to manage (the more horizontal you are, the harder it is). Raise the straps toward chest height to make it easier, or toward the floor to make it insane. Since the straps move, your chest and shoulders work hard to stabilize you as you press, which can drive some extra muscle activation. You can also increase the intensity by bringing your knee in towards your elbow as you lower and alternating sides with each rep.

10. Archer Push-Up

Use a wide push-up stance, then shift your weight over one arm as you lower while the other arm straightens out to the side. One side will be much more loaded than the other to greatly increase the difficulty without having to add more weight. If these are too hard, you can try staggered push-ups by sliding one hand forward and the other back.

How to Program Push-Ups for Chest Growth

Add push-ups to your workouts 2-3 times per week. Take most of your sets within one to three reps of failure to make the most of them. Aim for 6-12 sets like this each week (chest needs a fair amount of volume to grow) and spread them out over the week for best results. Go slow and controlled on the lowering phase to take advantage of the stretch, which will help you grow more muscle.

Instead of just adding more reps to your regular push-up of choice, use harder variations to increase the challenge. Once you can do 12 reps, try a different style.

Read More: How Often Should You Work Out?

A 3-Day Push-Up Chest Workout

Do this workout for four to six weeks with a rest day in between each workout. You can exchange any variation for another based on your fitness level.

Day 1: Technique and Volume

• Standard or incline push-up: 4 x 8-12, three second lowering
• Deficit push-up: 3 x 6-10
• Wide push-up: 2 x 10-15

Day 2: Hard Sets

• Decline push-up: 4 x 5-8
• Archer or staggered push-up: 3 x 4-6 per side
• Diamond push-up: 2 x 8-12

Day 3: Endurance

• Standard push-up, every minute on the minute: 5 rounds at half your max reps
• Suspension trainer push-up: 3 x 10-15
• Hand-release push-up: 2 sets to failure

Takeaway

Push-ups are super effective for building strength and muscle if you know how to progress and program them. Add them to your upper body training a few times a week and take them close to failure each time. Also, no cheat reps - get that chest to the floor.

FAQs

How many push-ups should I do a day?

You do not need to do them every day. Two or three sessions a week totaling six to twelve hard sets gives your chest plenty of stimulus and enough time to recover.

How do I get better at push-ups?

Add difficulty each week instead of adding reps, using inclines, deficits, or elevated feet. Our full guide to push-up form and progressions walks through each step.

Do push-ups work the chest or just the triceps?

Both, and the balance shifts with your hand position. Wider hands lean toward the chest and narrow hands lean toward the triceps, though your pecs work hard in every version.

Are push-ups at home enough to build muscle?

For most people, yes, and for a long while. Push-up training has matched low-load bench pressing for chest growth, and you can keep progressing with nothing more than a bench and a couple of plates.