Calisthenics Chest Workout

Beautifully chiseled pectoral muscles are the main objective of men who start to workout. That’s not a shocker, as the well-developed chest is the embodiment of great strength and masculinity.

A vast majority of men have a conviction that muscles are built in the gym. No doubt, gym equipment is extremely helpful when it comes to obtaining a perfect body, but a gym shouldn’t be treated as the only way to do so.

Bodyweight training is as effective as a normal weight training and you don’t even need to pay a gym membership!

In this article, we will provide you with calisthenics chest workout basics after which you’ll be destined for greatness!

 

Before we proceed to the practical part, we should start with the theory. Chest muscles consist of 4 separate muscle groups:
pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, subclavius and serratus anterior.

The biggest and most important is pectoralis major and that’s the muscle we will focus on. The muscle has two heads – clavicular and sternal and can be divided into 4 major areas: upper, lower, inner, and outer chest.

The main task of the pectoralis major is to perform pushing motions while pulling motions are covered by the opposite muscles on the back.

The key to performing a good workout session is to figure out and visualize how exactly our muscles work. In the case of pectoral muscles, we can distinguish the following types of motion:

• flexion/extension – when we reach our arm forward, clavicular head flexes and sternal head extends; the opposite process occurs when we bring our arm back to the anatomical position (i.e. to the side of our body);
• adduction – when our arm raised to the side is lowered to the anatomical position, both clavicular and sternal heads work together;
• medial rotation – when we bend our arm inwards to the center of our body.

Muscle hypertrophy is easily achieved when all of these movements are incorporated into resistance training, either with the use of machines in the gym or with bodyweight exercises. To make the most of it, we must remember to:

• perform a full range of motion – in order to provide a balanced growth of all muscle fibres;
• maintain time under tension – to deliver an optimal stimulus during negatives/descents; usually 3-4 seconds;
• engage explosive power – to build strength and power in the positive/ascent phase of the exercise.

Calisthenics Chest Workout Routine

Now as we are familiar with the theory, we can move on to the practice.

A proper chest workout should consist of 3 main parts: a warm-up, the main session and a cool down. A warm-up should cover all the main joints and tendons, as well as the very muscles and last at least 10 minutes.

You can perform all kinds of circular motions for joints and swings for your arms. Here are some examples:

• arm cross-overs
• double arm behind the back
• elbow grip behind the back
• above the head chest stretch
• bent arm wall stretch
• extended child’s pose
• side lying parallel arm chest stretch

The main session should be tailored to your experience and strength, as follows:

• beginner: 2 sets, 3-4 exercises, 6-8 reps; rest: 1:30 b/w exercises, 3 mins b/w sets
• intermediate: 2-3 sets, 4-5 exercises, 8-10 reps; rest: 1:30 b/w exercises, 3 mins b/w sets
• advanced: 3-4 sets, 5+ exercises, 10+ reps; rest: 1:30 b/w exercises, 3 mins b/w sets

In order to provide new stimuli to the muscles it’s advisable to change the routine every 2-3 weeks by trying a different variation of the exercise or increasing the workload (no. of reps/sets).

Our workout routine is based on 2 main calisthenics chest exercises – push-ups and dips.

It may seem like it’s a very poor and limited choice, but nothing could be further from the truth. If we engage a little bit of creativity and make gravity work to our favor, we can create a killer workout. In the beginning, you won’t need any equipment, but as you progress, parallel bars, TRX bands, and rings will be necessary. Here are the exercises with the indication of difficulty and chest areas that are being trained:

 

Beginners
Exercise	Area	Position	Motion	Range of movement
				Descent	Ascent
Kneeling push-ups	Whole chest	Knees/feet on the ground, straight back (not depressed!), hands perpendicular to the ground/elevation at shoulder’s width (twice if wide), head in line with the body, eyes to the ground	Flexion, extension	lower the body counting to 4 until you reach at least 90-degree angle between your forearm and upper arm	raise the body explosively to the initial position with your arms extended
Inclined push-ups	Upper chest
Standard push-ups	Whole chest
Wide push-ups	Outer chest
Supported chest dips	Lower chest	Place your hands on parallel bars, arms straight (not locked out!), whole body slightly tilted forward, straight back, head in line with the body, legs supported (on an elevation or TRX band)	Adduction
Static Chest squeeze	Inner chest	stand or sit, arms in anatomical position, head straight	Medial rotation	Lift your arms straight forward and bring them together trying to squeeze in as hard as you can; hold ~10 seconds and bring them down to anatomical position
Intermediates
Slo-mo push-ups	Whole chest	feet on the ground/elevation, straight back (not depressed!), hands perpendicular to the ground at shoulder’s width (or together in a diamond shape), head in line with the body, eyes to the ground	Flexion, extension	Lower the body counting to 4-8 until you reach 90-degree angle between your forearm and upper arm; make a short pause at the bottom (4 seconds)	Slowly raise the body counting to 4-8 until you reach the initial position
Declined push-ups	Upper chest			lower the body counting to 4 until you reach 90-degree angle between your forearm and upper arm	raise the body explosively to the initial position with your arms extended
Diamond push-ups	Inner chest
Pike push-ups	Whole chest	feet on the ground, curled back with bottom up, hands overhead at shoulder’s width, head in line with the body, eyes to the ground		Lower the body counting to 4 until your head touches the ground	Return to the initial position
Resistance push-ups		Same as with standard push-up; wrap the TRX band behind your upper back and hold each end of the band in your hands		Same as with standard push-up
Chest Dips	Lower chest	Place your hands on parallel bars, arms straight (not locked out!), whole body slightly tilted forward, straight back, head in line with the body	Adduction	lower the body counting to 4 until you reach at least 90-degree angle between your forearm and upper arm	raise the body explosively to the initial position with your arms extended
Advanced
Clapping push-ups	Whole chest	Same as with standard push-ups	Flexion, extension	lower the body counting to 4 until you reach 90-degree angle between your forearm and upper arm	raise the body explosively to the initial position in order to gain momentum for the clap
One arm push-ups		feet wide on the ground, straight back (not depressed!), hand perpendicular to the ground at shoulder’s width, the other hand on your thigh		Same as with standard push-up
Sliding/ring Flies	Outer/ inner chest	feet on the ground, straight back (not depressed!), hands on towels/rings, perpendicular to the ground at shoulder’s width, head in line with the body, eyes to the ground	Adduction	Slide the arms in an outward motion lowering your body counting to 4 to the point they are almost fully extended	Slowly slide/bring the arms back to the initial position
Ring Dips	Lower chest	Same as with standard chest dip		Same as with standard chest dip

Final Thoughts

All in all, the calisthenics chest workout enjoys a high variety of exercises and is completely sustainable when compared to a usual gym workout.

By acknowledging the basics of anatomy and exercise principles, you are ready to start.

Remember to stay humble and patient. Such an attitude will save you plenty of injuries and letdowns – just treat it as a beautiful journey unveiling your full potential. Stay strong!