Photo by A Girl’s Gotta Spa
This is bi-weekly article aiming to improve your fitness level and overall physical health without requiring spending an enormous amount time and using the regular items and areas at home.Today we will focus into a very important muscle group in our body, OUR CHEST
Why are your chest muscles important?
The chest area is made up of two primary muscles, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor , often referred to as ‘pecs.’ The pectoralis major is the larger of the two muscles, and extends across the upper chest, attaching to the shoulder and the breastbone and has a fan-like appearance. The pectoralis minor on the other hand is a small, thin and triangular muscle that sits just below the pectoralis major.
What do these muscles do precisely?
Well, they’re very significant when it comes to controlling your arm movements. From pulling and rotating your arm towards the center of your body to lifting your arms up. Think of lifting a child into your arms, swinging a tennis racket or pushing a heavy object away from you.
Additionally, as these muscles take most of the chest wall, working them out will burn a considerable amount of energy. If you’re looking to shed some pounds and tone up, then this is an especially good muscle to train. It will rev up your metabolism quite nicely. Considering the importance of this powerful muscle, we’ve crafted a tailored workout without equipment — that you can do from the convenience of your own four walls, for a toned and muscular chest.
Chest workout at home without equipment
It’s an oldie, but a good one, the classic push-ups and all its variations is one of the best exercises you can do to improve the strength and shape of your chest. Varying the position of your body and the amount of time executing the exercise will hit different areas of your chest, for balanced upper body strength.
Before we get into the workout, here’s how to do different push-up variations.
Regular push-ups
This classic body-weight exercise is excellent to start with as well as for keeping as a training staple in any full-body or upper-body workout. Make sure to use a wide grip, as this will work your chest muscles more than a narrow grip technique.
Top tip :The higher you place your feet, the harder the exercise.
Incline push-ups
If you find a standard push-up too challenging at first, then you can start with an incline push-up. The steeper the incline, the less body weight you will need to work push. This is also a good exercise to target your lower chest.
Decline push-ups
What goes up, must come down. These push-ups will help you target your upper chest and deltoid muscles specifically. It will also add more of your body weight to the exercise than a standard push-up, thus making it harder.
Plyometric push-ups
Are you ready to explode into action? These push-ups, can be executed in a variety of fun and fantastical way, think clap push-ups. These bursts of powerful plyometric movement will have your muscles firing on all cylinders.
Time under tension push-ups
Believe it or not, slowing down a movement considerably and paying attention to correct form, will deliver great conditioning results. Lowering yourself very slowly down into a push-up and pushing back equally as slow into your start position will increase your muscle mass.
Enhancing tip:Count three seconds lowering yourself down — pause at the lowest point of your movement for about two seconds, then take three seconds to push back up to your starting position.
Home chest workout (no equipment needed!)
Note: You should consult your physician or other health care professional before starting this or any other fitness program to determine if it is right for your needs.
For this workout, do three rounds of the following eight exercises. Make sure to execute each exercise in good form even when your body starts to fatigue, remember form over speed!
Total Duration: 100 Secs
- 10 regular push-ups (~10 Secs)
- 10 seconds star jumps
- 10 incline push-ups (~10 Secs)
- 10 mountain climbers
- 10 decline push-ups (~10 Secs)
- 10 seconds star jumps
- 5 regular push-ups with time under tension (~30 Secs)
- 10 mountain climbers
- Take a 20 seconds break
Happy Training !!!