The best chest workout is the one that you’re actually going to do with proper form!  You don’t need dumbbells, a spotter or even a personal trainer.  What is it? The best chest workout is the proper push-up.

Let’s break it down for you newbies.  Actually push-ups are a great at home workout for beginners, but we’ll go into that in another articles.

The chest muscles are also referred to as pecs.  The pectorialis major muscle spans the width of your chest and is a fan-shaped muscle.  Imagine you have a stack of popsicle sticks on the front of your shoulder. If you were to fan them out, that would mimic the perctoralis major.   The pectoralis minor is a  thinner triangular muscle that lives under the major.

Chances are if you’re looking for the best chest workout you don’t really care what’s its purpose is really (I’m just guessing).  If you’re a guy you want those massive pecs and if you’re a women you can benefit from the added perk strong pec muscles will give you.  So let’s cut to the chase and review one of the best chest exercises you can do the push-up.

What is a Push-up?

Technically a push-up is considered a compound exercise which basically means it requires more than one muscle group to complete the movement.  More than just an exercise to build the chest, the basic push-up can tone your entire upper body.

How Do I Do A Push-up?

Start laying on the floor with your hands about shoulder width apart at the sides of your body.  Your hands should be just even with your chest.  Extend your legs straight behind you so that your body is in a straight line.  The push-up effectively works the chest muscle in both the positive (pushing up) motion as well as the negative (returning down) motion, so the key is slow and controlled movement.

As you raise yourself onto your hands be mindful to keep your abs contracted and tight as well as your butt muscles.  If your hips are sinking to the floor as you push up or you find that your knees are sagging, you may want to try a modified push-up where you begin and end with your knees on the floor. As you build your strength you can advance to a standard push-up.

If you’re already comfortable performing the push-up with proper form, consider variations like completing the movement with your hands slightly closer together.

The Push-up is a great chest exercise and when done properly can be a great addition to any chest exercise.  Even if you don’t have time to go to the gym or are traveling an awesome chest workout  is literally right at your finger tips!

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