What pushups target the chest?

Author: Darlene Torp I  |  Last update: Wednesday, October 29, 2025

The wide push-up is excellent for targeting your chest muscles. Be sure to avoid taking your hands out too wide, and keep your elbows pointing back to protect your shoulders. How to do it: Start with hands slightly past shoulder-width, a bit farther apart than a standard push-up position.

What push-ups are best for the chest?

  • The best push-up variation for targeting the chest muscles and achieving a wider chest is the wide push-up.
  • This is done by positioning the hands wider than shoulder-width apart on the floor, with the fingers facing forward.

Can you build a chest with pushups?

Yes, push-ups can get you a chiseled chest. More on what muscles push-ups work. Few exercises pack the punch that push-ups do. They provide a great workout, can conveniently be done anytime and from anywhere and deliver real results if done properly and with consistency.

Will 100 pushups a day build chest?

Yes, doing 100 push-ups every day can help build muscle in your arms, chest, and shoulders, but there are some important considerations to keep in mind: Benefits: Muscle Endurance: High-repetition push-ups can enhance muscular endurance, allowing your muscles to perform for longer periods.

Is 500 pushups a day good?

And with a higher-impact exercise like push-ups, doing 500 a day gives you no time to recuperate your energy or let the tears in your muscles recover in a healthy way that leads to muscular hypertrophy. Eventually, overtraining can lead to a formalized condition called Overtraining Syndrome (OTS).

Maximize Pushups FOR CHEST Growth | Targeting The Muscle

Will my chest grow if I do 30 push-ups everyday?

If building bigger chest muscles is your goal, doing more push-ups might seem ideal. This bodyweight exercise can increase muscle mass in your pectorals, making them more visible.

How many pushups a day?

Doing push ups every day is good for building upper body muscles and even strengthening your core, back, and lower extremities. You can start with 10 push ups a day and then work up to doing 50 or 100 push ups everyday. Breaking them up into smaller sets throughout the day can make it easier to start as well.

Are dips good for the chest?

Are Dips Good For Chest? Chest dips are an effective bodyweight exercise that targets both of the main muscles of the chest - the pectoralis major and pectoralis minor – which give the chest size, mass, and strength.

What are the disadvantages of push-ups?

Push-up cons:
  • Can cause wrist, shoulder, or lower back pain if done with improper form.
  • May be challenging for beginners but too easy for advanced athletes.
  • Hard to add resistance as you get stronger.

How long does it take to get pecs?

The time it takes to build pecs depends on things like how hard you train, what you eat, and how consistent you are. If you follow a good training program and do things right, you can start seeing serious changes in a couple months. To see huge results in muscle size, it can take several months.

Can pushups build biceps?

Most people will tell you that they do, but push-ups really don't target the biceps at all. The biceps are a 'pulling' muscle, whilst the aforementioned triceps are for 'pushing'. To balance your workouts across your upper body, you should do an equal number of pulling and pushing exercises.

Can I build chest with pushups only?

But even if you can't access any of that gear when you're at home, you can still blast your chest aggressively, building strength and stimulating muscle growth. Why? Because you can still do pushups. The classic pushup remains one of the best ways to hit your chest at home—or anywhere, period.

What is the hardest push-up?

The Plance Push Up is arguably the most challenging variation on this list. Basically, it is like a regular push up – except with your feet completely in the air the entire time! That's right, you are supporting the weight of your body with just your hands.

How to hit the middle of your chest?

For example, take a look at this list of popular chest moves.
  1. Incline Bench Press.
  2. Flat Bench Press.
  3. Decline Bench Press.
  4. Cable Machine Bench Press.
  5. Weighted Chest Dips.
  6. Weighted Push-Ups.
  7. Diamond Push-Ups (hand position is in a diamond shape)

How many pushups to failure?

Failure at 5-12 reps is optimal for muscle growth. Failing at 5-8 reps is the sweet spot between muscle growth and strength increases. With the above example, instead of doing a standard pushup for 8 reps, do 3 sets of a slightly harder pushup variation where you fail around 5 reps/set.

Which push-up is best for the chest?

WIDE PUSH-UP

The wide push-up is excellent for targeting your chest muscles. Be sure to avoid taking your hands out too wide, and keep your elbows pointing back to protect your shoulders. How to do it: Start with hands slightly past shoulder-width, a bit farther apart than a standard push-up position.

Will 100 pushups a day give results?

Doing 100 push-ups a day can be an impactful element of your overall strength-building and -maintaining routine. And you don't need to be at a gym to do them. “It's a quick and efficient way to strengthen some upper body muscles,” Rad says. “It is a bodyweight move that can be done virtually anywhere.”

Is 20 pushups in a row good?

THE ANSWER WILL ultimately vary based on goals and experience. That said, “big picture, everybody should at some point, be able to get to 20 to 25 consecutive pushups,” says Men's Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S.

How long should I plank a day?

But for the best results, aim for two-three sessions a week. Start with 20 seconds per set and two sets per workout, gradually increasing the time to a minute. Then, you can try more challenging variations. Planks are a great coordination exercise for your core, especially when you're working on other muscle groups.

Can pushups give you abs?

Push-ups do activate your abs, but alone aren't enough to give you a defined middle. Combine them with cardio exercise, to burn calories and help you lose fat, a quality diet and total-body strength training.

Do dips work the chest?

Muscles Worked During the Chest Dip

The pectoralis major makes up most of the chest. The pectoralis minor is located under the pectoralis major. The chest dip works more than just your chest muscles though. This bodyweight upper body exercise targets the chest, triceps, shoulders and back.

Do push-ups increase testosterone?

You can naturally boost your testosterone levels with high-intensity interval training (short but intense bursts of exercise, combined with periods of rest or low-intensity exercise), weight training (including body weight squats, push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups), and longer rest periods between sets.

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