Chest-focused push-ups?

[Agdoof]

I do lots of push-ups and push-up variations, but it feels like every single kind puts almost all the workload on my triceps. Does anyone know of a variant that will put more strain on my chest?

[Knale]

One mistake people make is they move their hands a little too far up. You want your hands to be right in line with your nipples(heh...but true) and you should feel it a little more. There are other pushup variations, but that's often a good place to start. Incline and decline pushups are the next thing I would recommend, they work your chest in different ways.

[Agdoof]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[Teros]

I do wide grip pushups and I feel like it works my chest a little bit more.  I move my arms very wipe apart and my elbows flare outward a little bit. I don't have as much range obviously because my arms are further away- therefore less distance going up and down.

[Manok]

Try going for harder variations. If you can, get a couple of rings for your push-ups, the aggregated ROM will get you working your chest a lot more.

 

Once you get the rings, bulgarian push-ups (i think those re the ones) will get your pecs working overtime.

[jayandrade22]

I definitely agree with Manok about the rings. They add an extra piece of instability and now your chest has to be over-activated to fight the rings from sliding out wide, out of position. You can also use them to perform a chest fly which will almost eliminate the action of the triceps completely. 

 

Beyond rings, I believe diamond pushups are the best for chest, especially inner chest. This is because the positioning of your hands (pointer and thumbs in the shape of a diamond) forces your elbows to have the most dramatic change in the range of motion and move in the same relative fashion to the pec muscle fibers. When you're at the base of the exercise, your elbows are out far from your sides causing your chest to open up and maximizing the muscle length. When you are at the peak of the exercise, your elbows are very near and your chest is now closed off, which holds the muscle in full contraction. The chest is, therefore, being put through its full ROM, as opposed to other variations (with your elbows relatively locked) that limit the amount your chest can open or close in the motion.

 

That was more difficult to explain than I thought. Hope I made it clear enough.

[Agdoof]

Thanks for the help, guys. I think rings are probably gonna be my best option, so I'll try that out.

[Manok]

I'll also leave you with one of my blog spots (shamlessly advertising my blog) which contains several progressions to the OAP. That should give you a lot to play with till you get those rings.

 

10 steps to the one arm push-up

[Flex Luthor]

The entire video isn't about push ups but his tip starts at the 1 minute mark. This is literally the only tip I've ever gotten about push ups that allows me to fully activate my chest, not just in push ups, but just about every pressing chest exercise. Something else he doesn't mention is to slow the tempo down.

 

[Agdoof]

I played with it for a while and I got it to work for me. Thanks, Simon!

[jfreaksho]

The entire video isn't about push ups but his tip starts at the 1 minute mark. This is literally the only tip I've ever gotten about push ups that allows me to fully activate my chest, not just in push ups, but just about every pressing chest exercise. Something else he doesn't mention is to slow the tempo down.

 

I think I started doing that for pushups a while back, but never consciously.  It's a great tip.

[Waldo]

The broader point he is making though is very important.

If growth is you goal, how you feel an exercise will has a significant impact on how it affects growth. In fact, training for growth can almost be totally distilled down to that one point.

Though conceptually mocked by others (powerlifters/typical cali folks/xfitters), learning to listen to how exercises feel is vital to maximizing hypertrophy response.

[Manok]

The broader point he is making though is very important.

If growth is you goal, how you feel an exercise will has a significant impact on how it affects growth. In fact, training for growth can almost be totally distilled down to that one point.

Though conceptually mocked by others (powerlifters/typical cali folks/xfitters), learning to listen to how exercises feel is vital to maximizing hypertrophy response.

I'm needing a Waldo written post about this

[Flex Luthor]

The broader point he is making though is very important.

If growth is you goal, how you feel an exercise will has a significant impact on how it affects growth. In fact, training for growth can almost be totally distilled down to that one point.

Though conceptually mocked by others (powerlifters/typical cali folks/xfitters), learning to listen to how exercises feel is vital to maximizing hypertrophy response.

 

Completely agree. He and Ben Pakulski are the best out there at teaching how to actually contract a muscle. Lots of guys say it's important. Few teach the how.

[I-Jo]

Just being nosy here- but no one suggested a staggerd push up?

 

I super set bench with staggered dumbbell push ups all the time- it hits the chest quiet well.

 

One hand up on a med ball- or bench- or anything that's 6-10" in height- you'll feet it really deep on the pec that's on the raised hand.

 

Need some added help- prop your feet up- then do them with only one foot grounded- ab killer AND chest workout. 

 

[gsethi]

Adding to all the advice here - Are your hands in the right position? Are you sure you aren't flaring your elbows? I worked on correcting my form, which then helped distribute the workout between my chest shoulders and triceps.