Chest Bodyweight Workout

You are stuck at home, can not get to the gym, but you want to get stronger. I have been there before. At this point, I have a decent gym in my home, and I have been working out at home for the past several years. However, that was not always the case.

When my first child was born, it was basically impossible for me to get out of the house. When my second child was born, I was already working out at home, and so was able to start working out pretty quickly again.

When I was at home, and not able to get to workout equipment, I was really worried about losing strength. I didn’t have large dumbbells or bars and weights to lift.

In order to combat my lack of weights, I heavily increased my quantity of reps that I was completing. For example, if I would do 10 reps on the bench press, I’d do 30 push ups to attempt to get a similar amount of weight lifted.

With body weight exercises, increasing the amount of reps you’re doing and really focusing on excellent form are going to be your two best methods to maintain and build strength.

Below is a comparison of two different chest workouts that I’ve done over the past few years. One of these I do in the gym, with actual weights. The other I do when at home, without weights, or when traveling.

Gym chest workout

I run this workout over the course of about 30 minutes (usually about 32 minutes according to my Fitbit). In between sets, I am generally doing ab work, or else stretching my legs (like to keep them loose for my leg workout days).

• 3 x 10 standard bench press - 60% of max
• 3 x 10 incline dumbbell chest press - 85% of max
• 3 x 5 standard bench press - 80% of max
• 3 x 5 decline chest press - 75% of max
• 3 x 8 incline bench press - 75% of max
• 3 x 10 close grip bench press and flys - 60% of max - this is a superset of bench and flys

As you can see, there’s a decent amount of volume in this workout, especially in a short period of time. Let’s take a look at how I’d do a comparable workout without dumbbells and bars.

Home chest workout

Image by Keifit from Pixabay

I would recommend a pair of push up bars. I do most of my push ups with bars. While it’s not required, your wrists will thank you. On to the workout.

• 3 x 50 standard push ups
• 3 x 50 wide push ups
• 3 x 30 incline push ups (place your feet on a chair or something else)
• 3 x 50 standard push ups
• 3 x 20 slide push ups (you’re trying to replicate the movement of a fly with these - slide your hand out, go down, and then push up)
• 3 x 20 clapping push ups
• 3 x 30 diamond push ups
• 3 x max standard or wide push ups

I can run this workout in about 35 minutes. I’m often found on the floor, barely able to push myself off of it by the end. Note: I can't do this full routine these days as I'm not used to this much volume. I tried to complete the routine this past week and was just dead tired. It would take a few weeks to get back up to this much volume.

I did this home routine (or very similar variations of it with lots of volume) for about 2 years before getting into a gym to do the standard bench press. When I got to the gym, I was able to bench 225 pretty easily, and after a few weeks (getting my form down), was maxing out at 315.

What this all adds up to is that you should be able to build up a lot of strength, and maintain a lot of strength from a home chest workout. It doesn’t have to be the end of the world.

Whether you're just getting started on your workout routine, or trying to maintain your strength from weightlifting, pushups are a great way to build strength in your chest.