pushups for chest

**indrid_cold17** · 01-11-2006, 07:11 PM

a guy told me that pushups will blast my chest ,,is that true?

**chest6** · 01-11-2006, 07:26 PM

I have found it as a good superset with bench to change stuff up, but I dont see it as a mass gaining exercise at all, I could be wrong.

**thore** · 01-11-2006, 07:27 PM

i use to do pushup's all the time. it didn't so much explode my chest, but made it more defined, and ripped. also i went up considerably on my bench to. good for superset's

**chest6** · 01-11-2006, 07:30 PM

Yup, I can attest to pushups increasing my bench as well.

**Flexor** · 01-12-2006, 03:54 AM

They are good because they are closed-chain compared to bench presses that are open chain. Basically that means in pressups you apply force to the floor and your body moves whereas in bench presses you apply a force to the bar and your hands move. This alters neural activation patterns, so it could be beneficial to do pressups after your chest workout. They are also useful as a pumping or blasting exercise, but if the reps are above 15 which is very likely you will not build mass. If you weighted your pressups so that you couldn't do more than 8 reps, they would be a great mass building exercise. The only problem is that weighting them heavily is impractical.

**AnatomicallyBlessed** · 01-12-2006, 05:13 AM

Originally Posted by Flexor

They are also useful as a pumping or blasting exercise, but if the reps are above 15 which is very likely you will not build mass. If you weighted your pressups so that you couldn't do more than 8 reps, they would be a great mass building exercise. The only problem is that weighting them heavily is impractical.

i always get a great pump w pushups, but once your muscles become conditioned to pushups, they will no longer be affective for tweaking the muscle to grow mass.

i find them to be great in addition to weights and to work out sore muscles.

chinups · 01-12-2006, 05:35 AM

My boy did 2 yrs and all he did was pushups. He was nothing less then a monster. Pushups are and always will be the best chest exercise IMO

**omnipotent** · 01-12-2006, 05:46 AM

pushups r def a good mass builder .. i incorperate them as a warmup and super set with benching.. it gets u good shape .. and it makes yur chest thick

chinups · 01-12-2006, 05:57 AM

I always wanted to do 25-50 every AM and 25-50 every PM but thought it would mess with my workout.

**indrid_cold17** · 01-12-2006, 06:09 AM

Originally Posted by chinups

I always wanted to do 25-50 every AM and 25-50 every PM but thought it would mess with my workout.

yeah thats what i heard too,,,i dunno how can it mess with my workout though ,,

chinups · 01-12-2006, 06:17 AM

Makes your muscles tired I suppose. Proper rest is key as we all know

**lzicc** · 01-12-2006, 09:32 AM

I do them at the end of my chest routine. I rest my ankles on a swiss ball and do them that way. Don't know if they really contribute to mass but they are good to finish of the chest.

**singern** · 01-12-2006, 10:44 AM

After reading this post.
I did 3 sets of pushups at the end of my chest routine this morning. I dont know about mass building, but it gave me the most explosive pump ever, chest felt like it was gonna burst through my skin. I will certainly incorporate this into my routine.

**Flexor** · 01-12-2006, 10:49 AM

Its only the reps that give that feeling. Do the same number of reps on dips or bench presses and you will get that amazing bursting feeling too.

**GunTotingHipGangster** · 01-16-2006, 12:08 AM

what width should you use for pushups? obviously the wider the less you involve the tri's....perhaps about the same width as your grip flat bench?

**Flexor** · 01-16-2006, 06:49 AM

You can go a lot wider with pressups as its a closed chain exercise, meaning its more stable than bench presses. Also the loads on the joints are lower so you can go wider to really burn your chest, or you can go narrow to work the tris and shoulders more. At the bottom of the pressup though, your upper arms should be no more than vertical, wrist in line with elbow. If you go further that is too wide for the joints.

**GunTotingHipGangster** · 01-16-2006, 11:54 AM

Originally Posted by Flexor

You can go a lot wider with pressups as its a closed chain exercise, meaning its more stable than bench presses. Also the loads on the joints are lower so you can go wider to really burn your chest, or you can go narrow to work the tris and shoulders more. At the bottom of the pressup though, your upper arms should be no more than vertical, wrist in line with elbow. If you go further that is too wide for the joints.

^^did you mean forearms? if you meant forearms, i understand, if you didn't, im not too sure what you mean.

Are you saying my forearms should be 90 degrees to the ground at all times? even when im at the top of my ROM? sorry, just a little confused

**Flexor** · 01-16-2006, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by GunTotingHipGangster

^^did you mean forearms? if you meant forearms, i understand, if you didn't, im not too sure what you mean.

Are you saying my forearms should be 90 degrees to the ground at all times? even when im at the top of my ROM? sorry, just a little confused

Sorry, wasn't thinking straight. The forearms yes

, that is why I said wrist in line with elbow.

**Papi93** · 01-16-2006, 12:23 PM

Originally Posted by indrid_cold17

yeah thats what i heard too,,,i dunno how can it mess with my workout though ,,

It really depends on the intensity of the pushups. Doing some morning pushups, with a lower intensity, can actually aid in the recovery of the horizontal pushing muscles. You could put these in the day after a chest workout.

**Flexor** · 01-16-2006, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by Papi93

It really depends on the intensity of the pushups. Doing some morning pushups, with a lower intensity, can actually aid in the recovery of the horizontal pushing muscles. You could put these in the day after a chest workout.

True that.

Also pressups in the 25-70 rep range will be working the slow twitch fibres, you'll get minor hypertrophy from them.