Bodyweight Chest Workout

Template

Parts Exercises Sets Reps/Duration Rest Time
Warm-Up Light Mobility - Joint # 1 - 2 5 - 30 none - 2 min
Warm-Up Set/s 1 - 2 1 - 8 2 - 5 min
Primary Upper/Lower Chest Bias 2 - 3 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins
Secondary Upper/Lower Chest Bias 1 - 2 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins

Workout Sample 1

Parts Exercises Sets Reps/Duration Rest Time
Warm-Up Light Mobility Drill 1 10 - 20 none - 2 min
Warm-Up Set 1 1 - 8 2 - 5 mins
Primary Wide Push Ups 2 4 - 8 / Near Failure 3 - 5 mins
Secondary Decline Push Ups 1 4 - 8 / Near failure 3 - 5 mins

Workout Sample 2

Parts Exercises Sets Reps/Duration Rest Time
Warm-Up Light Mobility Drill 1 10 - 20 none - 2 min
Warm-Up Set 1 1 - 8 2 - 5 mins
Primary Standard Dips 2 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins
Secondary Decline Push Ups 1 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins

Workout Sample 3

Parts Exercises Sets Reps/Duration Rest Time
Warm-Up Light Mobility Drill 1 10 - 20 none - 2 min
Warm-Up Set 1 1 - 8 2 - 5 mins
Primary Decline Push Ups 2 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins
Secondary Standard Push Ups 1 4 - 8 / near failure 3 - 5 mins

Workout Information:

Description:

This workout routine is designed to primarily build and strengthen the pectoralis major, commonly known as the chest muscle. The pectoralis major, or simply pec major, is divided into two regions: the clavicular or upper head and the sternocostal or lower head. Although each head works together in various movements, they each have their own functionalities, which can be biased with specific exercises.

Most importantly, this routine prioritizes stimulus and fatigue management, ensuring you can recover for the next training session while removing unnecessary work and further limiting fatigue.

Warm-Up

To properly warm up for this routine, you simply need to warm up the muscles around the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joints by moving them around with intent or doing some named mobility movements. Then, do some warm-up sets for the main exercise. For example:

Light Mobility Drill: Shoulder Circles -> Shoulder Corkscrews -> Elbow Circles -> Wrist Circles for a round or two with enough reps for you to feel them working.

Warm-Up Set/s: You can either do an easier variation or modified version of your first exercise, or do your exercise with some reps far from failure.

Just make sure that whatever you do is just enough to work and warm up your muscles, not tire them, so you can perform your best in your working sets.

Exercise Selection

Above all, make sure that the exercise is primarily working the chest muscles. Then, determine if you can perform the exercise and go near or until failure within the recommended rep range, while also considering the stability aspect of the exercise. While it is okay to use an exercise where you can perform higher rep ranges, it's not advisable nor efficient if your goal is hypertrophy—a major limitation of purely bodyweight training.

If you're strong enough to go far beyond the recommended rep range and you don't have a choice at the moment to change the exercise or simply prefer not changing it, you can continue using it and go near or until failure, just like when performing it within the specified rep range. Just know that there will be some unwanted differences in terms of growth stimulus and fatigue.

When multiple options meet the criteria, prefer the simpler one — no need to add complexity where it doesn't serve a purpose.

Proximity to Failure

While it is okay to go until failure, especially at the start when you don't yet know what that feels like and want to avoid undertraining, it's generally recommended to use it sparingly and instead leave 1-2 repetitions in reserve (RIR). This is especially true for exercises earlier in the session — conserving energy and limiting fatigue there helps you maintain good performance on the exercises that follow.

Training Frequency

Depending on your recovery rate, you can perform this routine 2-3 times per week.

Short Guide: Customize it depending on your goals and needs

Exercise Selection

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In choosing exercises, it's crucial to align your selection with your specific fitness goals, current fitness level, and individual preferences. Consider principles such as specificity and the ease of applying progressive overload. The more specific your exercises are to your goals, the better. Additionally, pay attention to your body's response to different exercises and adjust your selection to accommodate your strengths and limitations/weaknesses.

For strength training with weights, it's best to use the specific exercise you want to get strong in. For example, if you want to get strong at deadlifts, then do deadlifts. When it comes to training for a particular movement or bodyweight skill, use an immediate regression of that movement that you can do or an easier exercise that has a similar element or pattern. You can also break down a movement into different components and train them separately.

In hypertrophy training, opt for simple exercises with a high capacity to load the desired muscle group. While most compound exercises are effective for building muscle, consider other exercises that offer a higher degree of capacity to load a specific muscle group and more efficient when it comes to energy expenditure whenever possible. For instance, while deadlifts are good for gaining strength and muscle, other exercises may be more suitable for focused mass building in areas like the lats and quads.