How do you work the chest without weights

[iluvfemales]

I've been trying to figure out an effictive way to bulk up my chest but the gym I belong too only has a benchpress machine (with pullies and weight plates) which I heard is bad because you dont use and stabillizing muscles on it. I have free weights at my house but no room for a bench. I've been doing push-ups. Including elevated ones where i put my feet on the stairs but im not noticing my chest bluk up, it just seems more cut. Any suggestions?

 

[undesputable]

youre not going to bulk up your chest without weights, as you said, its going to look more defined and all but youre not going to get what you want by just doing inclined pushups.

 

[Heizen]

Dips man, do lots of dips.

 

[Cheiradawg]

What kind of "gym" doesn't have a bench press or free weights?

Best thing to do is to find a better place to work out at. A real gym is going to do you ten times better than push ups, dips, or anything you can do at home.

 

[MindOverMatter]

use the machine, it's still better then push ups. free weights on a bench would be the best, but you don't have access to that, so the machine is the next best thing.

the trick is to use a heavy weight on the machine, and do your reps slowly, with maximum intensity. instead of just going 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 - make it harder.

1...............2...............3....................4..................5..................6...........7................8

and focus on the muscle contraction. also, never fully straighten your arms, always keep them a bit bent so that there's always pressure on your chest.

intensity is key. if you do a set with low intensity just to get it over with, then you're wasting your time.

 

[wildchild]

anyone got any idea if the smith machine is ok to use for your chest i use that and i seem to have results, i also use dumbells but do you think i would be better moving onto free weights? do free weights give u better shape?

 

[MindOverMatter]

I'd use dumbells over the smith, provided the dumbells are heavy enough for you to reach failure between 8-10 reps.

 

[Heizen]

Originally posted by MindOverMatter
I'd use dumbells over the smith, provided the dumbells are heavy enough for you to reach failure between 8-10 reps.

Bump on that.

 

[Julian]

incline dumbell press murders me.

 

[incognito42]

Originally posted by undesputable
youre not going to bulk up your chest without weights, as you said, its going to look more defined and all but youre not going to get what you want by just doing inclined pushups.

Push-ups and dips can both be done around the house, with no equipment but possibly a little creativity. I would argue both are better chest workouts than bench press, and possibly better than anything that can be done with weights. Push-ups workout your back, lats, chest, abs, and tri-ceps. You will notice improvements both appearance and strength wise from simply getting on the ground and doing push-ups 4-5 days a week. Dips are also a GREAT workout and one that I have done by putting dinner trays (the kind with legs) setting parallel with room in between them for me to position myself and go at it. Both these workouts will give you a defnied shest, and give you a great increase in strength.



Fact: MLB all-time SB leader Rickey Henderon never stepped foot in a weight room in his life, and has simply done crunches and push-ups all his life to stay in the great shape he's still in even getting close to 50 years old.



No matter what excuse anyone has for not getting into the gym, there is no excuse for not being able to do push-ups and crunches almost daily

 

[naoi deag se deag]

Originally posted by incognito42
Push-ups and dips can both be done around the house, with no equipment but possibly a little creativity. I would argue both are better chest workouts than bench press, and possibly better than anything that can be done with weights. Push-ups workout your back, lats, chest, abs, and tri-ceps. You will notice improvements both appearance and strength wise from simply getting on the ground and doing push-ups 4-5 days a week. Dips are also a GREAT workout and one that I have done by putting dinner trays (the kind with legs) setting parallel with room in between them for me to position myself and go at it. Both these workouts will give you a defnied shest, and give you a great increase in strength.



Fact: MLB all-time SB leader Rickey Henderon never stepped foot in a weight room in his life, and has simply done crunches and push-ups all his life to stay in the great shape he's still in even getting close to 50 years old.



No matter what excuse anyone has for not getting into the gym, there is no excuse for not being able to do push-ups and crunches almost daily

Not quite a fact. Rickey Henderson is playing in an independent league now, trying to make it back into the majors. Now, if he had set foot in a weight room...

 

[Alpine]

Wildchild,

Same issues with Smith as with squat. Benching is not a linear straight up movement. Can't help feeling your shoulders will eventually complain.

Also stability muscle issues too.

Dips with weight is good if you can't bench.

Body weight exercises that will test you

Press up on one leg.

Press ups elevated legs.

Elevated legs with rucksack

One arm press ups

one arm press up elevated legs.......etc

or clean and press, yes that's right!

 

[Paintballguy]

I noticed a good strength increase from doing dips.... When I first started to do them I would have to use the weight assist. Now, I can go through 3 sets of 10 atleast. I noticed my pecs gained some size. It is a very good exercise for not using weights.

 

[Heizen]

Dips are in fact, awesome and superior to push ups as far as gains go.

 

[incognito42]

Originally posted by Heizen
Dips are in fact, awesome and superior to push ups as far as gains go.

superior? nah, thats dificult to say. push-ups work out almost every core muscle group, hitting the chest, triceps and back most of all. If you said both push-ups and dips are superior to bench press, as far as gains go, Id have to agree there

 

[Heizen]

As far as compounds movements go, I would MUCH rather do dips then bench. But for hitting the chest, triceps and shoulders dips can go farther as far as bodyweight goes. Doing 3 sets of 8 puchups isn't hard, but it is harder to do 3 sets of 8 bodyweight dips.