The Perfect Five Minute Bodyweight Chest Workout

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Follow along with Pat Chadwick as he takes you through a home calisthenics push up workout for the chest. No weights are required at all — just you, the floor, and a chair. This only takes five minutes, so get ready to receive the biggest chest pump ever!

At Home Chest Workout

Upper Chest Workout

#1 – Decline Push Ups

The decline push up is a great exercise that increases the activation of your upper chest and front shoulders. This will improve your overall upper body strength. If you’re looking for more variations to this exercise, check out this complete decline push up tutorial. 

A 2019 research suggests that being able to complete more than 40 push ups is associated with a significant reduction in incident cardiovascular disease compared with those completing fewer than 10. 

1. 1. Begin in a decline push up position by placing your feet on an elevated surface and your hands on the ground at shoulder width. Your body should be at a declining slope in a straight line. Brace your core and glutes.
2. Inhale as you slowly lower your chest towards the ground by bending the elbows until your triceps are parallel to the ground.
3. Exhale as you extend your arms and return to the starting position. 
4. Perform this for 30 seconds. 

#2 – Archer Push Ups

This is an intense push up variation that will develop your unilateral strength as you’ll be using one side to do the majority of force production. This is a great exercise to correct muscular imbalances in pushing movements. There are three other variations to this exercise, and you can check them out in this archer push up tutorial. 

1. Begin in a wide push up position where your hands are wider than shoulder-width apart. Your hands are outward rotated so your fingers are pointing away from each other. Your body is in a straight line from head to feet. Brace your core and glutes.
2. Inhale as you lower down towards your right side by bending your right elbow while keeping your left arm straight. Lower down until your right tricep is parallel to the ground. Keep your core tight throughout this movement.
3. Exhale as you extend your right arm to return to the starting position.
4. Repeat this movement on the opposite side.
5. Perform this alternating movement for 30 seconds.

Lower Chest Workout

#3 – Bench Dips

The bench dip is a great chest and tricep killer to your routine. The Coachmag praises this exercise as a great compound bodyweight exercise that adds mass to your tricep. I have covered five other variations of this exercise, check them out in this complete tricep dips tutorial. 

1. Sit on a bench with your palms on the sides of your body, gripping tightly on the edge of the surface. Your fingers are facing forward.
2. Extend your arms and shift your body forward until your bottom is in front of the bench. Your legs are extended, feet are together, and heels are on the ground. 
3. Inhale as you lower by bending the elbows until your triceps are parallel to the ground. Brace your core throughout this movement. 
4. Exhale as you drive through your palms to extend your arms and return to the starting position. 
5. Perform this for 30 seconds.

#4 – Incline Push Ups

This is one of the best lower chest exercises that target your chest, front shoulders, and core. It is a beginner to intermediate level exercise as it places less stress than traditional push ups. If you want a comprehensive guide to this variation, check out this incline push up tutorial.

1. Begin in a push up position with your hands on an elevated surface at shoulder-width apart. Squeeze your glutes and core to ensure a straight line from head to feet.
2. Inhale as you slowly lower your chest towards the ground by bending the elbows until your triceps are parallel to the ground.
3. Exhale as you extend your arms and return to the starting position. 
4. Perform this for 30 seconds. 

Inner Chest Workout 

#5 – Diamond Push Ups

This exercise will activate your inner chest and triceps. Your hand base is smaller in a narrow grip position which makes them harder than traditional push ups. In the diamond push up tutorial, I have covered the cues and common mistakes, check it out to gain the most out of this exercise. 

1. Start in a push up position with your hands in a diamond shape by connecting the index and thumb together, and locate this at the center of your chest. Brace your core and glutes to maintain a straight line. 
2. Inhale as you bend your elbows to lower until your triceps are parallel to the ground. Keep your elbows close to your torso rather than flaring out.
3. Exhale as you extend your arms and return to the starting position. 
4. Repeat this for 30 seconds. 

#6 – Wide To Diamond Stance Push Ups

This exercise is a combination of wide and diamond grip push ups. It will develop your inner chest line and improve your explosive pushing power. According to Men’s Health, doing push ups with the correct form will strengthen your rotator cuff muscles and stabilize your shoulders. 

1. Begin in a wide push up position where your hands are wider than shoulder width. Brace your core and glutes to ensure that your body is in a straight line. 
2. Inhale as you lower down by bending the elbows until your triceps are parallel to the ground.
3. Exhale as you explosively extend your arms to lift your hands off the ground, follow by landing in a diamond push up position. 
4. Push your hands back out to the wide push up stance and repeat this process.
5. Repeat this for 30 seconds.

Middle Chest Workout

Wide Grip Push Up

This is a great variation to build upper body and core strength. The wider hand placement makes this exercise easier than traditional push ups, but ideal for developing the middle chest.

1. Begin in a wide push up position with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart, legs extended, feet together, and body in a straight line. Engage your core and glutes.
2. Inhale as you lower your chest towards the ground by bending the elbows until your triceps are parallel to the ground. 
3. Exhale as you extend your arms and return to the starting position.
4. Repeat this movement for 30 seconds.

The Takeaways; Five Minute Home Chest Workout

Now you have a quick five-minute chest workout you can do at home or anywhere at any time, you get a big chest pump from this as this is a form of HIIT training that puts your body through a vigorous circuit with short rest intervals. Work on each exercise for 30 seconds, followed by resting for 10 seconds before moving to the next exercise. Focus on good form!

Below is a program card of this chest circuit:

I hope you’ll enjoy this workout. For your next session, I highly recommend you switch things up by working on different muscle groups to enable rest and recovery on your chest and triceps. If you’re interested, check out these workout articles that I’ve previously written:

• Fastest Ways To Grow Bicep With Calisthenics
• 4 Calisthenics Exercises To Build A Big Back
• How To Get Shredded At Home: Do This Routine Every Morning

As always, thank you for reading these articles, I hope they add value to your health and fitness. Don’t forget to follow and connect with me on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube to stay on top of my content. Big love and I’ll catch you next time!