Getting a well-trained chest doesn’t require bench press as most people think. Bodyweight exercises or calisthenics can do the same trick.
In this article, we will look at three types of calisthenics chest workout, all with different levels – beginner, intermediate and advanced. We will also look at which exercises we should consider when we put together a calisthenics chest workout.
As always, I, of course would like to recommend you not to concentrate on your chest only but make sure to strengthen your complete body. Doing full-body workouts will give you faster results and the balance that is needed to progress to a higher level.
Now let’s get going, but first have a look at the photo to identify the muscles we want to target with our calisthenics chest workout.
Of course, we can’t just focus 100% on these. We will hit some other muscle groups but we will still select exercises that have a lot of focus on the chest.
Which exercise then?
Push-ups
I guess you figured that one out? But let’s list some of the different versions:
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Wide press-ups – If you want to get most focus on the chest you should place your hands in a wider position than the normal shoulder width.
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Hindu push-ups is very good for the chest as you go through a motion where different angles of the chest are activated.
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Elevated push-ups – One way to make them a bit harder and turn the focus towards the upper chest is by doing elevated push-ups.
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Archer push-ups is of course harder than normal push-ups and should be seen as an advanced level.
Dips
Dips will target the chest and triceps. By leaning a bit forward the focus will go more towards the chest. We can do them in different versions as well.
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Dips on boxes/benches is the first level
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Dips on a dip station or parallel bars is the next level
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Dips on rings is the hardest version.
Handstand push-ups
Not the best chest workout but we will get some stress on the chest.
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Wall Climbers is the beginning and actually quite good as we will get different angels like in the Hindu push-ups
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Handstand push-up targets more of the arms and shoulders but we get some part of the chest as well.
Ring flys
Ring flys are hard to do. The elbows should be a little bit bend in order to get more focus on the chest than the shoulders. To adjust the intensity, simply adjust the angel of the body when arms are fully extended.
Variation in each exercise
Changing exercise is not the only way to increase tension in the muscle and thereby progress. What else we can do is to vary the way we do the exercise.
Slowing down the movement is a good way to make it harder. So for the push-ups, try to do them slowly like 3sec down and 3sec up. This will increase the time under tension and thereby stress the muscles more.
Isometric holds will fire all the muscle fibers at once in the position you hold. Often, the muscle will start to spasm, meaning you will start to shake. Reason for this is that muscle fibers simply turn on and off all the time as they are not strong enough to stay engaged all the time.
An example with push-ups could be to hold the position one inch over the floor for as long as possible.
Plyometrics is an explosive training. When applying this to our routine, we will focus on power. For the push-ups, it could be that we explode on the way up and try to get the chest as far away from the ground as possible by explosive movement from the arms and chest.
Combine it
Variation is important for progression, so the trick is to combine the mentioned exercises and the way they are performed.
Of course, we can just add more reps and rounds but it’s much more efficient to mix up things as we then activate the different muscle fibers as well.
Calisthenics chest workout
Below, I have put together three examples of calisthenics chest workouts. They are divided into beginner, intermediate and advanced level.
Do them 2-3 times a week and progress when it becomes too easy. But remember to train your complete body to get the best results. I have more workouts here and complete workout routines here that you can check out.
Beginner calisthenics chest workout
We focus on the two basic exercises: push-ups and dips.
A total of 4 rounds – rest 1min between exercises and 2min between rounds.
Round 1 & 3: Normal speed.
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10 Wide push-ups
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10 Box/Bench dips
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10 Hindu push-ups
Round 2 & 4: Done slowly 3sec up & 3sec down – 1sec pause at the top and bottom position.
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Max Wide push-ups
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Max Box/Bench dips
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Max Hindu push-ups
When you get more than 15 reps in the slow rounds move to the next level.
Intermediate calisthenics chest workout
More advanced exercises and more reps.
A total of 5 rounds – rest 1min between exercises and 2min between rounds.
Round 1 & 3: Normal speed.
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15 Wide push-ups
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10 Standard dips on parallels
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10 Elevated push-ups
Round 2 & 4: Done slowly 3sec up & 3sec down – 1sec pause at the top and bottom position.
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Max Wide push-ups
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Max Standard dips on parallels
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Max Elevated push-ups
Round 5:
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Max plyometric push-ups (Normal wide)
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Max Wall-Climbers
When you get more than 20 reps in the slow rounds move to the next level.
Advanced calisthenics chest workout
More advanced exercises and more reps.
A total of 5 rounds – rest 1min between exercises and 2min between rounds.
Round 1 & 3: Normal speed.
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20 Wide push-ups
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10 Ring dips
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5+5 Archer push-ups
Round 2 & 4: Done slowly 3sec up & 3sec down – 1sec pause at the top and bottom position.
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Max Wide push-ups
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Max ring dips
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Max Archer push-ups
Round 5:
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Max plyometric push-ups (Normal wide)
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Max Handstand push-ups