5 Pec-Poppin’ Push-Up Variations

Your pecs are more neglected during push-ups than your annoying stepchild at Christmas dinner.

It’s because of one (or all) of the following reasons:

1. Your technique is flawed.
2. You have no variety in your push-up variations.
3. Your stepchild annoys the shit out of you.

You might believe there’s no possible way to build a bigger chest with just push-ups.

You’re wrong. And I’m going to show you why.

Here are 5 push-up variations for your chest.

1. SINGLE ARM MED BALL PUSH-UP

This is kinda like the stepping stone to a full single arm push-up.

It’s not much easier to do, but you’re able to maintain better technique during this variation to target the chest more effectively. You’ve seen the ugly single arm push-ups I’m talking about. Yikes is all I gotta say.

How to do it:

• Have one arm extended out straight to your side with your wrist on a med ball (pinky knuckle facing the ceiling)
• Get into a push-up position
• Bring your chest down to the floor and lock your arm out every rep

Pro tip: Without actually moving your hand (the arm that’s on the floor), “drag” it in towards your center as you lockout your arm. You’ll get an added pec contraction.

2. MED BALL ISO-HOLD WITH PUSH-UP

A super simple but super effective way to build muscle with bodyweight workouts is to use isometrics. An isometric exercise is when your muscles are under load with no change in length (i.e. holding a static position).

To target your chest during push-ups, try this variation.

How to do it:

1. Lay on your back holding a med ball with your arms straight up
2. Press your hands together and squeeze the ball as hard as you can for about 10 seconds
3. Flip around and perform 10-15 med ball push-ups right after (burn baby burn)

This is an example of a compound set (pairing two exercises back to back that target the same muscle group).

3. SLIDER PUSH-UP

Movement is medicine, and your arms are going to be moving a lot here. To me, this almost kinda simulates a cable press machine. You’re going to like it a lot.

How to do it:

• Hold a couple of socks or something you can glide along a smooth surface and get into a push-up position (or use sliders on your carpet or turf area)
• Start with your hands closer together than normal during push-ups (inside shoulder-width apart)
• Slide your arms out and lower chest to the floor (arms should be at least roughly 90 degrees to your sides at the bottom of the push-up)
• Push yourself back up and slide your hands in together

Pro tip: Imagine you’re trying to crack a walnut in between your pecs as you lockout your arms.

4. PEC POPPIN’ PUSH-UP

I’m borrowing this from Joe DeFranco because it’s awesome. You’ll love this one.

How to do it:

1. When you’re in the starting position, think of pulling yourself to the floor by pushing your hands down and back into the floor (imagine dragging the floor behind you without moving your hands).
2. When you get to the bottom of the push-up, press back up and hold.
3. When your arms are fully extended, squeeze your hands together as hard as you can without moving them. Maintain this hard contraction for about 3 seconds.

Pro tip: Again, imagine you’re cracking a walnut in between your pecs.

5. ELEVATED PUSH-UP

Ah, yes. No pec-poppin’ push-up list would be complete without this one right here. More specifically, elevating your feet transitions the tension to your upper chest (pec minor). It’s an inclined bodyweight bench press, if you will.

I actually didn’t realize how great these were at targeting the chest until my bodybuilder buddy said he did them a couple weeks ago and felt it for days. So, here we are.

How to do it:

• Get into a push-up position with your hands on the floor and feet up on a bench or couch
• Perform push-ups
• Focus on pushing through with your upper chest

If you liked these variations, you can find more in my free Push-Up Pro Guide.