Can you build a big chest doing push ups?

[sassy69]

WOW, graveyard thread back from the dead...

There is a routine titled "100 pushups." Probably will make you better a doing pushups, but won't build your chest past a point.

You can also hit different parts by doing decline pushups at different angles, but still limited. I suppose if you really wanted to get fancy you could use resistance bands (held under your hands, wrapped around your shoulders) to increase resistance beyond just your bodyweight.

I think pushups are a great thing to superset with for more kick as well. And variations, e.g. if you can do pushups with your hands on a raised surface so you can dip deeper.

 

[country1911]

Good point sassy, you can also do some plyo stuff with pushups that are difficult to do with a bar. My favorite when I can't get to the gym for a chest day is clapping pushups.

 

[CaptainNapalm]

Dips (weighted) leaning forward are a good mass building exercise for both tri's and chest.

 

[kyle64]

When I first got back from my 15 year no-workout fat bastard routine 4 months ago, I was not getting any pump from bench pressing so I started doing incline dumbbell flyes right after the warm up, then stretched my pecs really well before the bench press, after that, bench pressing started pumping the hell out of my pecs and they are starting to look awesome.

 

[NOINRI]

Was working out daily since The end of August/Beginning of September of 2010. My first time seriously working out. Saw a little ab coming in but nothing ever significant.

Was working arms, cardio, chest, back, abs, calves,etc.

Around November I slowed down and began working out sporadically every blue moon. Just started picking back up and immediately I see results.

I've been doing push ups and ab rolls almost nightly and getting back into my barbell lifting and doing the ellyptical a little less frequently.

Definitely see a growth in chest due to the pushups and my abs have snapped back a bit to, still with a ways to go though.

But I wonder if these were results I had had before I stopped and just hadn't noticed. Particularly with the chest. Along the lines of what a previous poster said in this thread about "newbies" being incapable of discerning results even though they're there.

I'm definitely motivated again. Haven't gotten back into all the other stuff as seriously as I was, such as flies, bench press, lunges, deadlift, etc., but definitely sticking with the pushups, ab rolls/sit ups, and barbells.

 

[ihateschoolmt]

Why does this thread have 65,000 views haha that almost 3 times more than any of the stickies.

 

[Dustdatarse]

guarenteed you don't know how to contract your chest muscles when doing any kind of chest exericise, be it benching or pushups. You hafta literally SQUEEZE your pecs to raise yourself, not just push (that puts most of the strain on your shoulders)

first learn how to contract your pecs, then they'll grow.
so yes, they can grow by doing pushups.

I agree with you Flex....when i was in jail and didnt have a weight pile...i spent 2 hours EOD doing incline, decline, wide, regular, and close hand push-ups with a deck of cards and i gained quite a bit of size and it also helped form my pecs a ton. I think concentrating on contracting my pecs definately made a difference on how i grew my pecs to what they are now. JMO


Edit: wow didnt realize how old this thread was....