If you are a beginner-level fitness enthusiast, you will know the struggles of having defined pecs. Without toned pectoral muscles, your body ratio just doesn’t feel right. In addition, you will often have a hard time doing chest exercises because they can be quite intimidating.
This is why we have compiled this list of the easiest chest-building exercises that require no heavy pieces of equipment. You can do these easily in the comfort of your home.
A toned chest is not only for buff men; chest exercises are important for men and women alike. In addition, chest exercises have some great physical and health benefits for us, so here’s how they work.
Why You Should Be Doing Chest Workouts
You will be surprised to find how a strong chest can help you in your daily life. As the American Council suggests, from pushing a door open to swinging a bat, pretty much most activities call for toned, strengthened chest muscles.
Improves Your Posture
Chest workouts can improve your posture by supporting your shoulder muscles, and this helps maintain a straighter, more refined posture.FYI, chest muscles are one of the biggest muscles of your upper body, so strengthening these muscles help build upper body strength, too.
Helps You Breathe Better
Yes, you read that right. Your pectoral muscles are connected to your ribs with muscles and tissues, so with every exercise and every breath, your ribcage expands. Moreover, it allows you to take deeper breaths and breathe better.
Provides Extra Support
Just like we told you before, a strong chest helps you in everyday activities, chores, and much more. It makes your grip stronger, improves your lifting abilities, and overall gives you extra support in daily life.
15 Easy Chest Workouts at Home
Start your fitness journey by finding the easiest, quickest chest workout at home to build your pecs!
Pro-Tip
Always do a little warm-up to prepare your body for a workout session. Do a few jumping jacks, stretch, or use a handheld percussion massager like Exogun to get your blood flowing!
1. Good Old’ Push Up
Who isn’t familiar with push-ups? This traditional exercise is the most common chest buildup exercise that you can do at home.
In addition, through your forearm strength, a push-up targets your pec muscles, triceps, and biceps to stretch out.
DIY
- Lie down face flat on your mat
- Support your whole body with the help of your hands
- Slowly lift your body weight with only your toes and hands touching the ground
- Go back down and repeat
- As a beginner, do a set of two with five reps
2. The Easy Push-Up
Push-ups can be pretty tricky to get the first time. So, if you have difficulty doing regular push-ups, you can opt for a knee push-up variation.
DIY
- Lay face down on a mat
- Bend your knees towards your upper body
- Lift your body upwards with only your knees and hands touching the floor
- Make sure your feet are crossed when you do a push-up
- Do reps of five in two sets
Use Your House
When you do a chest workout at home, you need to make the most out of your household furniture. So use your couch, bed, or chair to work out.
3. Declining Push Up
A declining push-up elevates the b1. Good Old’ Push Up asic push-up a little notch. You will need a couch or an elevated platform to support your feet in this easy-to-do exercise.
Simply form a straight line with your body and perform a normal pushup.
DIY
- Get in push up position
- Rest your feet on a couch
- Perform a push-up
- Do two sets of 10 reps
4. Incline pushup
Another push-up variation, this exercise targets your upper body muscles, including your pecs, abs, and shoulders.
What differentiates it from a declining push-up is that you lift your upper body without lifting your feet off the ground. Use a table or the edge of your bed to perform this exercise.
DIY
- Place your palms flat on a table
- Grip the surface and lift your upper body
- Make sure your elbows are at a 90-degree angle when you push up
- Repeat ten times and do sets of 2
5. Chest Dips
For this exercise, you will need a bar stool to alternate parallel bars that you will find in a gym. Chairs work just as fine; make sure you do not create any tension in your muscles.
DIY
- Place your stools on a flat surface where they don’t move or budge
- Get down on your knees and rest your hands on the front of the stools
- With the help of your hands, lift your body and back down
- Make sure your feet don’t touch the ground when you lift your upper body
- Complete two sets of 15 reps
One - Chair Chest Dip
If you don’t have access to more than one chair simply use a chair or any elevated furniture to do chest dips.
DIY
- Support your body by grabbing the front of the chair with your palms down
- Grip the chair and lift your body upwards
- Gently bend your knees while keeping a straight position
- Use your hands and elbows to lift your upper body
- Do two sets of 15 rep
6. Star Plank
Planks are not only a great chest workout at home, but they also target your core muscles, shoulders for defined abs too.
This exercise is a medium-level chest exercise and is great for a full-body workout.
DIY
- Prep yourself in a push-up position
- Move your palms and toes out
- Maintain a Star or X position
- Hold the position for five seconds
- Finish a set of five reps
7. Spiderman Push-Up
A little intense in terms of difficulty, but if you’ve mastered all the other push-ups, you will not have too many problems with spiderman push-ups.
Have you ever seen Spiderman climbing a wall? Well, that’s exactly how this exercise works.
DIY
- Get in a push-up position
- Perform a push-up
- With each push-up, bring each knee towards your chest
- Switch sides alternatively
- Finish two sets of five reps
8. Diamond Push Up
Shine bright like a diamond with these push-ups—a great exercise to build and tone your pecs.
DIY
- Lie face down on your mat
- Make a diamond shape with your palms
- Perform a regular push up
9. Jumping Jacks
Star jumps or jumping jacks are a full-body workout that will get your blood pumping. It is a great exercise to start your workout with and can be used in-between as warm-ups in your routine.
DIY
- Stand up straight
- Move your feet and hands away from your body
- Your body posture should make an X when you move out
- Wave your arms inwards and outwards
- Finish sets of two with ten reps
10. Plyometric pushups
Don’t be scared of the name; trust us, this push-up may sound difficult but is very easy to perform. Once you’ve gotten the hang of push-ups, you can easily perform this pecs-blaster.
DIY
- Get in a push-up position
- Perform a regular push up
- Only this time, push your body to fly up
- Clap your hands together to get back into position
- Your body should only be supported with your toes
Include An Equipment
If you’ve already made up your mind to have a chest workout at home, invest in some dumbbells.
It does not matter why you are not heading to the gym every day; the main objective is to stay active and healthy. So buy a set of dumbbells anywhere from two to five kgs, depending on how much you can comfortably lift and open doors for pec-blazing exercises.
11. One - Hand Press
This exercise is definitely one to get your chest pumping. In addition, it is the easiest exercise to do at home, so rest assured you’ll be safe from heaving and panting after you do this exercise.
DIY
- Lie down on your mat slightly elevated
- Support your back with a cushion
- Keep one hand above your chest
- Hold one dumbbell in your hand and push it upwards
- Your hand should be at 90 degrees and away from your body
- Do sets of two with ten reps
You can increase or decrease the rep number according to the weight of the dumbbell.
12. Chest Press
The chest press is the easiest and the most effective method to define and give volume to your pec muscles.
DIY
- Lay on your back on a flat surface
- Hold the dumbbells in both your hands
- Push the dumbbells away from your body
- Make sure you always straighten your arms with each rep
- Gently move your hands towards your body
- Finish two sets of 10 reps
13. Basic Curls
With a dumbbell, you can easily do bicep curls to strengthen your shoulder muscles that are connected to your chest. In addition, this exercise will give you better gripping and lifting strength for other chest-building exercises.
DIY
- Sit comfortably on a chair or bench.
- Grab your dumbbell and, with a 90-degree angle, perform curls
- Make sure your back is straight
- With each rep, breath in and out. Don’t clench your muscles
- Perform three sets of five reps
You may also like: 7 Pilates Ab Workout for Beginners & How to Do It Safely at Home | Exogun
14. Reach Under Plank
This adrenaline booster exercise is made to get your chest muscles working. You will definitely feel the burn in your chest, core, and legs after this exercise.
DIY
- Start with a plank position
- Tighten your core and hold the position
- Lift your right arm and touch your left knee
- Lift your left arm and touch your right knee
- Switch alternatively with each rep
- Finish sets of two with ten reps
15. Mountain climbers
One of the best chest exercises to do at home is the mountain climb. You do not need any equipment for this, and these are a perfect way to strengthen your core, chest, and shoulders.
DIY
- Get in a plank position.
- Maintain the position
- Lift your right knee towards your left elbow
- Lift your left knee towards your right elbow
- Alternate sides with each rep while maintaining the plank position
- Complete two sets of 15 reps
Tips for at-home Workout
Any workout tends to tire you out. You may experience:
- Muscle soreness
- Fatigue
- Muscle strain
To overcome these challenges and to make your chest workout at home safe and relaxing, we introduce your own masseuse.
With the Exogun handheld percussion massager, you can get rid of many problems that come uninvited with an extensive workout.
Also read: Best Leg Massager for Blood Circulation | Full List and Alternatives
Muscle Soreness
It helps you reduce muscle soreness. In addition, the powerful percussion therapy reduces the tension in your muscle through deep tissue massage.
Speedy Recovery
When you’re a fitness rookie, you are bound to get some muscle injuries such as overstretching or tearing. Lack of warm-up or heavy strain can cause your muscles to tear. Sounds terrifying? News flash, it hurts even more.
The advanced technology in Exogun massages your muscles to increase blood flow and range of motion. Meaning, if you were not able to do a full split before, after using this massage gun, your chances are greatly increased.
You can use Exogun pre or post-workout to reap the full benefits of this handheld percussion massager. Increased blood circulation also improves muscle recovery, helps you heal faster from an injury, and reduces pain.
Targets Sensitive Area
What’s better than owning a handheld percussion massager that hits all the right spots. Exogun is a revolutionary massager that has ShockSmart sensitivity, which provides replacing percussion just where you need them the most.
Conclusion
If you’ve made it to the end, getting your daily chest workout at home may not be so difficult after all.
These easy chest exercises are an easy way to strengthen and sculpt your pecs. A strong pec not only improves your body visually but also gives you a great posture by aligning your body.
Anytime you miss out on your gym session, remember to do these simple exercises at home for strong pcs and chest-building.