The chest is probably one of the most trained muscle groups at the gym. However, most people do not know how to train their chest at home. Training your chest at home does not need to be boring. There are a lot more things you can do for your chest than basic pushups.

Now, I’m honestly not the one to train one muscle group per session. I still train my full body. However, as my training is getting more and more advanced, I’m noticing certain weaknesses. So these tips are more for advanced athletes.

Beginners can still use some of the tips, however, I urge beginners to start off with full body workouts. This is the best way to get started with bodyweight and in-home fitness training. Once you start training consistently, you will notice that some parts of your body are stronger than other parts.

The goal for advanced trainees should be to train their weaknesses and to maintain their strengths.

High Intensity Exercises for a Stronger, Better Looking Chest

The four basic exercises that I teach are pushups, incline pushups, hindu pushups, and dive bombers. These exercises will get you really far. However, it’s time to introduce to you guys some more new, intense exercise that you can perform at home.

First lets take a look at some bodyweight exercises:

Spiderman Pushups

• Start off with pushup position. Lower yourself towards the ground and simultaneously bring your right knee towards your right elbow. Return to starting position and repeat with your left side. This counts as one repetition.

Mahler Bodyblaster

• Start off in a full squat position. Fall backwards in a roll. Reverse the movement and get back on your feet. Place your hands on the ground in front of your knees and kick out so that you are in apushup position.
• Perform a pushups and bring you legs back in so that you are back in full squat position. Repeat as desired.

Chair Dips, Version 1

• Place a chair behind you. Squat down and place your palms at the front edge of the chair, shoulder width apart. Extend both your legs in front of you with heels on the floor. Arms are slightly bent. Bend your arms and lower your body as low as you can without any pain.
• Return to starting position. For an advanced version, place your feet on another chair in front of you.

Chair Dips, Version 2

• Place two chairs back to back. Stand between the chairs, and adjust the chairs according to a slightly wider that shoulder width apart grip. Place your hands on the backs of each chair. Straighten out your arms.
• Tuck your feet behind you by bending your knees. Slowly lower yourself down until your upper arms are slightly past parallel. Push your body backup to starting position. To maintain balance, choose a point that is somewhere between directly in front of you and to the floor, and use it as a point of focus.
• Keep your chest up, shoulders back, and back straight. Tighten your core. This is one of the most difficult chest exercises out there, and if you lose form you can seriously hurt yourself.

8-Count Bodybuilders

• Stand with feet shoulder width apart. Lower down into a squat position. Place your hands in front of you on the floor and kick your legs out to push up position. Perform apushup. Now kick your legs out to the sides, so that they are slightly shoulder width apart.
• Move your feet back to their original position and bring your knees back up. Perform a squat jump and repeat.

T-Pushups

• Perform a regular pushup. As you push yourself up, transfer your weight onto your left hand, and bring your right hand up off the floor and towards the ceiling. Rotate your torso to the right while keeping your toes on the floor.
• Your body should be in a “t” position. Bring your right hand back down. Perform a pushup and repeat the left hand.

These were just some of my highly effective bodyweight chest exercises. Now we move onto dumbbells:

NOTE: Spiderman pushups, 8-Count Bodybuilders, and T-pushups can be done with using dumbbells. For spiderman pushups, the dumbbells will elevate you off the ground slightly, allowing you greater range of motion to execute the movement.

For 8-Count bodybuilders, you get the benefit of a greater range of motion. During the squat jump, hold the dumbbells by your sides. Finally, for the T-Pushups, holding the dumbbells in your hands while performing the twisting motion will place greater stress on your abdominals.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Flyes

• Lay down with your back on a bench. If you do not have a bench, you can perform this exercise on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms stretched out wide to your sides with palms facing theceiling. Keep your arms slightly bent as you squeeze your chest and bring the dumbbells in a “butterfly” motion towards each other.
• Lower the dumbbells back to starting position and repeat.

Dumbbell Pullovers

• Lay flat on your back on a bench or on the floor. Hold a dumbbell above your head with both your hands, slightly bent. Lower the dumbbell back behind your head, without bending your arms any further than the slight bend you already have.
• You should feel a stretch in your rib cage. If you’re on a bench, you can move the dumbbell through a greater range of motion, thus working your chest more. If you do not have a bench, then find a safe way to prop yourself off the ground, even if it is for just 2-3 inches.
• Bring the dumbbell back to starting position. Repeat as desired.

Flat Bench Dumbbell Press

• Lay flat on your back on a bench of on the floor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and slowly press them upwards towards the ceiling. Pause at the top, and lower them back to starting position. Repeat as desired.

Organizing your Chest Workout

I like my workouts to be simple and intense. Here are a few ideas you can use to create your own high intensity home chest workout:

Dumbbell and Bodyweight Supersets – Choose on dumbbell exercise and one bodyweight exercise and perform them back to back in a superset fashion.

Alternating Grips - Choose one workout and perform it with a variety of grips and variations. For example, for spiderman pushups, you can try close grip, regular grip, and wide grip.

Insane Circuits – Choose 3-5 exercises and perform them back to back in a circuit fashion.

Heavy/High Rep Training - Choose one difficult bodyweight exercise, or a dumbbell exercise using heavy weights. The second exercise is a high rep exercise. Perform them in a  superset fashion.

One idea is to devote each week to a particular training method. The combination of exercises and training methods is practically endless!

For some really high intensity workouts you can do at home, check out Explode Workout. Click here for more information.

Tags: chest exercise, chest workout, home exercise, home fitness, home workout