Get a banging chest workout without a Gym? That sounds crazy!! Well, for those of you that have a travelling oriented lifestyle, this will come as great news. It’s not crazy.
Lately I have been embracing a very gypsy lifestyle and having been in 9 cities over the last 3 months, paying for a new gym each time has not been an option. As a result, I dedicated my time to researching and eventually mastering the art of home work outs. This has actually turned out to be rather nice with 6 people having asked me to design them similar exercises that the can mainly do at home. This said, a no gym routine applies to those of you who have difficult working hours, new born children or gymophobia.
In this post I would like to concentrate on what I thought was not possible, really training the chest. Push ups of course is the standard go to move for such a task, yet repeating sets of push ups just is not appealing or effective. Over time I learned that the saying is true, a little creativity goes a long way. It is very possible to turn the ordinary push up into a very effective chest, deltoids and tricep work out.
The standard push-up, remember form is everything:
The wide hand push-up to concentrate on the chest:
The close hand diamond push-up to focus on the triceps:
The military push-up. Calling on mr back and triceps:
*** The above three can also be done with your legs elevated by using a chair, bench, desk...
The clap push-up. This really engages your back muscles and calls upon your explosive strength.
The one push-up. This really isolates the exercise to one side. Remember to have your feet wide apart and expect your body to slightly twist. This exercise relies heavily on your tricep so ensure that you can manage close grip push-ups before you try this:
The one arm clap push-up. Did somebody just say “this ish got real” ?
Split Walking Chaturanga push-up. This will make you feel like spiderman!!
Finaly, a personal favourite and intense challenge. The Bring Sally push up. I was introduced to this one by my friend Mr JH Engineer and cannot thank him enough! I have not yet managed a complete round, but one day soon, Sally will be conquered.
*** Finally please note that push-ups with bad form will take a toll on your lower back. Please ensure that your back is straight, you are looking forwards and most importantly, your bum is not waving around in the air!
Enjoy. Lombz.
"We bow down before no man"
- Afterwads (the two Spartan from the entry above) when they came to the Persian King's presence, the guards ordered them to fall down in homage and when refused, force was used, the Spartan's resisted and this was their reply to the King.
* 'Histories' by Herodotus (7.136)
"We bow down before no man"
- Afterwads (the two Spartan from the entry above) when they came to the Persian King's presence, the guards ordered them to fall down in homage and when refused, force was used, the Spartan's resisted and this was their reply to the King.
* 'Histories' by Herodotus (7.136)
