Training chest at home can be done efficiently.
But the problem is when we train the chest with bodyweight movements, they primarily target the middle and upper part of our chest, which cause an under-developed and weaker lower chest.
So, here I’m going to share with you the five best lower chest workouts at home that you can perform without any special equipment to build your lower chest more defined and attractive.
Lower Chest Muscular Anatomy
As we all know, we have to properly break down the muscle tissues in order to grow them bigger and stronger.
So, whether we’re trying to train our chest or any other part of the body, our main focus should be to give the maximum stretch and contraction to the working muscle so that the muscle tissues can break down properly.
And to make things more effective, first, we need to understand and flow the muscle fibers to stretch and contract the targeted muscle fibers effectively.
If we look at our chest, we’ll find three parts — upper, middle, and lower.
The muscle fiber of the upper chest runs out towards the shoulders at a slightly downward angle. And the middle chest fiber runs out horizontally toward the shoulders, where the lower chest runs slightly at an upward angle. (1)
This means to train our lower chest; we have to move our arms up to toward down to stretch and create the maximum tension to the lower chest.
5 Best Lower Chest Workouts at Home
Here’re the five best exercises to crush your lower chest at home.
1. Plyometric Incline Push-up
The first lower chest exercise we have is a simple but effective one to target the lower chest, the plyometric incline pushup. All you need here is an elevated platform, and that could be a bench or chair.
How to do:
- Stand in front of a bench.
- Place your hands on the bench and extend your legs backwards until you create a straight line from the back of your head to heels like a plank position.
- Bend your elbows and lower your body towards the bench and push explode all the way back up so that your torse and hands get out off the bench.
- Then back your hands and body on the bench and repeat that explosive movement as desired.
Tip: If you find it challenging to explode your hands off the bench, you can do regular incline push-ups but while pushing up your body, explode all the way back up to maximize the tension in the lower chest.
2. Pseudo Planche Push-up
The next exercise we have is another pushup variation, the pseudo planche pushup, even though it’s slightly more challenging but an effective one.
How to do:
- To begin, position yourself just like a regular push-up and then lean forward as much as you can while your fingers are facing in the front or outward.
- Then bend your elbows and lower chest towards the ground, push back up to the starting position, and repeat for reps.
Tip: Make sure you’re engaging your lower chest. You can place your knees on the floor to make it easier.
3. Chest Dips
Wait, wait! This dip isn’t the one that requires two parallel bars to perform. As I told you, you don’t need any special equipment, so you again need a platform like a bench.
How to do:
- Stand behind a bench and place your hands on the bench while your fingers facing forward and your legs are on the floor.
- Then bend your elbows and lower your upper body, and stretch your lower chest at the bottom. Don’t go too low because it can hurt your shoulders.
- Push back up with your arms to the starting position and repeat for reps.
- Make sure you’re engaging your lower chest throughout this whole movement.
Tip: You can use two chairs to perform the almost similar movement as you do with parallel bars in the gym.
4. Hindu Push-up
Here’s a great bodyweight compound movement, the Hindu pushup — a combination of three exercises and a great one to smash the lower chest.
How to do:
- To begin, position yourself like a “V” shape by placing your toes and hands on the ground and your hips high.
- Slowly lean forward while lowering your hips and head close to the ground. And by continuing this movement, raise your head in the front until your arms reach full extension.
- Then back to the starting position and repeat for reps.
- Ensure you’re contracting your lower chest, especially when you up your head by pushing through your hands.
Tip: You should be adequately warmed up before performing this exercise. And once again, you can place your knees on the floor to make it easier.
5. Twisting Incline push-up
Let’s finish with an incline push-up variation that trains your lower chest and engages your inner chest as well — making it a perfect recipe for an attractive chest.
How to do:
- Position yourself just like a standard incline push-up, but here we’ll twist our body towards our arm while pushing up.
- Do one incline push-up and twist your body to the left and then do another and twist to the right. Repeat as desired. (Watch the above video from 2:07 minute)
Tip: Contract your lower and inner chest throughout this entire movement and make sure you’re maintaining your body in a straight line.
Takeaway
Remember, when we do bodyweight movements, we don’t have extra weight to force our body for strength and muscle gain.
But at home, we can perform the workouts without taking the rest in between sets. This means our exercise should be:
- Reps to failure x 2-3 sets
- Or, 45-60 seconds x rounds to failure
Okayyy, we’ve crushed the best lower chest workouts at home. Add these exercises to your routine to build a more defined and attractive lower chest without leaving your home.
So, which exercise did you find most effective?
Mine is the inclined twisting pushup. What yours?
