Overview
Are you unhappy with your smaller chest & shoulder size and planning to start your workout soon but at the same time worried about handling loads of gym weights and big bars for the first time? Relax and pay attention! The first step towards achieving any goal should be a "baby step" with gradually and consistently increasing the pace. When you know to possess the right attitude towards your goal, you keep it cool and nothing can stop you.
What I mean to say is "One Exercise" at a time if you are a beginner and later add up more after you establish a habit of it. And that one exercise could be none better than Push-ups. It is a self-weight workout, with the least of space required and no additional equipment needed. The most basic and very effective exercise to shape your chest beast size.
Though as a beginner, you can surely do multiple forms of workout, however, the job to keep yourself regular at it becomes difficult unless you seeing progress and following a balanced diet. While it is much easier when the task is short and selective.
And if you're quite familiar with a standard push-up workout, now is the time you can switch to a wide grip push-up style which besides is definitely a better chest workout than the normal push-up.
Introduction to 'Wide Grip Push-up'
Muscles Targeted: Chest > Shoulders > Triceps > Upper Back > Biceps > Abdominals.
A pushup exercise, in general, is 'One in all' for no-equipment upper body workout and that's why it's great to start your workout with push-ups only.
How is it different from a standard push-up: If you want your shoulder and back muscles tonned along with the chest, you need to consider this as wider hands grip placed a little ahead of shoulders will work almost all major muscles of the torso and arm as mentioned. In the same way, when we position our hands closer, the mass tension rises on the tricep muscles keeping the elbow joints involved.
A 2016 study found that the wide grip resulted in roughly 20% more activation of the biceps than the standard Push-Up. So if you're looking to pump up your biceps, Wide-Grip Push-Ups can do the trick. It also targets the serratus anterior.
How to Perform
Step 1: Lowering Down
- Lay down in a push-up form and keep your body from straight head to toe, make sure you do not bend by the hips or the spine.
- Take a wide grip, keeping your elbows slightly behind the shoulders forming an 'arrow shape' in the bottom position, not a 'T'. Do not try pushup on fists and simply keep your palms open for better balance.
- Inhale and slowly lower down the torso and stop when the chest and shoulders go beneath the elbows.
- While going down, make sure you squeeze the upper back muscles and engage your core and gluteal muscles when the body is straight as if holding a plank form.
- Keep your neck neutral and do not lift the head to avoid tension in the neck muscles.
Step 2: Pushing Up
- Engage your chest muscles and core to the fullest as you press into your hands to lift your body back to the starting position. Exhale and move your hips and legs at the same time.
- Keep your hands stationary and arms tight, as the wide push-up will need more strength at the shoulders.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
For beginners, do 3-4 sets a day with 15-20 repetitions, involving a maximum of 3 minutes break in between.
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