Grow strength and tone up your torso with this easy-to-use but intensely-effective bodyweight chest workout for women.
Bodyweight training is the new revolution of fat burning, muscle strengthening training for busy working women who don’t have the time to hit the gym. All you need is a free space, some loud music and a bit of motivation.
In this short guide we’ll be giving you our very best chest-based training tips. If your goal is to tighten your upper body and sculpt some athletic, shapely arms, you’re in the right place.
This is our bodyweight chest workout for women…
The benefits of bodyweight workouts
When it comes to easy, accessible and intensely effective workouts, bodyweight is where it’s at.
Getting fit doesn’t have to take up your whole day.
It shouldn’t leave you in a crumpled, sweaty mess on the floor or unable to move for days and days after.
Bodyweight training can help you strengthen your muscles, improve flexibility, increase health and completely transform your body composition. It helps you achieve not just a sexy silhouette, but one that means business too.
Research shows that daily bodyweight training at high intensity can do more for your body than hours and hours of boring cardio ever could.
HIIT workout plans for weight loss for example, are one of the most effective fat burning systems ever designed.
If you’re still not convinced, check out these key benefits to bodyweight training, and why they can form a fundamental part of your overall health and fitness journey…
Anywhere workouts designed to be fast and efficient
Life is hectic.
If it’s not your busy work schedule it’s a school play or a family get together. There’s just no time for you to grab your gym bag, drive across town, get a decent workout and carry on with your day.
Bodyweight training is like the ninja of strength training. It allows you get in, do what you need to do, and leave before anyone ever knew you were there.
Fast, efficient, effective.
You can combine fat burning with muscle toning
When you hit the gym for a workout, you often find yourself performing a cardio session followed by a series of strengthening exercises.
The process works; but its long and drawn out.
Bodyweight circuits combine both high calorie burning and strength because each exercise can be easily placed into a circuit.
Performing a bodyweight workout at a fast pace with minimal rest between sets ramps up fat loss while still building strong and functional curves.
Bodyweight training is fun and highly adaptable
The same machines in the gym, week in, week out, gets boring very fast.
Bodyweight training can be adapted to suit your ever-improving fitness levels with ease.
If you fancy changing up your exercises, you can modify them with simple changes. You can completely rewrite your routine or even make small changes such as adding more reps, performing each exercise more ballistically, or grouping same muscle exercises together for a more intense burn.
With thousands of variations you can find a routine that not only works for you, but one that’s fun too.
Perfect if you fancy a quickie
There’s no excuse for skipping a bodyweight workout.
We’ve already told you that they’re fast and time-efficient, perfect if you’re short on time.
But they also help you build motivation, resilience and positive habits too.
For many women, finding that inner strength to actually get to the gym can be enough of a challenge… especially on a dark, grey night when you just want to snuggle under a blanket and cocoon yourself with a movie.
Half the battle is fighting off the excuses not to train.
But with convenient and short body blasting workouts such as bodyweight ones, you can completely transform how you think about workouts.
Hey, it’s free
This one’s simple.
You don’t need expensive equipment, top-of-the-line gym clothing or the best footwear.
Hell, you don’t even need a gym membership.
One of the reasons bodyweight training is so popular according to experts is that it costs nothing at all.
The workout
Okay, so now you’re excited at the prospect of dicing up fat while targeting muscle tone, it’s time to look at the bodyweight chest workout for women.
This workout plan has been designed to activate every fiber of your upper, mid and lower chest muscles. It uses a variety of loading and rep ranges to spice up your workout, and even involves your arms and core too.
It’s a full upper body blast, with special emphasis on your pecs.
Complete this workout twice per week, with at least 3 days rest between workouts. That way you give your muscles enough time to heal.
Because you’re targeting a specific muscle group, you don’t really need a load of different exercises. You just need a small number that do the job.
The workout should take you no longer than 20-30 minutes to perform, based on your own individual recovery needs between sets.
All you need to do is complete 3 rounds of each circuit. Try your best to limit rest between sets – around 1-3 minutes if you can but take a breather between rounds too if you need to.
Here’s the workout.
#1. Decline push-ups using a step
4 sets of 8-15 reps
Th push-up is the squat of the upper body – it’s a must have exercise. If you can perform full push-ups that’s great. But for many women, it’s a step too far.
Performing push-ups on the knees isn’t challenging enough for most people, so a great variation that matches the intensity of full-push-ups are decline push-ups using a step.
- Find a step that is around 12 inches in height. The higher the step, the easier the exercise will be.
- Place your hands just wider than shoulder-width and walk your legs back until your legs, torso and head are completely in a straight line.
- Brace your core to stop your lower back from arching.
- Bend at your elbows and lower your chest to the step until you are around 3-4 inches above it.
- Pause briefly and push yourself away, making sure you don’t lock your elbows out at the top of the movement.
- Breathe in as you lower your body and out as you push yourself away from the step.
#2. Plank holds
3 sets of 30-45 seconds
The plank is a great exercise for your abs and core. It helps you transfer force from your strong lower body to your arms, shoulders and chest.
The reason why it’s included in this bodyweight chest workout for women isn’t so much for its effect on your pecs (although it does involve them), but rather it teaches you to hold position when doing push-up variations.
- Place your forearms and the ground, around shoulder-width apart. Your elbows should be directly under your shoulders.
- Walk your feet back until your body is completely straight. Imagine drawing a line through your body – the line would pass through your heels, knees, hips, shoulders and ears.
- Tighten your core and booty and hold that position.
- Make sure you control your breathing and relax as much as possible. Holding your breath can be dangerous.
#3. Chair dips
3 sets of 15-20 reps
Dips are a fantastic exercise for toning the underside of your arms and hitting your lower and outer chest muscles. When it comes to an effective bodyweight chest workout for women, this is a must-do muscle strengthener.
- Position your hands on a bench or chair at shoulder-width apart.
- Slide your booty off the step and straighten your legs out in front of your body. Bending your knees makes the exercise easier.
- Keeping your elbows high, bend your elbows and lower your booty to the floor. Keep your back close to the step.
- Once you’re hovering just above the ground, extend your arms and bring yourself to the start position.
The bottom line
Bodyweight workouts are flexible, adaptable and fun. And with this bodyweight chest workout for women, you’ve got the best chance yet to tone your upper body and build a strong, athletic figure.
