Do push-ups really work your pectorals?!
Question:
Do push-ups really work your pectorals?
I did them all the time and most of the time my triceps were sore after. I understand the farther apart your hands are the more you work your chest... but it doesn't work for me? What else can I do without weights?
Answers:
No kidding, pushups are one of the best exercises for to build the chest muscles. If your arms are that sore, take a day or two off. When you go back at it, do a few push-up workouts of moderate intensity before moving back to high intensity ones. Eventually, your muscles will get used to the pounding and you will stop getting so sore after your workouts (light to moderate soreness is to be expected after really intense workouts).
I had always had a skinny chest before I came to pushups. I was doing a lot of low-rep work to build strength. I got to the point where I could lift 275 for one rep and my chest still looked like a wishbone. Then I stopped lifting weights due to personal problems. While at home, I would do pushups. I started out doing 2-4 sets of 30-50 and just worked up from there. At my peak, I could do 5 sets of 100 and 186 in a row (which isn't as many as it sounds like). Guys who were bigger than I was in high school were remarking that my chest was big--bigger than theirs!
When you do a push-up, using too wide of a grip is counter-productive. To me, a really wide grip seems to put a lot of stress on the outer pecs. The position also feels unnatural. Just position your arms 3-6 inches outside of the width of your shoulders. Don't go too fast on the negative and be sure to go down all the way--to the point where the top of your stomach/bottom of your chest, lightly touches the ground.
to recap, do 30-75 pushups for 2-4 sets about 5 times a week in the way described above and your chest will start to come out. Trust me.
JD
P.S. Don't expect their to be much of the connection between the size of your chest and its strength. When you do high-rep workouts like pushups, you are working to make the muscle biggerm, not stronger. There are guys that can do hundreds of pushups who can't bench 225 lbs.