Many people love to do Push-ups to build muscle mass because they are the most classic and effective bodyweight exercises for improving endurance and strength.
And No Doubt, push-ups are among the best ways also to train the inner chest in the comfort of home.
To build the inner chest with push-ups, you need to focus on using a close-grip hand placement.
Let’s Dive In!
Inner Chest Push-Ups Exercises
Here are the best inner chest push-ups that require no equipment or just a slight modification to target your inner pecs. With so many variations of push-ups available, one type will help you develop the inner portion of your chest better than others.
1. Standard Push-Up With Squeeze
When you perform a regular push-up, your chest, shoulders, and triceps work harmoniously to push your body up and down. But when you add squeeze at the top, you shift more of the workload to your inner chest.
The squeeze also increases the time under tension. The longer your muscles are under tension, the harder they work and the larger they get.
How To Do
- Take a regular push-up position with your hands a little wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your elbows close to your body. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor. Go as low as you comfortably can.
- As you push yourself back up, focus on squeezing your chest muscles together as hard as you can at the top. You’re trying to “bring your hands together” on the floor, even though they stay in place.
- Lower yourself back down and repeat the movement for your desired reps
2. Close Grip Push-Up
If you’re not doing these yet, you’re missing out on some serious inner chest gains. I was skeptical at first, too, but once I added these to my routine, I saw a noticeable difference in my chest definition.
With the close-grip push-up, your hands are positioned closer together. When you press up from this position, your pectoralis major muscles are forced to work harder to push your arms away from the midline of your body. This movement engages those inner chest fibers more than a standard push-up.
While the main focus of the close grip push-up is the chest, your triceps get a solid workout, too. Because your hands are close together, your triceps must work harder to extend your arms.
How To Do
- Get into a plank position, but this time, place your hands closer together—just under your chest.
- Keep your elbows close to your sides as you lower your chest toward the ground. Go as low as you comfortably can without flaring your elbows out.
- Press through your palms and focus on getting your chest and triceps into the movement.
- As you push back up, imagine you’re trying to squeeze your chest muscles together. This mental focus will help target the inner chest even more.
3. Diamond Push Up
Diamond push-ups, also known as triangle push-ups, are a more advanced type of classic push-ups. They provide all the benefits of a normal push-up, with a special focus on the triceps and inner chest.
There are many good reasons to add the diamond push-up to your workout routine. This includes increased triceps and chest activity, improved core strength and stability, and enhanced shoulder strength.
Practice diamond push-ups by bringing your hands too close together to form a diamond or triangle shape below your chest.
How To Do
- Put your hands under your chest and position your index fingers and thumbs to form a diamond shape.
- Remember to always keep your back straight with your abs and glutes contracted.
- Now extend your arms to elevate your body and form a straight line from your head to your feet.
- Lower your chest towards your hands, ensuring your elbows don’t flare out to the sides and keeping your back flat.
- Stop just before your chest touches the floor, then push back up to the starting position.
- Do 8–12 Reps for 3-4 Set.
4. Archer Push Up
This push-up variation helps you build strength and focus on one side of your chest at a time. This makes your chest muscles work harder, especially in the inner part of your chest.
Because you’re shifting your weight from one side to the other, your abs and obliques must work overtime to keep you stable.
How To Do
- Get into a wider grip push-up position.
- As you lower your body down, lean toward one arm, almost like you’re doing a one-arm push-up.
- The other arm stays straight out to the side for support. Don’t rush—take your time to feel the control in the movement.
- Push your body back up to the starting position using the arm you leaned into. Keep your core tight and your body straight as you press up. You’ll feel that side of your chest really working.
- Now, do the same thing on the other side. Lower yourself, shift your weight to the opposite arm, and push back up. Keep alternating sides for each rep.
- Remember, it’s not about rushing through these. The slower and more controlled you are, the more you’ll feel the burn and work those muscles.
5. Close Grip Dumbbell Push-Up
Dumbbell push-ups are a great exercise to add to your inner chest bodyweight workout arsenal.
Dumbbells allow for a greater range of motion in the shoulder joint, which can help increase flexibility and mobility.
How To Do
- Grab a dumbbell in each hand and get into a plank position with your palms facing the ground.
- Keep your elbows close to your body as you raise yourself off the ground.
- Raise until your elbows are locked, then pause at the top of the movement.
- Now lower your body slowly and steadily until your chest is close to the ground.
FAQs
Do push-ups work the inner chest?
There are many variations of push-ups for the inner chest, such as the Narrow Grip Push-Up and Diamond Push-Up.
Inner chest muscles are worked because you can place the hand closer than the shoulder width and squeeze the chest near the top thanks to the close hand placement.
Do diamond push-ups work the inner chest?
The best exercises to target the inner chest are diamond push-ups. A simple way to target the inner pecs with a push-up is to narrow your hand spacing into the diamond position.
Do close-grip push-ups work the inner chest?
Narrowing your hand spacing is a simple way to target the inner pecs with a push-up.
References
- Calatayud J., Borreani S., Colado J.C., Martin F., Rogers M.E. (2014) Muscle activity levels in upper-body push exercises with different loads and stability conditions. Physician and Sportsmedicine 42, 106-119.
- Cogley RM, Archambault TA, Fibeger JF, Koverman MM. Comparison of muscle activation using various hand positions during the push-up exercise. Journal of strength and conditioning research. 2005 Aug 1;19(3):628. Available:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16095413/ (accessed 16.12.2021)
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Ogborn, D., & Krieger, J. W. (2017). Dose-response relationship between weekly resistance training volume and increases in muscle mass: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of sports sciences, 35(11), 1073–1082.
Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.
Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.