best chest workout without weights

[denverizzles]

hey guys i'm finally recovered from my shoulder surgery but unfortunately i can no longer bench for my shoulder just doesnt seem stable. although push ups i can do no problem what so ever! so just wonder if you guys knew of a push up regiment that can build some mass? or maybe even just a chest routine that doesnt include bench, incline, or decline press.

thanks!

[JontheAtheist]

hey guys i'm finally recovered from my shoulder surgery but unfortunately i can no longer bench for my shoulder just doesnt seem stable. although push ups i can do no problem what so ever! so just wonder if you guys knew of a push up regiment that can build some mass? or maybe even just a chest routine that doesnt include bench, incline, or decline press.

thanks!

Pyramid pushups.

Start with one. Then do two. Then three. Then four etc etc. When you reach ten, do ten again, and then nine, then eight, all the way back down to one.

[bigtallox]

hey guys i'm finally recovered from my shoulder surgery but unfortunately i can no longer bench for my shoulder just doesnt seem stable. although push ups i can do no problem what so ever! so just wonder if you guys knew of a push up regiment that can build some mass? or maybe even just a chest routine that doesnt include bench, incline, or decline press.

thanks!

Doing pushups makes you better at doing pushups but won't build much muscle for most people since it's equivalent to benching only something like 65% of your bodyweight. Personally I'd say just let the shoulder rest and heal. Eventhough pushups may not cause pain, you could still re-injure your shoulder doing them, the risk to reward ratio is just too high.

[denverizzles]

well i've rehabed for about a year already...my physical therapist said it's fully healed and isnt going to get any better. WHICH SUCKS. so it's either pay for another surgery to see if it didnt heal correctly or just deal with what i can do. what if i put a weight on my back? could that help?

[bigtallox]

well i've rehabed for about a year already...my physical therapist said it's fully healed and isnt going to get any better. WHICH SUCKS. so it's either pay for another surgery to see if it didnt heal correctly or just deal with what i can do. what if i put a weight on my back? could that help?

Oh, I didn't realize it had been a year. Then, if doing pushups does NOT hurt, but benching does, I'd say you need to learn correct bench technique. Does it hurt to bench the bar?

[denverizzles]

no doesnt hurt with the bar...hurts when i put weight. shoulder just feels completely unstable. i can bench but then shoulder becomes extremely sore which i prefer not to have cause it worries me. and the soreness isnt a good sore. it's a painful sore you know? but if i just do pushups it's a good chest soreness

[Ironwake]

Heres something you could try, taken from Mark Rippetoes forum. Although I'm unsure of the type injury you have... but if you are able to bench the bar with no pain, this seems like a method that could be useful.

Here is the tried-and-true injury rehab method for muscle-belly injuries we got from Starr and that has worked for years better than any other method I've ever used. It also works well on orthopeadic injuries in general, and should be tried before anything more elaborate is used. Wait 3-4 days until the pain starts to "blur",which indicates that the immediate process of healing has stopped the bleeding and has started to repair the tissue. Then use an exercise that directly works the injury, i.e. that makes it hurt, in this case the squat. Use the empty bar and do 3 sets of 25 with perfect form, allowing yourself NO favoring the injured side. If it's ready to rehab you will know by the pain: if the pain increases during the set, it's not ready, if it stays the same or feels a little better toward the end of the set, it is ready to work.

The NEXT DAY do it again, and add a small amount of weight, like 45 x 25 x 2 , 55 x 25. Next day, 45 x 25, 55 x 25, 65 x 25. Continue adding weight every day, increasing as much as you can tolerate each workout. It will hurt, and it's supposed to hurt, but you should be able to tell the difference between rehab pain and re-injury. If you can't, you will figure it out soon enough. This method works by flushing blood through the injury while forcing the tissue to reorganize in its normal pattern of contractile architecture.

After 10 days of 25s, go up in weight and down in reps to 15s, then to 10s, and finally to fives. During this time do NO OTHER HEAVY WORK, so that your resources can focus on the injury. You should be fixed in about 2 weeks, squatting more than you hurt yourself with.

This method has the advantage of preventing scar formation in the muscle belly, since the muscle is forced to heal in the context of work and normal contraction, using the movement pattern it normally uses. The important points are 1.) perfect form with 2.) light weights that can be handled for high reps, 3.) every day for two weeks, and 4.) no other heavy work that will interfere with the system-wide processes of healing the tear.

It is also very important through the whole process of healing the injury that ice be used, during the initial phase after the injury and after the workouts. Use it 20 on/20 off, many times a day at first and then tapering off to morning, after the workout, and before bed. Ice is your best friend in a muscle belly injury, holding down inflammation and fluid accumulation ("swelling") while at the same time increasing beneficial blood flow through the injury. But DO NOT USE ICE MORE THAN 20 MINUTES AT A TIME. More than that can cause more damage than it repairs.

This may actually be the most useful post on this entire little forum of mine, and if you use this method exactly you can save yourself many weeks of lost training and long-term problems with muscle-belly scarring. Try it and see.

Worth a shot, IMO

[QuincyQ]

You could also do some dips, i recommend you do the thing the guy above me posted though.

[Preservations]

without any weights besides your own body weight I would suggest fill a back pack with sand or rocks and try doing it then different variations of push up can stimulate your chest but you won't be getting the same effectiveness of using weight bars, dumbells etc to give your body max resistance...but good luck.

[Big_Carphuna]

Dips...if your shoulder can hack it. Excellent for lower chest...now, adding weight (I like when my gf sits on the back/shoulders) WILL add muscle onto push ups. changing angle, especially feet inclined, will work upper chest where the dips work the lower chest.
Change it up. Add some weight. Decline...incline...diamond...wide grip...dip....

[Big_Carphuna]

no doesnt hurt with the bar...hurts when i put weight. shoulder just feels completely unstable. i can bench but then shoulder becomes extremely sore which i prefer not to have cause it worries me. and the soreness isnt a good sore. it's a painful sore you know? but if i just do pushups it's a good chest soreness

Have you tried dumbells?? Better range of motion may help you work the shoulder better, as well as those stablility muscles...