The upper chest can be a tough area to hit with bodyweight movements.
This bodyweight exercise is a simple push-up done with your hands set in a unique position...on the flat faces of a pair of weight plates, leaning up against something solid.
The path that your upper arms follow is the exact pattern needed to strongly target the clavicular portion of the upper chest...even better than incline bench press.
How To Set Up Upper Chest Plate Push-Ups
To perform this one, you'll need some simple equipment...a pair of weight plates (ideally 45 pound bumper plates) and something solid to lean them up against at angle that will allow your head to come over the top of them.
A wall won't work for this because you need to be able to move your body over the top of the plates (you'll see).
I've got a bar set on the rails of the power rack with the rails set at the lowest position I could put them to. A Smith machine bar would likely also work for this.
If you don't have anything like that, you'll need find something solid that is fairly low to the ground to lean the plates up against. Large dumbbells could potentially work for this - just make sure you set them lengthwise with the plates leaning on the ends so that they won't roll.
Bumper plates are ideal for this since the rubber surface will give you some degree of grip...steel plates will make this a bit tougher, but it will still be doable.
Having your hands set at an angle like this is critical for the exercise. It's what allows you to really target the upper chest strongly.
The angle of the surfaces allows you to project direct backwards resistance (different than if you set your hands on a bar or on the floor).
As well, in order to KEEP your hands from sliding on the plates, you have to exert tension with your feet and core to press forward into the plates. This ramps up the tension on the upper chest even more.
Set your feet back about 4 feet or so, with a bend at the hips. You can adjust this position as you go (as you'll see in the video). To make it easier, move your feet in closer.
Now lower your body forward, into the bottom of a push-up (ish) position. Your chin should go over the top end of the plates so that your shoulders get close to the plates.
This is the bottom position that puts a strong stretch on the upper pecs.
Now push up and back.
Come all the way up until your arms are fully extended overhead.
This arm path is the OPTIMAL arm path for targeting the upper chest muscle fibers.
Even if you're strong with regular push-ups, this one is a whole different animal. The angle of push and increase in total-body tension will light up your upper chest like crazy.
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Want more unique and challenging exercises to work your entire body with simple equipment? All you need is just a barbell, dumbbells and a bench. Check out The Best Home Gym Exercises You've Never Heard Of!
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