Working out Chest - Bench *needed*?

[:: kna ::]

Is it near impossible to effectively work the chest without a bench? I barely have room for a bench, let alone a rack so many of my exercises are based around dumbbells for that reason alone.

If it comes to it, I'll get a bench, but that won't be until pay day which means I'll have to sit through a month of not working my pecs until then.

Everything I've read doesn't seem to list any exercises I could do without a bench, with the possible exception of doing Dumbbell Flyes on a bed (Which just doesn't seem right to me).

Anyone else in the same situation?

[Jimbo]

I'd like to tack on to this question - hope you don't mind KNA.
How much do weighted & elevated pushups approximate the same muscle groups as a bench press? I've been able to increase strength this way, but will I have any surprises (good or bad) when I get a bench/rack?
KNA, depending on the answers, you might want to take my alternative.

[Greensheep]

Hi,
for the first 5 weeks of my fatloss, my gym was closed and the only equipment i had access to was a 10kg dumbell and a 20kg skullcrush bar.
I used various forms of pushups to work my chest, here's a sample of a chest/delt/tri/traps + abs workout, probably from around week 3:

Normal Pushups
Military shoulder press (using the skullcrush bar)
Pushups (hands close together)
Shoulder shrug (with skullcrush bar)
Abdominal Crunches
Pushups (hands wide)
Lateral dumbell raises
Pushups (with elbows very close to the torso)
Shoulder shrug (with skullcrush bar)
Tricep Skullcrushers (with skullcrush bar, durr!, lol)
Abdominal raises (kindof like leg raises adapted to act almost like a reverse crunch)

I would repeat this routine three times with an extra three sets of normal pushups to really finnish me off at the end, lol.
Because i didnt have access to any heavy weights, I was relying on a the principle of light weights/lots of reps/lots of sets.
I would ensure that I kept a moderate to high pace all the way through as my muscles dont need as long to rest between light sets as they would between 180lb bench press sets, lol.

I didnt get this routine from anywhere so i cant offer any proof as to its success or the way in which it works.
All i know is that my chest, my delts and my tri's were pretty darm sore the day after, lol.
I also used variant of this style of workout for my Back/Bi workout and for my Leg workouts. ah what the hell, may aswell make use of all my workout logs, lol. Here's a back/bi + abs workout from about week 4 (fyi, i only work abs twice per week):

Standing Dumbell bicep curl (22lb)
Straight leg dead lift (using the 20kg,44lb skullcrush bar)
Bent over barbell row (skullcrush bar again)
Adbominals (alternating crunches and modified leg raises)
Barbell Bicep curl (using the skull bar in place of a barbell, very similar to hammer curls)

This would be repeated for 6/7 sets of each exercise. As before, I would keep a moderate pace. Again, my back and especially my forearms would feel it the next day, lol.

Legs:
Squats (using the skull bar)
Standing calf raises (one leg at a time, holding the skull bar to increase the weight)
Lunges (holding the 22lb dumbell)
Abdominals (just crunches in this example, but would usually alternate between crunches and modified leg raises)

I would only do 4/5 sets of these exercises becuase at the time my legs were having a hard time adapting to my cardio.

My word, this is a long post, lol.
Hope you can extract some useful information from all of this, lol.

Greeno

P.s. If you dont know what a skullcrush bar is, then here's a piccie:


Edit: Hey Jimbo, dont know if this is any use to you but at present, I can do approximately 35 normal pushups from full strength. In the gym, my working benchpress weight is approx 155lb. Maybe this can help you to approximate your starting bench weights. In terms of the muscles worked, i'm no expert, but i'd say they are pretty similar although a bench press will stimulate far more 'supporting' muscles, i.e. the muscles used to stop the bar pivotting forwards and breaking your legs, lol.

[:: kna ::]

Pushups, I didn't think of pushups! Duh..

Good tips on doing them though Greensheep, thanks, I shall take that on board.

[Banditfist]

I would say that a bench is almost a necessity. I was in the military. Pushups are an endurance exercise, not a bulk/strenght muscle building exercise. Yes you are working the muscle, but you are not building.

A bed is not the optimum piece of equipment. A bench allows your shoulder blades to move more naturally during the motion of a bench press.

[Greensheep]

Originally Posted by Banditfist

I would say that a bench is almost a necessity. I was in the military. Pushups are an endurance exercise, not a bulk/strenght muscle building exercise. Yes you are working the muscle, but you are not building.

A bed is not the optimum piece of equipment. A bench allows your shoulder blades to move more naturally during the motion of a bench press.

Yeah, absolutely I think a bench is very important for chest workout. Push-ups are certainly not ideal, but if for whatever reason you dont have access to a bench, be it lack of space/money/gym etc. Then a push-up based chest workout can be very effective for maintaining your muscle mass.

Greeno

[Jimbo]

Great info, guys! Thanks. I think I might look into the skullcrush bar.
I want to be clear that I'm doing weighted & elevated pushups, low reps. I do both close and wide "grip". So, I'm not really treating them as endurance exercises. Does this change the prognosis?

BTW Greensheep - went to your site: very impressive! I'm particularly envious of your bicep progress. Do you use a similar routine today for bicep/tricep as noted above?

[:: kna ::]

Well I've been given the go ahead by Mrskna that I can get a bench, but I need something I can fold away so I'm going with this as a starting point.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...roductId=89390

[Greensheep]

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Great info, guys! Thanks. I think I might look into the skullcrush bar.
I want to be clear that I'm doing weighted & elevated pushups, low reps. I do both close and wide "grip". So, I'm not really treating them as endurance exercises. Does this change the prognosis?

BTW Greensheep - went to your site: very impressive! I'm particularly envious of your bicep progress. Do you use a similar routine today for bicep/tricep as noted above?

erm, my biceps are a funny story, lol. I got serious tendonitis in both forearms about 3 years ago, due mostly to me not havin a clue what i was doing and workin the biceps too hard with no emphasis on strengthening the wrist/forearms.
As a result, I can't do any bicep work that puts too much downward force on my wrists. So in the gym i use close grip pull ups, hammer curls and deadlift for my biceps (never heard the word impressive in relation to my biceps before, lol, they're only 13.8 inches). I used normal dumbell curls in my 'gym closed' workouts but only with very light weights.
Put simpler, my bicep growth is mainly from pull-ups and deadlifts

Todays lesson: DONT NEGLECT YOUR FOREARMS AND WRISTS! lol. Everyone wants big biceps, but you need strong forearms to support them.


Greeno

[Jimbo]

Lesson well taken. I have to admit that I tend to pay more attention to the glamour muscles. Thanks.