I usually work my chest and triceps on the same day because they are activated through similar exercises. They are both “pushing” muscles, so any exercise where you push weight away from you (push up, bench press, etc.) uses these.

For the purpose of working out your chest, there are two main muscles. These are the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. Some exercises may target the “inner” or “outer” parts of these muscles, but there is really only an upper and a lower chest. One easy way to strengthen chest muscles without weights is by doing push-up variations. There are many different ways to perform a push-up that can put stress on different parts of the chest, giving you a full workout. If you have dumbbells at home, those are the best in my opinion for hitting every part of the chest muscles. Here are some sample dumbbell and bodyweight exercises. If you want to see some crazy push-up variations, check out this video. It’s definitely more fun to watch than to try to perform.

To get the most out of these exercises, it’s important to follow a few tips. Make sure you are focusing on contracting and extending the chest, not using other muscles to compensate. Keep your shoulders behind your chest so you don’t rely on using them for support. Always start your repetitions slow, and use a full range of motion. The chest is one of the hardest muscle areas to build, so it may take a long time before seeing results. This is why it’s important to start with light weight and focus on feeling that contraction (even for bodyweight exercises). After your chest is used to these different motions, it will start to grow and gain strength.

Exercising your triceps deals with one muscle, but you can still put tension on it from multiple angles to fully strengthen it. These variations involve angling your arms or body differently so that you push with different parts of the tricep. Here are some sample exercises.

In both my chest and tricep workouts I always try to include a static exercise with my dynamic exercises. A static exercise involves placing constant tension on the muscles. An example for the chest is a push-up hold. This is done by getting into push-up position, going down, and holding that position for a set amount of time, or until you physically can’t anymore. Static holds will get harder if you repeat them throughout multiple sets. It’s a great way to tire out your muscles and stay mentally focused on targeting them.