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This Intense NFL Press-Up Challenge Will Build A Bigger Chest With No Weights

Photo credit: PeopleImages - Getty Images
Photo credit: PeopleImages - Getty Images

From Esquire

The classics are effective – that’s why they’re classics. Try your hand (er, chest) at former NFL star DeMarcus Ware’s straightforward but spicy chest workout, which requires little more than a weight plate (or, since you're at home, a step or box) and a whole lot of moxie.

Ware’s workout is simple: complete 10 reps of six different press-up exercises, back-to-back, for 60 total reps.

  • 10 press-ups

  • 10 plate step ups

  • 10 press-ups on the plate

  • 10 lateral tap downs

  • 10 lateral power ups

  • 10 press-ups

For the press-ups and plate press-ups, start with in a high plank position either on the ground or plate. Focus on engaging your core and squeezing your glutes and shoulder blades together to create tension throughout your body. Grip the floor with your fingers, keep your elbows in, and lower your body to the ground without touching it with your chest. Exhale, and without losing tightness in your core or lower back, press yourself back to start. Check out this guide for more form cues.

For the plate step ups and plate taps downs, your hips are going to want to dip every time you step a hand forward or sideways. Don’t let them. Lock in your core and draw your ribcage in to keep your body from tipping from one side to the other as you step.

The lateral power ups, the toughest movement in the challenge, put a lot of stress on your wrists. So if you’ve got weak wrists, we recommend subbing these out with an extra ten reps of lateral tap downs. For this movement, continue to focus on keeping your core braced even during the split second when you’re airborne. When you jump your hands back in, always place your palms on the plate so that your wrists are directly under your shoulders.

Ware is able to complete all 60 reps, unbroken, in under 90 seconds. Are youwhile maintaining good form? Give it a try.

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