Who doesn’t like a good push day for workouts? The typical chest, shoulders and triceps combination is universal for many starting their first fitness journey. Maybe you want to improve your numbers on the bench press or push-ups or develop a bigger chest, arms and shoulders. Regardless, many will flock to the weight room and focus on these activities for the workout. Here is a mix of weights, calisthenics and even some cardio/push options you can consider when doing your “chest day”:

Push-up/Dip Pyramid 1-10 with 50-meter jogs in-between + run one mile or bike 10 minutes: This push/cardio warm-up is best with a pull-up/dip bar that is outside or near an open area to jog 25 meters away and back to the bars. If you do not have that available, jump rope or do jumping jacks for 20 seconds each of the 10 sets of the half-pyramid warm-up to 10 reps each (total 55 reps of each). It looks like this:

• 1 push-up/1 dip, jog 25 meters x 2
• 2 push-ups/2 dips, jog 25 meters x 2
• 3 push-ups/3 dips, jog 25 meters x 2 …
• Continue to 10 push-ups/10 dips, with the warm-up jogs each set.

After this upper-body warm-up, continue jogging or biking for 10 minutes. After that, the warm-up is complete. If you do not have time, skip the 10-minute cardio or save it for later.

The Lift/Calisthenics Mix

Repeat five times.

• Bench press 10
• Push-ups max (no rest after bench)
• Abs of choice for one minute

Increase the weight each set until you struggle to get the 10^th repetition by the remaining 1-2 sets. Immediately follow the bench press with a max set of push-ups. This is a muscle stamina push to simulate the last two minutes of a push-up test without having to do two minutes’ worth of push-ups. Do push-ups until you cannot do them — then stop. Rest with a core exercise of your choice (sit-ups, plank, knee-ups, flutter kicks, etc.).

Reverse Push/Core Pyramid 10-1 (weight vest optional): This is the back side of a pyramid in the opposite order of the warm-up pyramid. The multiples next to the exercises are what you multiply the set number by to get the reps you need to do for that set.

• Push-ups x 2
• Sit-ups x 3
• Dips x 2
• Military presses x 1
• Hanging knee-ups x 2
• Rest 1-2 minutes, if needed

Start at Level 10 and do 20 push-ups, 30 sit-ups, 20 dips, 10 military presses, 20 hanging knee-ups, then rest. Level 9: Do 18 push-ups, 27 sit-ups, 18 dips, nine military presses, 18 hanging knee-ups, then rest. Level 8: Do 16 push-ups, 24 sit-ups, 16 dips, eight military presses, 16 hanging knee-ups, then rest. … Keep going down the ladder until you reach Level 1 and do two push-ups, three sit-ups, two dips, one military press and two hanging knee-ups.

End with the lightweight shoulder workout: Only use five-pound dumbbells with this six-exercise circuit.

Cardio option (run or swim): If you have a timed run or swim to take in your future, or you like to maintain a certain level of cardio capability, try this standard testing distance for either running or swimming (or both):

• Run 1.5 miles timed or swim 500 meters for time.

You can try the entire workout if you wish, or you can do a section of it and still get the upper-body pump you were looking for on push day.

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