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Exercises

Chest warm-up exercises: 8 moves and how many reps

Published October 24, 2026

The best chest warm-up exercises are jumping jacks to get warm, walkouts to open the shoulders, then push-ups graded by difficulty (kneeling, incline, standard), push-up plus for the shoulder blades, a one-arm band chest fly, and chest throws for speed. Pick four: 2 minutes of jacks, 5 walkouts, 10 push-up pluses and 10 to 12 easy push-ups, then light sets of your first press.

  1. Jumping Jack Calves, Quads
  2. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  3. Kneeling Push-Up Chest
  4. Incline Push-Up Chest
  5. Push-Up Chest
  6. Push-Up Plus Chest
  7. Single-Arm Band Chest Fly Chest
  8. Med Ball Chest Throw Abs

Raise and open up

Start with 2 minutes of jumping jacks, which lift your arms overhead on every rep, then a few walkouts to put weight on your shoulders and stretch the backs of your legs.

Raise: whole-body cardio with the arms overhead

Jumping Jack

Calves, Quads

It lifts your heart rate and moves your arms overhead in a small space, no equipment needed.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, feet together, hands resting by your thighs.
  2. Hop your feet out past hip width while you sweep both arms up until your hands meet above your head.
  3. Hop back to the start as the arms come down, and keep a steady rhythm on the balls of your feet.

Cues

  • Arms all the way up every rep
  • Soft knees on landing

Common mistakes

  • Cutting the arm swing short at shoulder height: the full overhead reach is the part that warms your shoulders.

Swap for: Star Jump, High Knees, Jump Rope

Build a session with Jumping Jack

Mobility: hinge, walk to a plank and back

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Ending in a plank loads the shoulders and wrists for the push-ups that come next.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, bend at the hips, and put your palms down by your feet.
  2. Walk your hands forward until you reach a high plank with your shoulders over your wrists.
  3. Walk your hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Shoulders over wrists in the plank
  • Small hand steps

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag in the plank: squeeze your glutes before you walk back.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Spider Plank, Plank Shoulder Tap

Build a session with Walkout

Push-ups, easiest to hardest

Push-ups are the most direct chest warm-up there is. Choose the version you can do for 15 easy reps and do 10 to 12; if you need more warm-up, step up to the next harder version for a second set.

Primer: push-up from the knees

Kneeling Push-Up

Chest

The easiest push-up version, so beginners can warm the chest without getting tired.

How to do it

  1. Kneel and walk your hands forward until your body is straight from knees to head.
  2. Lower your chest to just above the floor.
  3. Press back up, keeping the hips in line.

Cues

  • Hips forward, not up
  • Full range

Common mistakes

  • Pushing the hips up into the air: keep the line from knees to shoulders straight.

Swap for: Incline Push-Up, Push-Up, Band-Assisted Push-Up

Build a session with Kneeling Push-Up

Primer: push-up with hands raised on a box or bench

Incline Push-Up

Chest

Hands on a bench or box make it a lighter push-up that still lets the chest stretch at the bottom.

How to do it

  1. Put your hands on the edge of a box or bench, slightly wider than your shoulders.
  2. Walk your feet back so your body is straight, then lower your chest to the edge.
  3. Press away until your arms are straight.

Cues

  • Chest to the edge
  • Straight line, heels to head

Common mistakes

  • Touching with your chin or belly first: the chest arrives first.

Swap for: Push-Up, Kneeling Push-Up, Push-Up Plus

Build a session with Incline Push-Up

Primer: standard push-up for the whole pressing pattern

Push-Up

Chest

For most lifters an easy set of standard push-ups is the chest warm-up, done well short of failure.

How to do it

  1. Set your hands a little wider than your shoulders in a high plank.
  2. Lower your chest to just above the floor with the elbows angled about 45 degrees from your body.
  3. Press back up to straight arms in one line from heels to head.

Cues

  • Elbows at 45 degrees
  • Chest leads, hips follow

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: tuck them a little toward your ribs.

Swap for: Incline Push-Up, Kneeling Push-Up, Push-Up Plus

Build a session with Push-Up

Activation: push-up with an extra push at the top for the serratus

Push-Up Plus

Chest

The extra push at the top works the serratus and makes the shoulder blades move fully, which helps every press after.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank hands below your shoulders.
  2. Do a push-up, and at the top keep pushing so your upper back rounds a little and the shoulder blades spread.
  3. Let the blades come back together, then start the next rep.

Cues

  • Push the floor away at the top
  • Body stays in one line

Common mistakes

  • Sagging the hips while you reach: brace before each rep.

Swap for: Kneeling Push-Up, Plank Shoulder Tap, Incline Push-Up

Build a session with Push-Up Plus

Chest activation and speed

A light band fly works the chest through its stretch without your triceps, and a few chest throws prime speed before heavy pressing.

Activation: one-arm band fly to wake up the chest

Single-Arm Band Chest Fly

Chest

It isolates the chest at a light load, useful when your triceps or shoulders take over on presses.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a band at chest height and stand facing away with the handle in one hand, arm out to the side.
  2. Keep a slight bend in the elbow and sweep the hand forward across your chest.
  3. Let the arm open back slowly until you feel a light stretch across the chest.

Cues

  • Hug a tree with one arm
  • Chest up

Common mistakes

  • Bending the elbow more and more to press the band: hold the same elbow angle all the way.

Swap for: Cable Fly, Push-Up, Dumbbell Chest Fly

Build a session with Single-Arm Band Chest Fly

Primer: lying medicine ball throw against a wall

Med Ball Chest Throw

Abs

Fast throws from your back train your chest to push hard, a good primer before a heavy bench.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back near a wall, holding a medicine ball at your chest.
  2. Throw the ball hard against the wall with both hands.
  3. Catch it at your chest, reset, and throw again.

Cues

  • Throw from the chest
  • Reset each rep

Common mistakes

  • Using a ball too heavy to throw fast: speed is the point.

Swap for: Explosive Push-Up, Push-Up, Medicine Ball Slam

Build a session with Med Ball Chest Throw

Your first press

In the gym, finish with light sets of your first press. At home, the push-ups above already are your ramp.

First lift: barbell bench press with ramp-up sets

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

If the bench opens your session, its ramp-up sets come right after these drills.

How to do it

  1. Lie back with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, shoulder blades pulled back and down.
  2. Unrack, lower the bar to your mid-chest with the forearms vertical.
  3. Press up and slightly back toward your face until your arms lock out.

Cues

  • Blades pinned to the bench
  • Bar to the same spot every rep

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the bar off the chest on the light sets: practice the same touch you will use heavy.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

Build a session with Barbell Bench Press

First lift: incline dumbbell press with ramp-up sets

Incline Dumbbell Press

Chest

When the incline dumbbell press comes first, ramp with a light pair, then a medium one.

How to do it

  1. Sit on a low incline bench with dumbbells on your thighs, then kick them up as you lie back.
  2. Press the dumbbells up over your upper chest.
  3. Lower until your elbows are a little below the bench, then press again.

Cues

  • Deep, controlled bottom
  • Dumbbells over the shoulders at the top

Common mistakes

  • Clanking the dumbbells together at the top: stop just short and keep tension.

Swap for: Incline Barbell Bench Press, Machine Incline Press, Flat Dumbbell Press

Build a session with Incline Dumbbell Press

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Home chest workout with push-ups

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You train chest at home with bodyweight only.

At home the warm-up and the workout use the same movement, so this plan climbs the push-up ladder: kneeling, then incline, then push-up plus, before the standard push-up sets. Working sets stop 2 reps short of failure so you can repeat them across the session.

Home Chest
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 2 rounds back to back. 2 × 45 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Kneeling Push-Up 1 × 10 5 15 s
Incline Push-Up 1 × 10 5 15 s
Push-Up Plus 1 × 10 4 15 s
Push-Up1 warm-up set first 3 × 10–20 2 90 s
How to run it
Do the warm-up blocks with 15 seconds between them, then the working push-up sets.
How to progress
When all push-up sets reach 20 with 2 in reserve, raise your feet or slow the lowering.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Gym session that starts with bench press

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets14 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Medicine Ball, Barbells, Flat Bench

Your chest session opens on the barbell bench.

In the gym, the drills are quick and the band fly and chest throws prepare the chest for load and speed, then the bench gets three ramp-up sets. Working sets stop 2 reps short of failure to keep bar speed high.

Bench Start
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Push-Up Plus 1 × 10 4 15 s
Single-Arm Band Chest FlyPer side. 1 × 12 4 15 s
Med Ball Chest ThrowFast. 1 × 5 4 30 s
Barbell Bench Press3 warm-up sets firstRamp: bar x10, ~60% x5, ~80% x2. 3 × 4–6 2 3 min
How to run it
About 5 minutes of drills, then the bench ramp. Rest 2 to 3 minutes before working sets.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds when all sets reach 6 with 2 in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

New to chest training

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets14 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentResistance Bands, Dumbbells, Incline Bench

You are a few weeks into lifting and starting with dumbbells.

Beginners need a shorter, easier warm-up: kneeling push-ups instead of standard ones, the band fly to learn what the chest feels like working, and two ramp-up sets on the incline dumbbell press.

First Chest Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 4 4 15 s
Kneeling Push-Up 1 × 8–10 5 15 s
Single-Arm Band Chest FlyPer side. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Incline Dumbbell Press2 warm-up sets first 3 × 10–12 2 90 s
How to run it
Do everything slowly; the warm-up is also practice. Then two light sets of the incline press before the working sets.
How to progress
Move up a dumbbell size once all sets hit 12 with 2 in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

Are push-ups a good warm-up for chest?

Yes. An easy set of 10 to 12, of whichever version you can do for 15 easy reps, warms the chest, shoulders and triceps together.

How do I warm up my chest for bench?

Two minutes of easy cardio, push-up pluses, a light band chest fly and a few chest throws, then ramp-up sets of the bench from the empty bar.

What are four good chest warm-up exercises?

Jumping jacks, walkouts, push-up plus and an easy set of push-ups. Add the band fly if you have a band.

Should I warm up my chest with light weights?

Yes: light ramp-up sets of your first press are the most specific chest warm-up there is. Two or three sets with fewer reps as the weight climbs.

How many push-ups should I do to warm up?

About 10 to 12 easy reps, stopping at least 5 reps short of failure.