Can I build my chest with push ups?

This one is for the men.  Guys who are looking to build & define their chest / pecs.

I'm often asked if you can get adequate results from push ups alone (without free weights).  The answer is hell yes!  There are some things you'll want to keep in mind and practice in order to get noticeable results.

1.  Good form.  It doesn't matter right now, how many you can do...it matters how you do them.  Ensure you protect yourself from injury, by following this guide:  First, place your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart on the floor and position your feet together behind your body. Keeping your core tight, push yourself off the floor until your arms are fully extended. Maintain a straight line from your heels to your shoulders and lower yourself down slowly. Stop when your chest is right above the floor, push yourself back up and repeat.  Try to inhale at the top & exhale the rest of the time in one fluid breath (breathing out as you go both up & down).  Focus on pushing through the heel of your palms & outside of your hands for maximum benefit.  Also, warm up before you begin a full session of push ups, this can be done with shoulder rotations (unilateral external / internal circular rotations) and a set of 8-10 push ups stopping on the way down 3-5 times.

2.  All the angles.  It's important you target the entire chest, this can be done with a variety of hand positions (narrow, middle and wide).  Also by placing your feet on a raised surface (decline) or vice versa with your hands resting on a bench (incline).  Vary your position to target the upper, middle and lower pectorals...be creative and mix and match.

3.  Intensity and workload.  Frequency and hitting it hard.  For beginners, do a push up routine every other day (3 days a week).  Rest 60-90 seconds between sets, do 4-5 sets of 10-12 reps.  Increase this as your strength and endurance increases.  Eventually as you see results and become accustom to the workouts you'll want to vary your sets to keep your body guessing, for example:

Intermediate Push Up Workout

15 Reps (Flat) / 12 Reps (Decline) / 12 Reps (Decline) / 10 Reps (Flat) / 10 Reps (Decline) / 20 Reps (Flat)

:: No more then 60-90 seconds rest between sets.