Pushups (Close and Wide Hand Positions) — start position
Start
Pushups (Close and Wide Hand Positions) — end position
End

Chest / Beginner / Compound (multi-joint)

Pushups (Close and Wide Hand Positions)

A bodyweight exercise for the chest, with the front delts, triceps and serratus assisting.

At a glance

Primary
Chest
Secondary
Front delts, Triceps, Serratus anterior
Equipment
Bodyweight
Movement pattern
Horizontal push
Level
Beginner
Type
Chest, Compound (multi-joint)

Loads the wrist. Use a load you can control and skip it if it causes pain.

How to do it

  1. Lie on the floor face down and body straight with your toes on the floor and the hands wider than shoulder width for a wide hand position and closer than shoulder width for a close hand position. Make sure you are holding your torso up at arms length.
  2. Lower yourself until your chest almost touches the floor as you inhale.
  3. Using your pectoral muscles, press your upper body back up to the starting position and squeeze your chest. Breathe out as you perform this step.
  4. After a second pause at the contracted position, repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.

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Muscles worked

Neck (Front)Upper traps (Front)Front delts — secondary (Front)Side delts (Front)Chest — primary (Front)Serratus anterior — secondary (Front)Biceps (Front)Forearms & grip (Front)Abs (Front)Obliques (Front)Hip flexors (Front)Quads (Front)Adductors (Front)Shins (tibialis) (Front)Calves (Front)Outer shins (peroneals) (Front)Feet (arch & toes) (Front)Neck (Back)Upper traps (Back)Upper back (rhomboids, mid/lower traps) (Back)Rear delts (Back)Side delts (Back)Rotator cuff (Back)Lats (Back)Lower back (erectors) (Back)Triceps — secondary (Back)Forearms & grip (Back)Hip abductors (glute med) (Back)Glutes (Back)Hamstrings (Back)Adductors (Back)Calves (Back)
FrontBack
  • Primary: Chest
  • Secondary: Front delts, Triceps, Serratus anterior

Best for

How specific this exercise is to each movement.

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Photos and instructions: free-exercise-db (github.com/yuhonas/free-exercise-db), public domain.