What Muscles Do Pushups Work?
Your muscles are getting more out of this staple bodyweight movement than you realize
Getty Images
Long established as a hallmark of physical prowess, the pushup is one of the most commonly featured exercises in movie training montages (think Demi Moore's impressive one-arm pushups in G.I. Jane). It also is a top pick for 30-day challenges and bodyweight exercise plans.
The rationale behind pushups' popularity is solid—it is a convenient, no-equipment, full-body movement that builds strength and muscular endurance. You also can expect to increase muscle mass in your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Plus, there's a ton of variations that focus on different muscles in your upper body and bring variety to your workouts.
Convinced you should add pushups to your own training montage? Learn more about which muscles pushups work, the benefits of adding them to your routine, and an overview of variations to try.
Related: The 30-Day Push-Up Challenge for Seriously Strong Arms
Muscles Worked During Pushups
Pushups primarily work the chest muscles, but several other muscles are involved as primary and secondary movers and stabilizers. "Essentially, pushups are a total upper-body workout," says Kellie Kopach, EdD, a fitness instructor at Life Time.
Pushups also are a convenient and efficient exercise for targeted strength and conditioning of the upper body. You also can expect to feel your abdominals, back, and hip flexors working to keep you stable during the movement, which may help prevent and reduce lower back pain.
"Depending on how they are performed, different muscles can be biased for different training effects, such as shoulder stabilization focus, chest-focused workout, arm-focused workout, and so on," says Mike Masi, DPT, a physical therapist, orthopedic specialist, and consultant with Garage Gym Reviews.
Pushups Work the Following Muscles
Primary muscles worked:
Pectorals (chest)
Anterior deltoid (shoulders)
Triceps (arms)
Serratus anterior (periscapular muscles)
Secondary muscles worked:
Anterior core (abdominals and obliques)
Erector spinae and multifidus (lower back)
Hip flexors
Rotator cuff (shoulder joint supporting musculature)
Pushups also are effective in building strong pecs, triceps, and deltoids, and they improve wrist mobility, core strength, and stability. There also are ways to tailor the movement to suit your fitness level and goals simply by adjusting the angle, arm position, or temp, Dr, Masi says. "Pushups are also very easy to scale, as you can elevate the surface your hands are on to reduce the exercise difficulty."
Exactly How to Do Pushups
"To make the most of every pushup, it's important to focus on maintaining proper form—this will help reduce the risk of injury while engaging all the right muscles," says Dr. Kopach. A basic pushup looks like this:
1. Get into the plank position.
2. Keep your arms straight to avoid locking the elbows. Your palms should be flat on the floor, and your wrists, elbows, and shoulders should be aligned.
3. Engage your core so that your back doesn't sag downward.
4. Maintain a straight spine from your neck to your hips.
5. Bend your elbows in a slow and controlled motion.
6. Push yourself back up to the plank position.
Benefits of Pushups
Pushups increase overall physical health by building strength and muscle mass. You will also notice improvements in your posture, upper body bone density, and spinal stability.
Research also shows that being able to perform more pushups is associated with fewer incidences of cardiovascular events over 10 years, suggesting that a higher baseline pushup capacity indicates a healthier heart. Here are some additional benefits of pushups.
Builds Strength and Muscular Endurance
Pushups are bodyweight resistance movements that build strength and muscular endurance in your upper body, including your chest, triceps, and core. They are especially beneficial to those new to resistance training and those who are smaller or not as strong but hoping to build strength for heavier compound movements such as bench presses.
Although the bench press is an open kinetic chain exercise and the pushup is a closed chain exercise, the motion of both requires shoulder horizontal flexion and extension and elbow flexion and extension. If you are new to lifting weights or are not yet strong enough to use a barbell (typically weighing 45 pounds) to bench press, doing pushups is an excellent way to build the strength needed to get there.
Improves Body Composition and Metabolism
If you continue to increase the volume and challenge of your pushups, you can build lean muscle mass that improves body composition (ratio of fat mass to nonfat mass and muscle). This will in turn boost your metabolism. And because muscle uses more energy than fat, you'll burn more calories at rest, helping you maintain a balanced weight.
As an added bonus, improving your body composition is protective against insulin resistance, helping you ward off diabetes and muscle loss. It may even help regulate hunger and food intake, further aiding in healthy weight balance.
Related: The Best Chest Workout for Women
Best Pushup Variations to Try
Changing the angle or hand positioning of a pushup will target different muscles and help you make the most of the exercise, depending on your goals and fitness level. Here are some pushup variations with unique benefits provided by Dr. Masi and Dr. Kopach.
Tip
For each variation, try going slow during the lowering (eccentric) phase and pushing up forcefully during the concentric (raising) phase. This will help build more muscle and strength and can increase stability and power.
Incline Pushups
To make pushups easier, perform a pushup with your hands elevated on a stable surface, such as a bench. You can try this variation if regular pushups are too difficult or if you cannot perform many and want to add more repetitions to build muscle mass.
Face a bench and place your hands on the edge slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
Extend your legs out straight behind you.
Extend your elbows to come into an elevated plank position.
Maintain a neutral spine and engage your core.
Bend your elbows to lower your chest toward the edge of the bench.
Lower as far as possible, aiming to tap your chest on the bench, then contract your chest and straighten your arms to raise back up.
Decline Pushups
Raising your lower body will make pushups feel harder. "Elevating the feet will start to target higher muscle fibers in the pecs, also known as the clavicular fibers," adds Dr. Masi. Try this variation if traditional pushups are too easy or if you want to build strength using more challenges with fewer repetitions.
Face away from a bench on your hands and knees.
Extend your legs one at a time to place your toes on the edge of the bench to come into a plank position; your hands should be slightly wider than shoulder width.
Maintain a neutral spine and engage your core.
Bend your elbows slowly to lower your chest toward the floor.
Lower as far as you can before contracting and straightening your arms to raise back up.
Narrow Grip Pushups
Bringing your hands closer during this exercise activates the triceps more than the chest muscles. Research shows that muscle activation of pectoralis minor (upper chest), triceps brachii, and infraspinatus (mid-chest and rotator cuff) is greater during narrow grip push-ups than standard or wide grip versions.
Get into a plank position and slide your hands just inside shoulder width in line with your chest.
Bend your elbows slowly with your elbows pointing behind you to lower your chest toward the floor.
Maintain a neutral spine and engaged core.
Tap your chest to the floor before contracting and pushing yourself back up.
Straighten your elbows to return to the top position.
More Push-Up Variations to Try
Pike Pushups: Raising your body into an inverted V by placing your feet on a higher surface targets the front and middle deltoids, chest muscles, and upper trapezius, similar to an overhead press.
Deficit Pushups: To enhance the effectiveness of a pushup, you can elevate the surface by using parallettes, books, or weights and allow your chest to go further down than usual. This will enable a deeper stretch of the pectoralis muscles, which is beneficial for muscle hypertrophy.
Unstable Pushups: Place your hands on suspended handles such as TRX or rings to perform this exercise. The unstable surface will activate your periscapular muscles and rotator cuff, making it an excellent choice for improving joint proprioception and neuromuscular control of the shoulder joint complex.
Hand Release Pushups: This variation requires you to lift your hands off the ground after your chest touches to ensure a full range of motion. This movement activates your posterior shoulder muscles, including the deltoids and paraspinal muscles, which are essential for posture.
How to Incorporate Pushups Into Your Routine
Because pushups are a bodyweight exercise that requires no equipment, working them into your routine is easily done. At home or in the gym, pushups can be performed in a traditional plank position, or if this is too difficult, perform pushups against a wall or another inclined surface.
Pushups also are an excellent movement to add to a warm-up routine for other upper-body exercises, such as bench presses, triceps dips, deadlifts, or shoulder presses. They help bring awareness to your core, shoulders, triceps, and chest so you feel stable and engaged during heavier lifting.
On active rest days, practicing pushups can increase your spinal stability and functional strength while providing shoulder mobility work. They also are helpful exercises physiotherapists use to improve joint stability, prevent injury, and rehabilitate injuries.
Always maintain an engaged core without allowing your spine to arch or curve. Be mindful of your shoulder, wrist, and elbow joints, avoiding any variation that causes pain. If you have trouble placing your hands flat on the floor, you can do pushups with dumbbell handles under your hands instead.
Related: More Pushup Variations to Try
For more Shape news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on Shape.
