Muscle group:   The chest muscles, the arm muscles, the shoulder muscles, complex exercises

Trained muscle:   Chest muscles, Triceps, Deltoid

Focused muscle:   Chest muscles

Fitness level:   Beginner, advanced, experienced

Type of training:   Own body weight exercises

Push-ups represent an effective exercise for the chest muscles. Also the triceps of the arm and the deltoid receive a quite intense workout with this exercise. You can perform push-ups anywhere you would like to and just need your own body weight to practise.

Push-ups

Push-ups are performed most intensely with your hands narrowly aligned to each other and your arms as close as possible to your body. Start in prone position with your tiptoes pressed towards the floor. Your hands rest close to each other on the floor. The fingers point straight forward with the thumbs touching each other. Your head is facing the ground right above your hands. The entire body is aligned in one straight line. From this position you bend and stretch your arms alternatingly performing up and down movements. Please don’t let your hips and pelvis sag. Hold your abdominal muscles tensed and your back straight during the entire exercise.

Push-ups variations

Push-ups become more intense by letting your feet rest in an elevated position (e.g. on a bench) or by shifting your weight further towards the front. Small up and down movements in the area of high muscle contraction intensify the workout even more. It is also possible to work out with extra weights (e.g. in a backpack). Here, please watch your back very carefully. You could also perform one-armed push-ups by shifting the weight to one side.

Push-ups become easier by practising on your knees instead of your feet. To further lower the intensity you could bend your hip joint and bring up your butt so your arms and knees move closer towards each other. The easiest version of the push-up is performed obliquely against the wall. Choosing a wider hand position would make it even easier but would make the push-up less effective.

Antagonist: Trapezius, Latissimus

Stretching: Chest stretches

Push-ups

Push-up against wall

Push-up on knees

Push-up, legs elevated

Push-up, weight on one arm

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