Push-ups and presses
Incline push-ups
- Kit
- Bench or chair
- Works
- chest · front delts · triceps
- Also
- abs · obliques · upper back
An incline push-up is a push-up with your hands raised on a bench or sturdy chair. Lifting the hands shortens the range your chest and arms have to move you through, so you can hold a straight, braced body line while still pushing hard. It suits anyone building toward floor push-ups, and it works well in a circuit where fatigue would otherwise wreck your form.
Form
How to do incline push-ups
- 1Set your hands on the edge of a bench or chair seat, a little wider than your shoulders, and check the surface will not slide or tip.
- 2Walk your feet back until your body is one straight line from heels to head, with your weight on the balls of your feet and your hips level with your shoulders.
- 3Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the edge, keeping your elbows angled back at about forty five degrees rather than flared straight out. Breathe in as you lower.
- 4Stop when your chest is close to your hands, then press the floor away and push back to a straight-arm position, breathing out through the effort.
- 5Keep the ribs down and the glutes squeezed the whole time so the hips never lead or sag, and keep moving at a steady pace for the whole set.
Watch for
Common mistakes
Hips sag or ride up, turning the movement into a wobble.
Fix: Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs before the first descent, and think of pushing your heels back to keep the line long.
Hands placed far up the backrest so the incline is very high and barely loads the chest.
Fix: Use the lowest surface you can manage with good form, and lower the hand height as you get stronger.
Head drops toward the bench first while the chest lags behind.
Fix: Keep your ears in line with your shoulders and lead with the chest, looking at a point just past your hands.
Variations
Easier and harder
Sessions
Put it in a workout
None of the fixed workouts uses it. Pick a workout for your kit, or start today's session on /gym.