Physical activity can have many objectives, although the most basic and fundamental is personal well-being and the will to maintain a healthy life and, on many occasions, it is also intended to exercise certain parts of the body with special interest. In this sense, you have probably done a variety of exercises, among which there will surely be a large number of push-ups or push-ups. These are good exercises to get stronger and, in addition, the different types of push-ups allow you to get to know and work different muscle groups.
If you want to know which muscles work push-ups, the variation of this exercise that you need to do to increase the development of a specific muscle, and, also, how to do push-ups correctly.
Table Of Content
1. What muscles do pushups work?
2. What muscles are worked with push-ups?
3. What muscles are worked with wall push-ups?
4. The best types of push-ups for arms
5. The best types of push-ups for chest
6. How to do push-ups correctly
What muscles do pushups work?
Don’t you know what muscles are worked with push-ups or push-ups, even though you’ve been doing them for a long time? Don’t worry, you’re not the first or the last person this has happened to. Many people do sports to get in shape but do not know what the training they are doing involves. Thus, these are the muscles that are worked with push-ups:
- Pectorals (minor and major).
- anterior deltoids.
- Triceps brachii.
- Serratus anterior.
- infraspinatus.
- In addition, the heart muscles are more activated, favoring an improvement in cardiovascular capacity.
Closed pushups work more of the triceps, pectoralis, and infraspinatus, and some of the anterior deltoid, while open pushups work more of the anterior deltoid and serratus, as well as some of the pec.
What muscles are worked with push-ups?
If you don’t know what push-ups strengthen either, at OneHOWTO we help you find out. In addition to emphasizing that open push-ups contribute to increasing pectoral work, it is important that you know the muscles that are involved:
- pectorals
- Deltoid.
- triceps
- Quadriceps.
- Buttocks.
- Muscles that stabilize the body.
- Strengthening of the core (centre of gravity of the body).
What muscles are worked with wall push-ups?
Among the types of push-ups and the muscles they work, it is also convenient to know the push-ups on the wall, vertical push-ups or push-ups on the wall at half height. They are very useful for anyone who is starting to exercise, although precisely because they are simpler they are a little less effective than the rest of the push-ups. The muscles that are worked with push-ups on the wall are the following:
- Pectoralis major, both clavicular and external.
- Triceps brachii.
- anterior deltoids.
- Abdominal rect.
- Brachial biceps.
- Erector (spinal column).
- Oblique.
The best types of pushups for arms
The different types of push-ups can be divided into the following:
- Light push-ups: they are the most classic and simple among the different types of push-ups, which is why they are also called classic push-ups. Thus, they are the most suitable for those people who are not yet ready to do push-ups continuously. They serve to train before moving on to the more complex ones. Later we will see how to make this basic type of push-up.
- L push-ups: the base position, where the feet rest, is on a box, stool or any elevated surface so that the body adopts a horizontal L shape. The arms are extended and the hands are placed on the ground to be able to make the movement by bending the elbows correctly.
- Mountain push-ups: they are performed by resting the feet and hands on the ground. You want to lift your buttocks and make a pyramid-like figure when you do the push-up movement. You must keep both your back and legs straight at all times.
- Diamond push-ups: with these, the triceps are especially worked. Its execution is similar to the classic ones and only the position of both hands is changed, thus narrowing the base created to perform the push-up. In this position, you are forced to push through the triceps. Here you can learn more about How to Do Triceps Curls. According To Jeremy Ethier’s How To Get Bigger Triceps (3 Training Mistakes You’re Probably Making)
The best types of push-ups for chest
Knowing what muscles push-ups work, you may be wondering what types of push-ups there are in this style. The best movements of this type of exercise to work more pecs are clap push-ups, climbing plyometrics, archer, Superman and one arm.
clapping push-ups
In these lizards there are two keys:
- Control the core to do the exercise well.
- Land on the ground without straining your wrists when you do the push-up movement.
To start clap push-ups, you can do them while leaning over or with the help of your knees. In addition to the classic clap push-ups, there are more varieties:
- With cross clap.
- Clap both knees, engaging your lower abs and lifting your glutes as you push your legs forward.
- With a pat behind the back. Dare with them if you have special flexibility in the shoulders.
Climbing plyometrics
To do them successfully, you have to change the position of both hands after doing the push-up and on each repetition doing a jump. If the movement is too demanding for you, avoid the jump.
Archer push-ups
These push-ups are mainly lateral movement, you must separate your hands exceeding the height of the shoulders. You only have to flex one arm: change arms on each repetition. The one that you are not flexing can be slightly bent, although most of the time you should keep it straight.
Superman push-ups
The movement of these push-ups is similar to the position indicated by its name. Get into position as for normal push-ups, start doing a push-up and when you are going up jump with your whole body, extend your arms and legs and as you fall place your hands open to land carefully. At this point, you will be down, but you can take advantage of the energy generated by the movement and the impact to go up and do a normal push-up, before repeating the entire exercise.
To do this type of difficult push-up it is very important to have warmed up the joints well first since it is an impact exercise.
one arm push-ups
Separate your feet and support your body with one arm during the push-up, which you will do just like the basic ones. In addition, we recommend placing the arm that rests on your back. With this movement, you will be able to improve the balance of the body.
How to do push-ups correctly
Now that you know what muscles push-ups work, before doing this exercise in its different versions, it is important that you know how to do the classic ones correctly and that you do them with some ease so that later you can move on to other types and angles to do this exercise. with less risk of harming you. At OneHOWTO we recommend that you follow this step-by-step to achieve it:
- Lie face down on the floor.
- Extend your hands and place your palms on the ground at shoulder height.
- Keep your back straight at all times to avoid injuries during the exercise and work your core and arms well.
- Raise your body by straightening your elbows and making force with your arms until both arms are well stretched, but not to the maximum. Be very careful not to force the joint or take a sharp blow that forces the elbows.
- Bend your arms back to the original position to lower your body. The chest can only touch the ground when you lower your body: do not support it, otherwise the exercise will not have the expected effectiveness.
- Keep your pelvis in the air and look straight ahead as your chest hits the ground.
- You will count one rep every time your chest is close to the ground.