They target your arms, chest, and core, serving as one of the most efficient bodyweight movements you can do. Better yet, you can crank them out anywhere, anytime and easily up the intensity by changing the elevation, adding equipment, moving your hand and feet positioning, even adding instability. Actually, it’s best you add some variety; exercise tedium is as bad for your motivation as it is for your muscles.
So we reached out to Anthony J. Yeung C.S.C.S. and strength coach at PUSH Private Fitness and came up with 15 variations to help diversify the moves in your arsenal.
Ready to hit some muscles you forgot you had and your average pushup couldn’t dream of touching?
Start from a normal pushup position but spread your hands wider than shoulder length. This will force your chest to pick up the brunt of the work from your triceps and shoulders.
Start from the pushup position. Take one hand off the ground and raise it straight up in the air (making a T-shape out of your body). Keep your eyes locked on your raised hand. Repeat for your other side. Add dumbbells to the routine to increase the intensity of the workout. “T-pushups hammer your entire upper body,” says Yeung. “Not only are you targeting your chest, but you’re also strengthening your shoulders, opening up your thoracic spine [mid-back], and building rotational power through your core.”
Do a normal pushup, but with your feet elevated on a stable platform like a box or bench. The higher the platform, the more you’ll work your shoulders, chest, core, and scapular stabilizers (the muscles that connect your neck, mid-back, and shoulders).
Using one arm, do a set on a small medicine ball. Do the next set with the other arm. This routine is a great stability challenge that forces you to rely on more than just brute strength.
James Michelfelder & Therese Sommerseth / M+F Magazine
Pushup With Arm Reach
Target area: arms
Using slideboards or Valslides, slide one arm out in front of you as you lower your body until your elbow is locked straight. Switch arms with each rep.
Place your feet in a suspension trainer so that they are elevated. Do a pushup and then bring your knees to your chest. “Atomic pushups hammer your chest and core while slashing fat,” says Yeung. “Your entire body is moving, which makes it a metabolically demanding exercise. Great for cardio days and as a finisher.”
Keeping your feet in a wider than a normal pushup position, use just one arm to do a pushup. Keep your elbow close to your body.
“Do one-arm pushups just to be a badass. Your upper-body strength and size will soar,” says Yeung. “If you can’t do them from the floor, do them from a bar in a Smith machine or power rack. Gradually lower the height of the bar as you get stronger.”
At the peak of your pushup, push yourself up off the ground and quickly clap in midair. The fast jolting force of clap pushups will help you develop explosive power while also bulking up your pecs for a superhero chest.
From the bottom of a rep, push up halfway, then descend and push up again. “To build a bigger chest, you need longer ‘time under tension’ [TUT]— the length of time your muscles are working,” says Yeung. “By adding an extra half of a pushup, you’ll increase your TUT, build more size, and pump your muscles.”
Do a normal pushup but descend slowly (4 to 5 seconds) and rise normally. “By slowly lowering yourself, you will skyrocket your TUT and flood your muscles with blood,” says Yeung.
From the pushup position, lift your hips as high as they can go while keeping your legs and back straight with the top of your head pointing downward (you want to make a triangle shape out of your body). Push your body up and down, activating your shoulders.
Run a resistance band through each of the palms of your hands and wrap it around your back to create extra resistance and force to work against. Maintain normal pushup form as you do each set but focus on being as explosive as possible as you move up against the band.
