Push-up

Movement

Which muscles lift the body

In one account of the full push-up, the triceps brachii and pectoralis major dominate the early and middle phases⁷. The late phase is dominated by protraction force from the serratus anterior, which lifts the chest and trunk from the floor⁷. Protraction is drawing the shoulder blade forward around the rib cage.

With the hands fixed, the serratus anterior acts in reverse⁷. It lifts the ribs and trunk up toward the fixed shoulder blades⁷. This needs the shoulder blade to be steadied by other muscles⁷. They are the trapezius, the rhomboids, the levator scapulae and the pectoralis minor, a smaller chest muscle beneath the pectoralis major⁷.

What it loads

How much body weight the hands carry

A force plate measures how the body pushes on the ground. The figures below come from three studies^1,5,8.

Version	Load measured	Who was measured
Normal push-up, starting load	66.4% of body weight	Eight healthy men1
On the knees, starting load	52.9% of body weight	The same eight men1
Regular push-up	About 64% of body weight	An earlier force study, as a later trial sums it up5
Bent-knee push-up	About 49% of body weight	The same earlier study5
No vest, or 10 to 30 kg vests	62.6% to 65.1% of body mass plus vest	20 resistance-trained people8

In 28 highly strength-trained men held still on a force platform, the arms supported less of the body in the up than the down position⁹. That held in the traditional and the knees-down push-up⁹.

In 23 recreationally fit men and women, raising the feet on a box gave a higher peak force than every other version tested¹⁰. Raising the hands, or bending the knees, gave a lower force than every other version¹⁰.

The chest and triceps lead

Electromyography (EMG) measures a muscle’s activity by picking up its electrical signals. A scoping review of 30 articles pooled shoulder EMG across push-up versions². The triceps and pectoralis major had the highest weighted mean activity in standard, unstable, suspension and hands-on-ball push-ups². The serratus anterior had the highest in the incline push-up and the push-up plus². A push-up plus ends by pushing the upper back higher, drawing the shoulder blades apart.

One study recorded 20 healthy men and women at three hand widths¹¹. Peak EMG reached 73–109% of maximum voluntary contraction in the triceps and 95–105% in the pectoralis major¹¹. A maximum voluntary contraction is the hardest effort a person can make with a muscle. The serratus anterior reached 67–87%, and the posterior deltoid, the back part of the deltoid, 11–21%¹¹.

What hand position changes

In 20 healthy people, the narrow position was the most effective for preferentially activating the triceps and posterior deltoid¹¹. In 12 healthy men, triceps, pectoralis minor and infraspinatus activity was greatest at the narrow width¹². The infraspinatus is a rotator cuff muscle on the back of the shoulder blade. In those 12 men, serratus anterior activity was greatest at the wide width¹².

Two studies report differently on the knee push-up^1,13. In eight healthy men, triceps and pectoralis major activity was lower on the knees¹. In 12 active men, the share each primary muscle group contributed did not differ significantly between toes and knees¹³.

Two accounts of the serratus anterior

Two sources place the peak of serratus anterior activity at different points^3,4. In 30 people, healthy or with mild shoulder dysfunction, the standard push-up plus gave the highest serratus anterior activation³. It reached up to 123% of maximum, in the plus phase³.

Two sources place the peak of serratus anterior activity at different points.

A second study recorded 22 healthy people doing the push-up plus on hands and feet⁴. Serratus anterior activity was highest at 55 degrees of elbow extension (straightening) in the pushing phase, not in the plus phase⁴.

In 15 healthy people doing seven shoulder exercises, the push-up plus was one of two that gave the most subscapularis activity¹⁴. The subscapularis is a rotator cuff muscle on the front of the shoulder blade.

Unstable surfaces and suspension straps

Suspension straps hang from an anchor and hold the hands or feet off the floor. Two studies of them report differently^15,16:

• In 21 apparently healthy adults, a suspension push-up gave significantly higher pectoralis major, anterior deltoid and triceps EMG than a traditional one¹⁵. The anterior deltoid is the front part of the deltoid.
• In 32 healthy adults, suspended push-ups recruited the pectoralis major, anterior deltoid and serratus anterior no more than standard push-ups¹⁶.
• In those 32 adults, suspended push-ups recruited the rectus abdominis, external oblique and internal oblique significantly more¹⁶. These three are flat muscles of the abdomen.

The trunk

A model study of 11 males estimated what stiffens the lumbar spine (lower back) in a push-up¹⁷. The abdominal muscles supplied on average 64% of the stiffness in bending forward and back, 87% in side bending and 84% in twisting¹⁷. The multifidus, a deep muscle along the spine, contributed minimally¹⁷.

In 11 recreationally trained men, suspended push-ups activated the abdominal wall muscles and latissimus dorsi significantly more than standard push-ups¹⁸. A spine model predicted significantly greater compressive forces on the lumbar joints in the suspended version¹⁸.

The elbow, wrist and shoulder

In nine healthy men, peak force on the elbow joint along the forearm averaged 45% of body weight with the hands in the normal position¹⁹. The valgus torque at the elbow, which the ligaments on its inner side oppose, rose significantly with the hands further up¹⁹. The elbow ulnar collateral ligament is described as the main stabiliser against that kind of stress²⁰.

In 14 healthy right-handed men, a neutral wrist was compared with a hyperextended one, bent back past its normal limit²¹. On the neutral wrist, the shoulder was exposed to more load and the elbow to less²¹.

What case reports and authors’ cautions describe

A case report is a report on a single patient, and a stress fracture is a small crack in a bone from repeated loading. Each of these four describes one person^6,22,23,24:

• A 34-year-old man had a stress fracture of the middle of the clavicle (collarbone) after over 4 months of hundreds of push-ups a day²².
• A 24-year-old cricketer had a complete stress fracture of the ulna, the forearm bone on the little-finger side²³. He had done push-ups for about an hour each morning and evening for seven months²³.
• A 33-year-old man fractured both radial heads during weighted push-ups⁶. The weight was his 15 kg child on his upper back, and the injury came after two repetitions⁶. The authors knew of no earlier report of this injury in push-ups⁶.
• A 22-year-old man in army national service had snapping and intense pain at the inner elbow straight after push-ups²⁴. The report names a snapping part of the triceps and an ulnar nerve that slipped partly out of place²⁴.

One study of eight healthy young volunteers found the highest abdominal and back muscle activation with the hands forward or back²⁵. Its authors urge care with those two versions in people with low back pain²⁵. A review of posterior shoulder instability in contact athletes states that these athletes often complain of pain with push-ups²⁶. Posterior shoulder instability is a shoulder that tends to slip backward out of its socket.

How the body adapts

Trials against the bench press

A randomised controlled trial assigns people to groups by chance, then compares the groups. One assigned 18 young men to 8 weeks of bench press at 40% of one-repetition maximum, or to load-matched push-ups⁵. A one-repetition maximum (1RM) is the heaviest load a person can lift once.

Measure	Push-up group	Bench press group
Pectoralis major thickness	Up 18.3%5	Up 19.4%5
Triceps thickness	27.7 to 30.4 mm5	26.3 to 27.8 mm5
Bench press 1RM	61.1 to 64.2 kg5	60.0 to 65.0 kg5

A shorter trial assigned 23 moderately trained men to push-up or bench press training, three days a week for 4 weeks²⁷. Both groups gained 1RM strength²⁷. Neither showed a significant change in muscle thickness²⁷.

Trials without a comparison lift

Eight men did 3 sets of suspended push-ups to failure, 3 sessions a week, for 8 weeks²⁸. Their maximum number of push-ups rose by 92%²⁸. Muscle thickness increased by 16% in the muscles that straighten the elbow and 27% in the rectus abdominis²⁸. Their bench press 1RM did not change²⁸.

In another study, 30 young men with resistance-training experience did push-up training two days a week for eight weeks²⁹. Neither 1RM strength nor the number of push-ups improved significantly in any group²⁹.

Progressive overload

Each report below is what one study did and found^5,27,30.

• By body position. In the trial of 18 young men, the push-up group’s body position was adjusted, for example by kneeling, to match 40% of bench press 1RM⁵. They did 3 sets to failure with 2-minute rests, twice a week for 8 weeks⁵.
• By harder versions. In the 4-week trial of 23 men, the push-up group moved through progressive versions of the exercise²⁷. Both groups raised their bench press 1RM and their push-up progression level, and the push-up group improved its level significantly more²⁷.
• By setup and sets. Nineteen recreationally trained adults trained twice a week for 8 weeks on a suspension device or on stable ground³⁰. The programme changed the suspension setup and push-up height and raised the sets from 1 to 3³⁰. The gain in isometric (joint not moving) chest press force was 9.2% greater in the suspension group³⁰.

The authors of the 18-man trial discuss the earlier study that found no significant gain⁵. Each of its groups did three sets of 10 repetitions, and low training volume was offered as a possible explanation⁵.

The same authors write that push-up versions allow loads of 40–75% of body weight⁵. They add that an elastic band or a weight plate on the back allows more⁵.

Connections

In the scoping review, the pectoralis major and triceps brachii had the highest weighted mean activity in the standard push-up². The serratus anterior lifts the trunk toward the shoulder blades, which the trapezius and rhomboids help to steady⁷. Studies also measured the deltoid, infraspinatus and, in the push-up plus, the subscapularis^11,12,14.

In the trunk, studies measured the rectus abdominis, external oblique, internal oblique and latissimus dorsi^16,18. Joint loads were measured or modelled at the elbow and shoulder^19,21. In 20 resistance-trained people, the activation of eight upper-body muscles did not differ between the bench press and push-ups with or without a weight vest⁸.

Sources

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Every source the library cites

Changes

• October 8, 2026 Revised to report sources added after their published corrections were read