Wide Push Ups

How to do Wide Push Ups?

1. Begin On All Fours

Get into a plank position where your hands are wider than shoulder-width apart. Keep your feet together and engage your core and glutes to ensure the body is rigid and in a straight line. This is your starting position.

What are the benefits of Wide Push Ups?

Build Upper-Body Strength

Wide push-ups are great for building upper body strength as they target many muscle groups such as the pectoral muscles, triceps, and shoulders. When performed with proper form, they can also enhance the lower back and core by engaging the abdominal muscles. It will increase your muscle mass, strength, and endurance which will occur through consistent training.

A 2019 study assessed 1,562 male firefighters whose average age was 40. Results suggest that those who could crank out at least 40 consecutive push-ups showed a 95% decrease in the likelihood of experiencing heat-related illnesses. 

Progressive 

There are many variations to the wide push-up that you can practice to target specific parts of your body. It is good to work on all angles of the muscle to target specific training goals and adaptations. For example, clap push-ups work on your dynamic and explosive power. Diamond push-ups isolate your triceps, and decline push-ups work on your upper chest and anterior deltoids. Thus, they are easy to scale for a variety of training needs and goals.

Improve Core Stability 

Wide push-ups are actually a dynamic plank that requires core strength to be able to hold your body in a rigid line. Your core act as a stabilizer for your body whilst it changes angle. If you have a weak core, you instantly increase your risk of muscle injuries, poor posture, and lower back pain. Doing push-ups will decrease the risk of this happening.

No Equipment Needed

You can do it anywhere, no need to wait for the next workout machine to be available. All you need is a little space on the floor and your body as resistance. Bodyweight exercises eliminate those common obstacles that would give you an excuse to not work out, whether you’re working at home or on the road.

What are the different variations of Wide Push Ups?

Archer Push Ups

Archer push-ups advocate full-body control as one side is supporting most of your body weight. Your body will be prone to shift or rotate, which highly recruits your core to keep the body in balance. This is a progression to wide pushups. To perform this, you will:

1. Begin in a plank position with a wider than shoulder-width grip. Squeeze your glutes and engage your core to ensure a straight line. This is your starting position.
2. Lower your body down to the right side by bending the right elbow and straightening the left arm out to the left side. Keep your core tight.
3. Push back up to the starting position and repeat. Aim to perform this between 4-12 reps for 4 sets, on each side.
4. Repeat on the left side.

Decline Push Ups 

Decline push-ups put your body at an angle where your feet are on an elevated surface and your hands are on the ground. This movement targets the upper chest and the anterior deltoids. This variation is challenging as more load will be distributed to your body, which makes it a progression exercise. To perform this, you will:

1. Get into a plank position with feet resting on a stable elevated surface such as a bench, or a plyometric box. The higher the surface, the harder the movement will be. If you are a beginner, you should start with a lower surface. Engage your glutes and core. This is your starting position.
2. Inhale as you gradually lower your body down towards the ground by bending the elbows and keeping them close to your torso. Lower until your triceps are parallel to the ground.
3. Exhale as you push back up to the starting position.
4. Repeat this movement between 5-12 reps for 4 sets.

Triceps Extensions 

This exercise does look like push-ups, but it puts more emphasis on the long head of the triceps muscles, which makes it a great complement to the wide push-up. To perform this, you will:

1. Begin in an elbow plank position with your feet together. Your shoulders are stacked directly on top of your elbows. Engage your core and glutes to ensure a straight line along your body. This is your starting position.
2. Exhale as press your hands into the ground to raise your body up whilst extending your arms out fully. Feel the engagement in your tricep muscles.
3. Inhale as you lower back down to the starting position.
4. Repeat this movement between 5-12 reps for 4 sets.

Clapping Push Ups

Clapping push-ups are a challenging exercise that tests your muscle fibers through a rapid and explosive contraction, while fatigue accumulates during longer rep sets. This variation will elevate you through a training plateau, build explosive power, and develop muscle to your chest, triceps, and anterior deltoids. To perform this, you will:

1. Start in a plank position where your shoulders are stacked on top of your wrists. Engage your core and glutes to keep your body in a rigid line. This is your starting position.
2. Inhale as you lower yourself until your triceps are parallel to the floor. Keep the elbows close to your torso. 
3. Exhale as your push through the palms with speed and power to elevate your body vertically upward. Quickly clap at the center of your chest in one quick motion.
4. Return your hands to the ground and bend your elbows to cushion the landing.
5. Repeat this movement between 5-12 reps for 4 sets.

Wide vs Narrow Push-Ups

The narrow grip push-ups, otherwise known as diamond push-ups put more emphasis on your triceps while wide wide grip push-ups are better for building strength in your serratus anterior. The narrower support base of narrow push-ups will better develop your core strength than wide push-ups due to greater instability. 

Overall, I recommend you to practice both variations to target as many upper body muscles as possible so that you can have an overall rounded strength, this will not only reduce the likelihood of you reaching plateaus, but also increase your endurance and strength.

The Takeaways: Wide Pushups

Wide push-ups engage your body from top to bottom. It's a compound movement that targets multiple muscle groups at once: the chest, arms, core, legs, and hips. This exercise can be modified to accommodate your fitness level. For example. adjusting the speed you execute a push-up, the hand placement, and even the angle of your body. You can easily increase or decrease the intensity, or focus of specific muscles. Here are specific follow-along push workouts for you to try:

• Upper Chest Workout
• Lower Chest Workout
• Inner Chest Workout
• Chest and Back Workout
• Chest and Triceps Workout

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