Incline Push-Up
The incline push-up is a push-up with the hands raised on a bench, box or bar, so you press a smaller share of your bodyweight than on the floor. It works the chest, triceps and front of the shoulders, and the height of the hand support sets the difficulty.
Also called: Hands-Elevated Push-Up, Bench Push-Up, Elevated Push-Up, Incline Pushups · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: push
Step by step
- Pick a stable surface such as a bench, a box or a barbell set in a rack. The higher the surface, the easier each rep.
- Place your hands on the edge a little wider than your shoulders, fingers pointing forward, with your arms straight and wrists under your shoulders.
- Walk your feet back until your body forms a straight line from head to heels, with your weight on the balls of your feet.
- Brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes so your hips stay level with your shoulders.
- Bend your elbows and bring your chest to the edge of the support, with elbows angled about 45° from your torso.
- Push the support away until your elbows are straight, keeping the straight line from head to heels.
- Finish the set by walking your feet in and standing up from the support.
- Body in one straight line from head to heels
- Chest to the edge of the support
- Elbows about 45° from your sides
- Push the support away to straight arms
- Glutes tight, hips level with your shoulders
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Pectoralis major: sternocostal (mid) | Prime mover | C |
| Pectoralis major: abdominal (lower) | Secondary | D |
| Triceps brachii: lateral head | Secondary | C |
| Anterior deltoid: anterior | Secondary | C |
| Serratus anterior | Stabiliser | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Hips sagging towards the floor
Fix: Brace your trunk and squeeze your glutes to hold one straight line.
Hips piked up high
Fix: Walk your feet back and hold hips level with your shoulders.
Elbows flared out towards 90°
Fix: Angle the elbows about 45° from your sides as you go down.
Half reps
Fix: Bring your chest to the edge on every rep, then press to straight arms.
Head poking forward
Fix: Keep your head in line with your body and lead with the chest.
What the research says
Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitnessEndurance
- Setting the difficulty — The height of the support sets the share of bodyweight you press: higher is easier, and moving towards the floor makes each rep harder. This is mechanics rather than research.
- Push-ups and the bench press — In controlled trials, push-ups loaded to match a bench press produced similar chest and triceps growth and similar bench-press strength gains.
- Effort with light loads — With light loads, research finds sets taken close to failure produced more growth than sets that finished well short.
- Reps and progression — Research finds high-rep sets build local muscular endurance most, and that adding reps or adding load produce similar muscle growth when sets are hard.
- Volume and frequency — Research links more weekly sets for a muscle to more growth, with diminishing returns, and training a muscle about twice a week is a common way to spread that volume.
Log the incline push-up in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.