Modified Pushups: Pec Exercises or Triceps Exercises Depending On How You Position Your Hands

Basic Pushup Variations Can Make A Big Difference In How The Muscles Work

These modified pushups are not going to take long to explain.  And it is going to take even less time for you to see what I mean when you try these.

Moving the hands out wide will put the emphasis on your chest muscles.  Bringing the hands in closer to each other will put a lot more of the burden on the triceps.

If you haven’t done it yet, take a second and review the classic pushup technique here.  It might not teach you anything new, but it could remind you of some things to keep in mind.  That technique is the starting point for these modifiers.

Let's start wide and go narrow.

Wide Grip Pushups

Pushing the hands out wider than the shoulders isolates the lateral part of the pectoralis major, the main chest muscle, which can add size and definition to the outer area of the chest.  The wide grip puts more of the load on your chest muscle, and takes it away from your shoulders (deltoid) and triceps.

In other words, these are the pec exercises.

Tip for wide pushups: pointing your fingers forward can put strain on your wrists.  To alleviate that, point your fingers outward.

Moving The Hands Closer...

Placing the hands directly under the shoulders will cause a lot more elbow flexion.  That will put more of the burden on the triceps to straighten the arms back out again.  You will still work the chest and the front of the shoulders, but you will notice your triceps doing more work.

Some of you may be wondering why you would want to build your triceps muscle when it’s the biceps and pecs that look good on the beach.  In other words, "do I really need modified pushups?"

First of all, strong triceps muscles are important for any activity that involves pushing anything or straightening the arm.  That even includes throwing.

For the guys, as you probably know, the triceps muscle is the big muscle on the back of the arm.  Being the big guy in the group of upper arm muscles, it is the one that contributes most to the overall size of the arm.  So if you want your arm to fill out that short sleeve, you need to think about the triceps.

For the ladies, you want a nice toned upper arm that doesn’t flap in the wind too much when you’re waving to somebody.

No matter who you are, it doesn't pay to neglect the triceps exercises.  Modified pushups like this mixed in with some dips will give you all of the triceps work you need.

Bring The Hands Together For Diamond Pushups

Position your hands under your chest so that your thumbs are touching and your forefingers are touching.  They should be making a diamond shape.

This position maximizes the load put on the triceps muscles.  If you want to add a little extra to this exercise, put your hands on a small medicine ball.  The instability will cause your stabilizer muscles to work that much harder to keep you balanced.

Put together a few super sets of these modified pushups and you will work your triceps and your whole chest.

Do wide grip pushups until failure.  Then do diamond pushups until failure.  Then do regular pushups until failure.

Do 3 or 4 sets with 60 to 90 seconds rest in between.  Simple, right?

If you happen to be focusing on your arms on day and you need a solid triceps workout, try this:

• Do 10 diamond pushups and 1 dip.
• Do 9 diamond pushups and 2 dips.
• Do 8 diamond pushups and 3 dips.
• ...
  

Keep counting the diamond pushups down and the dips up until you get to 1 diamond pushup and 10 dips.  You'll be a monster.  You'll tear the sleeves out of your shirt!