Pike Push Ups

The Bodyweight Exercise For Your Shoulders And A Lot More

Pike push ups are great for building shoulder strength.  They are a nice compliment to any shoulder workout or upper body workout.  Plus they are adaptable to almost any fitness level.

Like a lot of bodyweight exercises, this movement is a legitimate compound exercise because of the other muscles that come into play to perform it.  It is great for the back of the shoulders, and it is also good for the triceps (like any push exercise), the back, the core, and will even stretch the hamstrings.

Technique

• Start from a classic pushup position.
• Keep your legs straight and walk your hands back so you are in a pike position.
• Your upper body and lower body should be at about a 90 degree angle.
• Extend the arms overhead so that they are in line with your spine and reaching straight out from the shoulders.  That part is important because it is that position that works the shoulders.
• Contract the core.
• Bend the elbows and lower yourself down until your head almost contacts the ground.
• Press back up.

Keep In Mind...

If you are just starting out, feel free to limit how far you go down at first. Keep doing pike pushups and your shoulder strength will improve. 

If you’re not there yet though, go half way down. As your strength builds, do more of a full range of motion.

Keep the core tight. 

Modifiers

Raised Feet

Raising the feet during pike push ups will put more weight on the shoulders making the exercise more challenging.  The more you raise your feet, the more weight will be carried by your shoulders, the more challenging the exercise will be.

Anything stable will do.  You can use an aerobic step, the stairs in your house, a weight bench, a park bench, or anything else that will stay put.  Even walk your feet up a wall. 

As you get stronger, you will get more and more vertical until you progress to the mighty handstand pushups.

Exercise Ball

Add some instability to your pike push ups to add a lot of difficulty. Put your feet on an exercise ball and your hands on the ground. 

But take these slow at first. You don’t want your feet rolling out from under you while you’re lowering your face to the floor.  Make sure you are under control.