wide hand push up: technique and muscles worked

Animated demonstration of wide hand push up

How to do this exercise

Step:1 Start in a high plank position with your hands wider than shoulder-width apart.
Step:2 Keep your body in a straight line from head to toe.
Step:3 Lower your chest towards the ground by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides.
Step:4 Push through your palms to extend your arms and return to the starting position.
Step:5 Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Equipment: Body weight
Body part: Arms Chest
Target muscle: Triceps Anterior deltoid Sternal pectoralis (mid chest)
Secondary muscle: Clavicular pectoralis (upper chest)Costal pectoralis (lower chest)Rectus abdominis Internal obliques External obliques

Hypertrophy grade

Average5 / 10

Nemeo’s take

Push-ups are great for building core strength and bodyweight muscle mass, but they are often limited by core and shoulder strength before chest fatigue. Compared to the bench press, they offer less potential for progressive overload and the end of the movement sometimes lacks optimized resistance. Excellent for beginners or as a complement, their simplicity is their strength, but they quickly reach their limits for advanced hypertrophy.

This catalog score reflects Nemeo’s assessment of the exercise’s muscle-building potential. It is not a standardized scientific rating or a personalized recommendation.

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wide hand push up

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