The dumbbell split squat, sometimes referred to as a static lunge, is performed in a split (or staggered) stance similar to a lunge position. Unlike the lunge, your feet won’t leave the floor during a split squat. This provides a little stability during a relatively less stable exercise

Here are a few different ways to work on the dumbbell split squat, along with variations, tips, and cues to get stronger at this single-leg focused movement.

Dumbbell Split Squat

• How to Do the Dumbbell Split Squat
• Dumbbell Split Squat Mistakes to Avoid
• How to Progress the Dumbbell Split Squat
• Benefits of the Dumbbell Split Squat
• Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Split Squat
• How to Program the Dumbbell Split Squat
• Dumbbell Split Squat Variations
• FAQs

Split Squat Demonstration Video

Coach Morit Summers demonstrates a bodyweight split squat. The overall technique is identical to the dumbbell split squat, with the exception of the added resistance from a dumbbell in each hand.

How to Do the Dumbbell Split Squat

The dumbbell split can serve as your introduction to single-leg training. But even if you’re experienced with squats, lunges, and everything in between, this movement can be a great way to focus on each leg for more size and strength.

Step 1 — Begin Kneeling

Get on the ground in a half-kneeling or “proposal” position. Set your front foot flat on the floor with your knee bent at 90-degrees. Rest your back knee on the ground with your toes curled under, aimed into the ground. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with your arms straight by your sides.

Form Tip: You could start the exercise from the top, in a standing position, but the strength of a split squat comes from establishing a great half-kneeling position and initiating the movement with strong legs. The bottom position also helps to set up a powerful, stable stance by creating a good front knee angle.

Step 2 — Drive Up to Standing Position

Grip the weights and pull your shoulders back. Drive through the ground with both feet and reach a standing position at the top. Keep both of your feet connected to the ground. Your front leg should lock nearly straight. When standing upright, your rear leg may remain slightly bent depending on your leg length.

Form Tip: Be sure to keep your front foot flat on the ground and don’t allow your front heel to rise up. If your front leg doesn’t fully lock out straight, that’s okay. Your leg length and mobility will be influencing factors. Focus on raising your hips toward the ceiling, not pushing backward to “lockout” your leg.

Step 3 — Lower Under Control

Reverse the motion with focus and control. Think about driving your hips back to bend your front leg. Bring your back knee toward the ground. Allow your upper body to slightly lean forward at the waist while your arms remain aimed straight down.

Form Tip: Avoid resting your knee on the ground in the bottom position. Lightly graze the floor with your back knee to get a full range of motion.

Dumbbell Split Squat Mistakes to Avoid

Some single-leg exercises can be tricky for lifters to master, either due to balance and stability issues, or muscular differences between each leg, or other factors. Here are some of key issues to watch for.

Feet Placed Too Narrow

Starting with your feet too narrow, or nearly in line with each other, will make balance a major obstacle. Imagine trying to walk on a balance beam that’s three inches wide compared to one that’s a foot wide.

In the starting position, get your feet roughly hip-distance apart. This will help provide a more stable base, so you can focus on working your leg muscles instead of fighting to stay balanced.

Avoid it: One benefit of starting the exercise from the half-kneeling position is that you can test your balance before the lift begins. Find stability in a staggered position with your feet placed properly. When you feel balanced in the half-kneeling position, then you can begin the set.

Raising Your Front Heel

Another way some lifters sabotage their balance is letting their front heel come off the ground when lowering themselves into the bottom position. This makes the stability of your ankle joint much more of a weak point than the strength of your relatively larger leg muscles. In fact, heel-raised exercises are used specifically to target the smaller ankle stabilizers and achilles tendon. (1) It’s not an efficient way to target hips, glute, and thigh muscles.

Avoid it: Imagine the sole of your shoe glued to the floor. Drive your hips back when raising or lowering your body. Keep your whole foot grounded and focus on applying force through your full foot, not just the ball of your foot.

Torso Stays Too Upright

Any squat or lunge, as well as the dumbbell split squat, should still have a degree of hip hinge or bending at the waist. Keeping your upper body too vertical can limit muscle recruitment in your lower body by not allowing your hips and glutes to fully activate.

When you stay upright, you may also feel more pressure or weight distribution around your knees instead of in your hips. Over the long-term, this may cause unnecessary strain on your knee joints.

Avoid it: Don’t try to keep your shoulders squared over your hips throughout the exercise. Keep your spine neutral, not rounded, but lean your shoulders slightly over your front thigh. Allow your hips to drive back, which will encourage your torso to naturally lean forward as you go into the bottom of the movement.

How to Progress the Dumbbell Split Squat

Beyond the most common methods of adding weight and/or increasing repetitions, the dumbbell split squat can be modified by manipulating tempo (rep speed), altering the range of motion, or deliberately adding instability.

Tempo or Rep Speed

Altering tempo is a great first step to progressing the dumbbell split squat. Tempo is just another word for the speed of each repetition. By specifically decreasing the speed you lift and lower your body, you are spending more time under tension, which can trigger more muscle growth. (2). Taking three to five seconds to rise into the top position and another three to five seconds to reach the bottom can be a high intensity way to train.

Moving with slower, more controlled movements is also a great way to be connected to an exercise and really focus on technique. This can help you avoid momentum and zone-in on muscle recruitment.

Adjusted Range of Motion

By adding blocks, steps, or stacked weight plates, you can change the range of motion, which can increase or decrease the difficulty. Adding elevation under your front foot, your back foot, or both feet will increase the range of motion and make the dumbbell split squat harder. This will create a much larger stretch on your leg muscles while you are sitting into the bottom position and there will be more work in the eccentric (lowering) phase of the movement.

Adding something under your back knee will limit the range of motion and make the exercise less challenging. This is an effective modification if you have limited hip mobility because it helps to restrict the amount of stretch needed throughout the exercise.

Added Instability

Adding an element of instability will also challenge your nervous system which has its benefits as well. You can place a foam pad or thick-folded towel under your front foot to provide more of a stability challenge.

If you don’t have that equipment, you can instead set up with a narrow stance. While that was previously listed as a potential mistake, it can be used intentionally — only after you’ve mastered the basic movement — to add variety and increase the challenge without using heavier weights.

Benefits of the Dumbbell Split Squat

Many people overlook the benefits of single-leg training, including the dumbbell split squat, and overfocus on bilateral (two legged) squat variations. Here’s why you should incorporate the dumbbell split squat into your training program.

Single-Leg Power, Strength, and Size

It’s important to do unilateral lower body training work, including the dumbbell split squat, to address each leg individually. Traditional squats are a well-respected classic for a reason, but they are bilateral movements working both legs simultaneously. This can make it easy to compensate with your stronger leg when you are squatting — and every body has one leg slightly stronger or more developed than the other. With two-legged squats, your hips are squared off and your feet are planted symmetrically with a much more even base of support.

When you do a dumbbell split squat, you are changing your base of support, which then challenges your center of gravity, core stabilizers, and it changes the way your hips will work together. Single-leg training is also shown to possibly help reduce the risk of lower body injuries and improve power output compared to two-legged squatting. (3)(4)

Muscles Worked by the Dumbbell Split Squat

The dumbbell split squat prioritizes most of the lower body muscles while also recruiting your upper body to stabilize and control the weight.

Quadriceps

Your quadriceps, or quads, are your front thigh muscles. These work to extend and lockout your leg as you rise into the top position. Your quads are generally considered the primary muscle during the dumbbell split squat.

Glutes and Hamstrings

As hip extensors, your glute and hamstring muscles work together to bring your lower body into alignment with your upper body. These muscles are put into a significant stretch in the bottom position of the dumbbell split squat, and they are activated to initiate the rise upward.

Allowing your upper body to lean forward during the hip hinge motion will more significantly recruit your glutes during the exercise.

Abductors and Adductors

Your abductor (“outer thigh”) and adductor (“inner thigh”) muscles work to stabilize your legs and control any side-to-side knee movement during the dumbbell split squat. These muscles are constantly firing during the exercise to prevent your knees, particularly your front knee, from either caving in or shifting to the outside.

How to Program the Dumbbell Split Squat

Everyone’s individual goals and programming needs are different. The thing that matters most is getting the right exercises throughout a training program to help you feel as strong as possible. However, there are some “best practices” that can help to efficiently fit the dumbbell split squat into your current training plan.

After Bilateral Exercises

Generally, it’s more effective to do bilateral movements before unilateral movements because you can have more focus on the bigger lifts and you can potentially use more weight before fatiguing your muscles with unilateral training.

For example, do dumbbell split squats either during leg day or as a part of a full-body workout after doing several sets of front squats. Performing the exercises in the opposite order — with dumbbell split squats before front squats — will take energy away from the potentially heavier lifting which can affect progress in the long-term.

Light to Moderate Weight, Moderate Repetition

The dumbbell split squat isn’t an exercise that allows the use of very heavy weights because your grip, core, and upper back will be the weak link before you can target your relatively stronger leg muscles. So it’s best to use a weight that allows a moderate amount of repetitions. Aim for two to four sets of eight to 15 repetitions per leg.

Dumbbell Split Squat Variations 

Once you’ve learned the basic dumbbell split squat, or if you’re looking for a “similar but different” single-leg exercise, there are a few top choices to consider.

Bulgarian Split Squat

The Bulgarian split squat might be all the rage with influencers on TikTok, but this rear-foot elevated movement was around long before social media. Having your back leg at a higher elevation increases the focus and muscular stress on your front leg.

A bulgarian split squat is a great example of progressing the basic dumbbell split squat by increasing range of motion while also adding instability — having your rear leg perched on a bench is less stable than keeping it flat on the floor. If you want to get really cruel, you can adjust the tempo and take several seconds for each phase of the repetition.

Dumbbell Step-up

Step-ups are another great option for single-leg training. The can be performed alternating legs with each repetition, which can give more of a cardio-type training effect, or by performing all reps with one leg at a time, which increases the time under tension and can trigger more muscle growth.

The step-up still focuses on using a good hip hinge while performing single-leg work. It’s more dynamic than the dumbbell split squat and can even be performed almost explosively with power, exploding into the top position, for greater strength and athleticism.

Frequently Asked Questions

References

1. Andrew Revak, Keith Diers, Thomas W. Kernozek, Naghmeh Gheidi, Christina Olbrantz; Achilles Tendon Loading During Heel-Raising and -Lowering Exercises. J Athl Train 1 February 2017; 52 (2): 89–96. doi: https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-52.1.04
2. Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
3. Speirs, Derrick E.1,2; Bennett, Mark A.3; Finn, Charlotte V.4; Turner, Anthony P.2. Unilateral vs. Bilateral Squat Training for Strength, Sprints, and Agility in Academy Rugby Players. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 30(2):p 386-392, February 2016. | DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001096
4. Ramirez-Campillo, Rodrigo & Burgos, Carlos & Henríquez-Olguín, Carlos & Andrade, David & Martínez, Cristian & Álvarez, Cristian & Castro-Sepulveda, Mauricio & Marques, Mário & Izquierdo, Mikel. (2015). Effect of Unilateral, Bilateral, and Combined Plyometric Training on Explosive and Endurance Performance of Young Soccer Players. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 29. 1317–1328. 10.1519/JSC.0000000000000762.

Feature Image: antoniodiaz / Shutterstock

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It’s more challenging than basic bodyweight squats, it’s more accessible than squatting with a barbell, and can usually be done by lifters with poor shoulder or back mobility, and there are many simple and effective goblet squat variations to progress over time.

Here are some of the most effective ways to get even more benefits from the classic goblet squat with a few simple adjustments.

Best Goblet Squat Variations

• Cyclist Goblet Squat
• Goblet Reverse Lunge
• Goblet Lateral Lunge
• Biceps Curl Goblet Squat
• Goblet Box Squat

Cyclist Goblet Squat

A cyclist goblet squat is performed very similar to a classic goblet squat, holding a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of your chest. This movement adds elevation under your heels, most commonly by standing on a single weight plate.

The elevated heel position lets you keep your torso more upright, so that you can sit “more into your knees” compared to sitting your hips farther back as your squat. Raising your heels also changes the ankle mobility requirements of the exercise, making it more comfortable for lifters with limited mobility. (1)

When to Do It

The cyclist squat is excellent for building quad strength and muscle because the raised heel increases activation of the quadriceps (front thigh muscle). This movement is also a great way to get more comfortable sitting “all the way down” into your squat. If you have limited ankle mobility, it’s often more effective to work specifically to improve the issue, but sometimes a heel lift can help you gain confidence in the bottom of the squat and continue training.   

How to Do It

Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in the “goblet position” — with the weight supported by both hands held in front of your chest, under your chin. Set your feet in a fairly narrow stance, closer than shoulder-width, with your heels on top of a weight plate placed on the ground. Bend your legs and squat down. Focus on sitting “into your hips and knees” instead of leaning forward and pushing your hips back.

Descend as low as you can while maintaining tension in your legs and core. Keep your shoulders back and your torso upright. Don’t let the weight pull you forward. When you’re reached the bottom position, drive through your feet and come to a standing position. 

Goblet Reverse Lunge

Switching from a two-leg squat to a single-leg exercise makes it more challenging to your legs and core. Holding the weight in the goblet position and performing a reverse lunge, or back lunge, can be one of the best ways to get started with this movement.

This movement will be great for maintaining core strength and posture while also working on unilateral (single-leg) development. Lunges also allow reduce stress on the back compared to two-leg squats. (2)

When to Do It

A goblet reverse lunge is a great time to focus on each leg individually. You can add this exercise in as an “accessory lift,” performed after more traditional heavy work like barbell squats, or you can make the movement a priority and perform it as the first exercise of your leg workout. Pretty much everyone in the gym can benefit from more unilateral work because, along with building muscular strength, it can also help with hip strength and stabilization. 

How to Do It

Hold a kettlebell or dumbbell in the goblet position. Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Step back with one foot while hinging at your hips and lowering your back knee towards the floor. The goblet squat reverse lunge should be done with a more upright torso position compared to other squat or lunge variations. Keep your front heel down on the floor as you reach your back knee to the ground. Once you’ve reached as far as possible, drive back up by pushing through the floor with your front foot to stand up.  

Goblet Lateral Lunge

Most people very rarely move sideways, or laterally, in daily life. But moving in different planes and in different directions is an important way to maintain a well-rounded, fully functioning body.

The goblet lateral lunge is excellent to build hip stability, adductor (inner thigh) strength, and glute strength. Moving sideways with a weight in the goblet position will also challenge you core stabilizers in a unique way, especially your obliques on the sides of your abdominals.

When to Do It

A goblet lateral lunge is often going to have a relatively shorter range of motion at the knee compared to other lunge movements because the movement also works the leg through a lateral movement, not just knee flexion (bending).

Lifters that have a hard time sitting all the way into a deep squat can benefit from the goblet lateral lunge because you don’t need to and also sit as low. Lateral lunges are also useful when you are also tight in your hamstrings or groin, because the hamstrings and hip muscles are stretched throughout the exercise. 

How to Do It

Stand with the weight in the goblet position. Step one foot out to the side and, when it’s flat on the ground, bend your knee while keeping your other leg straight. Keep your torso upright torso as you descend, don’t let the weight pull you forward. Leaning forward isn’t really wrong, but it shifts the focus to your glutes instead of focusing on your core hip strength. Take your time working through the movement and control the descent. Emphasize the eccentric component (lowering phase) to really get more mobility, strength, and muscle-building benefit. (3)

Biceps Curl Goblet Squat

This two-for-one movement will probably end up on many peoples’ list of favorite exercises. It hits your legs, which many people expect, along with some bonus work for your arms, which many people happily accept.

It is performed exactly the same as a standard goblet squat except that you will sit low enough to push your elbows out into your thighs as you do a biceps curl before standing back up. 

When to Use It 

Along with being an efficient way to train your upper body and lower body together, this is amazing exercise for ingraining a deep squat position, reinforcing squat technique, and learning how to hold muscular tension through your body. If you have a hard time feeling getting your hips back in the bottom of the squat, feeling the weight and the pressure from your own body against your thighs will help to create stability and tension.

Because this is essentially a type of “pause squat,” holding the deepest position as you perform the curl, you are also getting the muscle-building benefits of increased time under tension. (4)

How to Do It

Stand with your feet roughly hip or shoulder-distance apart while holding a weight in the goblet position. The specific stance width will vary person to person. Adjust to a comfortable position. Drive your hips back and push your knees out as you squat down. As you reach the bottom of the squat, press your elbows into the sides of your inner thighs — this will help to keep your chest up, engage your back, and provide enough tension to do a biceps curl to full straight-arm extension while in the bottom position of the squat. Curl the weight back up to the goblet position, near your chest, and then drive through the floor to stand back up.

Goblet Box Squat

This is another simple, subtle, and effective variation of the standard goblet squat. Instead of squatting in the air, lower yourself to reach a box, bench, or step. You should be able to gently touch the box with your glutes before standing up.

The goblet box squat can be used by beginning lifters as they build confidence and get comfortable with the squatting movement pattern, and it can be used by experienced lifters who want to challenge themselves with new movements and techniques.

When to Use It 

Squatting to a stable surface offers a few benefits. First, it makes sure that each repetition is performed with a consistent range of motion instead of accidentally decreasing your depth due to fatigue. It can also work to limit your range of motion, which can be useful if you’re recovering from an injury or need to train within certain restrictions. The box also forces you to move more slowly and with more control, which can increase the time under tension and build greater overall results.

How to Do It

Stand one or two steps in front of a box, bench, or step set to just-above knee-height. You can and should set the height of the box to accommodate your own range of motion depending on your mobility level. Hold a weight in the goblet position and slowly squat down with control, reaching your hips and glutes backward as you approach the box. Be careful not to lower quickly or slam onto the box. Pretend the box was just covered in a layer of glue and you don’t want to get stuck — you need to touch down gently and briefly before standing up.

Muscles Worked by the Goblet Squat

The classic goblet squat, like all squats, is a complete lower body exercise that trains all the major leg muscles.

The front-loaded goblet position also changes the stress on your core muscles compared to other squat variations, making it more accessible to many lifers with back pain unable to perform barbell squats.

Quadriceps

The quads on the front of your thigh are the largest muscle targeted by the goblet squat. They are strongly recruited during the goblet squat, most noticeably as you rise from the bottom position and reach the standing lockout position. Squatting to a deeper position, with a more significant knee angle in the bottom position, can increase activation of the quads.

Glutes and Hamstrings

Your glutes and hamstrings work together to strongly “pull” you into a deep squat position, as well as to extend you up and out of the bottom position. When you take a relatively wide stance, with your feet beyond shoulder-width, your glutes and hamstrings are put into a position of stronger leverage and can be recruited more significantly.

Core

Holding a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of your chest, in the goblet position, will force your abs and lower back (your core muscles) to work more strongly fighting against the pull of the weight. The front-loaded position also requires you to remain more upright, which helps to avoid excessive strain on your lower back.

Goblet Squat Form Tips

The goblet squat is a great tool to help teach that the squat itself is much more than just legs. Holding the weight in front of your body helps to ensure good posture, which really means it becomes an upper back and core exercise, as well.

Keep your elbows pinned to your sides throughout the movement. Your arms should stay bent, with your hands near your shoulders and chest. The weight should stay under your chin and not drift away from your body.

If you try to goblet squat without holding good positions, it is very likely that the weight will pull your upper body forward. Keep you upper back tight and your shoulders pulled back.

Lower yourself to a comfortable depth to build strength and mobility in your legs and hips. In the bottom position, your upper body should not be significantly angled forward, like a common barbell back squat.

Pick Up a Goblet

The goblet squat is an effective exercise all on its own, but when you take a closer look at these versatile variations, the potential benefits keep adding up. To keep progressing, you want to get in plenty of reps, gradually add weight, increase the total time under tension, and vary the movements slowly over time. Adding any of these goblet-position exercises to your lower body training will deliver new strength gains, more muscle, improved mobility, and better all-around performance.

References

1. Lu, Z., Li, X., Xuan, R., Song, Y., Bíró, I., Liang, M., & Gu, Y. (2022). Effect of Heel Lift Insoles on Lower Extremity Muscle Activation and Joint Work during Barbell Squats. Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland), 9(7), 301. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering9070301
2. Eliassen, W., Saeterbakken, A. H., & van den Tillaar, R. (2018). COMPARISON OF BILATERAL AND UNILATERAL SQUAT EXERCISES ON BARBELL KINEMATICS AND MUSCLE ACTIVATION. International journal of sports physical therapy, 13(5), 871–881.
3. Roig, M., O’Brien, K., Kirk, G., Murray, R., McKinnon, P., Shadgan, B., & Reid, W. D. (2009). The effects of eccentric versus concentric resistance training on muscle strength and mass in healthy adults: a systematic review with meta-analysis. British journal of sports medicine, 43(8), 556–568. https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsm.2008.051417
4. Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200

Featured Image: Form Fitness Brooklyn / YouTube

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Kettlebells have a centuries-long history around the world and, fortunately, they’ve become more and more commonplace in commercial gyms in recent years. They’re also an efficient space-saving option for any home gym. While kettlebell training does require slightly more attention than exercising with dumbbells, the payoff is well worth the effort.

Here are the best exercises to begin your kettlebell experience. You’ll find some irreplaceable exercises that build explosive power, head-to-toe strength and stability, and a muscle-building stimulus you just can’t duplicate with any other equipment. While some exercises require a pair of matched weights, there are plenty of great movements using just one ‘bell.

Best Kettlebell Exercises

• Goblet Squat
• Kettlebell Deadlift
• Farmer’s Carry
• Gorilla Row
• Kettlebell Halo
• Front Rack Reverse Lunge
• Front Rack Push Press
• Kettlebell Suitcase Deadlift and Carry
• Kettlebell Clean
• Kettlebell Swing
• Kettlebell Tall Kneeling Plank
• Turkish Get-Up

Goblet Squat

The goblet squat is a very accessible way for anyone to learn how to squat with added resistance. The idea of the movement is that you are “sitting into your squat” with a weight in front of your body. It sounds pretty simple in theory and, in reality, it is.

The movement is much easier to learn compared to a back squat which requires more shoulder mobility and upper body attention. A goblet squat can help you feel what it’s like to hold tension in a squat while focusing on your lower body. It’s not strictly for beginners because you can progress to the heaviest kettlebell you have access to before moving on to a barbell.

How to Do the Goblet Squat

Hold the kettlebell handles at your chest. Press your palms toward each other in order to keep tension in your upper body. Keep your chest up and don’t let the weight pull you forward. Push your hips back, drive your knees out, and sit “into” your hips — don’t just fall down.

When your thighs are slightly below parallel to the ground, push your feet through the floor and drive yourself back up to a standing position. Throughout the entire repetition, keep the weight as close to your body as possible and make sure you have control of the weight.

Benefits of the Goblet Squat

• Goblet squats are a great way to build strength in your legs and core.
• Goblet squats allow you to master squat technique, build mobility, and progress gradually over time.
• Goblet squats are ideal for lifters unable to squat with a 35 or 45-pound barbell.

Kettlebell Deadlift

Kettlebell deadlifts are a great way to learn deadlift technique and strengthen the involved muscles without needing to load 65 to 135 pounds on a barbell. Many times, deadlifts are associated with powerlifters moving hundreds and hundreds (and hundreds) of pounds, but a “deadlift” is simply a way of hinging from your hips and picking up a weight from the ground efficiently.

The kettlebell deadlift helps you understand how to turn your lats on during the exercise, which improves upper body stability and strength during the pull. The exercise also grooves the hip hinge movement pattern to improve technique.

How to Do the Kettlebell Deadlift

Set your feet slightly wider than hip-distance apart, with a kettlebell between your feet. Push your hips back and hinge your upper body forward. Grip the top kettlebell handle with both hands. Your torso should be slightly above parallel to the ground, with your chest above your hip-line. Keep your arms straight and feel tension in your lats — the muscles on either side of your back behind your ribs. Pull your shoulders away from your ears.

Slightly bend your knees and take a deep breath in to brace your core (holding tension and position). Drive through the floor and stand up by pushing your hips forward and pulling your shoulders back. Don’t lean too far back in the top position or you’ll shift focus to your lower back.

Once you’re standing upright, descend by driving your hips back behind you and keeping the weight close to your legs. Unlock your knees and “find the floor” with the kettlebell. Remember that a “deadlift” means that there is a dead-stop on the floor. Each time the weight gets to the ground, breathe and to reset your position.

Benefits of the Kettlebell Deadlift

• Deadlifts are a functional movement done in everyday life, whether it’s picking up the laundry basket, your kid, heavy grocery bags, or the end of a couch. The kettlebell deadlift teaches how to safely keep weight close to your body while efficiently lifting from the floor.
• The exercise strengthens your legs, back, shoulders, core, and grip.

Farmer’s Carry

Farmer’s carries, also known as farmer’s walks, are one of the most effective ways to simultaneously build your strength and endurance. It also works nearly every part of your body from your core and grip to your shoulders and calves.

If you’ve ever carried more than one grocery bag from the car to the house, you’ve done a farmer’s carry. The goal is to get the snacks home safely, right? At the gym, the goal is to carry the weight with control so, when you think about it, the farmer’s carry is a functional exercise to keep your groceries safe. In any case, the idea is to walk for total distance or time while holding heavy weights and maintaining good posture and control of the weights.

How to Do the Farmer’s Carry

Stand with your feet roughly hip-distance apart with a kettlebell at outside of each foot. Hinge your hips back, pull your shoulders away from your ears, and feel tension in your lats as you pick up the kettlebells. This should remind you of doing a deadlift, because it is. The only difference is having a weight near each hip instead of one weight at your body’s centerline. And instead of putting the weights right back down, you are going for a simple walk.

The main focus is to control the weights while walking. Focus on holding your body in good alignment  with your shoulders pulled back in muscular tension to prevent the weights from swinging. If you find you are losing your balance, you are likely not controlling the kettlebells. After you’ve reached your distance or time, set up in the starting stance, hinge your hips back, and bring the weights to the floor.

Benefits of the Farmer’s Carry

• Farmer’s carries are incredibly applicable to life from a functional strength-perspective, safely and efficiently moving with weights at arm’s length.
• The exercise is effective for building core strength and grip strength.
• This total-body movement also builds endurance and conditioning more efficiently than low intensity aerobic exercise like walking on a treadmill.

Gorilla Row

This movement is powerful and, honestly, fun. A gorilla row is similar to a bent-over dumbbell row, but instead of pressing into a bench with one arm, you’re using the opposing weight to create force and stability.

This row variation helps to reinforce good hip hinge patterns. It requires you to hold your lower back and core in a strong position, otherwise you find that doing the actual row becomes much harder. The wide stance also reduces lower back strain, making it a good choice for lifters with recurring back problems.

How to Do the Gorilla Row

Stand with your feet wide out and a pair of kettlebells on the ground at your center. Bend forward at your hips and squat down to grip the weights with your palms facing each other. Pressing down into one of the kettlebells while pulling the other toward your waist. Don’t allow your upper body to rotate as you pull and push. You can either alternate pulling sides with each repetition or stick to one side for all reps before switching.

This movement is meant to be done powerfully, not slowly. If you have a hard time being in the hinge position without your back rounding, elevate the kettlebells on blocks to make them a bit higher. This will take some of the pressure on your hamstrings and lower back by reducing the range of motion.

Benefits of the Gorilla Row

• Gorilla row is an effective rowing variation, which can be beneficial for building strength and muscle. (1)
• This movement incorporated your entire body, using your legs and core for stability, compared to a more lat-focused row.
• The core engagement and body position reduces lower back strain compared to other rowing movements.

Kettlebell Halo

The halo is one of the most complete shoulder exercises you can do. The benefits include strength, mobility, and stability. The halo is versatile and can be done either during a workout or as part of a warm-up.

You can make the movement easier or harder by adjusting the bell’s position in your hands, by alternating directions with each repetition or performing one direction at a time, or by changing your stance from standing to kneeling.

How to Do the Kettlebell Halo

Stand while grabbing the side handles a kettlebell, with the your thumbs in front of your face. Think about an actual halo — a halo is a circle over your head, so create a circular motion around your eye-line. As you bring the weight to the side of your head, start to turn the bottom of the kettlebell up toward the ceiling.

As it moves around the back of your head, the bottom of the kettlebell should be facing the ceiling and your elbows point up to the sky. As the weight finishes the circle around your head, rotate the bottom of the weight to face the floor. You should be in the starting position again.

Don’t allow your head to move forward. Get the range of motion from your shoulders, not from your neck. Pretend you’re stuck in cement from the chest down. This will work on your core stability.

Benefits of the Kettlebell Halo

• The halo efficiently builds core stability and upper body mobility3.
• The shoulders and upper back are worked through a very significant range of motion, making it an ideal drill for improving joint health by addressing scapular stability and mobility.
• The exercise can be performed with several basic variations, making it accessible for people with different abilities and experience levels.

Front Rack Reverse Lunge

All lunges are hard, but front rack reverse lunges (sometimes called back lunges) are an extra-level of hard. It takes a lot of core and mid-back strength to perform this “lower body exercise” because you have to keep the kettlebells held near your chest during the movement.

The beauty of the front rack reverse lunge is that you get your leg work done while also training your upper body and core at the same time. Doing the exercise with one kettlebell will increase the core challenge even further since you need to stabilize your torso from being pulled down on one side.

How to Do the Front Rack Reverse Lunge

Stand while holding a pair of kettlebells at shoulder-height with your knuckles either touching or fairly close to each other. Think of a classic prayer position without your hands actually interlocking. This is the “front rack” position.

Step one foot back, hinging slightly at your hips as you bend your front leg and lower your back knee down towards the floor. Lightly graze the floor with your knee  — don’t just drop your knee to the ground. Focus on keeping your torso strong and your chest up, pointing your knuckles up toward the sky. Once you’ve grazed the ground  with your leg, push up through your front leg with the back leg only helping slightly You can either continue all reps with one leg or you can alternate sides.

Benefits of the Front Rack Reverse Lunge

• The front rack position adds a big element of core strength to the reverse lunge, especially if performed with a weight in one arm instead of two.
• Your upper back, shoulders and arms will also be challenged to support the weight during this movement.
• The front rack reverse lunge helps to build lower body strength and mobility as you reach a deep lunge position, stretching the hip flexors of the back leg and strengthening the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes of the front leg.

Front Rack Push Press

It’s common to see a basic overhead press, but a front rack push press is a whole different ballgame. You can do the standard overhead press with kettlebells in a slow and controlled fashion, but when you add the front rack position and a lower body push, you’ve now created a relatively unstable environment that you have to work really hard to control.

By using leg drive, you challenge your core to transfer that power from your lower body through to your shoulders. You’re also able to use relatively heavier weights, which can build more strength and power.

How to Do the Front Rack Push Press

Hold a pair of kettlebells in the front rack position — in front of your face with your palms facing each other. Dip your knees and sit very slightly down while keeping your chest tall. From that position, quickly stand straight and punch the weights up. Imaging you’re jumping to create enough power through the floor and send the weights toward the ceiling.

Because you’re creating so much force, you’ll need to make sure that your shoulders are in a stable position to catch the weights at the top. Brace your core as you lockout the weights overhead. Once you’ve stabilized the weights at the top, lower them towards your chest as you sit again to “catch” the force coming down. Repeat the movement by punching upward.

Benefits of the Front Rack Push Press

• Kettlebells are more unstable than dumbbells due to the offset center of gravity and their position in your hand and on your arm. This adds an even greater element of core strength and shoulder stability to each repetition as you must work harder to control the weight overhead.
• The front rack push press allows heavier weights than a strict press, which helps improve strength and force development.
• Incorporating leg drive makes the front rack push press a total-body exercise, creating a more efficient movement for conditioning.

Suitcase Deadlift and Carry

This movement is similar to the farmer’s carry except, instead of practicing carrying groceries, you’re practicing carrying luggage. Using just one kettlebell creates a pull on one side of your body which forces your core, specifically your oblique muscles on the sides of your abdominals, to work extra-hard to keep you upright.

The suitcase deadlift is a single-arm, core-intensive variation of the standard kettlebell deadlift.  The suitcase carry is a single-arm, core-intensive variation of the farmer’s carry. Combining the two creates an efficient exercise to build total-body strength and a strong, supportive core.

How to Do the Suitcase Deadlift and Carry

Stand with one kettlebell on the floor next to your foot. Hinge your hips back, bend your legs slightly, and grab the weight with your palm facing your leg. Pull your shoulders away from your ears and create tension in your shoulder. Keep your back neutral and your shoulders level as you drive through the floor and pick up the weight. Walk for total distance or time.

As you are walking, you will feel a bit lopsided, but that is the point. Fight that using your core. Squeeze your free hand hard to help create tension and prevent the weight from pulling you to one side. (2) Once you are done with the set, hinge your hips back, place the weight on the floor and repeat with the other hand.

Benefits of the Suitcase Deadlift and Carry

• The suitcase deadlift and carry addresses natural asymmetries and helps to reduce the risk of injuries by improving core stability.
• The single-sided loading is highly functional and prepares the body for real-world scenarios ranging from walking an energetic dog to carrying a child on your hip.

Kettlebell Clean

This is a dynamic and powerful movement that only feels good when it’s done properly. When it’s done wrong, it can tell you it’s wrong by bruising your wrist and forearm — not all exercises talk back to you like that, but kettlebell cleans definitely will.

The clean is a fundamental exercise that builds strength to get your kettlebells up the front rack position, so learning it will benefit your presses, squats, lunges, and more.

How to Do the Kettlebell Clean

With the kettlebell between your feet, and your feet a little wider than hip-width apart, drive your hips back. Bend your knees and put one hand on the bell with a palm-down grip. Make sure that your chest is up so you can look in front of you — you don’t want to be looking at the floor or the bell. Drive up to pull the weight off the floor. As it reaches your hips, start to turn your hand so the weight will land in the front rack position.

Here’s the important thing: you shouldn’t be doing much pulling with your arm. Some, sure, but most of the power to get the weight from the ground to chest-height comes from your hips. You are almost “throwing” the weight up to the sky with a lot of momentum and power from the hips, and then guiding it into the front rack position.

Some key tips would be not to pull off the ground too fast, so you can gather enough power. Also, relax your hand as the bell is turning, to allow a smoother rotation and cut down on calluses. The kettlebell clean does take a lot of practice before you might have a smooth lift, so it’s a good idea to start light and taking your time to increase the weight.

Benefits of the Kettlebell Clean

• Kettlebell cleans are a very effective explosive power exercise.
• The clean is the most efficient way to bring a kettlebell to the front rack position before performing squats, lunges, presses or similar exercises.
• As a total-body movement, it’s an excellent way to train cardio and conditioning while targeting the legs, core, and upper back.

Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell swings might be the most popular kettlebell exercise around, and for plenty of good reasons. They are one of the best hip extension exercises and target the glutes and hamstrings. They are powerful, they are fun, and they are unconventional cardio.

Because your hips and glutes are some of the strongest muscles in your body, you can swing a lot more weight than you realize when you are using the proper momentum, power, and position.

How to Do the Kettlebell Swing

Start standing about a foot behind the kettlebell, with your feet wider than hip-distance apart. Your body should be in a hinged position with both hands palm-down on the bell. Think about hiking a football back behind you. Keep your chest tall, take a deep breath in, and “hike” the kettlebell behind your legs. Once the kettlebell is at its peak, aggressively drive your hips forward and come to a standing position while the kettlebell swings forward in front of you to about chest-height. Do not lift the kettlebell with your arms. Keep your arms loose.

Imagine a slingshot. As you bring the weight back, you’re pulling the sling back and once you release the sling, the weight should shoot forward. In this case, you will be guiding it forward and slightly up. Once the kettlebell is in front of you at its maximum height, actively pull it down through your legs, but very closer to your hips than your knees. A graphic but memorable saying to keep in mind is “thumb in the bum.” Keep the bell high and close between your legs to generate the most power. When the bell swings up, make sure you have fully extended your hips without leaning backward and overextend with your lower back.

Benefits of the Kettlebell Swing

• Kettlebell swings are a great way to change up your cardio workouts.
• Swings build explosive power and strength.
• The movements is highly effective for targeting the glutes and training hip extension, which can benefit athleticism, sports performance, and muscle growth.

Kettlebell Tall Kneeling Plank

Are you bored of planks and also need to work on your shoulder mobility? Here’s the solution. There are many ways to work your core and static exercises where you resist movement, such as basic planks, are great to build stability.

This tall kneeling plank is also great because you will be working on your hip extension and shoulder mobility at the same time. The kettlebell tall kneeling plank is a great way to work on holding our spine in a neutral position, which will translate to many other exercises.

How to Do the Kettlebell Tall Kneeling Plank

The “tall kneeling” position means that you will be on both knees with your thighs toward the ceiling, not sitting on your heels. Grab the handle of a kettlebell with both hands behind you. Your palms will be facing away from your body and you will want to keep your arms as straight as possible.

Actively extend (straighten) at the hips and hold your ribs in alignment directly above your waist. Try not to let the kettlebell rest on your body. You don’t have to pull it far away, but you want to stay active and engage your shoulders and arms in this hold.

Benefits of the Kettlebell Tall Kneeling Plank

• This exercise is a great way to open up your chest and shoulders, improve mobility and stretch your upper body.
• If you can’t perform basic planks due to wrist or elbow problems, this is a great alternative.

Turkish Get-Up

The Turkish get-up is a strength, stability, and mobility exercise wrapped up into one. It can be broken down into parts where it becomes a sit-up, a crab bridge, a lunge, an overhead hold… there is a lot going on. The main idea is that you begin lying on the ground holding a weight locked out overhead and have to move into a standing position.

This is a big, involved movement broken down into a step-by-step process. The focus is keeping your shoulders in a stable position so the weight remains perpendicular to the ground the entire time. Even beginning with bodyweight alone, without any weigh in your hand, can be challenging to some people.

How to Do the Turkish Get-Up

Lie on your back with your right foot flat on the floor, your right knee bent to 90-degrees, and your left leg straight out. Your right arm begins locked straight above your chest with a kettlebell in-hand. Your left arm is out to the side at the same angle as your left leg. While looking at the weight and pressing your arm away from you, push into the floor with your right foot and prop up onto your left elbow.

Keep pressing your left arm into the floor and come up the palm of that hand. Keep your shoulders stacked in-line. Press your hips up to the sky with your left leg out straight. Press through your left palm and right foot, and bring your left leg under your body into a kneeling position.

With your knee on the ground, take your left palm off the floor and extend your arm sideways for balance. Press through your legs into a standing position. This is the top of the get-up — the halfway point of one repetition. Stabilize the kettlebell locked overhead and brace your core.

With your left leg, step back into a half-kneeling (lunge) position. Hinge your hips back as you lean to the left side and place your left palm on the ground. Bring your left leg through to a straight ahead position. Bend your left arm and lower to your forearm, and then slowly lower yourself flat onto your back. You should  end in the same starting position, with the kettlebell locked straight over your chest. Switch the weight to the other hand and repeat.

Benefits of the Turkish Get-Up

• The Turkish get-up truly is a whole-body exercise. It’s arguably the most involved movement you can do in the gym and everything is working, as you can tell from the extra-long steps on how to perform the exercise
• The movement works shoulder stability and mobility, lower body stability and strength, and core strength.

Benefits of Kettlebell Training

Kettlebells can be used for all sorts of strength exercises, just like you would use dumbbells. The big difference is weight distribution due to the way the kettlebell is shaped and how you hold it. The offset size of the kettlebell can make many exercises much more challenging than similar movements using a dumbbell.

The other major beauty of almost any kettlebell exercise is that you easily flow from movement to movement. For example, you can smoothly transition from a kettlebell swing to a clean to a push press to a front rack reverse lunge all without ever putting the weight down.

This type of exercise flow is similar to using supersets and is an efficient way to train multiple muscle groups with a high level of continuous tension.

How to Program Kettlebell Exercises

Kettlebells are generally used for developing power over raw strength because they can be used explosively but weights are relatively limited. One of the most popular examples would be a kettlebell swing. It’s powerful movement that is best done with a kettlebell rather than a dumbbell or an improvised, homemade kettlebell-like alternative.

Kettlebell exercises can be incorporated into any conventional workout and mixed with standard exercises. For example, performing the front rack push press before dumbbell lateral raises during a shoulder workout.

You can also create a kettlebell-only workout for a plan requiring minimal equipment. For example, performing the goblet squat, swings, and front rack reverse lunge as a complete leg workout. You could also get an intense and effective cardio workout performing the farmer’s carry followed by the Turkish get-up.

How to Warm-Up with a Kettlebell

Because the kettlebell takes up barely any space in the gym, it can be the key to getting a quick and effective warm-up before any workout. Stringing together several exercises, performing each for several repetitions, can be an ideal way to prepare your entire body for any training session. Try this simple circuit:

• Unweighted Turkish Get-Up: Lie flat on the ground with your hand raised to the ceiling. Roll to the opposite side, prop yourself up, swing the leg of your non-working arm through to the back, and stand up. Keep your hand pointed completely vertical the entire time. Reverse the process to lie back down and repeat with the other arm. Perform two reps per side before moving to the next exercise.
• Goblet Squat: Hold a kettlebell with both hands in front of your chest. Pull your shoulders back, engage your core, and sit back into your hips. Descend as low as possible, aiming to increase your depth with each repetition. Perform five repetitions before moving to the next repetition.
• Kettlebell Clean: Take the kettlebell in one hand, hanging between your legs near your knees. Hinge forward at the hips and slightly bend your knees. Explode upwards while pulling the weight to shoulder-level. Bend your arm and “catch” the weight with bent legs. Stand upright and reset before lowering the weight to the starting position. Perform three repetitions per arm before moving to the next exercise.
• Front Rack Push Press: Begin with the kettlebell at shoulder-level. Bend your legs and sit down slightly before quickly standing up while pressing the weight overhead to full lockout. Lower the bell to shoulder-level and “catch” it with bent legs. Perform three repetitions per arm before repeating the first exercise. Perform a total of three circuits.

One Bell, Endless Results

There’s a reason kettlebells have been used around the entire world for well-over a century. Without needing a fully equipped gym, you can train your entire body for strength, muscle, mobility, and conditioning. Kettlebell training might seem complicated, imposing, or even intimidating. But it’s really not. All it takes is patience, practice, and proper instruction. You just got the last piece, but the first two are up to you.

References

1. Baz-Valle, E., Schoenfeld, B. J., Torres-Unda, J., Santos-Concejero, J., & Balsalobre-Fernández, C. (2019). The effects of exercise variation in muscle thickness, maximal strength and motivation in resistance trained men. PloS one, 14(12), e0226989. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0226989
2. Gontijo, L. B., Pereira, P. D., Neves, C. D., Santos, A. P., Machado, D., & Bastos, V. H. (2012). Evaluation of strength and irradiated movement pattern resulting from trunk motions of the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation. Rehabilitation research and practice, 2012, 281937. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/281937

Featured Image: Goolia Photography / Shutterstock

The post The 12 Best Kettlebell Exercises for Conditioning, Mobility, and Strength appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The push-up is one of the most fundamental bodyweight exercises, accessible to anyone, anywhere. Its usefulness as a test of upper body strength and core stability make it a mainstay for physical fitness assessments. Unfortunately, lifters sometimes regard the exercise as being “too basic” and not challenging enough.

Here’s a refresher on why the classic push-up should be part of your training plan, whether you’re new to fitness or a lifelong lifter.

• How to Do the Push-Up
• Push-Up Mistakes to Avoid
• Benefits of the Push-Up
• Muscles Worked by the Push-Up
• Who Should Do the Push-Up
• How to Program the Push-Up
• Push-Up Variations
• Push-Up Alternatives
• Frequently Asked Questions

How to Do the Push-Up

The goal of a push-up is to lower yourself down towards the floor, graze the ground, and then push back up. Keep in mind the phrase “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” from the levitating game from classic kids’ sleepovers or classic ’90s teenage witch movies.

For an efficient push-up, your whole body has to work together. It’s not just “a chest exercise.” All of the muscles — from your head to your toes — are going to work to keep your body in a powerful and stable position. When all of your muscles are working together, you’ll be at your strongest and the movement will be at its most efficient.

Step 1 — Begin in a Tall Plank Position

Get on the ground and support your body with your hands and the balls of your feet. Keep your arms and legs straight. Set your hands directly under your shoulders, just about shoulder-width apart. You may need to be a little wider depending on your frame and arm length.

Squeeze your glutes and tuck your hips toward your belly button. This will help keep your core from sagging. Keep your ribs and hips in alignment. It’s okay if your back ends up slightly rounded, because that’s more stable than having a sagging core.

Form Tip: For increased upper back stability and a stronger shoulder position, pull your shoulders toward your feet, away from your ears. For so many exercises, it’s important to lock your shoulders into place. Drilling this habit with the push-up is one effective way to learn a strong pressing posture.

Step 2 — Pull Yourself to the Ground

Don’t just drop into the bottom position. Think about pulling yourself down toward the ground. You want to be in total control of your movement. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lower yourself toward the floor. Maintain a “stiff as a board” plank position from your torso through your legs.

As your body descends, aim your elbows at roughly 45-degrees between your feet and shoulders. Feel muscular tension increasing in your chest, shoulders, and triceps as you approach the bottom position. Lower yourself as far as your mobility allows, with the goal of touching the floor.

Form Tip: Don’t allow your elbows to flare out as you lower yourself because it can increase stress on your shoulder joints. You may need to adjust your hand position to allow proper elbow tracking. If your fingers are pointed towards each other, your elbows will be more likely to flair. Position your hands with your fingers pointed straight ahead or slightly outward.

Step 3 — Press to Return to the Top Position

Once you graze the ground with your chest, or reach your lowest possible depth, push through your hands and feet to bring your body away from the ground. Keep your legs straight, but use the muscular tension stored head-to-toe to make your body “light as a feather.”

Apply steady force until your arms are fully locked and you’ve returned to the starting position. Pause briefly in the tall plank position and re-engage your core before beginning the next repetition.

Form Tip: You can change the tempo (rep speed) to adjust the difficulty of the exercise. Moving at a slower pace will increase the total time under tension and increase muscle recruitment, which can increase the muscle-building stimulus. (1)(2)

Push-Up Mistakes to Avoid

There are many different mistakes that can happen in a push-up because the movement involves coordinating your entire body from head to toe. However, the most common mistakes usually occur at your arms and in your core. Here’s what to watch out for.

Elbows Flaring Out

One frequent mistake is allowing your elbows to flare out during the exercise. For better results with less joint stress, be sure to keep your elbows at about 45-degrees. Don’t allow them to point sideways toward the walls.

Your elbow position can vary slightly depending on your individual arm length and leverages, but letting your elbows spread out toward your shoulders shifts more strain to your shoulder and elbow joints.

Avoid It: When you set up to begin the exercise, lock your shoulders into place by “un-shrugging” and pulling them away from your ears. When your elbows flare, it can drive your shoulders up toward your ears. By securing strong shoulders, your shoulders help to keep your elbows in position. Also be aware of maintaining this strong shoulder position as you begin pushing from the bottom of the movement.

Sagging Core

Another major mistake is your core sagging down toward the floor. Instead of falling out of core alignment, keep your rib cage and hips stacked evenly. This is the same fully engaged position you need during many standing exercises, like the overhead press.

When your core sags down and breaks the stable plank position, it’s an indicator that you’re not holding tension in your core. With this unstable position, the rest of the movement will be out of alignment. It also puts unwanted pressure on your spine, which can potentially lead to injury.

Avoid it: Many people have been told too many times that their butts are “too high in the air” while doing planks, so they try to compensate and the opposite occurs — they end up sagging to the ground.

It would be more effective to have your butt “too high” while you are gaining strength with the movement, rather than have your core sag down and compromise spinal stability. Tuck your pelvis and rib cage toward your belly button, as if doing a basic crunch. Hold this strong core position as you focus on lowering your body as one unit. 

Benefits of the Push-Up

Push-ups have several benefits including general muscular strength, muscular endurance, core stability, and longevity. Here’s a closer look at why you should work on this simple and effective bodyweight movement. 

Upper Body Strength

Push-ups are one of the most complete upper body, bodyweight exercises you can do. Without needing any training equipment whatsoever, you can challenge your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles, as well as your core and hips.

Your legs, and even your back muscles, are also recruited as stabilizers to control your body’s movement during the exercise.

Versatility

Push-ups can build muscular size, endurance, or general strength. Each goal may involve different volumes (sets and reps) or intensity techniques, but the push-up is a quick and effective option to train for nearly any goal without any training equipment.

Relative Strength

The push-up is an efficient way to build, maintain, or monitor relative strength — being “strong for your size” or having a high degree of functional strength. Because it requires you to lift your bodyweight, the push-up can help to ensure or monitor relative strength gains as you build muscle. This may also be one reason why push-up capacity has been associated with general cardiovascular health. (3)

Muscles Worked by the Push-Up

Push-ups are most commonly known for working the pectoralis muscles (your chest), but push-ups work several other muscles throughout the body.

Pectoralis Major and Pec Minor

The pec major is the primary “chest muscle” and it is responsible for pulling the arms toward the body’s centerline. The is composed of two separate heads — the sternocostal and the clavicular — which work together during most movements.

The pectoralis minor is a supportive, stabilizing muscle located beneath the pec major. It plays a role in joint stability and is heavily recruited as the shoulder blades move during the exercise. The pec muscles are stretched as you descend toward the ground and they strongly contract as you push up from the floor.

Serratus

The serratus are found alongside your ribs, sometimes considered “armpit muscles” because they run near your underarm. This stabilizer muscle aids in keeping your shoulders and scapula in a strong, locked-in position as your arms press and extend during push-ups. They are significantly recruited as your approach lockout at the top of each repetition.

Triceps Brachii

Your triceps are made of three separate heads — the lateral, the long, and the medial. Because the triceps are responsible for straightening your arms at the elbow joint, they are recruited during all pressing exercises, including the push-up.

The triceps are more significantly activated if you perform a relatively close-grip push-up, as opposed to using a shoulder-width or greater hand position, which recruits more pec muscle. (4)

Anterior Deltoid

These muscles are found on the front of your shoulders. The anterior deltoids help to control arm movement in front of your body. During push-ups, the muscles lengthen as they aid in controlling your descent. They contract when you apply force to the top of the movement. 

Abdominals

Your abdominals, running along the front of your torso, act as a brace and provide upper body strength and support in conjunction with your hips and lower back. The abs are recruited to maintain a stable and efficient total-body pressing position. They are not put through any significant range of motion during push-ups. They work statically, holding one position from start to finish.

Who Should Do the Push-Up

Push-ups are for everyone — from bodybuilders and strength athletes to the general population who just want to be able to lift their kids. The simplicity and versatility of the push-up make it an useful exercise for the majority of people in the gym.

Bodybuilders and Physique-Focused Lifters

While the push-up may not offer relatively heavy loads, unless you add a weighted vest or other external resistance, its convenience and practicality make it an effective choice for supersets during a chest workout — immediately performing a set of push-ups after a set of dumbbell flyes, for example.

This is a simple way to increase total training volume and intensity during a workout, which can lead to improved muscle growth.

Strength Athletes

Lifters who continuously move heavy loads with barbell or dumbbell exercises can achieve comparable strength-building benefits from push-ups performed with added resistance. (5)(6) This allows load-focused lifters to increase their strength while reducing wear and tear on their shoulders and elbows from repetitive exercises.

General Trainees

Because push-ups are a fundamental bodyweight exercise, they are an excellent way to build functional, real-world strength with quick, efficient training. (7) The ability to perform push-ups anywhere there’s room on the ground (any room of the house, for example) makes it an ideal exercise for people who find it difficult to schedule consistent gym time.

How to Program the Push-Up

The beauty of bodyweight movements is that the range of volume (sets and reps) and intensity can be very broad. The volume and intensity depends on your goals and ability.  If you are more advanced, you can either do more volume or you can make the push-up more challenging. If you’re still learning the movement, focus on racking up quality repetitions instead of pushing your limits.

Unweighted, Low Repetition

When you’re first learning the push-up and establishing basic strength in the movement, you don’t need to do a ton of repetitions because your form will start to break down from fatigue. Three to four sets of four to six reps is a good place to start.

You’ll benefit from performing a few solid repetitions with perfect technique to create good movement patterns, and slowly increasing the volume.

Unweighted, High Repetition

High-repetition training can be an effective way to build muscle without putting your joints under any significant load. (8) Once you’ve mastered push-up technique, aiming to reach muscular fatigue for two to three sets of 25 or more repetitions can be a unique muscle-building stimulus for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

In this high-rep range, your abdominals are also significantly challenged from holding the static support position for the duration of each set.

Weighted, Moderate Repetition

Advanced lifters, in particular, can benefit from adding resistance with a weighted vest, loaded backpack, or other alternative, and performing three to four sets of 10 to 15 repetitions. This is a time-tested approach, similar to traditional weight training, which challenges the muscles with significant time under tension to promote muscle growth.

Push-Up Variations

The beauty of push-ups is the incredibly long list of variations, which make push-ups suitable for just about everyone. Understanding the ability to regress, progress, or just have other options available will help you be able to learn push-ups or incorporate them into your existing program.

Incline Push-Up

Incline push-ups allow you to do a full range of motion push-up using a “decreased” body weight because you shift the leverage.

While incline push-ups are a regression (easier version) of the standard push-up, it can still be progressed by gradually lowering the height you use. You can start by leaning on a wall at a very high, nearly upright, angle and slowly progress your way to the floor.

At home, you can use sturdy countertops, couches, or stairs to adjust your incline over time. At the gym, using a flat bench is a simple solution. A Smith machine is also an excellent way to make the exercise incrementally more challenging as you slowly move the bar down the rack toward the floor.

Negative Push-Up

Negative push-ups are another effective favorite because, not only are they great for beginners, but they can also provide a fantastic challenge for more advanced lifters.

A “negative push-up,” simply means that you only focus on performing a slow, controlled descent (eccentric, or negative, phase) without trying to press yourself up to the starting position. You can “cheat” yourself back to the top by kneeling and resetting between each rep.

Advanced lifters, however, can add a regular-speed press to the top position or perform a press using the same slow tempo for an increased challenge.

Negative push-ups help to learn control of the movement, they help to work on core stability and strength. Take at least five seconds to complete the negative phase of the repetition. The longer it takes, the harder it will be, which in turn helps to build upper body strength. When using a slower slow speed, simply focus on using proper form with full core engagement and stability.

Single-Leg Push-Up

If you want to make push-ups more challenging without throwing weights on your back, just remove a limb from your base of support. By keeping one leg raised in the air throughout the exercise, you’re focusing your core to engage even more drastically to stabilize your entire body through your hips and working leg. Alternate the raised leg with each set to ensure balanced strength development.

Once you’ve mastered single-leg push-ups, keep both legs on the ground and work on single-arm push-ups — arguably one of the most advanced bodyweight exercises. If/when the time comes that single-arm push-ups aren’t tough, it’s time for single-arm/single-leg push-ups. Really. Lift your right arm and left foot off the ground, perform reps, then switch sides.

Push-Up Alternatives

Some lifters still might not be ready for push-ups. Maybe they live where there’s no ground to press from. Who knows? Let’s talk about alternative exercises that work muscles similarly to a push-up.

Dips

Dips are right at the top of the list with push-ups, as far as bodyweight chest exercises go. In comparison to push-ups, dips are typically harder because you can’t push through the floor with your legs. It’s also a slightly more “vertical” body position, making you lift a higher percentage of your bodyweight. To make dips more accessible to a broader range of the population, the exercise often needs to be modified. 

Bench dips, using a flat bench or sturdy chair, let you brace your legs similar to performing incline push-ups. It will help to decrease the amount of your body weight being used, but the altered body angle will emphasize your triceps more than your chest.

Performing dips with resistance bands is a very effective way to reduce the percentage of body weight you lift during the movement, allowing you to progress gradually. Dips do require a higher degree of upper back mobility and shoulder joint stability, so take your time progressing the movement and always work within a controlled range of motion.

Dumbbell Chest Press

The dumbbell chest press is a free weight alternative to the push-up. This basic exercise challenges all of the same muscles — chest, shoulders, and triceps — with the straightforward progression of added weight.

The exercise is adaptable and can be performed on a flat, incline, or decline bench. Dumbbells also allow the wrists to rotate freely, which can adjust hand position for altered muscle recruitment or increased comfort on the wrists and elbows.

You can even do dumbbell presses while lying on the floor to limit the range of motion, reduce shoulder strain, and increase triceps recruitment.

Bench Press

The big, basic, barbell bench press might be the most popular upper body exercise around. It’s a very effective alternative to the push-up and allows the use of potentially heavy weights.

This staple exercise can be adapted, like the dumbbell variation, with multiple angles and adjusted ranges of motion (like lying on the floor instead of a bench).

Many people jump to the barbell bench press as one of the first exercises they perform in the gym. But if they’ve ever practices push-ups at home, they’ve prepared themselves for the bench press without even realizing it.

FAQs

Why are push-ups so hard?

Push-ups challenge the whole body and require coordination and strength from head to toe — from your upper back and neck across your torso through your legs and into the ground.

Push-ups are hard for many people because it requires lifting your body weight off of the floor using the direct strength of your chest and arms, which are often undertrained, especially in beginners. With time, practice, and inevitable strength gains, the exercise can start to feel easier, more controlled, and much more natural.

Can I do push-ups every day?

The simple answer is: Yes. The more complicated answer is: Yes, but… don’t forget to listen to your body and rest your muscles as needed. When you’re just starting to learn how to do push-ups, performing five to 10 reps a day can help to build good patterns.

You can even do very low-rep sets multiple times throughout the day to benefit from “greasing the groove,” or building strength and technique with high frequency training.

However you need to make sure that you don’t train every day with high intensity and you don’t train to muscular failure. You need to rest the muscles and allow them to recover so that you don’t overtrain.

Get Pushin’ with the Push-Up

Everyone can do push-ups, anywhere, anytime. From young lifters to competitive athletes to elderly adults, push-ups can help to keep your training plan convenient and accessible so your body stays strong. You’re never too strong, too experienced, or too new to hit the deck and gimme 20. Or 10. Or even five perfect reps.

References

1. Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
2. Hsu, Hsiu-Hao & Chou, You-Li & Huang, Yen-Po & Huang, Ming-Jer & Lou, Shu-Zon & Pei, Paul & Chou, Hsi. (2011). Effect of Push-up Speed on Upper Extremity Training until Fatigue. Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. 31. 10.5405/jmbe.844. 
3. Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capacity and Future Cardiovascular Events Among Active Adult Men. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(2):e188341. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341
4. Kim, Y. S., Kim, D. Y., & Ha, M. S. (2016). Effect of the push-up exercise at different palmar width on muscle activities. Journal of physical therapy science, 28(2), 446–449. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.28.446
5. Calatayud, J., Borreani, S., Colado, J. C., Martin, F., Tella, V., & Andersen, L. L. (2015). Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity results in similar strength gains. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(1), 246–253. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000589
6. Kotarsky, C. J., Christensen, B. K., Miller, J. S., & Hackney, K. J. (2018). Effect of Progressive Calisthenic Push-up Training on Muscle Strength and Thickness. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 32(3), 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002345
7. Harrison, Jeffrey. (2010). Bodyweight Training: A Return To Basics. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 32. 52-55. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181d5575c. 
8. Schoenfeld, B. J., Peterson, M. D., Ogborn, D., Contreras, B., & Sonmez, G. T. (2015). Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(10), 2954–2963. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958

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