What muscles does fingertip pushups work?

Fingertip Pushups mainly works your chest. It also works your shoulders, triceps and forearm.

What equipment do you need for fingertip pushups?

You do not need any equipment for fingertip pushups. You can do it with just your body.

How do you do fingertip pushups?

Here is how to do fingertip pushups. Start in a standard pushup position but balance on your fingertips instead of your palms, hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Spread your fingers wide and press them firmly into the floor. Set your body in a straight line from head to heels. Brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and set your shoulders down and back so your body is rigid. Keep your fingers strong and slightly bent like a claw, so they support your weight through the finger and hand muscles. This is what makes fingertip pushups so demanding on the forearms and grip. Take a breath and lower your body under control toward the floor, keeping your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees rather than flaring wide. Aim for a 2 to 3 second descent. Lower until your chest is just above the floor, keeping your body straight and your fingers stable the whole way. Do not let your hips sag or pike up. Keep your core and glutes tight so your torso does not bend. All the tension should feel like it runs in a straight line from your hands to your heels. Press back up through your fingertips to the top position, breathing out through the hardest part. Think about pushing the floor away while keeping your fingers strong. Fully straighten your arms at the top without locking harshly, then start the next rep. Because these are advanced and hard on the fingers, keep the reps lower and the form strict, around 5 to 12 per set.

What are common mistakes to avoid with fingertip pushups?

When you do fingertip pushups, avoid these common mistakes: collapsing the fingers flat under load; letting the hips sag or pike; flaring the elbows straight out wide.

Is fingertip pushups good for beginners?

Fingertip Pushups is an advanced exercise. It is an advanced move for experienced lifters.

Fingertip Pushups Exercise - How To Video & Tips

Fingertip Pushups Overview

Fingertip pushups build your chest. They also work your shoulders, triceps, and forearms. The triceps are the muscles on the back of your arms. You do a normal pushup, but you balance on your fingertips. Your palms stay off the floor. This works your fingers, hands, and forearms hard. You need no gear. You just need your body and some floor space. Fingertip pushups are an advanced move. They build a strong chest and a powerful grip. They also build tough fingers and forearms. They are best for people who can already do many pushups. Use them on a chest day or a home workout. Start with just a few reps. Your fingers need time to get strong. Move slow and keep your fingers spread wide.

What Is The Point of the Fingertip Pushups?

The fingertip pushups exercise builds serious finger strength while hitting your chest. It takes regular pushups to the next level by working your grip power.

How To Do The Fingertip Pushups

Start in a standard pushup position but balance on your fingertips instead of your palms, hands slightly wider than your shoulders. Spread your fingers wide and press them firmly into the floor.
Set your body in a straight line from head to heels. Brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and set your shoulders down and back so your body is rigid.
Keep your fingers strong and slightly bent like a claw, so they support your weight through the finger and hand muscles. This is what makes fingertip pushups so demanding on the forearms and grip.
Take a breath and lower your body under control toward the floor, keeping your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees rather than flaring wide. Aim for a 2 to 3 second descent.
Lower until your chest is just above the floor, keeping your body straight and your fingers stable the whole way. Do not let your hips sag or pike up.
Keep your core and glutes tight so your torso does not bend. All the tension should feel like it runs in a straight line from your hands to your heels.
Press back up through your fingertips to the top position, breathing out through the hardest part. Think about pushing the floor away while keeping your fingers strong.
Fully straighten your arms at the top without locking harshly, then start the next rep. Because these are advanced and hard on the fingers, keep the reps lower and the form strict, around 5 to 12 per set.

Fingertip Pushups Form Tips

Spread your fingers wide to hold your weight.
Keep your palms off the floor the whole time.
Keep your body straight from head to heels.
Brace your belly to hold your body steady.
Lower slowly. Take about 2 seconds down.
Keep your fingers strong and firm. Do not let them collapse.
Keep your elbows a bit tucked, not flared wide.
Bring your chest near the floor at the bottom.
Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you push.

Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Fingertip Pushups

Collapsing the fingers flat under load. If your fingers buckle instead of holding a strong claw, you can jam or strain the finger joints and tendons. Keep your fingers spread wide and firmly bent so the hand muscles support your weight.
Letting the hips sag or pike. When your core switches off, your hips drop and strain your lower back or pike up and cheat the movement. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your body holds one straight line.
Flaring the elbows straight out wide. A 90 degree flare stresses the shoulders and weakens the press. Keep your elbows tucked to about 45 degrees so the chest and triceps handle the load.
Attempting these before your fingers are ready. Jumping into fingertip pushups without conditioned fingers and wrists risks a real tendon injury. Build up gradually, starting from your knees or against a wall to strengthen the fingers first.
Rushing the descent. Dropping fast uses gravity instead of muscle and puts a sudden shock through the fingers. Lower for a controlled 2 to 3 seconds so your muscles and fingers stay in charge.
Cutting the range of motion short. Doing tiny partial reps skips the chest stretch and the hardest part of the movement. Lower until your chest is just above the floor each rep.
Doing too many reps too soon. Chasing high reps on an advanced, finger-intensive move leads to failing fingers and injury. Keep the reps lower and prioritize strict, controlled form over numbers.
Uneven finger pressure. Loading too much weight on a couple of fingers instead of spreading it evenly overloads those joints. Press through all your fingertips evenly to share the load safely.
Holding your breath. Bracing without breathing leaves you weak and unstable partway through a set. Breathe in as you lower and out as you press to stay steady and tight.
Shrugging the shoulders up. Letting your shoulders creep toward your ears jams the joint and weakens the press. Keep your shoulders pulled down and back throughout.
Training them on a slick or hard surface. Fingertips can slip on a smooth floor or get bruised on concrete. Use a mat or a surface with grip so your fingers stay planted and protected.

Fingertip Pushups Workout Tips

Build up to fingertip pushups gradually. Start on your knees or against a wall to condition your fingers and wrists first, since jumping straight in risks a tendon injury.
Keep your fingers spread wide and strong. A wide, firm claw shares the load across all your fingers and is the key to doing these safely.
Chase the mind-muscle connection. Feel your chest and triceps drive the pushup while your fingers and forearms hold you up, since that awareness helps you control the movement.
Keep your elbows around 45 degrees. This protects your shoulders and keeps the pressing load on your chest and triceps.
Use a slow eccentric. A 2 to 3 second lower keeps tension on the chest and reduces the sudden shock on your fingers.
Keep your body in one rigid line. Bracing your core and glutes turns your whole body into a plank, which makes the pushup stronger and safer.
Program them as advanced pushup and grip work. They build chest and triceps while seriously strengthening your fingers, hands, and forearms.
Keep the reps lower and the form strict. Around 5 to 12 clean reps beats grinding out high numbers that fail your fingers.
Progress by adding reps before making them harder. Once a set is easy, add reps or slow the tempo before trying tougher variations.
Train on a surface with grip. A mat keeps your fingertips from slipping and protects them from a hard floor.
Use them to build serious grip and finger strength. That carries over to climbing, pulling, and any sport where strong hands matter.
Warm up your fingers, wrists, and shoulders first. Priming the joints before loading them reduces the risk on this demanding movement.
Regress to fingertip pushups on your knees when tired. Dropping to your knees lets you keep good form when your fingers start to fatigue.
Film yourself from the side. Video shows a sagging or piking body and finger collapse that are hard to feel mid-set.
Stop the set the moment your fingers start to give. Pushing through failing fingers is how injuries happen, so end the set while your form is still solid.
Be patient and respect the difficulty. These are an advanced move, so build the finger conditioning slowly over months and the strength will come safely.