Wide Grip Push Ups Overview
The wide grip push ups are a bodyweight move for your chest. Your chest muscles push your arms in front of you. This move also works your shoulders and triceps. Your triceps are the back of your upper arms. You set your hands wider than your shoulders. This wide setup puts more work on your chest. You need no gear, just floor space. The wide grip push ups are great for building your chest. The wide hands stretch the chest more each rep. That helps the muscle grow. This is a simple move you can do anywhere. It fits well in a chest or push workout. It suits beginners who can already do a few push ups. It builds a stronger upper body and better pushing power.
What Is The Point of the Wide Grip Push Ups?
Wide grip push ups build chest width and upper body strength. They hit your chest muscles harder than regular push ups by using a wider hand position.
How To Do The Wide Grip Push Ups
- Start in a plank position with your hands placed wider than shoulder-width apart, fingers pointing forward or slightly out. Set your feet about hip-width apart.
- Straighten your body into one line from head to heels and brace your core hard. Squeeze your glutes so your hips do not sag.
- Set your shoulders down and back, and take a breath. Your wide hand placement will put more emphasis on the chest.
- Lower your chest toward the floor by bending your elbows out to the sides in a controlled way. Keep your body rigid as one unit.
- Descend until your chest is close to the ground, feeling a stretch across your chest. Do not let your hips drop or pike up.
- Keep your core tight and your neck neutral, looking at a spot on the floor just ahead of your hands. Pause for a beat at the bottom.
- Push through your palms to press back up, squeezing your chest as you rise. Keep your body straight the whole way.
- Straighten your arms fully at the top without letting your shoulders round forward or your hips sag. This is one complete rep.
- Keep each rep smooth and controlled rather than rushed, and reset your breath and brace between reps. Since this is a beginner chest move, aim for 10 to 20 reps or as many as you can manage with good form.
Wide Grip Push Ups Form Tips
- Set your hands wider than your shoulders.
- Keep your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- Keep your belly tight so your hips do not sag.
- Lower your chest all the way down.
- Bend your elbows out to the sides.
- Push through your palms to rise.
- Squeeze your chest at the top.
- Breathe in as you lower. Breathe out as you press.
- Keep your neck in line with your back.
- Move slowly both down and up.
Common Mistakes to Avoid for the Wide Grip Push Ups
- Letting the hips sag toward the floor. A drooping midsection means your core is not bracing and puts strain on your lower back. Squeeze your glutes and abs to hold a straight line from head to heels the whole time.
- Piking the hips up in the air. Sticking your butt up shortens the movement and takes the chest out of it. Keep your body flat and rigid so the chest and triceps do the pressing.
- Not lowering far enough. Stopping halfway and never bringing the chest near the floor trains only a partial range. Lower until your chest is close to the ground on every rep for the full chest stretch.
- Placing the hands way too wide. An extreme wide grip stresses the shoulders and cuts your range of motion. Set your hands a bit wider than shoulder width, not so far out that your shoulders complain.
- Flaring the elbows straight out at 90 degrees. Elbows pointing dead sideways stress the shoulder joint. Let them bend out at a moderate angle so the chest works without wrecking the shoulders.
- Rushing the reps. Fast, bouncy push-ups rely on momentum and barely load the chest. Slow down, control the descent, and press up with intent.
- Dropping the head or cranking the neck. Letting your head hang or looking up strains the neck and throws off your spine. Keep a neutral neck with your gaze just ahead of your hands.
- Not bracing the core. A loose trunk lets your hips sag and leaks power on every rep. Take a breath, tighten your abs and glutes, and keep the body stiff from head to heels.
- Only doing a fast eccentric. Dropping quickly to the floor wastes the lowering phase, which builds a lot of muscle. Control a 2 to 3 second descent to get more from each rep.
- Letting the shoulders round forward at the top. Hunching up at the top puts the shoulders in a weak position. Keep your shoulders set down and back as you lock out.
- Holding the breath through the set. Without steady breathing your brace goes soft and form falls apart. Exhale as you press up and keep the core braced throughout.
Wide Grip Push Ups Workout Tips
- Keep your body in one rigid line from head to heels. Bracing your core and squeezing your glutes turns the push-up into a moving plank, which protects your back and lets your chest press hard.
- Lower until your chest nearly touches the floor. A full range gives the chest a real stretch at the bottom, and training that stretched position is a big driver of growth.
- Use a controlled 2 to 3 second descent. Slowing the lowering phase keeps tension on the chest and builds more muscle than dropping fast and bouncing.
- Set your hands a bit wider than shoulder width. This wider grip shifts more emphasis onto the chest, but keep it moderate so your shoulders stay healthy.
- Squeeze your chest as you press up. Focusing on driving with the chest rather than just moving your body builds the mind-muscle connection that helps the muscle grow.
- Program wide push-ups on push days or in circuits. They are a great chest builder that needs no equipment, so they fit anywhere and scale to any level.
- Aim for 10 to 20 reps for 3 to 4 sets. If bodyweight is easy, chase higher reps or make the movement harder rather than just cranking endless easy ones.
- Regress to knees if you cannot hold a straight body. Dropping to your knees lets you keep the chest working with good form until you build the strength for full push-ups.
- Progress by elevating your feet or adding a band. Raising your feet or draping a resistance band across your back is progressive overload for a bodyweight move.
- Add a pause at the bottom for a few sets. Holding near the floor removes the bounce and forces the chest to press from a dead stop, building strength off the bottom.
- Keep your elbows at a moderate angle, not flared flat. This protects your shoulders while still loading the chest, which is the sweet spot for pressing.
- Film a set from the side. Video shows sagging hips, short reps, and piking that are hard to feel while you push.
- Use push-ups to build pressing strength for the bench. The movement pattern carries over well, so strong push-ups help your barbell and dumbbell pressing too.
- Keep your shoulders set down and back throughout. A stable shoulder position keeps the chest in charge and protects the joint from strain.
- Do not chase failure on every set. Leaving a rep or two in the tank keeps your form clean and lets you recover for the next session.
- Be consistent, since bodyweight chest work adds up. Regular quality push-ups over weeks build a real base of chest and triceps strength.
Questions & Comments
Be the first to ask a question about this exercise.