Five Best Push Exercises

A staple in anyone’s fitness journey is building a big, strong chest, bold shoulders, and triceps that show off the horseshoe shape of the muscle. Whether you’re training a Push-Pull-Leg split, a Bro split, or something in between, at home with your PowerBlock Adjustable Dumbbells  or in a commercial gym, implementing these 5 moments within your workout will help you grow. 

Pushing Muscles

To start, our muscles can be categorized into two buckets: pushing and pulling. The muscles on the front of our body are primarily pushing muscles, and the ones on the back are pulling muscles. With our workout being an upper-body push workout, let's break down each muscle we’ll be training.

Pectoralis

The pectoralis (pec) or chest muscles are a dominant pushing muscle. Its job is to bring our upper arm from behind our body to in front of our body with a slight wrap around the rib cage. There are two portions of our pec, the pectoralis major and the pectoralis minor. 

Deltoids

The deltoids, or our shoulder muscles, are another Pushing Muscle located at the top of our arm above the biceps and triceps. Their main job is to move the upper arm above our head. With that, there are three portions of the deltoid, two of which assist in the pushing motion. 

Keep good posture. This portion of the deltoid is best trained with your back muscles on a Pull Day.

Triceps

The last muscle that is used in a push day is the Triceps. The triceps are located on the back of the arm and are responsible for extending the arm at the elbow. It assists the pecs in bench presses and the deltoids in shoulder presses. There are three heads to the triceps, but to isolate the triceps, you only need to perform two movement paths to fully train them. As per the name, the Triceps has three heads: The long head, the lateral head, and the medial head. 

For a full breakdown of each muscle group, check out the Best Push Day Workout on our website. 

The Top 5 Pushing Exercises

Now that you’re familiar with the muscles we use to push, it’s time to break down the top 5 pushing exercises.

The Push Up

The push-up is a classic exercise for a reason: it works. Great for warming up before any push workout, or it can be used as a finisher to burn out the chest. Once you’ve mastered the standard push-up, you can also add variations such as diamond push-ups, clap push-ups, dumbbell push-ups, and side kick push-ups for a bigger challenge.

How to Properly Perform a Pushup:

1. Get in a plank position with hands beneath the shoulders and your back straight.

2. Bend your elbows outward to lower the upper body until it almost touches the ground.

3. Press upwards back to the plank position.

Bench Press

This is another tried-and-true compound exercise that simultaneously targets the chest, triceps, and the front portion of the shoulder. Beginners to advanced lifters use this movement to develop the chest, whether or not you have a bench to use. Use dumbbells to isolate each side of the chest or a barbell if you’re just starting to get a mastery of the movement. If you do have a bench, try adjusting the angle of it to target different portions of the chest to help with overall development. 

How to Properly Perform a Bench Press:

1. Lie on a flat bench with your feet flat on the floor.

2. Hold your dumbbells against either side of the chest in an overhand grip, then press them upwards until the arms are straight.

3. Lower the dumbbells back to the starting position.
   

Chest Fly

We like the chest fly because it isolates the chest. While chest presses are a compound, or multi-muscle movement, the fly primarily activates the chest muscles. This increased focus will help develop the chest so that it is both bigger and stronger. Due to the movement isolating the chest, it allows the chest to open, giving the muscle a bigger stretch which can improve posture and alleviate the feeling of a tight chest. Although you can do chest flies on the floor, a flat bench will give you a little more range of motion.

How to Properly Perform the Chest Fly

1. Lie back on a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand.

2. Extend the dumbbells straight above your chest.

3. Slowly lower the dumbbells to your sides in an arc while keeping the arms straight.

4. Reverse this arc motion to press the weights upwards.

Overhead Press

The overhead press works the front portion of the shoulder muscle, known as the deltoid, while getting help from the triceps and upper chest. Sometimes called the shoulder press or military press, it can be performed standing or sitting, with dumbbells or a barbell. On top of being a phenomenal mass builder for the shoulder, the overhead press helps with building core strength and helping the shoulder joint stabilize, helping other pressing movements in stability and power. 

How to Properly Perform the Overhead Press

1. Hold a barbell or two dumbbells just above the shoulders and chest. Your hand should be just outside your shoulders, with your wrist in line with your elbow and your elbow pointing to the ground. 

2. Press the weights upwards until your arms are straight and overhead.

3. Lower the weights back to the starting position.

Triceps Dip

The triceps dip is a great bodyweight movement for beginners working on building strength or the advanced lifter wanting to add a solid workout finisher for their triceps. Due to the position your arms are in at the stretched position of this movement, you can get a great stretch not only in your triceps but your chest as well. Once you’ve mastered this movement with just your body weight, try putting a dumbbell on your lap to add more resistance. 

How to Properly Perform the Triceps Dip

1. Grab the handles of your dip attachment or hold your hands behind you on your bench with your leg either straight out in front of you or with your knees bent at 90 degrees and push yourself straight upwards.

2. Keep your torso straight and your core engaged. If you’re using a dip bar attachment for your PowerBench 2.0 or Sport Bench, keep your knees bent so that you don’t touch the floor during the movement.

3. Lower yourself until the upper arms are approximately parallel to the floor.

4. Push yourself back up to the starting position.