Pike Push-Up

What is the Pike Push-Up?

The pike push-up is a bodyweight vertical press: with the hips piked high so the torso angles toward the floor, you press your own bodyweight overhead through the shoulders. It’s the key stepping stone between a flat push-up and the handstand push-up, building overhead pressing strength with no equipment beyond the floor.

Muscles worked

Primary: Shoulders

The front and side deltoids press the body up as the shoulders extend from the piked bottom position, taking the bulk of the bodyweight load.

Secondary: Triceps

The triceps extend the elbows to lock the arms out at the top of each rep.

How to perform the Pike Push-Up

1. Start in a downward-dog position with the hips piked high, hands slightly wider than shoulders and feet walked in toward the hands.
2. Set the head to point at the floor between the hands so the pressing angle targets the shoulders rather than the chest.
3. This is a bodyweight vertical press, so the steeper the hip pike, the more the load shifts onto the delts.
4. Bend the elbows to lower the crown of the head toward the floor just in front of or between the hands.
5. Descend under control until the head lightly nears the floor, keeping the hips high and the elbows tracking at a moderate angle.
6. Press back up by extending the elbows and driving the floor away, keeping the piked hip position stable throughout.

Suggested working range: 8–15 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A bilateral vertical press using bodyweight: with the hips piked so the arms are near-overhead relative to the torso, the shoulders and elbows extend to press the head away from the floor to arm’s length. As a compound it loads the delts and triceps, and the more vertical your torso, the more the movement resembles an overhead press rather than a decline push-up.

Form cues

• •Pike the hips up high so your body makes an inverted V and your weight stacks over the shoulders.
• •Lower the crown of your head toward the floor between your hands, not out in front.
• •Keep the elbows tracking forward rather than flaring straight out to the sides.
• •Press back up to straight arms and keep the hips high throughout, and don’t let them sag into a plank.

Common mistakes

• •Letting the hips drop toward a flat plank, which turns the movement back into a chest push-up.
• •Only lowering a few inches instead of bringing the head near the floor.
• •Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides rather than at a moderate angle.
• •Letting the neck collapse and the head jut forward instead of tracking down between the hands.

Variations & alternatives

• •Elevated pike push-up: feet on a box to raise the torso closer to vertical and add load.
• •Wall handstand push-up: the full inverted progression once pike push-ups are easy.
• •Standard push-up: an easier horizontal press to build baseline pressing strength.
• •Dumbbell overhead press: a loadable free-weight vertical press if you have dumbbells.

Overhead Press

Shoulders · Barbell

Dumbbell Overhead Press

Shoulders · Dumbbell

Lateral Raise

Shoulders · Dumbbell

Cable Lateral Raise

Shoulders · Cable

Rear Delt Fly

Shoulders · Dumbbell

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

Train pike push-ups for moderate-to-high reps in the library’s 8–15 range, since bodyweight is the only load. Once you can hit the top of that range cleanly, make it harder by elevating the feet to raise the torso toward vertical rather than just adding reps. Use it as your main overhead press in an equipment-free routine or as accessory volume otherwise.

Frequently asked questions