Wide-Grip Push-Up

What is the Wide-Grip Push-Up?

The wide-grip push-up sets the hands wider than shoulder-width, which increases how far the arms travel across the body and biases the chest a little more than a standard push-up. It’s a simple, equipment-free way to shift a bodyweight press toward the pecs and add stretch, without changing anything but your hand placement.

Muscles worked

Primary: Chest

The pectoralis major takes a larger share of the work than on a standard push-up, because the wide hands increase the horizontal-adduction range as you press up.

Secondary: Triceps, Shoulders

The triceps still extend the elbows to lock out, though less than a narrower grip demands, and the front deltoids assist through the bottom.

Stabilizers

The abs, glutes, and serratus brace to hold a rigid plank, and the shoulders work harder at the wider position, so control at the bottom matters more.

How to perform the Wide-Grip Push-Up

1. Set the hands well outside shoulder width on the floor with the fingers spread and the wrists under the outer chest.
2. The wide hand placement shortens the range and shifts emphasis toward the outer and mid chest over the triceps.
3. Brace the core and glutes so the body holds one straight line from the heels through the head.
4. Lower under control until the chest nears the floor, letting the elbows flare out toward the sides more than in a standard push-up.
5. Press the floor away until the elbows extend, keeping the hips level and the neck neutral throughout.
6. Avoid setting the hands so wide that the shoulders take the strain; keep them just wide enough to feel the outer chest.

Suggested working range: 10–20 reps. Default progression: double progression.

Mechanics

A bilateral horizontal push against bodyweight with a wide hand placement: the shoulders and elbows move to lower and raise the chest, making it a compound. Widening the hands lengthens the arc the arms travel across the body and takes some load off the triceps, tilting the emphasis onto the chest, the bodyweight equivalent of taking a wider grip on the bench.

Form cues

• •Set the hands noticeably wider than shoulder-width, but not so wide that the shoulders feel pinched at the bottom.
• •Hold a straight line from heels to head: brace the abs and squeeze the glutes so the hips don’t sag.
• •Lower until the chest nears the floor to get the fuller chest stretch the wide grip offers.
• •Keep the shoulder blades set and don’t let the shoulders shrug toward the ears at the bottom.

Common mistakes

• •Setting the hands so far apart that the shoulders take the strain instead of the outer chest.
• •Letting the hips sag so the lower back arches under the load.
• •Piking the hips upward to shorten the already reduced range of motion.
• •Poking the head forward to chase the floor with the chin rather than keeping the neck neutral.

Variations & alternatives

• •Push-up, the standard shoulder-width version that shares work more evenly with the triceps.
• •Diamond push-up: hands close together to shift the emphasis onto the triceps instead.
• •Decline push-up, with the feet elevated to bias the upper chest and add difficulty.
• •Dumbbell fly, the loaded isolation for the same wide chest-adduction feel with more control.

Barbell Bench Press

Chest · Barbell

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Chest · Barbell

Dumbbell Bench Press

Chest · Dumbbell

Incline Dumbbell Press

Chest · Dumbbell

Cable Fly

Chest · Cable

Programming: sets, reps & when to use it

The wide-grip push-up suits higher reps (the library’s 10–20 range) as a chest-focused warm-up, finisher, or home press. When 20 clean reps get easy, elevate the feet, slow the descent, or add a weighted vest to keep progressing. Don’t go so wide that the shoulders complain; a moderate widening gives the chest bias without the strain. Two to four sets works well.

Frequently asked questions