Diamond Push-Up: Muscles Worked and How to Do It
TL;DR
The diamond push-up works your triceps hardest, with your chest and shoulders assisting to press your body back up. Placing your hands together under your chest narrows your pressing angle, shifting more of the work onto the back of your arms than a standard, wider push-up does.
- Primary muscle:
- Triceps
- Secondary muscles:
- Chest, Shoulders
Muscles worked
Your triceps are the prime mover here. The close hand position narrows your elbow angle, so straightening your arms at the top demands more from your triceps and less from your chest than a standard push-up.
Your chest and shoulders still assist, pressing your body away from the floor and stabilizing your shoulder joints, but they share less of the load than in a wider push-up because the narrow hand position changes the pressing angle in the triceps' favor.
Log Diamond Push-Up in PR Streak
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How to do it
- Lie on the floor face down and place your hands closer than shoulder width for a close hand position. Make sure that you are holding your torso up at arms' length.
- Lower yourself until your chest almost touches the floor as you inhale.
- Using your triceps and some of your pectoral muscles, press your upper body back up to the starting position and squeeze your chest. Breathe out as you perform this step.
- After a second pause at the contracted position, repeat the movement for the prescribed amount of repetitions.
Form tips
- Form a diamond or triangle with your thumbs and index fingers under your chest.
- Keep your elbows tracking back along your sides instead of flaring out.
- Keep a straight line from your shoulders to your ankles through the whole rep.
- Lower your chest until it nearly touches your hands, not just partway down.
- Drop to your knees to reduce the load if full diamond push-ups are still too hard.
Exercise details
| Equipment | Bodyweight |
|---|---|
| Level | Intermediate |
| Mechanic | Compound |
Used by lifters following PPL, 5x5, upper/lower, and more.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are diamond push-ups harder than regular push-ups?
Yes, for most people. The narrow hand position increases the demand on your triceps and reduces the leverage your chest gets, so the same bodyweight feels heavier. Master standard push-ups for 12 or more clean reps first if your triceps or wrists feel overloaded.
Why do my wrists hurt during diamond push-ups?
The close hand position puts your wrists in more extension than a standard push-up. Try placing your hands on a slight incline, using push-up handles, or reducing how far your hands turn inward until your wrist mobility and triceps strength catch up to the position.
What's a good next step after diamond push-ups?
Once diamond push-ups feel controlled for high reps, add the close-grip bench press to keep training the same triceps-focused pressing pattern with added weight instead of just more bodyweight reps.
More triceps exercises
Exercise instructions and photos come from the free-exercise-db library, public domain, the same library used inside the PR Streak app.
