Close Grip Push Up: How To Do, Muscles Worked, Benefits

A close-grip push-up is a variation of the standard push-up in which you place your hands narrower than shoulder-width apart. Because it uses a close-hand position, it focuses more on the inner chest and the triceps and also poses a significant challenge.

Adding it to your bodyweight workout routines has many benefits. A study found that there is greater electromyographic (EMG) activity in the triceps brachii when doing close push-ups than when executing regular push-ups.

It increases triceps and chest activity, improves core strength and stability, and enhances shoulder strength.

Let’s look at how to do close-grip push-ups, which muscles work during them, and their benefits.

Close Push Up Muscles Worked

The close-grip push-up is a compound bodyweight exercise that works several upper body muscles.

• Primary Muscles: Triceps brachii., pectoralis major (especially the inner chest)
• Secondary Muscles: Anterior deltoids (shoulders) and serratus anterior.
• Stabilizing Muscles: Core (rectus abdominis, obliques), glutes, and lower back (erector spinae)

How To Do Close Grip Push-Up

1. Start by lying face down on the ground, legs extended, and feet together.
2. Make sure your heels are directly over your toes, and your wrists are still under your shoulders, closer together than in a standard push-up position.
3. Your neck should align with your spine (don’t lift your chin or head), and your shoulders should be pulled back and down, away from your ears.
4. Keep your body straight from head to toe by engaging your core.
5. Bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle out to the sides and lower yourself toward the floor.
6. Do as many repetitions as you can (even just a few inches at the end) for two to three minutes while maintaining good form.
7. Now, raise yourself off the ground. Press through your palms, using your triceps and chest to lift yourself back to the starting position.
8. Once you have risen, give yourself a mental high-five and hold it briefly. Feel those muscles working? That’s the sound of progress, my friend.
9. Repeats.

Proper Form And Tips

• Avoid letting the elbows flare out, or point out to the side. The angle between the torso and the arm must be at around 45 degrees.
• Close-grip push-ups place more load on the elbows than a conventional push-up. To avoid injury, it is vital to master a regular push-up and slowly progress by bringing the hands closer together over the course of a few weeks.
• Bring your hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart for more intense triceps activation, but don’t go too narrow, as it may lead to wrist discomfort.
• If you are a beginner, it is more important to perfect your form before you increase your reps. This will help you avoid injury and develop the correct form.
• Don’t lock your arms on the way up. Squeeze your glutes and engage your core before moving into the push-up.
• You should incorporate proper warm-ups, stretching and nutrition into your exercise program to see progress.
• To allow sufficient recovery, it is recommended that you rest for 36 to 48 hours before training the same muscle groups.

Benefits Of The Close Hand Push-Up

• The close push-up is great for developing the triceps brachii. One classic study compared muscle activation using various hand positions during the push-up exercise. They found that close-grip push-ups are best for training the triceps.
• Push-ups can strengthen muscles, and progressing to workouts that place more work on muscles is possible.
• Improves Core Strength and Stability. Specifically, those that function in trunk rotation, such as the external and internal obliques. Recruitment of core muscles for maintaining balance leads to an improvement in both strength and stability.
• Anyone who has done narrow push-ups knows that they are one of the most effective exercises for toning and tightening the upper body.
• One of the most important benefits of close-grip pushups is improving posture. This helps prevent and manage back problems like pain, stiffness, and tension.
• Push-ups can be a powerful full-body workout and help burn more calories.
• Regular practice of the narrow push-up can, therefore, improve overall health since muscle strength helps to improve bone strength, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and enable everyday mobility.
• An important advantage of the close grip push-up is that it is versatile. If you don’t have much time to go to a gym, these types of exercises are a good option for a home workout.

Close Hand Push Up Variation And Modification

The close-grip push-up can be modified to suit your goals and strengths.

• Make It Easier: Try close-grip knee push-ups or perform them on an incline (e.g., a wall or elevated surface).
• Make It Harder: Once you can do 15-20 reps, increase the challenge with close-grip decline push-ups, use a stability ball for added instability, or place a weight plate on your back for more resistance.

1. Close Grip Knee Push-Up

Bent Knee push-ups are one of the most basic and rewarding exercises you can do. It’s always beneficial to do them regularly.

If regular push-ups feel tough, this one’s for you. When you keep your knees on the ground, you lift less weight, making it easier for beginners to build up strength in their triceps and chest.

Since it’s less intense, you can really focus on getting your technique right—like keeping your elbows tucked and engaging your core.

Think of this as a stepping stone. It helps you gradually build the strength and confidence needed to crush those full, close-grip push-ups in no time.

2. Close Grip Incline Push Up

If you have trouble doing the basic push up, incline pushups are a good way to start. The exercise reduces the amount of body weight you are lifting and puts less stress on your elbows.

For the next degree of difficulty, place the box or chair to support your arms while you perform close push-ups.

The incline angle slightly changes the movement’s emphasis to engage lower chest muscles while still targeting the triceps.

3. Close Grip Medicine Ball Push-Up

The Medicine Ball Push-Up is a more challenging variation compared to standard close-grip push-ups.

Research shows that push-ups on unstable surfaces increase triceps activation compared to stable surfaces. With your hands on a medicine ball, your triceps work harder to stabilize and control the movement.

With the medicine ball variation, your stabilizer muscles, such as the anterior deltoid, get a workout, promoting better shoulder stability.

4. Close Grip Decline Push-Ups

Similar to the regular close-grip push-up, this variation strongly emphasizes the triceps. However, the decline angle increases the intensity and increases focus on the upper chest.

It’s a great progression if you’ve mastered the basic versions and are looking for a more advanced option. It requires extra core strength to keep your body straight.

How To Add A Close hand Push up To Your Workout?

Push-ups with a close stance are a versatile exercise. You can do the:

• Mixed into your cardio or strength-training workout
• at the end of a weightlifting session

Aim to do narrow pushups 3 to 4 times per week, giving your muscles at least 1 full day of rest between sessions to help them recover.

Proper form is more important than the number of pushups you do. It’s better to do fewer repetitions with good form than more repetitions with poor form.

For a more well-rounded physique, you might consider using various push-ups.

• Standard push-ups are best for the chest, shoulder, and tricep.
• Incline Push Up works on your lower chest and back more.
• On the other hand, the decline push-up works the upper chest and front shoulders more than the regular or incline variation.
• Wide grip push-ups focus more on the outer chest and shoulder.
• Pike Push-ups focus more on the shoulder than the chest and tricep.

FAQs

What Push-Up Works Inner Chest?

The close-grip push-up emphasizes the inner chest. Everyone should know how to do it properly to strengthen their inner chest and tricep muscles. It can easily be added to your daily exercises or fitness routine because it requires no equipment and little space.

Manish Kumar

Manish is a NASM-certified fitness and nutrition coach with over 10 years of experience in weight lifting and fat loss fitness coaching. He specializes in gym-based training and has a lot of knowledge about exercise, lifting technique, biomechanics, and more.

Through “Fit Life Regime,” he generously shares the insights he’s gained over a decade in the field. His goal is to equip others with the knowledge to start their own fitness journey.