For a lot of Beachbody workouts, it’s pretty clear what muscle groups you are targeting. If you put in P90X Chest and Back, you know you are working your chest and your back. But have you ever wondered what muscles are all working? There is a lot going on for many of the moves you do. Sure you are hitting your chest with a push up, but you also incorporate a lot of tricep and shoulder. Knowing the secondary muscles that are worked can really help in creating a hybrid. Today we will just look at the two main body weight move: The Push Up and the Pull Up
Muscles Worked in Push Ups
Secondary Muscles: Triceps and Shoulder (Deltoid)
Standard Push Ups – These mainly focus on your chest. Hands should be a little wider than your shoulders. You will also be hitting your triceps and shoulders, but those are really secondary. If you ever try a bunch of push ups after a tough shoulder workout, you will notice your shoulders failing before your chest. This is a primary body weight lift. That is why chest normally has its own day and shoulders/triceps are on another or placed as a secondary focus.
Wide Push Ups – With your hands placed wider, you know Tony has told you that this hits the chest more. It creates more of a fly movement and the triceps are used less as your arms aren’t extending as directly as they did with your hands under your shoulders. Shoulders are still hit a bit.
Narrow/Military Push Ups/Diamond Push Ups – Again chest, but WAY more triceps! Your arms extend out almost like the movement of a skull crusher. The chest is still a main focus as your arms aren’t only bending at the elbow, but you recruit a lot more triceps (more elbow extension – greater range – and that is what the triceps are there for!).
Decline Push Ups – Upper chest and shoulders. Moving closer to what an overhead press or Pike press would be, so you can see your shoulders get pulled in. This move also focused on the upper pec (clavicular head). Your peck is really in two parts, a upper and lower head. The lower head is the larger section. As you work with your arms moving away from your chest, but closer to your head, you target the upper pec.
Obviously when you add instability, like med balls or a big stability ball, you tax your stabilizers more. For a push up, the big stabilizing muscles are your abdominals, obliques, and quads. If you have done P90X2, you probably could name all of those off! You have to lock out your core and legs to really get into the Impossible Push Ups and 4 Ball Push Ups.
Muscles Worked in Pull Ups
Secondary Muscles: There are lots! Mainly your biceps, rhomboids, and lower trapezuis.
Standard Pull Ups – A little wider than shoulder grip again with a pull up will focus on your lats. When your lats contract, they pull your upper arm down to the side and toward your body. With a pronated grip (palms away) you use less or biceps and more back (so more lats, rhomboids, and traps). If you keep your body as vertical as you can, you will really target your lats and use less rhomboid.
Narrow Pull Ups – Lots of lats! Great pulling motion for hitting your rhomboids too (middle back) if you think about pulling your lower chest to the bar.
Chin Ups – These are a pull up but with a supinated grip (palms towards you). You will still hit your lats but you also get a lot of help from your biceps and rhomboids again. It’s typically easier for people to do more chin ups than standard pull ups.
Wide Pull Ups – Just like wide push ups target your chest (removing some of the triceps’ help), wide pull ups target more lats and remove some of the help of the biceps. Again, if you keep your body as vertical as you can, you will really target your lats and use less rhomboid.
It’s all in the VARIATION!
I think it’s pretty cool how you can target certain muscles more directly all by changing the way you are asking your body to move. In both the pull up and push ups, those variations cause you to pull at a different angle or push at a different angle. If you are hoping to get a wider back, really focus on wide pull ups and even get up into weighted wide pull ups, make your lats work! If you want more thickness in your back, pulling movements that keep your arms closer to your body will target your middle back and thickness. It’s a lot of fun to learn a little anatomy and put it to use for you goals!
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My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
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