maratoolPush Up to Side Plank
How to do the push up to side plank
- Get into pushup position on the toes with your hands just outside of shoulder width.
- Perform a pushup by allowing the elbows to flex. As you descend, keep your body straight.
- Do one pushup and as you come up, shift your weight on the left side of the body, twist to the side while bringing the right arm up towards the ceiling in a side plank.
- Lower the arm back to the floor for another pushup and then twist to the other side.
- Repeat the series, alternating each side, for 10 or more reps.
Muscles worked
The prime mover is the pectoralis major, which drives the upper arm forward and across the body.
Because more than one joint is moving, the work does not stay in one place: the abdominals brace the trunk so force can pass between the hips and the shoulders; the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range; the triceps straighten the elbow to finish the movement.
Every exercise for:ChestAbdominalsShouldersTriceps
How this movement works
The working muscles shorten as they drive the load away from you, and more than one joint changes angle to do it. Load spreads down a chain instead of sitting on one muscle, which is why a compound push handles more weight than any single-joint alternative — and why joint position, not the muscle, is usually what fails first.
It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.
What you need
No equipment at all. The resistance is your own bodyweight, so you progress by changing leverage, range or tempo rather than by adding plates — and you can do it anywhere.
Every exercise using:Body only
These train the chest too, using equipment this one does not:
- Single-Arm Cable Crossovercable
- Smith Machine Bench Pressbench + smith machine + machine
- Smith Machine Decline Pressmachine
- Smith Machine Incline Bench Presssmith machine + bench + machine
- Wide Grip Decline Bench Pressbarbell + bench
Difficulty
Listed at beginner level: the pattern is simple enough to pick up without coaching, and a position that goes wrong mid-set is obvious enough to correct on the next repetition.
Of the 105 chest exercises in this database, 63 are listed at beginner level.
Photos: free-exercise-db — public domain (Unlicense) Full attribution →
ⓘ Informational only — not a substitute for professional fitness or medical advice.