The push-up is a true and tried bodyweight exercise which is known to provide many potential benefits to people. Push ups over the time have remained one of the top exercises for bodyweight which targets and works on the muscles of the upper body. This is considered to be a very important movement which has continued to be a staple part of exercise programs of bodybuilders, recreational goers of gym, athletes and people who are even recovering from some sort of injury.
But while most of the people are familiar with what and how to do push ups, not a lot of people know what muscles do push ups work exactly, and this is majorly because most people know it is a chest exercise only. So to help you know more about it, we got you covered through this article.
As you scroll down, you will find out complete details about push ups, such as which muscles in our body perform this exercise, what are the benefits of doing them and much more. So just continue to read below to check out all the info.
What muscles do push ups work?
As push ups are often referred to as a chest exercise, there are other muscles too which actually do push ups work, and which should not be overlooked. And for a fact that push ups are also categorised as a compound bodyweight exercise, which means that it targets many muscles of your upper body and not only one.
So below are the details of some muscles that you will be targeting while doing a standard push up-
1. Pectoralis Major- It is basically the largest of all the chest muscles. This is a fin shaped, thick and found under the tissue of the breast. This serves as the main mover when you perform a push up.
This muscle mainly consists of 2 heads, one is the clavicular head that starts from the medial part of the clavicle. And the other is the sternocostal head, which starts from the upper ribs and sternum. While both of these heads originate from different locations, both of these are inserted on the upper part of the bones of the upper arm or humerus.
And so when you perform push ups, this muscle simply controls the descent of the torose towards the floor and then pushes the body back up to the point of start.
2. Pectoralis Minor- The other of what muscles do push ups work is the pectoralis minor, which is one of the lesser known muscles of the chest. This is comparatively smaller in size and is present under the pectoralis major muscle. This is shaped as a triangle which starts from the front third to the fifth ribs.
This basically inserts onto the process of coracoid, which is a very small and hook-like structure present on the scapula’s front part. And so when you perform a pugs up, this muscles simply keeps the scapula ie. the blades of your shoulder in the right position, which allows you to go for the right posture of the upper back and shoulders.
3. Triceps- Muscles of triceps are formally known as triceps brachii, which is a thick and large muscle and is located on the back of the upper arm. In triceps, the prefix ‘tri’ refers to the 3 heads which form this pushing muscle, and are referred to as lateral, medial and long heads.
Each of these 3 heads of the tricep muscles, one of what muscles do push ups work, has a very unique point to originate. The long head basically originates from the upper part of the scapula which is below the joints of the shoulder. And the lateral and medial heads start from the back of the bones of our upper arm or the humerus.
And so while doing the first half of the push up, the chest is almost touching the floor, and here the tricep simply helps you to stabilise the torso. And then during the second half, the muscles of the triceps are the primary movies as you start to extend your arms.
4. Core Muscles- As push ups majorly stimulate the muscles of the chest, there are other muscle groups as well which support this movement. And one such group is our core muscles, mainly the abdominals. These are made of 5 main muscles which are called as- internal and external obliques, pyramidalis, rectus abdominis and transversus abdominis.
In addition to this, the deep core muscles of your body also help to keep the torso erect, and for this the multifidus and erector spinae mainly assist.
What are the benefits of doing push ups?
As you read above about what muscles do push ups work, below are the benefits of performing this exercise. So some of the top advantages of performing push ups on a regular basis are as follows-
1. They help to build the strength of the upper body- This is because push ups are considered to be a bodyweight exercise and targets many groups of muscles all together, which means it has a great potential to build strength of the upper body.
2. These might improve the composition of the body- Push up is basically an aerobic exercise which increases the energy metabolism and results in more calorie burn, which is why adding this exercise to a well balanced regime of workout and suitable diet can definitely lead to long term benefits and improvement in the composition of the body.
3. Push ups might also reduce the risk of cardiac events- It is suggested in a research that the person who is able to perform push ups and is physically fit has much lower risk of having a stroke or a heart attack. And precisely, it was noted that people who could do around 40 push ups had lower risk of getting cardiovascular events than those who could only perform 10 and fewer.
Thus, this is complete information on what muscles do push ups work and what are the benefits of performing it regularly!