The push-up is a staple in any workout routine.
Image Credit: m-imagephotography/iStock/Getty Images If you’re going to do just one exercise ever, the push-up should be it. It teaches your muscles to work in coordination, strengthens your upper body and core and is fuss-free enough to do just about anywhere. A regular push-up may get boring over time, however, so add in variations.
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One variation that changes up how the push-up affects your upper body muscles is the decline push-up. You elevate your legs on a surface that's usually 12 to 20 inches off the floor and place your hands on the floor, by your armpits and slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart. From this angle, you then perform a classic push-up movement by bending and extending your elbows.
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A decline variation targets your upper chest and fronts of shoulders more aggressively than a regular push-up performed on level ground. Perform it in addition to a regular push-up -- as well as with other chest exercises -- to get the most well-rounded chest development.
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Read More: What are the Benefits of Push-Ups?
Steps, a workout bench or riser, create a decline.
Image Credit: Milenko Bokan/iStock/Getty Images
Where Your Chest Develops
The pectoralis major is a fan-like muscle that makes up the chest wall. The upper portion of this muscle is known as the clavicular region and the middle-to-lower portion is the sternal region. Being angled down in a decline puts more weight and emphasis on the clavicular head of the chest. A regular push-up emphasizes the sternal portion of the pectoralis major primarily. The clavicular region is still activated, but not as intensely as it is in the decline variation.
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The more dramatic the angle, the greater the activation of the upper chest region. But, if you elevate too high, so that you're close to or in a handstand position, the shoulders do the primary work as you push up and down; the chest only assists.
Shoulder Activation
In addition to increasing activation of the upper chest, decline push-ups also force the fronts of your shoulders – known as the anterior deltoids – to work more intensely than they will in a regular push-up. This makes decline push-ups an effective shoulder exercise.
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Form Considerations
Both a regular push-up and a decline push-up call for a rigid torso, which is achieved by strongly bracing your abs. If your hips sag or hike upward, you lose a big benefit of both types of push-ups – serious activation of your core.
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Who's It For?
A person just starting out exercising should master the regular push-up before attempting a decline push-up. With a regular push-up, you can easily modify the move, so that you don’t break form, such as by putting your knees down or pushing up against a wall or incline. A decline push-up doesn’t come with such modification – if you put your knees down, you’ve lost the angle.
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Complementary Exercises
For an evenly developed chest, include the regular push-up and decline push-up in your workouts. Other exercises that the American Council on Exercise found of most benefit for chest development include:
Bench Presses Bent-Forward Cable Crossovers Pec Deck Machine
Read More: 10 Push-Up Variations for a Strong Body
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references
ExRx.net: Push-Up
ExRx.net: Decline Push-Up
ExRx.net: Handstand Shoulder Press
references
ExRx.net: Push-Up
ExRx.net: Decline Push-Up
ExRx.net: Handstand Shoulder Press
The push-up is a staple in any workout routine.
Image Credit: m-imagephotography/iStock/Getty Images
Image Credit: m-imagephotography/iStock/Getty Images
Steps, a workout bench or riser, create a decline.
Image Credit: Milenko Bokan/iStock/Getty Images
Image Credit: Milenko Bokan/iStock/Getty Images
ExRx.net: Push-Up
ExRx.net: Decline Push-Up
ExRx.net: Handstand Shoulder Press
