The 10 best press-up variations
Latest in Full body workouts
10 press-up variations
Press-up on knees
Resting your knees on the floor removes some of your bodyweight from the move, making this a great way to start building upper-body strength.
Difficulty: 1/10
Wide-arm press-up
Placing your hands slightly wider will reduce the range of motion, making each rep a bit easier. It also places greater emphasis on the chest and less on the triceps, which are a weak spot for some.
Difficulty: 2/10
Press-up
Place your hands just wider than shoulder-width apart with your body in a straight line from head to heels. As you lower keep your elbows pointing back, not to the sides.
Difficulty: 3/10
Diamond press-up
Touching the tips of opposite thumbs and index fingers together turns this into a great triceps-sculpting move.
Difficulty: 4/10
T press-up
Twisting and raising your arms alternately after each rep forces your core to work harder to stabilise your body.
Difficulty: 5/10
One-leg press-up
Lift one leg off the ground and perform the set as normal to work your core, glutes and leg muscles.
Difficulty: 6/10
Alternating offset jump press-up
Jumping your hands alternately backwards and forwards hits your chest and triceps muscles from different angles.
Difficulty: 7/10
Jump press-up
Pushing up hard so that your hands leave the floor helps develop explosive upper-body strength and power.
Difficulty: 8/10
Clap press-up
Pushing up explosively after each rep so that you can clap your hands recruits more fast-twitch muscle fibres, which leads to greater size and strength gains.
Difficulty: 9/10
One-arm press-up
The ultimate show-off move, performing press-ups with only one arm requires great upper-body strength and stability because your core must keep your torso steady so that you can complete each rep without falling over.
Difficulty: 10/10
Planche press-up
HARDCORE
Done the others? Then try this, the hardest press-up known to man.
Doing a press-up with your feet off the ground requires phenomenal strength, balance and co-ordination. Place your hands by your hips, lean forward, lift your legs off the ground, press up and start counting!
