15 Harder Pushup Variations to Build Muscle

Are you getting sick and tired of regular pushups? Are regular pushups just not hitting your chest like they used to? Here are 15 harder pushup variations that are sure to give you a challenge and help you build a lot of muscle and upper body strength.

1. Wide Pushups

This pushup variation reduces the help you get from the triceps during the movement, so that you put most of the stress on the chest muscles making it a harder pushup variation . Learn more about wide pushups here.

How to do Wide Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours, as if you were about to do regular pushups.
2. Place your hands a bit wider than shoulder width apart.
3. Make sure your hands are at chest level.
4. Bend your elbows to lower your chest to just above the floor.
5. Pause at the bottom.
6. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arms the elbows in order to lift your chest back to the starting position. This is 1 repetition.
7. Aim to be able to perform between 8-12 repetitions.

2. Narrow or Diamond Pushups

This one is the opposite to wide pushups as it puts most of the stress on the triceps but you’ll also feel it in your lower and middle chest. So if you’re looking to add some size to your triceps, you can use this harder pushup variation.

How to do Narrow Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours, as if you were about to do a regular pushup.
2. Place your hands less than shoulder width apart and at chest level.
3. Bend your elbows so that you lower chest to just over the floor.
4. Pause at the bottom.
5. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your elbows in order to lift yourself back into the starting position. This is 1 repetition.
6. Aim for around 8-12 repetitions.

To do diamond pushups, place your hands close together in order to form a diamond or triangle shape with your thumbs and index fingers. Learn more about diamond pushups here.

3. Shuffle Pushups

This pushup variation is a combination of both the wide pushup and the diamond pushup, to get all of the benefits and an extra challenge.

How to do Shuffle Pushups?

1. Get down on the floor and get in position to do a wide pushup.
2. Do a wide pushup.
3. Move one hand close to the other hand.
4. Do a diamond pushup.
5. Move the other hand away.
6. Do a wide pushup.
7. Repeat.
8. Truly test yourself by taking this exercise to failure.

4. Plyometric Pushups

This pushup variation is harder because it requires you to produce enough force for you to leave the ground. So it’s perfect for anyone who is looking to increase their upper body strength and power.

There are several variations of plyometric pushups, but each stem from the jump pushup. In essence, they all just include an extra movement to do midair to truly test your speed and power.

How to do a Jump Pushup?

1. Get down on all fours, as if you were about to do a regular pushup.
2. Lower your chest to the floor.
3. Pause at the bottom.
4. Push up explosively off the floor. If you did it correctly your hands should leave the ground.
5. Bend your elbows as you return to the floor to cushion your ‘jump.’
6. Aim for 8-12 repetitions.

There are many plyometric pushup variations but some common ones are:

• Clapping Pushups- Clap your hands together while you are midair.
• Gorilla Pushups- Slap your chest with both hands while you are midair.

5. Pike Pushups

This variation shifts the exercise from being a chest dominant exercise to being a shoulder dominant exercise, making it a harder pushup variation.

So be sure to include pike pushups in your program if you’re chasing bigger and more defined shoulders and a more balanced upper body strength.

How to do Pike Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Walk your hands backwards and elevate your hips until your body is in an inverted ‘V’ position or pike position.
3. Bend your arms at the elbows to lower your head to the ground.
4. Pause at the bottom.
5. Squeeze your shoulder and chest muscles to lift your head off the ground and back into the pike position. This is 1 repetition.
6. Aim to be able to perform around 8-12 repetitions.

6. Staggered Pushups

This harder pushup variation puts your hands in different positions to give you an added challenge. It will hit your muscle from different angles leading to new growth, while also developing your stabilizer muscles to prevent muscle imbalances from occurring.

How to do Staggered Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours, as if you were about to do a pushup.
2. Move one hand slightly forwards, backwards or to your side.
3. Make sure to keep your core tight to maintain balance.
4. Do a pushup in this position.

7. Hindu Pushups

This pushup variation combines a pike pushup with an incline pushup so that you fully stimulate the chest from all angles.

How to do Hindu Pushups?

1. Get into the pike position.
2. Bend your arms at the elbows to lower your head to the floor.
3. Move your head and chest past your hands.
4. Push yourself up so your chest is in the air.
5. Return to the pike position. This is 1 repetition.
6. Aim to do between 8-12 repetitions.

8. Decline Pushups

This is a harder pushup variation because it shifts your center of gravity so that you have to work against more of your bodyweight. It is also great for working your upper chest muscles. Because you have to push against more of your bodyweight, it’s perfect for developing your upper body strength.

You’ll have to find a stable surface to place your feet such as a table, a chair or a staircase. The higher you place your feet, the harder the exercise becomes. Learn more about decline pushups here.

How to do Decline Pushups?

1. Place your hands on the floor, shoulder width apart, just in front of the elevated surface.
2. Place your feet onto the elevated surface.
3. Tighten your core to straighten your body. This is the starting position.
4. Bend your arms at the elbows to lower your chest to just above the ground.
5. Pause at the bottom.
6. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arms at the elbows to raise your chest back into the starting position. This is 1 repetition.
7. Aim to be able to perform between 8-12 repetitions.

9. Slow Pushups

Try this variation if you like being in excruciating pain, and if you’re up for a challenge that will lead to new growth.

How to do Slow Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours to do a pushup.
2. Start slowly lowering your chest. Aim for 10 seconds.
3. Pause at the bottom for 10 seconds.
4. Push yourself upwards slowly. Aim for 10 seconds. This is one repetition.
5. Go until failure to truly challenge yourself.

10. Sphinx Pushups

This variation puts all of the emphasis on the triceps. It gets it’s name from the Egyptian sphinx because you’ll be getting into a position just like that.

How to do Sphinx Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours, as if you were about to do a pushup.
2. Place your hands slightly in front of you, shoulder width apart.
3. Bend your arms at the elbows until your forearms are resting on the floor.
4. Pause at the bottom.
5. Squeeze your triceps to raise your forearms off the floor and return you to the starting position.

11. Pseudo-planche Pushups

This is a much more difficult pushup variation because it puts all of the strain on the shoulders. It is sure to give you a challenge.

How to do Pseudo-planche Pushups?

1. Place your hands on the floor, pointing downwards, at the level of your abdomen.
2. Place your legs backwards and straighten your body.
3. Bend your arms at the elbows to lower your chest to the floor. Do it slowly to maintain balance and control as you shift slightly forward.
4. Contract your shoulders and straighten your elbows so you return to the starting position.

12. Offset Pushups

This pushup variation places one arm at an elevated position, so it becomes a more challenging unilateral movement, but does so without sacrificing stability.

The increased load on one side of your body is great for building upper body strength. It is a great introduction to one arm pushups.

How to do Offset Pushups?

1. Get in a regular pushup position but with one hand slightly elevated.
2. Perform a pushup as usual.
3. Keep your core tight to maintain balance.

13. Archer Pushups

This pushup variation is harder because you are forced to do all of the work of a regular pushup but with one hand. The other hand acts to help maintain balance.

How to do Archer Pushups?

1. Get into position to do a wide pushup.
2. Bend one arm to lower your chest, leaning your shoulder into that hand.
3. At the same time, rotate the other hand outwards so that arm remains straight.
4. You should resemble an archer drawing an arrow.
5. Push up on one side, while internally rotating the opposite hand to return to the starting position.
6. Repeat on the opposite side.

14. One Arm Pushups

This is a true challenging pushup variation because you have to do all of the work on one side of your body, without any help to stabilize your body and keep balanced. It will truly test your upper body strength and core stability.

How to do One Arm Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Spread your feet apart so that you maintain balance.
3. Remove one hand from the floor and place it behind your back.
4. Keep your core tight to maintain balance.
5. Bend your arm at the elbow to lower your chest to just above the floor.
6. Pause at the bottom.
7. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arm at the elbow so that you raise your chest off the floor and back into the start position. This is 1 repetition.
8. Aim to perform between 8-12 repetitions on both sides.

15. Handstand Pushups

This is by far one of the most challenging pushup variations. It is taxing on your entire body as you have to use every muscle to maintain a balance in the handstand position and not topple over when you do the exercise. It is a great exercise for developing your shoulders as well as your overall upper body strength.

If it’s too difficult to maintain balance then you can try doing your handstand pushups with your feet against a wall.

How to do Handstand Pushups.

1. Get into a handstand, or place your hands on the floor in front of a wall and walk your hands and feet backwards and up the wall.
2. Keep your entire body tight to remain straight and not fall over.
3. Gently bend your arms at the shoulders and elbows to lower your chest to the floor. You will tilt slightly backwards to maintain balance as you lower yourself.
4. Squeeze your chest and shoulder muscles to push yourself back into the handstand position.

Those were 15 harder pushup variations you can use to build muscle, and you can read this article to find out how to use these exercises in order to build strength and muscle.

If you’re interested in easier exercises that you can use to take your chest muscles to true failure after the harder exercises have left them fatigued make sure to read this article.

References:

Adams, G., Cheng, D., Haddad, F. and Baldwin, K., 2004. Skeletal muscle hypertrophy in response to isometric, lengthening, and shortening training bouts of equivalent duration. Journal of Applied Physiology, 96(5), pp.1613-1618.

Ebben, W., Wurm, B., VanderZanden, T., Spadavecchia, M., Durocher, J., Bickham, C. and Petushek, E., 2011. Kinetic Analysis of Several Variations of Push-Ups. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(10), pp.2891-2894.

VOSSEN, J., KRAMER, J., BURKE, D. and VOSSEN, D., 2000. Comparison of Dynamic Push-Up Training and Plyometric Push-Up Training on Upper-Body Power and Strength. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 14(3), p.248.