What you'll gain
Builds chest, triceps, and front-shoulder strength at a beginner-friendly load.
Provides a clear progression path toward a floor push-up.
Reinforces full-body bracing in the push-up position.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- 1
Place your hands on a bench or sturdy box, slightly wider than shoulder-width, with arms straight.
- 2
Walk your feet back until your body forms a long line from your head to your heels.
- 3
Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your hips don't sag or lift through the rep.
- 4
Lower your chest toward the bench by bending your elbows at about a 45-degree angle from your torso.
- 5
Stop just before your chest touches the bench, then press through your palms back to the start.
- 6
Lock out the arms at the top with your shoulder blades spread, then start the next rep.
Common Mistakes
Flaring the elbows out wide, which strains the front shoulders and reduces chest engagement.
Letting the hips sag toward the bench, which removes core tension and overloads the lower back.
Cutting the range short by lowering only halfway, which skips the deepest chest work.
Looking up and craning the neck instead of keeping the head in line with the spine.
About This Exercise
The incline push up is the most common regression of the standard push-up. By placing the hands on a bench, box, or step, the angle reduces how much bodyweight you press, which makes the rep accessible to beginners while still training the chest, triceps, and front shoulders through a full range. As strength builds, the hands move lower to gradually progress toward a floor push-up. For app and coaching content, this is essential beginner inventory. It belongs in onboarding flows, deconditioned-user programs, and bodyweight progression libraries. It's also the right teaching piece for older adults, return-from-injury users, and anyone who can't yet hold a clean floor push-up. Ship this clip alongside the standard push-up and the knee push-up to cover the full beginner-to-intermediate chest pattern.
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Incline Push Up
A push-up performed with hands raised on a bench or box — the easier on-ramp to a full bodyweight push-up.
Specifications
Built for
- Beginner onboarding flows in fitness apps
- Bodyweight push-up progression tracks for coaches
- Deconditioned and senior-friendly program assets
- Push-pattern teaching content for online courses
Muscles Worked
Details
License Includes
Bodyweight Elevated Push Up
$4.99A push-up with hands raised on a bench or box that scales the difficulty down — the cleanest beginner push-up regression.
Bodyweight Knee Push Ups
$4.99A push-up done from the knees that drops the load — the first regression that lets beginners actually train the push pattern.
Burpee
$4.99A squat-thrust into a push-up into a jump — the full-body conditioning move that hits everything in one rep.
Decline Push Up
$4.99A push up with feet elevated on a bench or step that biases the upper chest, front delts, and triceps without any equipment.
Parallel Bar Dips
$4.99A bodyweight dip on parallel bars that builds the chest and triceps — one of the most demanding pure-bodyweight upper-body lifts.
Push Up
$4.99The most foundational bodyweight push lift — trains the chest, triceps, and front shoulders with a single, scalable pattern.