Archer Push-Up

Are you looking to test your upper body strength and stability? The archer push-up is a challenging variation of the traditional push-up that is perfect for doing so.

Using a wide hand position, the archer push-up integrates side-to-side rather than up-and-down movement. This, paired with the extended hand position, significantly tests a lifter’s body strength, coordination, and stability. In this informational guide, we detail how to perform the archer push-up, plus the benefits of push-ups and expert tips.

How To Do

  1. Find a flat space where you can perform the archer push-up.
  2. Place your knees on the floor.
  3. Lean forward and position your hands twice the length of shoulder width apart.
  4. Straighten your legs to go up on your toes.
  5. Keep your arms straight and your body aligned from head to toe.
  6. Inhale.
  7. On your exhale, slowly descend towards your working hand. Keep the support arm straight as the working arm bends until your chest touches the floor.
  8. Inhale as you come back up.
  9. Exhale as you repeat on the opposite side.
  10. Repeat for desired reps and sets.

Tips From Expert

  • This exercise is not a straight up-and-down movement like the traditional push-up. Instead, it is a side-to-side motion where the lifter leans heavily on the working arm.
  • Aim to keep the body straight and deter the hips from twisting during the movement. Focus on tightening the muscles in the body for balance, coordination, and stability.
  • Widen the feet for extra balance if needed. As strength and form are perfect, move the feet closer together.

Optimal Sets and Reps

Depending on your fitness goals, like hypertrophy or endurance, the number of repetitions and sets will change. Utilize the ideal sets and reps in your training to enhance desired results.

Training Type Sets Reps
Strength Training 3–5 4–6
Hypertrophy 3–4 8–12
Endurance Training 3–4 12–20
Power Training 3–5 1–3 (Explosive)
Optimal Sets & Reps of Archer Push-Up

How to Put in Your Workout Split

The archer push-up is an upper-body-focused exercise and an advanced variation of the traditional push-up. Its extended range of motion increases intensity to emphasize more muscle engagement in the arms and back. Due to its movement pattern, it integrates other secondary muscle groups like the serratus anterior, triceps brachii, and obliques.

  • Upper/Lower Body Split — This split is categorized between upper and lower body muscle groups with core exercises integrated into either. Upper days often consist of chest, back, and arms. Lower body days include all the leg muscles, including the glutes, hamstrings, and quads. Since the archer push-up utilizes a lot of upper body muscles, we advise programming it into upper body days.
  • Muscle-Focused Split — In this split, workouts are divided based on what muscle groups are targeted. Day 1 could be chest, shoulders, and triceps. The next day could be quads, hamstrings, glutes, and calves. The archer push-up would be best incorporated into the chest, shoulder, or core-focused days.

The archer push-up is a great exercise for enhancing muscular endurance and strength. If your fitness goal is to increase strength, lower repetitions with greater intensity are also recommended. As a bodyweight exercise, loading recommendations are unnecessary for the archer push-up. Still, you should know how many push-ups are too many.

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Primary Muscle Groups

Clavicular Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the top of your chest, running from your armpit to collar bone. Smaller portion of your chest muscle.

Sternal Head of Pectoralis Major

Large muscles located underneath your clavicle head. Makes up most of your chest area

Abdominal Head of Pectoralis Major

Muscles located at the bottom of your pectoral region, just above your abdominal muscles.

Clavicular Head Of Pectoralis Major

The clavicular head of the pectoralis major is situated around the collarbone. It performs various upper-body movements, like shoulder abduction and flexion. This includes lifting the arm down and across the body, which uses the clavicular head to support and stabilize movement.

In the archer push-up, the clavicular head is engaged to flex the shoulder as the arm extends and flexes. It supports the adduction of the shoulder to push from side to side to perform the exercise’s movement pattern.

Sternal Head Of Pectoralis Major

The sternal head of the pectoralis major makes up the middle of the chest or pecs. It is the largest of the pectoralis major heads. The function of this muscle includes arm adduction and extension to move the arm toward and away from the body.

Keeping this muscle strong and healthy is important for supporting real-life activities like changing clothes or opening and closing doors. Alongside the other heads of the pectoralis major, it helps control the descent and side-to-side movement in the archer push-up.

Abdominal Head Of Pectoralis Major

The abdominal head is another part of the pectoralis major of the chest. It forms the lower section of the chest above the abdominals.

This chest muscle’s role is to produce adduction and extension of the shoulder. To translate, this means it draws the arm towards the body’s midline and down.

In the archer push-up, the abdominal head acts as a primary muscle, engaged to establish movement. It enables movement of the shoulder as the arm is extended and flexed to perform the archer push-up.

Secondary Muscle Groups

Serratus Anterior

Small, fan shaped muscle that lies deep under your chest and scapula.

Upper Rectus Abdominis

Muscles located just below the lower chest and above the lower abdominals. Between your ribs and pubic bone.

Lower Rectus Abdominis

Muscles located below your upper abs and above your public bone between your ribs.

Obliques

Muscles located on the sides of your rectus abdominals. Runs on the sides of your trunk.

Triceps Lateral Heads

Muscles located on the back of your arm between your shoulder and elbow.

Triceps Medial Heads

Small muscles located at the back of your arms. Deep to the triceps long heads between the shoulder and elbow.

Triceps Long Heads

Large muscles located at the back of your arms between your shoulder and elbow. Most outside portion of the tricep.

Anterior Deltoid

Muscles located at the front of your shoulder region

Anterior Deltoid

The deltoid muscle of the shoulder is made up of three heads, including the anterior, posterior, and lateral heads. The anterior deltoid, or front delt, is positioned at the front of the shoulder. It flexes the shoulder to bring it up and forward.

The front delt is activated as a secondary muscle in the archer push-up. It flexes the shoulder to enable movement as the arms shift to establish the side-to-side movement.

Triceps Lateral Heads

The triceps brachii of the upper arm consists of three heads: the lateral, medial, and long heads. Each of these muscles is primarily situated at the back of the upper arm, enabling elbow extension. This translates to straightening the arm away from the body, like when pushing a door open.

The triceps lateral head is a secondary muscle activated in the archer push-up. It is incorporated to extend the elbow as the working and supporting arms alternate side-to-side.

Triceps Medial Heads

One of the three heads of the triceps brachii, the medial head also supports elbow extension. It helps stabilize and promote movement in the arm.

The triceps medial head works alongside the lateral and long heads to extend and stabilize the elbow during the exercise. In comparison to the other tricep heads, the medial head is active in all forms of elbow extension.

Triceps Long Heads

Another one of the heads of the triceps brachii, the long head is the largest of the three. It reaches from the elbow joint to the scapula, or shoulder blade. Its attachment to the scapula explains its capacity to stabilize the shoulder and promote elbow extension.

Due to the movement pattern of the archer push-up, it activates all three heads of the triceps brachii. The triceps long head is vital for establishing movement in the arm and shoulder while also stabilizing them. These aspects are crucial for prioritizing correct form and reducing injury risk.

Upper Rectus Abdominis

The upper rectus abdominis is a muscle that stretches from the upper abdomen to the pubic bone. When contracted, this muscle can create bulges, popularly known as a six-pack. The role of this muscle relates to flexion of the trunk and movement of the spinal column.

Another responsibility of the upper rectus abdominis is involved in core stability. It adjusts pelvic tilt and tenses the anterior wall of the abdomen to protect the lower back from injury. Maintaining strength in this muscle is crucial for deterring respiratory and other posture-related disorders like ptosis.

Acting as a secondary muscle in the archer push-up, the upper rectus abdominis tightens the anterior wall of the abdomen. It stabilizes the core to enhance balance and coordination in the exercise, along with protecting the spine from injury.

Lower Rectus Abdominis

The lower rectus abdominis is the other section of the abdominis. It provides numerous functions like spinal flexion, trunk stabilization, and abdominal compression and keeps the internal organs in place.

A secondary muscle in the archer push-up, the lower rectus abdominis helps stabilize the spine and reduce injury risk. It aids balance and coordination during the side-to-side movement in the exercise.

Obliques

Do push-ups work abs? They do! Another secondary muscle used in the archer push-up is the obliques. This muscle is situated on the sides of the abdomen above the ribcage. It is categorized into internal and external obliques.

Of the two, the external obliques are the largest, reaching from the lower half of the ribs to the pelvis. The internal obliques are smaller and thinner, situated next to the external obliques just inside the hip bones. This muscle is crucial for stabilizing and protecting the spine, enabling lateral bending and rotational motions.

In the archer push-up, the obliques stabilize the trunk and help maintain a straight back to prevent dipping the hips. As arm movement moves the body side-to-side in the archer push-up, the obliques are engaged to protect the spine.

Serratus Anterior

The serratus anterior is a broad and fan-shaped muscle located between the scapula and chest wall. It is responsible for stabilizing the shoulder blades and supporting arm movement to reduce injury risk to the shoulder.

This muscle is activated in the archer push-up as a secondary muscle. It helps stabilize the shoulder joint to maintain proper form and technique in the exercise.

Equipment

Bodyweight

Bodyweight

Requires bodyweight resistance and additional equipment for proper execution.

Variations

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the same equipment.

Push-Up

Doorway Chest Stretch

Dynamic Arm Swing

T Push-Up

Decline Push-Up

Wide Push-Up

Push-Up to Shoulder Tap

Clap Push-Up

Plyo Push-Up

Chair Chest Dip

Alternatives

Exercises that target the same primary muscle groups and require the different equipment.

Barbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Bench Press

Chest Dip

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press

Cable Chest Fly

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Chest Fly

Incline Machine Press

Chest Press Machine

Barbell Decline Bench Press

Who Should Do?

Gymnasts

A gymnast is someone who trains in gymnastics, a sport notorious for its assessment of mobility, flexibility, and body strength. Gymnasts train extensively to improve balance, increase full-body strength, boost coordination, and enhance athletic performance. 

The archer push-up is an excellent exercise for gymnasts to assess their upper body strength. As a variation of the traditional push-up, this exercise is a progression that challenges muscle strength, coordination, and stability.

Calisthenic Athletes

Calisthenics is any exercise that solely relies on body weight as a form of resistance. Typically, these exercises can be done anywhere, though sometimes they utilize equipment to increase the range of motion. This type of exercise relies on body weight to perform functional movement patterns and increase strength, stability, and strength 

The archer push-up is a calisthenic exercise utilizing body weight and range of motion to increase intensity and challenge strength. Calisthenics athletes would benefit from incorporating this exercise into their routine, improving stability, coordination, and strength in the upper body. 

Who Should Not Do?

Those With Injuries In The Shoulder Or Wrist

The archer push-up is not a suitable exercise for any individual with a shoulder or wrist injury. The wide hand position of this exercise places a great weight load on the wrists and shoulders. This added tension on these joints can stress pre-existing injuries unnecessarily, risking further damage. 

A less intense version of the archer push-up is the incline push-up. It places less tension on the wrists and shoulders decreasing the weight load with the inclined position. If you notice shoulder or wrist pain when moving them through their full range of motion, stop the exercise immediately.

Beginners

The archer push-up is a progression of the traditional push-up. It can be extremely challenging for even the most experienced lifters. We advise beginners to perform a regression of the archer push-up, such as the traditional or incline push-up. 

The traditional push-up is typically still challenging for beginners. The incline push-up is a regression of the traditional push-up, decreasing gravity’s weight load on the lifter.

Benefits Of The Archer Push-Up

Builds Strength  

The archer push-up is a phenomenal exercise for building strength in the upper body and core. It activates numerous muscle groups, including the triceps brachii, anterior deltoids, obliques, and the clavicular head of the pectoralis major. The incorporation of these numerous muscle groups is productive for strengthening more muscle groups in one exercise. 

Increases Muscle Mass

Lifters desiring to increase muscle mass must focus on using effective exercises like the archer push-up. To emphasize hypertrophy, the proper sets and reps should be emphasized to encourage desired results. 

The archer push-up is a compound movement, meaning it engages multiple joints and muscle groups. Its activation of these muscle groups, like the serratus anterior, stimulates muscle growth in more muscle groups in one exercise. Pairing this exercise with the correct number of sets and repetitions can improve muscle definition, strength, and muscle mass. 

Improves Balance

Balance plays a crucial role in our everyday lives in preventing injury and supporting performance in athletic and real-life activities. As humans age, a decline in balance is found in older adults. This factor contributes to a great number of accidents, like falls and injuries in older adults. 

Using preventative measures like exercise is one of the best methods for maintaining balance and coordination as we age. The archer push-up prioritizes multiple muscle groups to maintain stability and posture, like the obliques. It is a challenging exercise that enforces a high degree of muscle engagement to promote improvements in balance and stability. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Archer push-ups good for?

The archer push-up is good for challenging upper body strength, stability, and coordination. Its activation of numerous muscle groups, like the sternal and clavicular heads of the pectoralis major, supports these improvements.

What difficulty level is Archer push-ups?

The archer push-up is best for experienced lifters due to its challenging hand positioning. It requires great upper body strength to maintain a raised position and then create arm movement to perform the exercise.

Which is the hardest push-up?

The one-arm push-up is debatably harder than the archer push-up. There is no harder pushup as there are other incredibly challenging variations like the finger push-up.

What muscles do Archer push-ups work?

The archer push-up engages various muscle groups. Primarily, it works the three heads of the pectoralis major. Various secondary muscle groups are activated, such as the obliques, anterior deltoids, and triceps brachii.

Resources

Endomondo.com refrains from utilizing tertiary references. We uphold stringent sourcing criteria and depend on peer-reviewed studies and academic research conducted by medical associations and institutions. For more detailed insights, you can explore further by reading our editorial process.

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