Pike push-up
A push-up folded at the hips so you press upward instead of forward — overhead pressing with no equipment at all.
- Pattern
- Vertical push
- Equipment
- Nothing needed
- Space
- Floor space
- Difficulty
- Developing
- Load
- Leverage
What it is
Start in a push-up position, then walk your feet in and lift your hips high, so your body makes an inverted V and your head points at the floor between your hands. Arms straight.
Bend your elbows and lower the top of your head towards the floor, then press back up.
The steeper the angle of your torso, the more vertical the press becomes and the harder it gets. Raising the feet onto a step or a chair steepens it further.
What it demands
Overhead shoulder range, because your arms are effectively overhead relative to your torso. If reaching straight overhead is uncomfortable standing up, this position will find that out with load added.
Shoulder pressing strength — mostly the deltoid and triceps brachii, with the shoulder blade being rotated upward by serratus anterior and trapezius throughout.
Hamstring length, unexpectedly. Getting the hips high with straight legs is a hinge position, and tight hamstrings will stop you reaching a steep enough angle. Bending the knees is a perfectly good fix.
Wrist extension tolerance, as with any hands-on-floor movement.
What usually goes wrong
Not enough angle. Hips too low turns it back into a slightly awkward push-up. The torso wants to be as close to vertical as your hamstrings and shoulders allow.
Lowering the head forward of the hands rather than between them, which shifts it back towards a horizontal press.
Going too deep too soon. The bottom of this movement puts the shoulder in a demanding position at full range. Build the depth up.
Assuming it is a beginner movement because there is no equipment. It is not — vertical pressing at a steep angle is a substantial fraction of bodyweight.
Where it sits
This is the vertical push pattern without equipment, and it is the main reason a home programme does not need to skip overhead pressing.
It is a genuine step up from the push-up rather than a variation of it, because the direction of the press changes which part of the shoulder does the work. If it is too hard, an incline push-up with the hands low and the hips piked is the way in.