The push-up is widely recognized as a chest exercise, but the majority of your body's other large muscles are also recruited in some capacity. Along with your chest, triceps and shoulder muscles, the muscles of your core and pelvis must activate in order to hold your body in the appropriate board-straight push up position.
Pectoralis Major
The pectoralis major is a prime mover in any strong pushing motion. If you position yourself near the head of someone doing push-ups, you'll probably be able to see his pec muscles working to bring the upper arm bone, the humerus, in closer toward his body. If you're trying to squeeze out a few more push-ups at the end of a set, try focusing on squeezing your chest muscles because they're the most powerful movers for this exercise.
Anterior and Medial Deltoids
Your deltoid, or shoulder muscle, is divided into a front, middle and rear portion. It might help to envision the muscle as a bulb of garlic with three cloves. The front or anterior portion of the deltoid muscle assists the pectoralis major with bringing the humerus across in front of the body. The medial (middle) part of your deltoid also helps with this motion to a more limited degree.
Triceps Brachii
The triceps brachii straightens your arm at the elbow, providing additional pushing power. The pectoralis major and anterior deltoid are responsible for moving the shoulder joint during a push-up, but it's the triceps that moves the elbow joint. Both joints have to move together in a smooth, synchronized motion to achieve correct push-up form.
Rhomboids
An integral aspect of proper push-up form is keeping your shoulder blades retracted (drawn together) and depressed (pressed down) throughout the entire motion. This works your rhomboids, which are the deep muscles between your shoulder blades.
Core
While your chest, shoulders and arms are responsible for the movement of a push- up, your rectus abdominus, inner and outer obliques and transverse abdominus all work to keep your body steady and stable throughout the push-up. Your erector spinae provides the opposition to these muscles. Together, they all keep your back from arching or hunching during the push-up.
Your gluteus maximus and quadriceps are also recruited to keep your hip joint stable; both muscles must work together to prevent you from piking or sagging at the hips.
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