Finger pushups are the same as regular pushups, with one exception. Instead of performing a pushup with your hands flat on the ground, thereby putting your weight on your palms when you lift your body, you curl you fingers so you are raising and lowering yourself only on your fingertips.
Form
To execute a fingertip pushup, place your hands on the floor at the width of your shoulders. Raise your palms off the floor so you are resting on your fingertips. Put your feet together. Inhale when you lower your body until you just touch the floor with your chest. Exhale as you push your body up with your arms and shoulders until your arms are straight. Keep your body straight as well -- don't bend at the knees or the waist.
Benefits
According to the Health 24 website, "For sheer intensive upper-body workout, few exercises beat the much-maligned pushup. It builds upper body strength quickly and takes just a couple of minutes." In addition to the normal benefits of pushups, fingertip pushups are particularly useful in building wrist and hand strength. That can be quite beneficial in sports that require strong hands and wrists, such as golf and tennis. As Health 24 notes, fingertip pushups also can be performed in small spaces, so if you live in a tiny apartment, you can still get in a workout.
Variations
You can vary fingertip and regular pushups to derive more benefits for particular muscles. To give your chest a more extensive workout, place your hands wider than shoulder-width apart. To work your triceps more vigorously, put your hands closer together, with the tips of your thumb and first finger touching to form a triangle. To work the shoulders harder, place your feet on a stair or a ledge and execute the push-up. As your fingers, hands and wrists get stronger, attempt to do pushups with fewer fingers touching the ground.
Considerations
Some of the variations on regular fingertip pushups are difficult, and should not be attempted until you can easily do a number of regular fingertip pushups. If you have shoulder, arm, wrist or hand conditions, check with a doctor or physical therapist before introducing fingertip pushups into your workout routine. Fingertip pushups often are used to display superior upper-body strength and conditioning. The great martial arts champion Bruce Lee did one-handed pushups on just two fingers. In another impressive feat, Britain's Terry Cole set a world record by cranking out 8,200 fingertip pushups in five hours.
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