Pushups are an effective exercise for your chest but they also work out your triceps and biceps, targetting the two muscle groups in quite different ways. When you think of working out a muscle, it's usually only when the muscle contracts against gravity. In the case of the pushup, this means only the chest, triceps and shoulders work out. However, the biceps work to move your body with gravity for a different type of strengthening.
Concentric Tricep Strengthening
The regular pushup, where your hands are shoulder-width apart and your elbows flair out to the sides as you lower your body, emphasizes the chest. The triceps and the deltoids of the shoulders are also prime movers, muscles that do the concentric action of an exercise.
The concentric action is when you move a weight against gravity. When you do a pushup, you press your bodyweight up against gravity as you straighten your arms. The triceps straighten, or extend, the elbows so they do the work there. The biceps lengthen as you straighten your elbows so they do not work concentrically.
Triceps Targeting Variation
The regular pushup that emphasizes the chest is not the only way to do a pushup. You can emphasize the triceps with diamond pushups. Diamond pushups change the angle of your arms so that the triceps do more of the lifting work. Try it and you will feel the difference.
Begin in pushup position and lower to your knees. Keep your spine straight and put your hands in "diamond position," at 45 degree angles pointing toward each other with the fingertips of your index fingers and thumbs connected. Then, lower yourself to the floor and let the elbows go diagonally outwards. Press back up. On the upward movement is where you should feel the triceps working.
Eccentric Biceps
Eccentric strengthening is the opposite of concentric strengthening. Unless you simply relax and drop to the floor, your biceps work with gravity to lower your body in a pushup. This motion is known as the eccentric phase of an exercise. More injuries occur during eccentric actions than concentric actions. Gaining eccentric strength by using slow, controlled movements during the eccentric portion of an exercise reduces your chances of injury because your muscles have the strength to work eccentrically. This type of training applies to all exercises but with the regular and triceps pushup it is your biceps that gain eccentric strength.
Biceps Targeting Variation
The inside pushup variation, which targets the biceps and upper back muscles, starts with you in pushup position on your knees and crossing your ankles. Bring your hands slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart but with the fingers pointing forwards. Tuck your elbows in toward your sides. As you bend the elbows to lower toward the floor, keep the elows close to byour ribs. Press your arms back up straight to complete the inside pushup. You can make this exercise more difficult by coming off your knees and doing inside pushups on your toes.
References
- "Adventure Sport Physiology"; Nick Draper and Chris Hodgson; 2009
- NSCA's Performance Training Journal; The Push-Up: The Ultimate Foundational Movement; Kyle Brown
- My Lifetime; Fight Flabby Arms; Ellen Barrett
- "NASM Essentials of Sports Performance Training"; The National Academy of Sports Medicine; 2009
- Dot Fit: The Scientific Rationale
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