Diamond Push Ups
A close-hand push-up where the thumbs and index fingers form a diamond — turning a chest exercise into a triceps exercise.
How to do it
- Get into a high plank with your hands directly under your chest, thumbs and index fingers touching.
- Set your feet about hip-width apart and lock your body into one long line from head to heels.
- Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your hips stay in line throughout the rep.
- Lower your chest toward your hands, keeping your elbows tucked close to your ribs.
- Pause briefly with your chest just above your hands, feeling your triceps fully loaded.
- Press back up to full arm extension, driving through your triceps, then repeat for your reps.
Key technique cue
Elbows along the ribs, body like a plank — don't flare or sag.
Common mistakes
- ✕ Flaring the elbows wide, which turns the exercise back into a chest push-up and takes the focus off the triceps.
- ✕ Sagging or piking the hips, which breaks the plank line and shifts the load into the lower back.
- ✕ Not bringing the hands close enough, so the diamond shape disappears and the exercise loses its triceps emphasis.
- ✕ Cutting the range short by stopping high above the hands instead of going all the way down for a full triceps stretch.
Benefits
- ✓ Builds triceps size and strength with body weight alone.
- ✓ Develops stronger lockout that carries over to presses.
- ✓ Trains a tight, elbows-tucked pressing pattern that protects the shoulders.
Progression: from easier to harder
-
Step 1 -
Step 2 You are here - Diamond Push Ups
-
Step 3
About the exercise
Diamond Push Ups bring the hands together under the chest to form a diamond shape, which narrows the pressing path and shifts the load almost entirely onto the triceps. The chest still helps, but the long range of elbow extension is what makes this variation a serious arm exercise with no weights. It is a great fit for bodyweight, home and travel programs that need real triceps work without a bench or dumbbell. You can add it to push-day finishers, beginner-friendly arm blocks or no-equipment fat-burning circuits.
Updated
Similar exercises
A week of training and meals built for you
Workoutify plans workouts around your days, time and equipment — and a menu for your goal and macros.