What Muscles Do Push Ups Work?

Push-ups are a classic exercise, and a simple way to strengthen your upper body.

What Muscles Do Push Ups Work?

They’re also easy to do at home or in the gym. Push-ups work nearly every muscle in your body, including your chest, shoulders and arms, as well as supporting muscles like your core and lower back.

There are several variations of push-ups that can increase or decrease the intensity of the exercise based on what you need at any given time—just make sure you don’t cheat yourself by not going low enough.

Strengthen your Pectoral Muscles

The pectoral muscles are a large muscle group that makes up the chest.

They’re responsible for pushing movements, pulling movements, rotating movements, and stabilizing the shoulder joint during these motions.

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The pectoralis major is the biggest part of your chest muscle and covers most of your chest.

It’s located on both sides of your body between your ribs and collarbone (clavicle). When you do push up exercises like a regular push up or incline push ups—or even when you do bench presses at the gym—you’re working out this muscle group.

The serratus anterior is attached to eight ribs so it helps create an arch in your upper back that gives you some nice curves.

It also helps stabilise your scapula (shoulder blade) during rotation movements so it can help prevent injuries in other areas by keeping everything tight where they belong.

What Muscles Do Push Ups Work? Triceps

The triceps are the muscles on the back of your arm.

They connect to your bicep and forearm muscles. The triceps are used to straighten your arm when you extend it, like when you put something over your head or try to push open a door with one hand.

So, if you want bigger arms and stronger shoulders, doing regular push ups can help.

What Muscles Do Push Ups Work? Deltoids

Push ups are a great exercise for the deltoids.

The deltoids are the muscles that help you lift your arms and shoulders.

They are located on the front, sides and rears of your shoulders and can be worked by doing push ups as well as other arm exercises such as chin-ups and shoulder presses.

Strengthen your Latissimus Dorsi

The latissimus dorsi is a large muscle group that is located on the back of the body, extending from the back of the head to the hips. The lats are responsible for pulling your arms downward toward your body and also extension of the arm above your body.

This muscle group works with several other muscles to stabilise your shoulder blades as well as help keep them properly aligned.

Because it’s so important for these actions, push ups are great for strengthening this muscle group.

Strengthen your Core Muscles and Lower Back

The core is a group of muscles that help you maintain your posture and balance.

It also helps protect your spine from injury by stabilising the vertebrae, or bones in your back.

Your core muscles include the transversus abdominis, internal and external obliques, rectus abdominis and erector spinae (Longissimus dorsi).

What Muscles Do Push Ups Work? Gluteus Maximus, Hamstrings and Calves

The gluteus maximus, hamstrings and calves are all muscles that are used to perform a squat.

They are also used during push ups to help balance the body and (along with the core) establish a straight, neutral body position.

The gluteus maximus is the largest muscles in the body.

It is located on your upper outer thigh and posterior hip, along with a few other smaller muscles in this region termed “glutes” or “buttocks”. This large muscle group has many functions including:

• Extension of hips (think: standing from sitting)
• Abduction (think: bringing your leg away from centerline)
• Adduction (bringing leg back toward centerline)
• External rotation of thigh bones
• Internal rotation of thigh bones

Push-ups are an Excellent way to Strengthen and Tone these Muscles

As you can see, push-ups are an excellent way to strengthen and tone these muscles. Not just that, they’re also a great way to burn off fat and lose weight!

Push ups are a great exercise because they can be done anywhere.

This makes them well-suited for busy people who don’t have time to go to the gym every day or week. They’re also ideal for beginners looking for exercises that aren’t too difficult but still get results fast.

Conclusion – What Muscles Do Push Ups Work?

Push-ups are an excellent way to strengthen and tone these muscles. They’re a staple exercise in many programs, but they can also be done at home with little equipment.

Push-ups work your entire upper body by challenging your core and lower back muscles as well as the shoulders, triceps and chest areas—all of which are important for overall health and strength.

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