27 Push Exercises At Home For Your Upper Body

Push exercises are probably the most popular of all. Bench press, shoulder press etc – you get the point. 

You’ll already know a lot of push exercises. But I’m betting that with a couple of decades of personal training experience under my belt, I can throw a few more ideas your way.

You may have heard of all of these exercises, but if I can remind you of a few you don’t use, then that’s a win!

Take a look at these exercises and upgrade your push workouts. To make them easier to digest as a reader, I’ve broken them down into chest dominant, shoulder dominant and arm dominant push exercises.

I’ll be amazed if you’re using all 27 of these push exercises in your general training…

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Chest dominant push exercises

These are the push exercises where the chest does most of the work. They’re not all horizontal pushes, which is why I’ve labeled them as ‘chest dominant’.

You can switch the barbell for dumbbells and vice versa in many of the cases here.

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1. Flat barbell bench press

As you’d no doubt expect, a list of push exercises has to open with the most famous of all – the bench press.

It’s not just a popular exercise because it gives you a great chest pump and helps you stroke your ego… it’s also a super effective exercise.

The barbell bench press hits your chest, shoulders and triceps. It also allows you to push serious weight.

Equipment needed for barbell bench press:

• Barbell 
• Weight plates
• Bench

How to do a barbell bench press:

• Position the hands with a slightly wider than shoulder-width grip. The wider your hands, the more chest engagement there is. Closer hands = more tricep recruitment.
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, keep your glutes, hips and back in contact the the bench
• Lift the bar off the rack and directly over your chest
• Slowly lower the barbell directly over your chest, keeping your upper arms at 90 degrees to your torso as you do
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

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2. Incline dumbbell bench press

An incline dumbbell bench press forces each side to work independently, so you don’t bias one side.

It allows for a greater range of movement than with a barbell, and is a good way to include some additional shoulder work into your chest exercise.

I’ve used dumbbells rather than barbells here because it’s potentially more home gym friendly – unless you’ve got a power rack you might not be able to set up a heavy incline barbell bench.

Dumbbells make this easier.  

Equipment needed for incline dumbbell bench press:

• Dumbbells
• Bench

How to do incline dumbbell bench press:

• Set the bench to a slight incline – the steeper the incline, the more you involve the shoulders
• With a dumbbell in each hand, lie back and position them over your chest
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing each other) grip
• Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you reach a good stretch
• At full depth, pause and push the dumbbells back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

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3. Weighted push ups

Everyone knows push ups. Most people can do them, so they’re almost too obvious to include in this list.

I love weighted push ups though because they take an exercise most people dismiss, and with a simple tweak make them SO. MUCH. HARDER!

Place a weight plate on your back then perform push ups – see what a difference it makes! 

Equipment needed for weighted push ups:

• A weight plate

How to do weighted push ups:

• Sit on your knees and hold a plate behind your head with both hands
• Put it into position on your upper back and carefully lower yourself down to the push up position.
• Start with arms fully extended and lower yourself down through the movement.
• Lower yourself until you’ve reached full depth. You’re looking for the chest to reach around 1 inch above the ground
• Slowly press yourself back up to a straight arm position.
• Repeat as many times as required.

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4. Floor press

I use floor presses to get past sticking points where the tricep weakness limits the pressing power. The limited range of movement reduces the amount of help that the chest and shoulders give to the movement.

They’re still involved, but they’re not as involved as they are with the bench press. It’s a great tricep alternative.

I prefer to use dumbbells for the floor press because it’s an easier set up, and it’s unilateral so both sides work equally. 

Equipment needed for floor presses:

• Dumbbells

How to do floor presses

• With a dumbbell in each hand, lie back and position them over your chest
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing each other) grip
• Slowly lower the dumbbells towards your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you almost reach the floor
• At full depth, pause and push the dumbbells back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

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5. Decline barbell bench press

Decline barbell bench press is a very effective way of hitting the lower chest with a heavy weight as research shows. It’s also a really easy set up, even if you don’t have a decline bench.

Simply stack a couple of plates underneath the leg end of a to create a sufficient decline angle. It’s the best way we have to hit the lower chest with an effective range of movement. 

Equipment needed for decline bench press:

• Barbell
• Bench
• Plates if your bench doesn’t decline

How to do decline bench press:

• Set your bench to a decline – don’t go too steep, because you want a good range of movement
• Lie under the barbell, with your hands slightly wider than your shoulders
• Taking the bar off the rack, position it over your chest
• Slowly lower the bar to your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you reach a depth around 1 inch from your lower chest
• At full depth, pause and push the bar up to a full extension of the elbow
• Repeat

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6. Plyometric push ups

The plyometric push ups are another great way to take the standard push up and make it so much harder (and more effective).

They aren’t as beginner friendly as other forms of the exercise, but if you’re physically capable of them then they are a worthwhile addition to your push day workout.

Fantastic for building power and strength, they also have a huge athletic carryover. 

If you want help crafting your push days, be sure to also check out our push day workout article.

Equipment needed for plyometric push ups:

• None

How to do plyometric push ups:

• Assume the standard push up position, tight core, long body
• Slowly lower yourself down until your torso nearly touches the floor
• Explode up with a powerful push, making sure your whole body and hands leave the ground
• Absorb your landing with a bent elbow, control your descent, and repeat

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7. Upper body sled push

When most people think of sled pushes, they only think of the leg-centric version. They don’t realize that sled pushes are an upper body exercise too.

They’re an exercise that I like to use for volume work, rather than outright strength training. The view being that the exercise works best when there are lots of continuous unbroken reps.

Depending on the width of the sled handles, they can be chest or tricep dominant. 

Equipment needed for upper body sled push:

• Sled
• Weight plates (potentially)

How to do upper body sled pushes:

• Load the sled with the appropriate weight (if any)
• Stand behind it, hands level and one on each handle
• Starting position has the chest between the handles, and the arms fully bent with the hands on the handles at shoulder height
• Powerfully push the sled away from you, then jog up to it and repeat for the distance required

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8. Landmine press

The landmine press can be used as both a shoulder and a chest exercise. Either way… it’s still a push exercise and one that deserves your attention and respect!

The great thing about the landmine press is that it offers several benefits in one go. Yes, it’s a strength exercise for the shoulder, chest and tricep, but it also works the core and lower back too.

Finally, it’s a unilateral exercise so it balances the body well. 

Equipment needed for landmine press:

• Landmine attachment (or plate in the corner of the room)
• Barbell
• Weight plates

How to do landmine press:

• Stand leaning slightly forwards, keeping your core tight. Take the loaded barbell in your hand.
• Maintaining the forward lean, press the barbell away from you.
• When your arm is at full extension, return it to the starting position.
• Resist rotating your torso by keeping your core tight throughout the movement.
• Repeat as many times as required

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9. Standing Svend press

The Svend press isn’t an exercise that jumps out as an obvious pushing exercise, because it’s not a fashionable press or one that looks great on Instagram!

You won’t lift crazy weights doing it, but it’ll give your chest and shoulders an interesting challenge. With a very simple movement, you’ll understand how it’s control and precision that hits muscles as well, and not just weight!

Equipment needed for the standing Svend press:

• Dumbbells

How to do the Svend press:

• Stand upright with a dumbbell in each hand. Have your hands close together so that the dumbbells are pressing into each other. 
• Starting with the weights at your chest, push them awa
• Lower the weights to your chest, forcefully push inwards. 
• Continue this inward pressure, push back to the start position. 

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10. Close grip bench press

The close grip bench press is a variation of the standard press that focuses some of the effort onto the triceps.

It doesn’t avoid the chest completely – in fact it still does most of the work, but there’s a lot of contribution from the arms too.

It’s an exercise that can be performed with a standard barbell or an EZ bar.

Equipment needed for close grip barbell bench press:

• Barbell or EZ bar
• Weight plates

How to do a close grip barbell bench press:

• Position the hands close in with a narrow (hands 6-8 inches apart) grip.
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, keep your glutes, hips and back in contact the the bench
• Lift the bar off the rack and directly over your chest
• Slowly lower the barbell directly over your chest, until the bar is around 1 inch off your chest
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

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11. Dumbbell push ups

Dumbbell push ups are another way to increase the intensity of a push up. They do this by increasing the range of motion of the exercise, which increases the time under tension of the exercise.

It’s also a way to increase the recruitment of stabilizing muscles in the shoulders and lats, which means the muscles do additional work throughout the exercise. 

Equipment needed for dumbbell push ups:

• Dumbbells

How to do dumbbell push ups:

• Place two dumbbells on the floor, one directly under each shoulder
• Take hold of the dumbbells and start with arms fully extended 
• Lower yourself until you’ve reached full depth. You’re looking for the chest to reach around 1 inch above the ground and you need to feel the stretch across the chest and shoulders.
• Slowly press yourself back up to a straight arm position.
• Repeat as many times as required.

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12. Swiss bar bench press

The Swiss bar is a bar that allows you to perform various exercises (in this case bench press) with a neutral grip.

As we know, variety can have an impact on muscle recruitment and firing patterns, so it mixes up the benefits of an exercise.

In addition, the Swiss bar can help people who have suffered from shoulder, elbow or wrist injuries to bench press again. 

Equipment needed for Swiss bar bench press:

• Swiss bar
• Weight plates
• Bench

How to do a Swiss bar bench press:

• Position the hands with a slightly-wider than shoulder-width grip. The wider your hands, the more chest engagement there is. Closer hands = more tricep recruitment.
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, keep your glutes, hips and back in contact the the bench
• Lift the bar off the rack and directly over your chest
• Slowly lower the barbell directly over your chest, keeping your upper arms at 90 degrees to your torso as you do
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

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13. Single arm bench press

In my experience, this is the least-used bench press variation of all, which is a shame because it is so effective.

Being single sided you have to really work hard through your core to stop your torso from rotating, so it’s a core exercise as well.

There’s also a huge range of movement because it’s a dumbbell exercise, so movement is not restricted by the bar.

Finally, being a single-sided exercise, it forces both sides to work equally hard. 

Equipment needed for single arm dumbbell bench press:

• Dumbbells
• Bench

How to do single arm dumbbell bench press:

• With a dumbbell one hand, lie back and position them over your chest
• You can use either an overhand or neutral (palms facing inward) grip
• Slowly lower the dumbbell towards the side of your chest, bending your elbows outwards until you reach a good stretch
• Engage the core throughout to prevent your torso rotating to the side 
• At full depth, pause and push the dumbbells back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

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14. Feet elevated push up

These are a fantastic push up variation, ideal for giving the chest, shoulders and triceps a new challenge. The feet elevated version means that you have to engage the core more.

This helps to prevent the lower back ‘sagging’, disrupting form and function of the exercise.

It’s a more advanced push up variation, and can be added to even more by elevating the hands too (if you want to make it extra tough!)

Equipment needed for feet elevated push ups:

• A box or a bench for the feet

How to do feet elevated push ups:

• Place a box or bench behind you, and place your feet on it
• Once your feet are elevated, gain balance and stability, then press yourself up.
• Start with arms fully extended and lower yourself down through the movement.
• Lower yourself until you’ve reached full depth. You’re looking for the chest to reach around 1 inch above the ground
• Slowly press yourself back up to a straight arm position.
• Repeat as many times as required.

These are the exercises in the chest dominant section of the article. The next few are the shoulder dominant push exercises. 

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Shoulder dominant push exercises

In this section, the push exercises are performed with much of the work coming from the shoulders.

You won’t completely isolate the shoulders, because there’s also some chest and tricep involvement, but in general the shoulder is doing the majority of the work.

As with the previous section, many of these exercises can be performed with dumbbells, barbells, or kettlebells.

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15. Dumbbell shoulder press

I like the dumbbell press because I think it’s the perfect shoulder exercise. The dumbbells allow free movement, to give you the most comfortable lifting position.

They allow either a neutral or pronated grip, to support shoulder, elbow and wrist health. They’re unilateral, so train both sides. All in all, a great push exercise. 

Equipment needed for dumbbell shoulder press:

• Dumbbells

How to do a dumbbell shoulder press:

• With a dumbbell in each hand, stand upright and hold the dumbbells at shoulder height
• Use either a neutral (palms facing each other) grip or pronated (palms facing forward) grip
• Press the dumbbells directly overhead, maintaining the grip of choice throughout
• At full extension, pause and lower the dumbbells back down to the starting position
• Repeat as many times as necessary

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16. Barbell military press

A military press is a way to lift a heavy weight overhead, with very little opportunity to cheat. Thanks to no involvement of the legs, the military press keeps you honest.

You can’t cheat your way through this exercise because it’s a strict press. It’s a great push exercise for shoulders, upper back, upper chest and triceps. It also helps to build core strength too.

There’s a reason it’s one of the most popular push exercises of all time. 

Equipment needed for military press:

• Barbell
• Weight plates

How to do a military press:

• Position the hands with a slightly-wider than shoulder-width grip. 
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, squeeze your glutes tight to lock your lower back. Keep your chest up and upper back engaged
• Smoothly press the barbell overhead until your arms reach full extension
• Slowly lower the barbell down to your chest
• When the bar reaches your chest, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

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17. Push press

Whilst the push press shares many similarities with the military press, there is one key difference – the use of the legs in the movement.

By using the legs to drive the barbell up, rather than just using the arms and shoulders, you can lift a lot more weight with the push press.

The benefit here is that it’s great for power generation, it’s a more ‘whole-body’ movement and has excellent sports crossover. 

Equipment needed for push press:

• Barbell
• Weight plates

How to do push press:

• Hold the bar on your chest, ideally in the rack position (bar on your chest, elbows up, triceps parallel to the floor)
• Maintain core rigidity throughout
• Keeping your torso upright, dip your knees into a quarter squat and drive the bar upwards with your legs
• Using the momentum from the leg drive, push the bar overhead as you reach a full standing position
• When the bar is overhead, quickly pause then ‘drop’ the bar back into the rack position – don’t try to control the bar down
• Absorb the impact by bending your legs into a quarter squat as the bar drops
• Repeat as many times as required

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18. Arnold press

The Arnold press is credited to Arnold Schwarzenegger – whether that’s because he invented it or popularized it, I don’t know.

What I do know is that they’re an excellent push exercise and have become synonymous with bodybuilding.

They aren’t great for heavy lifting, but they’re effective, they include pressing and rotation and they’ll blow your shoulders up.

They’re all wins in my book. 

Equipment needed for Arnold presses:

• Dumbbells
• Bench

How to do Arnold presses:

• Sit upright on a bench, with a dumbbell in each hand
• Dumbbells should be at chest height, palms facing your chest
• Press the dumbbells overhead, rotating them as you press
• When your arms are overhead and at full extension, your palms should be facing away from you (180 degree turn)
• As you return the dumbbells to the starting position, rotate the dumbbells back so your palms are facing you again
• Repeat as necessary

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19. Bottoms up kettlebell press

These are one of the most humbling exercises you can do. I remember performing them in my weightlifting days and boy, did I get a reality check!

They’re so much tougher than you expect! That’s great though, because it makes you focus on the movement.

The single sided element engages the core more fully, and the unilateral element builds strength in both sides. 

Equipment needed for bottoms up kettlebell press:

• A single kettlebell

How to do a bottoms up kettlebell press:

• Stand upright with an upside down kettlebell in your hand
• The kettlebell should be at head height, with your other arm by your side for stability
• Press the kettlebell overhead, making sure the movement is slow, deliberate and controlled
• When your arm is at full extension, slowly lower the kettlebell down and back to head height
• Repeat as necessary

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20. One arm barbell press

Just like the bottoms up kettlebell press, this is an exercise that will surprise you with just how difficult it is.

The length of the barbell provides a challenge to the forearms and grip, the single-sided element challenges the core, and the weight of the barbell challenges the shoulders.

It’s a tough exercise with an empty barbell, nevermind when you add weights to it!

Equipment needed for one arm barbell press:

• Barbell
• Weight plates (optional)

How to do a one arm barbell press:

• Stand upright with a barbell in your hand, as if you were going to throw it like a javelin
• The barbell should be at head height, with your other arm by your side for stability
• Press the barbell overhead, making sure the movement is slow, deliberate and controlled – if you rush it, you’ll tip the bar forwards or backwards
• When your arm is at full extension, slowly lower the barbell down and back to head height
• Repeat as necessary

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21. Thrusters

Thrusters have moved from CrossFit to the mainstream because they’re an excellent exercise.

There’s a lot of leg involvement which helps the press, but you’re unlikely to be able to lift super heavy for thrusters because the leg drive is too slow with a heavy weight.

It’s a squat, rather than a push.

Despite this, it’s an excellent push exercise that is great for conditioning. 

Equipment needed for thrusters:

• Barbell
• Weight plates

How to do thrusters:

• Hold the bar on your chest, in the rack position
• Keeping your chest up and back straight, squat down to a full front squat depth (thighs parallel to the floor)
• Stand back up powerfully by driving hard through the feet
• At the top of the squat, without pausing press the bar overhead with a full extension of the arms
• When the arms have reached full extension, drop the bar back down to the chest
• Repeat as many times as required

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22. Wall ball

The wall ball is very similar to a thruster, but it’s almost a pure conditioning exercise. There’s no ball that’s a suitable heavy weight to make it a strength exercise.

It’s a great way to combine high rep pushes with coordination patterns.

I like it as an exercise for athletes, because they still have to keep their coordination and timing right even when fatigued.

If they get it wrong, they drop the ball! It’s a great exercise for sports because of this. 

Equipment needed for wall balls:

• Wall ball or soft medicine ball (slam ball not ideal)

How to do wall balls:

• Hold the ball to your chest 
• Keeping your chest up and back straight, squat down to a full front squat depth (thighs parallel to the floor)
• Stand back up powerfully by driving hard through the feet
• At the top of the squat, without pausing throw the ball up and overhead with a full extension of the arms – the ball should travel slight forward and hit the wall at a height of 8-10 feet
• When the ball begins to descend, catch it with straight arms, bend the arms to absorb the force and drop straight back into the squat
• The cycle then repeats itself

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23. Behind the neck press

The behind the neck press has a few detractors, but with a light weight I like it.

I think it helps to open up the chest, places different demands on the shoulders and upper back, and can be employed well as a high rep movement.

You need to ensure you’re warmed up and have good thoracic mobility, but assuming that’s the case then it’s a great exercise. 

Equipment needed for behind the neck press:

• Barbell
• Weight plates

How to do a behind the neck press:

• Position the bar behind your head, resting on your upper back (not your neck)
• Place your hands in a slightly-wider than shoulder-width grip. 
• Set your position – keep your feet firmly pushed into the ground, squeeze your glutes tight to lock your lower back. Keep your chest up and upper back engaged
• Smoothly press the barbell overhead until your arms reach full extension
• Slowly lower the barbell back to the starting position
• When the bar reaches your upper back, drive it back directly back upwards
• Repeat as many times as required.

Those 9 exercises are the shoulder dominant push exercises. I’ll finish the article with 4 arm-dominant push exercises that target the triceps.

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Arm dominant push exercises

These final exercises are the push exercises that rely on the triceps to do most of the work. They still have chest and shoulder elements included, but the target muscles (and the ones doing most of the work) are the triceps. As usual, you can tweak the equipment used to suit your goals. These are ideas – feel free to get creative (just stay safe!)

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24. Dips

Dips are a great push exercise. They are similar to a decline bench in that they hit the chest muscles from a lower position, plus they require a lot of input from the triceps and shoulders.

They’re a safe exercise, stretch the chest and shoulders effectively and allow you to strengthen stabilizing muscles as well. 

Equipment needed for dips:

• Parallel bars
• Power tower or power rack with dip attachments

How to do dips:

• Take hold of the bars with a firm grip and jump to the start position, with arms at full extension
• Leaning forward slightly, initiate the movement by pushing the elbows back
• Continue the descent until you reach a 90 degree or further elbow bend – you’re looking to achieve a good pectoral muscle stretch
• At full depth, pause and push yourself back up to a full extension
• Repeat as many times as necessary

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25. Tricep pushdown with rope

The rope pushdown is my preferred approach here. Anecdotally, I’ve noticed it’s more elbow friendly than the bar version.

There’s also something nice about a neutral grip – almost all barbell exercises are pronated or supinated, so the neutral aspect of the rope is a nice variation. 

Equipment needed for tricep pushdowns with a rope:

• Cable station with a rope attachment

How to do tricep pushdowns with a rope:

• Stand up to the cable station, facing the cable and weight stack
• Set the rope to head height, and hold with both hands
• Pull the rope down until the elbows are tight to the body, but the elbows are bent and the hands are pointing upwards
• Take the elbows from a full bend to straight down, keeping the elbows tight to your sides throughout 
• Once the arms are straight, slowly lower them back to the start position and repeat

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26. Narrow grip tricep push ups

The narrow grip tricep push ups focuses more of the work on the triceps and less on the shoulders and chest.

It’s an excellent way to focus the attention onto a smaller area, and for anyone who is capable of push ups, it’s a new challenge.

They’re also a great exercise when the gym is busy because they don’t require any equipment!

Equipment needed for narrow grip tricep push ups:

• None!

How to do narrow grip tricep push ups:

• Start in the regular push up position, with arms fully extended. The difference is your arms are much closer together.
• Lower yourself down through the movement, driving the elbows backwards, rather than outwards.
• Keep lowering yourself until you’ve reached full depth. You’re looking for the chest to reach around 1 inch above the ground
• Slowly press yourself back up to a straight arm position.
• Repeat as many times as required.

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27. Barbell skull crushers

The skull crusher is an isolation exercise for the triceps that focuses on a single-joint push. It has its friends and foes alike, but it’s an effective way to target a small muscle with a push exercise.

The people who don’t like skull crushers generally avoid them because of safety concerns rather than because it doesn’t work, but if you stay safe throughout the movement, you’ll be able to perform the exercise well. 

Equipment needed for barbell skull crushers:

• Barbell (straight or EZ bar)
• Weight plates
• Bench

How to do barbell skull crushers:

• Lie back on the bench, holding a barbell with straight arms positioned above your forehead
• From the straight arms position, allow the barbell to lower towards your forehead by bending your elbows
• Allow the upper arms to travel slightly towards your lower body, creating the space for the barbell to lower towards the head
• Once your arms are fully bent and the bar is almost touching your face, press it back up to a straight arm position.
• Repeat as necessary.

Those final four exercises are the arm-centric push options. They’re a great way to target the triceps, which is the biggest muscle in the arm.

Make the arms stronger, and you improve all of your pushing lifts. 

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Push Exercises: The bottom line

We’re all guilty of repeating our favorite exercises on repeat, but we need to throw a few new challenges into the mix.

These new challenges make us grow (literally and metaphorically), so take this list of 27 push exercises and see which ones you haven’t done either ever, or in a while. 

Put together a push workout with some of these in, get yourself into your gym and get busy. Watch that push strength (and relevant muscles) explode!

Your pushing and pressing days will never be the same.

Take a look around our workouts section for inspiration on how to add these exercises into your workouts.