Exercise Profile
- Target Muscle Group
- Exercise TypeStrength
- Equipment RequiredBodyweight
- MechanicsCompound
- Force TypePush (Bilateral)
- Experience LevelAdvanced
- Secondary Muscles
Abs, Shoulders, Triceps
Target Muscle Group
Chest
Push Up Jacks Overview
Push up jacks is a variation of the push up and an exercise used to strengthen the push muscles of the upper body.
The jack portion of the push up jack will also challenge the core to stabilize the spine.
Push Up Jacks Instructions
- Assume a quadruped position on the floor with your hands under your shoulders, toes tucked, and knees under hips.
- Extend one leg at a time and assume a pushup position with the legs straight, elbows extended, and head in a neutral position looking at the floor.
- Unlock the legs and hop to a slightly wider than shoulder width stance.
- Slowly descend to the floor by retracting the shoulder blades and unlocking the elbows.
- Descend until the upper arms are parallel or your chest touches the floor.
- Push back to the starting point by extending the elbows and driving your palms into the floor.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Push Up Jacks Tips
- Ensure that as the feet open the hips don’t sag and you maintain a stable spinal position.
- Your arms should resemble an arrow in the bottom position, not a “T”.
- Your spine should remain rigid throughout the entire exercise, think of the pushup as a moving plank.
- Squeeze your glutes and brace your abs before descending to keep the ribcage neutral.
- Keep the chin down and don’t look forward.
- Imagine you’re trying to push your thumbs together while completing the movement, this will improve activation of the pecs.
- Don’t allow the head to jut forward, the chest should touch at the same time as your nose.
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Think about trying to push yourself as far away from the floor as possible.
- Ensure you push all the way through the floor at the top of the repetition and allow your shoulder blades to move around your ribcage.
- Most folks cut the repetition short and don’t garner the full benefits as such.
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