Introduction

What is push up plus, and what's the difference with a regular push up in muscles worked? In this article, you'll find the answers to these questions!

But first, let me briefly describe what the push-up plus actually is.

Let's get started!

What is the push-up plus?

Push-up plus is an exercise where you get in a push-up position and protract or 'push forward' your shoulders. It's a great auxiliary exercise to do during your push workouts to strengthen your shoulders and serratus anterior muscle (more on the muscles worked later!).

You can do the exercise at the end of a complete repetition of a regular push-up, or you can skip the regular push-up part and only do the plus part.

To be clear, the 'plus'-part is done at the top of a push-up position when your arms are fully extended and your upper body is at the top position.

In that position, you further raise your upper body by pushing your shoulders forward, as if you want to fully reach for something that's in front of you...all while you're still in a push up position.

Let's get into more detail about what muscles the push-up plus works.

What does the push up plus work?

The push-up plus exercise is basically a regular push-up with the focus of the movement on your shoulders.

Depending on whether you'll do a full push up before doing the 'plus'-part, several muscle groups are worked (see below).

Primary muscles worked

When performing push-ups with a plus, which muscle is worked in the plus part of the movement? The most crucial muscle worked in the plus part is the serratus anterior… so let's describe this muscle a bit more.

Serratus anterior

This muscle sits on the side of your rib cage just under your chest muscles and is the primary muscle worked when you do the 'plus'-part in the push up plus exercise. You can see this muscle clearly when someone does an 'abdominal and thighs’-pose, for example, during a bodybuilding show.

The serratus anterior's role is to move your scapula (i.e., your shoulder blade) forward and around your thorax.

Think of when you deal a cross punch: when your arm is extending forward, and your shoulder is pulled to the front... that's when the serratus anterior is activated!

Pectoralis major

The pectoralis major is only worked fully when you do a regular push-up! (see the optional step 2 in the section about 'how to perform a push-up plus').

The pectoralis major is the largest and one of the other muscles that constitute your chest and is the main muscle worked when doing regular push-ups or bench presses.

When you skip the regular push-up when doing the 'push up plus'-exercise, then obviously, your pecs will get worked much less.

Secondary muscles worked

Besides your serratus anterior and your pecs, you'll also work your triceps and core muscles to some extent:

Triceps brachii

On the back of your arms sit the triceps muscles, a muscle group consisting of three muscles that are involved in extending your elbow joint and straightening your arm.

Like the pectoralis major, your triceps are worked mainly during a regular push up, but they're also under continuous tension when you're doing the plus part (as a matter of fact, they're also under constant tension if you maintain the starting position (see step 1 in the 'how to do push up plus’-section) without doing anything else).

If you skip a regular push-up and focus only on the 'plus'-part of the exercise, then obviously your triceps are activated slightly less (though there is still some activation nonetheless, but it's less than when doing a regular push up).

Core muscles

Since the push up plus is basically a plank with extended elbow joints and a straight line through your legs and upper body, your core muscles (such as your abs and lower back) are under some tension all the time to maintain your posture.

But in contrast to the chest and triceps muscles, I find that my core muscles are worked more when I skip the regular push-ups during the push-up plus exercise.

Additional muscles worked

Rotator cuff muscles

The rotator cuff muscles are a group of muscles that your body uses to stabilize your shoulder.

This muscle group consists of four seperate muscle, all working together for your shoulders:

1. Musculus supraspinatus
2. Musculus infraspinatus
3. Musculus teres minor
4. Musculus subscapularis

Push-up plus mainly works your serratus anterior, which is involved in pulling your shoulder blades around your thorax and to the front, but the above four muscles are indirectly also activated to stabilize your shoulder blades.

What is the difference between push-ups and push-ups plus?

The difference between push-ups and push up plus is that the former is mainly targets your chest and triceps muscles, while the latter works your serratus anterior muscle and activates your shoulder stabilizer muscles to a larger extent.

Biomechanical similarities and differences

From a biomechanical perspective, there are similarities and differences between the two.

The main similarity is that the starting position and body posture that's required to do each exercise is the same for both the conventional push-up and the push up plus exercise.

The difference however, is that in the starting position, for the push-up plus you need to push your upper body up a few inches more to really hit your serratus anterior muscle.

Conclusion

If you want to work on your serratus anterior and shoulder stabilizer muscles, then push-up plus is what you need.

If you can do regular push ups, then you can also do the push up plus.

What I find fantastic about push up plus is that all regular push-ups variations can also be done as variations for the push up plus exercise.

For example, you can do diamond push-up plus, wide-grip push-up plus, single-arm push-up plus (not for the faint of heart!), incline or decline push-up plus, etc.

Lastly, it's a great body weight exercise that you can do at home or at any other place, and if you have shoulder problems and can't do full regular push ups, then push up plus may help you strengthen your shoulder joint for regular push ups in the future!

If you've liked this article, take a look at my other articles!