The Diamond Pushup

Jaspreet Singh Nahal

The diamond pushup is the king of bodyweight exercises for building large triceps. In traditional pushups, the large chest muscles do most of the work and smaller muscles such as the
triceps do not receive the full benefit of the workout. Diamond pushups, on the other hand,
target the triceps as the primary muscle and thus are worth incorporating into anybodys full
body workout routine.
Required Materials
The diamond pushup is a bodyweight exercise, so all thats needed is:
A flat surface

Your own body

The Starting Position

1. Get down on all fours. In this position, the arms should be extended and below the
chest. The hands should be flat on the ground. The knees and the part of the legs below
the knees should be fully touching the floor.
2. Keeping the hands planted where they are, elevate the legs by getting on the
balls of the feet. The only points of ground contact should be the hands, the toes, and
the balls of the feet.
3. Keeping the hands planted where they are, step back with the feet until the
legs are fully extended. In this position, the torso and the legs should form a single
straight line. Note that the legs should be together and fully elevated, supported by the
feet. The only points of ground contact should be the same as in the previous step. This
is the standard pushup position.
The diamond pushup is an advanced exercise and may be very hard at first. In order
to make the exercise easier, spread the legs by stepping to the left with the left foot
and to the right with the right foot. The wider this stance is, the easier the exercise
will be. However, this also decreases the benefits of the exercise, so, over time as
strength increases, bring the legs together until they are fully touching.
4. Bring the hands together until they form a diamond shape. The hands should be
flat on the ground. See Figure 1 on page 2 for help.
(a) Move the arms one at a time closer together until the hands are three to four inches
apart.
(b) Rotate the tips of the hands about 45 inwards until the index fingers are touching
each other. It is okay to allow the elbows to rotate slightly.
(c) Extend the left thumb out and down until it is fully extended.
(d) Extend the right thumb out and down until it is fully extended. The tip of the right
thumb should now be touching the tip of the left thumb. If it isnt, rotate the hands
closer together until the thumbs touch. The enclosed shape made by the index fingers
and thumbs should look like a diamond.
Many people do not have flexibility to keep the thumbs fully extended. In this
case, it is okay to extend the thumbs only halfway out instead of fully out.
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5. Tighten the abs and glutes.

(a) Tighten the abs by sucking in the stomach and holding that contraction. This should
be held throughout the exercise. The abs are actually one muscle that acts like one big
belt around the midsection. Tightening them ensures that the torso stays as straight
as possible.
(b) Tighten the glutes by clenching the butt. This should be held throughout the exercise
Tightening the glutes ensures that the hips and pelvis dont move upward or downward
during the exercise. The glutes help keep the legs in a straight line with the torso.
6. Keep the head and neck inline with the rest of the body. It is very easy to let the
head and neck start drooping while doing pushups. The head and neck should be part of
the same straight line as the torso and legs. Keeping the head and neck up also helps keep
the chest and shoulders up as well, which ensures good form.

Figure 1: The complete diamond pushup starting position.

The Downward Movement

Descend slowly.
Breathe in throughout these steps.
7. Lower the body to the ground by bending at the elbows. The entire movement
should come from the slow relaxing of the elbows. The rest of the body should be like a
static plank slowly being lowered by the arms to the floors, meaning only the arms should
be moving and the rest of the body only moves as a consequence of the arms movement.
If one of the triceps is weaker than the other (a muscle imbalance), then the body
may begin "rolling" to a side because one elbow is closing faster than the other. If
there is a muscle imbalance between the left and right triceps, make sure the descent
is controlled so the left and right arms are closing at an equal pace.

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8. Keep the elbows close to the body during the descent. This ensures that the focus
of the movement stays on the tricep muscles. Keeping the elbows close to the body also
ensures that the left and right sides of the body are both moving down in a symmetric way.
9. Keep the abs and glutes tight. Keep the head up. Be conscious of the body during
the descent. Maintaining good form ensures getting maximum benefit from the exercise
and prevents injuries.
10. Stop when the chest touches the hands.
Do not let the body rest on the hands. The body only needs to touch the hands. The
bodys weight should still be supported by only the hands and feet.
Some people may not have the flexibility to touch their hands with their chest. If
flexibility is an issue, go as low as possible and, over time as the body gets more
flexible, touch the hands with the chest.
11. Pause for one second. Pausing ensures that the movement upwards will not be done
using momentum from the downward movement. In other words, pausing ensures the
triceps are doing the maximum amount of work bringing the body down and bringing it
up, and thus getting the maximum benefit from the exercise.

The Upward Movement

The upward movement should be at least twice as fast as the downward movement. This is
known as "exploding up."
Breathe out throughout these steps.
12. Push against the ground with the hands to lift yourself back up. Keep the hands
flat and focus the pushing on the palms of the hands since they oer a solid base. The rest
of the body should be like static plank being quickly raised by the arms, meaning only the
arms should be moving and the rest of the body only moves as a consequence of the arms
movement.
13. Keep the elbows close to the body as they straighten. Keeping the elbows close to
the body ensures the triceps are doing most of the work for bringing the body back up.
14. Keep the abs and glutes tight. Keep the head up. Because of the speed of the
upward movement, it is easy to cheat and forget about form. Be conscious of the body to
get the full benefit of the exercise.
15. Stop when the elbows are straight. This brings the body back into the diamond
pushup starting position.

The Ending Position

16. Check your form. It is a common mistake to loosen the abs and glutes, let the head
drop, and let the butt rise after a few repetitions of the exercise. Always make sure to
check the body is in a straight line and the abs and glutes are tight before starting the next
repetition of the exercise.
17. Repeat. Repeat until you can no longer do a repetition with good form.

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