Incline Push-Up

A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, needing no equipment.

Incline Push-Up — Starting position Starting position
Incline Push-Up — End position End position
Difficulty Beginner
Type Strength
Equipment No Equipment
Primary Muscle Chest
AI Rep Counting Log manually

How to Do Incline Push-Up

  1. Stand facing bench or sturdy elevated platform. Place hands on edge of bench or platform, slightly wider than shoulder width.
  2. Position forefoot back from bench or platform with arms and body straight. Arms should be perpendicular to body. Keeping body straight, lower chest to edge of box or platform by bending arms.
  3. Push body up until arms are extended. Repeat.

Muscles Worked

Front
Back

Primary

Where Incline Push-Up does most of its work.

Secondary

Assisting and stabilising muscles.

Alternatives to Incline Push-Up

10 movements that train the same primary muscle, closest substitutes first — same kind of training, then variations of the movement itself, then a similar difficulty.

  1. 1 Incline Push-Up Medium

    Incline Push-Up Medium

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, needing no equipment.

    beginner No Equipment
  2. 2 Incline Push-Up Reverse Grip

    Incline Push-Up Reverse Grip

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, needing no equipment.

    beginner No Equipment
  3. 3 Incline Push-Up Wide

    Incline Push-Up Wide

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, needing no equipment.

    beginner No Equipment
  4. 4 Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip

    Barbell Incline Bench Press - Medium Grip

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using a barbell.

    beginner Barbell
  5. 5 Decline Push-Up

    Decline Push-Up

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest.

    beginner Not specified
  6. 6 Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press

    Hammer Grip Incline DB Bench Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  7. 7 Incline Cable Chest Press

    Incline Cable Chest Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using a cable machine.

    beginner Cable Machine
  8. 8 Incline Dumbbell Bench With Palms Facing In

    Incline Dumbbell Bench With Palms Facing In

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  9. 9 Incline Dumbbell Press

    Incline Dumbbell Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using dumbbells.

    beginner Dumbbells
  10. 10 Leverage Incline Chest Press

    Leverage Incline Chest Press

    A beginner compound strength exercise that works the chest, using a machine.

    beginner Machines

Frequently Asked Questions

What muscles do incline push-up work?

Incline Push-Up primarily works the chest. The shoulders and triceps assist as secondary muscles.

What equipment do I need for incline push-up?

None. Incline Push-Up is a bodyweight movement you can do anywhere you have floor space.

Incline Push-Up: is it suitable for beginners?

Yes. Incline Push-Up is rated beginner. Movements you can learn in a session, with a low skill floor and a forgiving failure mode.

What can I do instead of incline push-up?

Incline Push-Up Medium, Incline Push-Up Reverse Grip, Incline Push-Up Wide train the same primary muscles and are listed with 7 more alternatives above.

Can Fitnit count my incline push-up reps automatically?

Not automatically yet. Fitnit's AI rep counting covers push-ups, squats, dumbbell curls, crunches and pull-ups today; incline push-up can be logged manually in the app, and tracked movements are added over time.

Photographs and step-by-step instructions from free-exercise-db, a public-domain exercise dataset. Muscle mapping and alternatives by Fitnit.

Track Your Incline Push-Up with AI

Fitnit automatically tracks push-ups, crunches, squats, pull-ups, and curls with advanced body tracking technology — and you can manually input any other workout too. Start free — Pro is $8.99/month.