Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up
Elevate your push-up game with the Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up. This variation intensely targets your triceps and chest, building upper body strength
Description
A push-up variation using a medicine ball to increase the intensity and focus on triceps and chest.
How to Do Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up
- 1Setup
Place a medicine ball on the floor and position your hands close together on top of it, fingers pointing forward, ensuring a stable grip.
- 2Setup
Extend your legs straight back, balancing on the balls of your feet, to assume a high plank position with your body in a straight line from head to heels.
- 3
Inhale as you slowly lower your chest towards the medicine ball, keeping your elbows tucked close to your body to maximize triceps engagement.
- 4
Exhale and powerfully push through your hands to extend your arms, returning to the starting plank position while maintaining a rigid core.
Tips
- Maintain a tight core throughout the movement to prevent your hips from sagging or rising too high, ensuring a straight body line.
- Focus on controlling the eccentric (lowering) phase, taking at least 2-3 seconds to descend, which increases time under tension for muscle growth.
- Keep your elbows tucked in close to your sides as you lower and press up; flaring them out reduces triceps activation and puts stress on your shoulders.
- Engage your glutes and quads to maintain full body tension, which enhances stability on the unstable medicine ball surface.
Common Mistakes
- ×Avoid letting your hips sag towards the floor by actively engaging your core and glutes to maintain a straight line from head to heels.
- ×Do not let your elbows flare out wide; keep them tucked close to your torso to properly target the triceps and protect your shoulders.
- ×Ensure you lower your chest until it lightly touches or hovers just above the medicine ball to achieve full muscle activation in the triceps and chest.
Variations
Barbell Incline Close Grip Bench Press
Build strong triceps with the Barbell Incline Close Grip Bench Press. This upper body exercise targets your triceps, chest, and shoulders for powerful
Barbell Standing Close Grip Curl
Targets biceps with a close grip barbell curl. Stand tall, keep elbows tucked, and lift the bar to shoulder height for maximum bicep engagement.
Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw
Develop explosive power and strength in your chest, triceps, and shoulders with the Medicine Ball Supine Chest Throw.
EZ Barbell Decline Close grip Face Press
Perform the EZ Barbell Decline Close Grip Face Press to build powerful triceps. This exercise sculpts your upper arms, enhancing strength and definition
Related Exercises
Bench Dip on Stability Ball
Target your triceps and challenge your core stability with the bench dip on a stability ball. Build upper arm strength and improve balance effectively.
Triceps Press
Master the bodyweight triceps press to build strong, defined triceps. This effective exercise uses your own bodyweight to challenge your upper arms,
Narrow Push-Up on Exercise Ball
Challenge your triceps and core with narrow push-ups on a stability ball. This advanced variation builds strength and improves balance.
Close-grip Push-up (on knees)
Build strong triceps and a stable chest with close-grip push-ups on your knees. This modified exercise uses a narrow hand placement to intensely target
Assisted Standing Triceps Dip
Build triceps strength with machine assistance that lets you focus on proper dip form at a manageable load.
Bodyweight Kneeling Push-up Row
Build chest and back strength with this kneeling push-up variation that adds a rowing pull at the top.
Track Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up in your workouts
Log sets, reps, and weight. See your progress over time.
Get Ellim — Free