Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up

Description

How to do Medicine Ball Close Grip Push Up

1. 01
   Setup

   Place a medicine ball on the floor and position your hands close together on top of it, fingers pointing forward, ensuring a stable grip.

2. 02
   Setup

   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. 03

   Inhale as you slowly lower your chest towards the medicine ball, keeping your elbows tucked close to your body to maximize triceps engagement.

4. 04

   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.