The Bodyweight Elevated Push Up is a intermediate-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the chest, with the triceps working alongside. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesChest
Secondary musclesTriceps
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelIntermediate
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Bodyweight Elevated Push Up
Place your hands on a sturdy bench or box slightly wider than shoulder width.
Walk your feet back until your body forms a straight line from head to heels at an incline.
Brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and pull your shoulder blades back and down.
Lower your chest toward the bench under control with elbows tracked at about 45 degrees from your torso.
Pause briefly when your chest is just above the bench, keeping full-body tension throughout.
Press back up explosively through the palms until your arms lock out, then reset for the next rep.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Builds pressing strength at a scalable, beginner-friendly load.
Develops chest, triceps, and front-shoulder size with no equipment.
Teaches clean push-up mechanics before progressing to floor push-ups.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Letting the hips sag down or piking up, which breaks the straight body line and loads the back.
Flaring the elbows out wide, which strains the front shoulders and reduces chest engagement.
Cutting the depth short instead of bringing the chest close to the bench, which removes most of the chest work.
Using a surface that is too high — turns the push-up into a near-standing motion with little load.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Bodyweight Elevated Push Up, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
