Diamond Push-Up
A close-grip push-up variation where your hands form a diamond shape. This targets the triceps more intensely than regular push-ups.
Short answer
Diamond Push-Up: a beginner bodyweight exercise for the triceps and inner chest. It needs no equipment. A typical target: 3 sets of 10-15 reps. If it is still too hard, start with the easier variation, “Regular Push-Up”. Once it feels easy, “Decline Diamond Push-Up” is the next step.
Benefits
Step-by-Step Guide
Follow these steps for perfect form
Place hands together under your chest forming a diamond with thumbs and index fingers.
Keep body in a straight line.
Lower chest toward your hands.
Push back up to starting position.
Pro Tips
Common Mistakes
Target Muscles
What muscles does the diamond push-up work?
Bringing the hands together shortens the lever the triceps work against and lengthens the one the chest works against, so the triceps take clearly the larger share. All three heads contribute, with the long head loaded most because the shoulder stays extended. The sternal fibres of the chest, the ones closest to the breastbone, still work hard through the bottom half. Shoulders and core stabilise rather than drive. Because the hands sit under the sternum rather than under the shoulders, the wrists take more extension than in a standard push-up, which is why wrist discomfort often shows up here first.
Primary Muscles
Secondary Muscles
How to train it
Three sets of 10 to 15 reps. Treat it as a strength movement rather than a finisher: put it early in a session while the triceps are fresh, not after dips have already cooked them. Two sessions a week is plenty alongside other pressing. Progress by adding reps to 15, then elevating the feet to shift load onto the upper chest and shoulders, then slowing the eccentric. If you can do 20, the exercise has become endurance work and your time is better spent on a harder variation.
If you are stuck
Hands drifting forward is the usual fault. It turns the movement into a shoulder exercise and puts the wrists in a bad spot. The diamond should sit directly under your sternum, not under your face. If your wrists complain, make the diamond looser - index fingers and thumbs need to be near each other, not perfectly touching - or do the movement on fists or parallettes to keep the wrist neutral. Elbows should stay tight to the ribs; letting them flare defeats the purpose and moves the work back to the chest.
Progressions
Level up your training
Diamond Push-Up questions
What muscles do diamond push-ups work?
Diamond push-ups primarily target the triceps and inner chest. They also work the shoulders and core as secondary muscles.
Are diamond push-ups harder than regular push-ups?
Yes, diamond push-ups are more challenging because the narrow hand position places more emphasis on the triceps and requires greater stability.
Related Exercises
More Push exercises
Push-Up
The push-up is the foundational pushing movement in calisthenics. It builds strength in your chest, shoulders, and triceps while engaging your core for stability.
Wide Push-Up
A push-up variation with hands placed wider than shoulder-width for greater chest activation and stretch.
Archer Push-Up
A unilateral push-up where one arm does most of the work while the other extends to the side. Great progression toward one-arm push-ups.
Ready to Practice Diamond Push-Up?
Find a calisthenics park with open space near you and start training.