Diamond Push Ups

Diamond Push Ups: How To Do, Muscle Worked, Benefits

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The diamond push-up is a bodyweight exercise. Diamond push-ups provide all of the benefits of a normal push-up, with a special focus on triceps and center chest.

There are several benefits that can be gained by adding the diamond push-up to an individual’s workout routine. This includes an increase in triceps and chest activity, improvement in core strength and stability, and enhancement of shoulder strength.

Diamond push-ups are beneficial not only for tricep activation, but for almost the entire upper and lower body as well.

We will know, how to do, benefits of it, and common mistakes in the execution of a diamond push-up. It will help in optimizing gains from the workout.

What is a Diamond Push-up?

Diamond push-ups, often referred to as triangular or tricep push-ups. From the name itself, diamond push-ups are performed by positioning the hands in the shape of a diamond.

The diamond push-up is one of the more challenging variations of the push-up because of the narrower base of support.

The set-up is similar to a traditional push-up, wherein the individual assumes a high plank with the feet parallel to the hips, and the hands on the floor beneath the chest.

The hands and forefingers are brought together almost directly under the chest to make a diamond or triangular configuration.

Muscles Worked During Diamond Push Ups

Diamond Push Ups Muscle Worked

Several muscles work together to execute the diamond push-up.

  • The primary muscle worked during Diamond Push-Ups to be the triceps brachii.
  • The secondary muscles include the pectoralis (chest) muscles, deltoids (shoulders), and serratus anterior.
  • Aside from the upper extremity muscles, Diamond push-ups in general, engage the core, glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps femoris and calf muscles as well.

Diamond Push-up Variations

1. Diamond push-up on knees

The diamond push-up, also known as a modified Diamond push-up. It is a brilliant beginner exercise for the development of the triceps brachii.

Practice diamond push-ups on the knee by bringing your hands too close together to form a diamond or triangle shape below your chest, and by putting the knee on the floor.

Once the diamond push-up on knees becomes easy, graduate to performing the exercise on your hands and forefeet.

Diamond push-up on knees
Diamond push-up on knees

How to do Diamond Push-Ups on Knee

  1. Get into a push-up position, supporting your body on your hands and knees instead of on your hands and forefeet.
  2. Your hands should be positioned in such a way as to form a diamond shape with your thumbs and index fingers.
  3. Keeping your body straight and rigid and your elbows close to your body, inhale as you lower your chest to the floor.
  4. Exhale as you extend your elbows and push your body back up to the starting position.

2. Incline Diamond Push Up

For the next degree of difficulty, place the box or chair to support your arms while you perform diamond push-ups.

This type of push-up allows you to really concentrate on the push-up motion—all without the strain of the traditional version.

Incline Diamond Push Ups

How to do Incline Diamond Push Ups

  1. Stand approximately 3 to 3.5 feet away from a bench or Box. Position your index fingers and thumbs, so they’re touching, forming a diamond shape.
  2. Slowly lower yourself by flexing your elbows so that your chest comes within a few inches of the edge of the box or bench.
  3. Using your hands, push yourself back to starting position while focusing on maintaining a straight body position from head to ankle.
  4. The movement should be smooth and controlled.

3. Diamond push up

Diamond push-ups, also known as triangle push-ups, are a more advanced variation of the classic push-up. Practice diamond push-ups by bringing your hands too close together to form a diamond or triangle shape below your chest.

If you’re looking for a good bodyweight movement to train and work your chest and triceps, then diamond push-ups are it.

Diamond Push Ups Muscle Worked

How to do Diamond Push Ups

  1. Get on all fours with your hands together under your chest. Position your index fingers and thumbs, so they’re touching, forming a diamond shape.
  2. Now extend your arms so that your body is elevated and forms a straight line from your head to your feet.
  3. Lower your chest towards your hands, ensuring you don’t flare your elbows out to the sides and keeping your back flat.
  4. Stop just before your chest touches the floor, then push back up to the starting position.

4. Decline Diamond Push-Ups

Decline Diamond Push-ups are similar to normal push-ups, but with your legs on a bench.

Furthermore, your lower body is raised from the floor, the resistance your body provides is increased compared to doing the push-up on the floor. This makes the decline diamond push-up harder than the standard diamond push-up.

Decline Diamond Push Ups

How to do Decline Diamond Push-Ups

  1. Elevate your feet by placing them on a bench, chair, or box.
  2. Get into a push-up position and place your hands in a diamond shape, touching your pointer fingers and thumbs together.
  3. Keeping your elbows next to your body, bend your arms and lower your body until your head is right above the floor
  4. Push back up to starting position

5. Dumbbell diamond push ups

Dumbbell diamond push ups are a variation of dumbbell push ups that involve placing the hands close together in a diamond shape on the ends of the dumbbells.

This variation emphasizes the triceps and inner chest muscles (pectoralis minor) more heavily and can help to improve arm definition and upper body strength.

How to do Decline Dumbbell Diamond Push-Ups

  1. Place the dumbbells on the floor in a way that they form an A shape.
  2. Elevate your feet by placing them on a bench.
  3. Engage your core and keep your body straight as you lower your chest down towards the dumbbells.
  4. Keep your elbows close to your body as you lower down.
  5. Once your chest touches the dumbbells, press back up to the starting position, fully extending your arms.

Diamond Push Up Vs Standard Push Up (Regular Push Up)

It’s the question on all of our minds. What is the deal with diamond push-ups vs regular push-ups? Are they actually that different? 

In a regular push-up, you have your hands fairly far apart, and they rest just outside your shoulders. During Standard Push up, there is greater activation of the pectoralis muscles than the triceps brachii.

On the other hand, during diamond push-ups, your hand should make a diamond shape on the floor directly under your chest (or a triangle, depending on where your thumbs rest). It leads to an increase in activation of both triceps and pectoralis muscles, in contrast to that seen in a regular push-up. This means that while individuals consider the diamond push-up as a tricep-predominant exercise.

The increase in triceps activity in this workout is due to the narrower position of the hands, which places a heavier load on the triceps. This is evidenced by a study which found that there is greater electrical activity in the triceps brachii when doing diamond push-ups as compared to when executing regular push-ups.

Benefits of the Diamond Push-up

Although the diamond push-up is a bodyweight exercise and thus does not use any equipment, it still carries with it several benefits.

  • Increased Triceps Activation The diamond push-up is great for developing the triceps brachii. In one classic study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) that compared the effectiveness of triceps exercises, the diamond push-up came first! The dumbbell kickback came second and the bench dip came third.
  • Improves Core Strength and Stability: To maintain balance, the exercise recruits the core muscles, specifically those that function in trunk rotation, such as the external and internal obliques. Recruitment of core muscles for maintaining balance leads to an improvement in both strength and stability.
  • Enhanced Shoulder Strength: The diamond push-up can strengthen the anterior deltoid, it serves as a good preparatory exercise before progressing to workouts that place more work on this muscle. Workouts that require greater anterior deltoid strength include planche push-ups and one arm push-ups.
  • Burn Calories: Doing Diamond push-ups can be a powerful full-body workout and help to burn more calories. They use up a large amount of energy in a short period because the movements require large muscle groups to lift and hold much of the body’s weight.
  • Improve overall health: Regular practice of the diamond push-up, then, can improve overall health, since muscle strength helps to improve bone strength, regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, and enable everyday mobility.

Diamond Push-ups Proper Form and Tips

Proper form and technique must be observed when doing any type of exercise to avoid risk of injury. The following mistakes should be avoided to maximize the benefits of doing diamond push-ups.

Diamond Push Up Gif
  • It is important not to allow the hands to go too far forward. When the hands are positioned superiorly than the shoulders, it may cause excessive stress on other muscles and joints.
  • Avoid letting the elbows flare out, or point out to the side. The angle between the torso and the arm must be at around 45 degrees.
  • It is important to keep the body in a straight line throughout the activity. The hips should be level with the shoulders from start to finish.
  • Diamond push-ups places more load on the elbows than a conventional push-up does. To avoid injury, it is vital to master a regular push-up, and over the course of a few weeks, slowly progress by bringing the hands closer together.
  • Don’t lock your arms on the way up.
  • Squeeze your glutes and engage your core before moving into the push-up

Diamond Push Up Alternatives

Final Thoughts

The diamond push-up is a great bodyweight exercise that carries with it the benefit of both greater tricep and chest activation. While it is more advanced and hence more difficult to perform than a classic push-up, adding the diamond push-up to an individual’s workout routine may be worth the effort because of its added benefits.

Video Illustration: 35 Best Push Ups Variations for Beginner, Intermediate and advanced

Video Illustration: How to Build Biceps and Triceps| Arms Exercises | Arms Workout

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