Diamond Push-Ups

A diamond push-up is a close-grip push-up where your hands touch under your chest, index fingers and thumbs forming a diamond shape. The narrow hand position shifts a lot of the work onto your triceps and inner chest, which makes it noticeably harder than a standard push-up.

How to do a diamond push-up

1. Start in a high plank with your body in a straight line from head to heels.
2. Bring your hands together under the centre of your chest so your index fingers and thumbs touch, forming a diamond.
3. Brace your core and squeeze your glutes so your hips don't sag.
4. Lower your chest towards your hands, keeping your elbows tracking back at roughly 45 degrees rather than flaring straight out.
5. Stop when your chest is just above your hands, then press back up until your arms are straight.
6. Keep the movement controlled: about two seconds down, one second up.

Muscles worked

The diamond push-up trains the same muscles as a regular push-up but changes the emphasis:

• Triceps - the main driver, thanks to the narrow hand position.
• Inner chest (pectorals) - worked hard as your arms stay close to the body.
• Front shoulders - assist on the press.
• Core and glutes - keep your body rigid throughout.

Benefits

• Builds triceps strength without any equipment.
• Adds variety and extra difficulty once standard push-ups feel easy.
• Improves pressing strength that carries over to dips and bench work.
• Challenges core stability because the narrow base is less forgiving.

Common mistakes

• Hips sagging or piking. Keep a straight line from head to heels; brace before you lower.
• Elbows flaring wide. Let them drift back, not out, to protect the shoulders and keep tension on the triceps.
• Wrist pain. The tight position loads the wrists. Widen the diamond slightly, or use push-up handles or dumbbells to keep the wrists neutral.
• Half reps. Lower until your chest nearly touches your hands and lock out at the top.

Is it for you? Difficulty and progressions

Diamond push-ups suit anyone who can already do about 15-20 clean standard push-ups and wants more triceps work. If that's not you yet, there's no rush.

To make it easier: do knee diamond push-ups on a soft surface, or place your hands on a raised surface like a bench or step so your body is at an incline.

To make it harder: elevate your feet, slow the tempo, or add a pause at the bottom.

A sensible starting target is 3 sets of 6-10 reps. When you can hit 3 sets of 15 with good form, progress by elevating your feet or slowing things down.

Ready to keep building? Explore all push-up variations, brush up on proper push-up form, or start the 100 push-ups programme.