Suspended Push-Up
You hold the handles of the suspension trainer, feet on the floor, your body one straight line from head to heels. From there you lower yourself between the handles and press back up until your arms are straight. The handles want to drift — you keep them on their track.
The suspended push-up is the push-up with one more job. On the floor your hands are fixed. In the handles they move — outwards, forwards, inwards towards each other — and everything that keeps the handles still joins in: the shoulder girdle, the triceps and the trunk that holds your body straight against the drift. Chest, front shoulders and triceps do the same pressing job; the holding comes on top.
In the studio the suspended push-up comes after the floor push-up — once that is solid. The handle height sets the load: with the handles hung high you carry less; just above the floor, almost your whole body weight. And with a weight plate on your back it becomes a heavy pressing exercise with no barbell at all.
Starting position
Set the suspension trainer so the handles sit just above the floor. Grip the handles, palms facing each other or turned slightly down, and walk your feet back until your body is one straight line from head to heels — hands under your shoulders.
Before you start, pack your shoulders: pull your shoulder blades back and down and keep them there. Then brace your trunk — ribs over your hips, glutes squeezed.
With added load, a weight plate rests on your upper back, or you wear a weighted vest. The position stays the same.
The three cues
- Pack your shoulders — shoulder blades back and down before you start
- Your elbows travel straight back towards your ribs; the handles stay on their track
- Ribs over your hips, abs tight — lower slowly, pause briefly, drive up
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| The handles drift outwards as you lower | Lower more slowly and keep your shoulder blades packed. Hang the handles higher until the track stays steady. |
| Your hips turn away and one side presses deeper | Ribs over your hips, abs tight. Both hands equally deep — better to do one rep fewer. |
| Your shoulders creep up to your ears and your neck tightens | Pull your shoulder blades back and down before every rep. Handles higher, range shorter, until it holds. |
| Your elbows flare wide | Guide your elbows straight back towards your ribs. Shorter range, higher handles, until the pattern is solid. |
| You cut the descent short and your chest never gets between the handles | Hang the handles higher and go deeper rep by rep — slowly down, brief pause, then up. |
| The handles swing and the position feels out of control | Hold the top first, twenty to forty seconds, with firm tension through your whole body. Only then press. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Hold the top | Hands in the handles, body in the line, hold for twenty to forty seconds. You learn to keep the handles still before you press. |
| Handles high | Handles at chest height or higher — you carry less body weight and learn the track. Eight to twelve reps. |
| Handles just above the floor | What we do in the studio: handles low, feet on the floor, almost your whole body weight on your hands. Five to eight reps. |
| With added weight | A weight plate on your upper back or a weighted vest — that is how Andreas shows the exercise in the video. Movement and line stay the same; the resistance grows. |
Reps and load
The suspended push-up comes after the floor push-up. At first, control is what counts: lower slowly, pause briefly, drive up — with the handles at a height where the track stays steady. Lower handles and, later, added load make the exercise harder; the reps stay at around five to eight.
If your lower back is sensitive, start with high handles, few reps and firm trunk tension — the exercise asks a lot of your trunk.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Chest M. pectoralis major | Prime mover | Draws your upper arms towards your midline and presses you up — the main engine |
| Triceps M. triceps brachii | Prime mover | Straightens your elbows and keeps the handles on their track as it does |
| Front delt M. deltoideus, pars clavicularis | Synergist | Lifts your upper arms forward and holds them against the drift of the handles |
| Abs M. rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | Keeps your ribs over your hips and the line while the handles move |
| Obliques Mm. obliqui abdominis | Stabiliser | Hold against your hips turning away when one side wants to go deeper |
| Upper traps M. trapezius, pars descendens | Stabiliser | Steadies the shoulder girdle against the movement of the handles — with your shoulders staying down |
| Serratus anterior M. serratus anterior | Stabiliser | Keeps your shoulder blades flat against your ribcage while your arms press |
| Spinal erectors M. erector spinae | Stabiliser | Keep your spine long while your abs secure it from the front |
Chest and triceps press, and everything else keeps the handles still. The difference from the floor push-up is the holding: triceps, shoulder girdle and trunk work against handles that want to drift — which is what makes the exercise demanding before any load is added.
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
See the workshopsNew exercise pages are added all the time — the newsletter keeps you posted.
Sources
Snarr RL, Esco MR. (2013). J Hum Kinet 39:75–83. DOI: 10.2478/hukin-2013-0070 — Compares the floor push-up with the suspension-trainer push-up in 21 healthy adults aged about 24 to 26 (15 men, 6 women). On the floor: pectoralis major 63.6%, front deltoid 58.9%, triceps 74.3% MVC — in the suspension trainer higher in each case: 69.5, 81.1 and 105.8%. The authors class it as an advanced form of the push-up. The basis for the order floor → suspension trainer on this page. No measurement exists for the Academy's readership — 40 to 60, two to four hours a week. (Evidence type: EMG)
Borreani S, Calatayud J, Colado JC, Tella V, Moya-Nájera D, Martin F, Rogers ME. (2015). Phys Ther Sport 16(3):248–254. DOI: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2014.12.004 — Measures push-ups on the floor and in the suspension trainer at different handle heights in 29 young men. With the handles just above the floor the triceps worked more than twice as hard as on the floor (37.0 vs 17.1% MVIC) and the upper trapezius considerably harder (14.7 vs 5.8%); chest and front deltoid were as high or higher on the floor. Higher handles reduce the load. The basis for the roles of triceps and upper trapezius in the table and for handle height as the dial. No data on the Academy's readership. (Evidence type: EMG)
Calatayud J, Borreani S, Colado JC, Martín FF, Rogers ME, Behm DG, Andersen LL. (2014). J Sports Sci Med 13(3):502–510. PubMed 25177174 — Measures push-ups with different suspension systems against the floor in 29 young trained men. In the suspension trainer the trunk — rectus abdominis and spinal erectors — worked harder; chest and front deltoid, by contrast, worked harder under the more stable floor condition. The basis for the trunk's role on this page. No data on the Academy's readership. (Evidence type: EMG)
Calatayud J, Borreani S, Colado JC, Martin F, Rogers ME. (2014). Phys Sportsmed 42(4):106–119. DOI: 10.3810/psm.2014.11.2097 — Compares suspension-trainer push-ups, floor push-ups with and without a band and the bench press at 50, 70 and 85% of maximum in 29 young men. Chest, front deltoid and serratus anterior worked harder under the stable conditions; abdominals, triceps, rear deltoid and upper trapezius under the unstable ones. That is why the serratus appears on this page as a stabiliser just as on the floor — and not as the muscle that works harder in the suspension trainer. (Evidence type: EMG)
Harris S, Ruffin E, Brewer W, Ortiz A. (2017). Int J Sports Phys Ther 12(1):42–52. PubMed 28217415 — Measures several suspension-trainer exercises against their floor versions in 25 healthy adults (16 men, 9 women, age not stated in the abstract). In the push-up, chest, rectus abdominis, obliques, middle trapezius and spinal erectors worked harder in the suspension trainer. The basis for the obliques and spinal erectors in the table. No data on the Academy's readership. (Evidence type: EMG)
Beach TA, Howarth SJ, Callaghan JP. (2008). Hum Mov Sci 27(3):457–472. DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2007.12.002 — Measures muscle activity and load on the lumbar spine in the floor push-up and the suspension-trainer push-up in eleven recreationally trained men. In the suspension trainer the abdominal wall and lats worked harder, and mean and peak compression of the lumbar spine were higher. The authors caution that for people with low tolerance in the lower back the benefit may not outweigh the load. The basis for the note under reps and load: with a sensitive lower back, start with high handles. A small sample of young men. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
McGill SM, Cannon J, Andersen JT. (2014). J Strength Cond Res 28(1):105–116. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3182a99459 — Measures muscle activity and spine load in pushing exercises on a firm surface and in a suspension trainer in 14 men with a mean age of 21. The unstable conditions brought more trunk work; lumbar compression was somewhat higher in the suspension trainer without the difference reaching statistical significance, while shear was lower than in the floor push-up. Complements Beach 2008: more trunk work, load in a similar range. Young men; no data on the Academy's readership. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
Aguilera-Castells J, Buscà B, Fort-Vanmeerhaeghe A, Montalvo AM, Peña J. (2020). Sports Biomech 19(1):55–75. DOI: 10.1080/14763141.2018.1472293 — A systematic review of 18 EMG studies on suspension training in physically active participants. Push-up, row, plank and hamstring curl in the suspension trainer reached moderate to very high activation in the upper body and trunk and mostly exceeded the floor versions — with wide variation between studies. Supports placing the suspended push-up as the harder form. No study in the Academy's readership. (Evidence type: Systematic review)
Soligon SD, da Silva DG, Bergamasco JGA, Angleri V, Júnior RAM, Dias NF, Nóbrega SR, de Castro Cesar M, Libardi CA. (2020). Eur J Appl Physiol 120(10):2223–2232. DOI: 10.1007/s00421-020-04446-x — A twelve-week randomised training study in 42 untrained older adults: suspension training versus conventional resistance training, three sets to fatigue each. Both groups gained the same muscle thickness, strength and functional performance. The closest study in age on suspension training — older than the Academy's readership, and without stating whether the push-up was part of the programme. It supports only that suspension training is effective and feasible in older adults. (Evidence type: RCT)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.