When regular push-ups become too easy, Diamond push up is a great progression and a stepping stone to advanced variations.
By bringing the hands closer together and forming a diamond shape, the exercise becomes more difficult and yields additional benefits.
This popular push-up technique is also called triangle push-ups or narrow push-ups.
It’s a harder variant of the push-up exercise where the technique plays an important factor for good execution and maximum benefits.
Let’s discover what muscles do diamond push ups work and what happens to your body when you do them regularly.
Are diamond push-ups Safe?
Diamond push-ups don’t put more stress on your shoulders than regular ones. But, they do overload the triceps.
Diamond push-ups lengthen the lever arm of a push-up and make it more challenging.
So, if you want to develop your triceps then diamond push-ups are a great exercise.
That being said, people sometimes experience wrist pain. So, a good warm-up and proper form are necessary.
In general, if your goals are to get bigger and pack muscle mass, a moderate weight, high volume, fatigue based workout where you go to failure in some sets might be a better choice.
Are diamond push-ups harder than regular push-ups?
In a traditional push-up, your hands are placed far apart just outside your shoulders, and this stance is what makes it one of the best push-up variations to build the chest muscles.
With a diamond push-up, your hands are closer together, with your fingers and thumbs forming a diamond or triangle shape.
This move puts more emphasis and stress on the triceps compared to the regular push up.
So, if you have weak triceps you’ll find this exercise harder than the regular one.
Can diamond push-ups build muscle?
Nothing beats Diamond pushups when it comes to building upper body strength and mass.
And not only for the chest. Diamond pushups are also a top-notch exercise to make your triceps grow.
If you’re planning to start doing diamond push-ups, it’s important to nail the technique down to a tee as we’ll show in just a second.
If you don’t do that, you risk wearing yourself out.
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What Muscles Do Diamond Push Ups Work?
Diamond push-ups focus mainly on the triceps brachii.
The triceps work in tandem with the biceps on the front of your upper arm to enable extension and retraction of your forearm.
The muscles that help the triceps complete the extension in the exercise are the pectoralis major, or chest, and the deltoids, or shoulders.
The biceps brachii work as a dynamic stabilizer, which means its primary focus is assisting in keeping your joints steady.
While the rectus abdominis, obliques, and quadriceps also act as stabilizers to maintain your posture.
How to do diamond push-ups for beginners?
The Diamond push-up is an advanced variation of the push-up exercise performed with the hands in a diamond shape.
It increases the challenge to the triceps but also targets the chest and shoulders.
Here is How to do Diamond push-ups for beginners:
1. Set up like you would for a normal push-up: body tight and straight, hands underneath the shoulders, arms extended.
2. Then keep that same position and bring your hands closer to make a triangle shape. The ends of your thumbs and first fingers should be touching.
3. From there, bring your chest down to the hands slowly and explode back up. Repeat until those triceps burn.
Why are Diamond push-ups so hard for me?
Diamond pushups are not that hard actually but you do need to work your way up like any other exercise.
Start by doing them on your knees, you can also do other exercises to strengthen your upper body push movement using lightweight dumbbell press for example.
You can also start doing some planks to develop core strength.
Do 10 each day for a minute each. You can follow this up with arm curls and regular push-ups.
Remember that everyone once started with one.
Just know that it will take time but with the right mental attitude, you can achieve it. Just like anything else.
Upper body strength is a challenge to develop and the older you get the harder it becomes to get where you want.
Start slow and build up as you go.
Diamond push up benefits
Once you have mastered the Diamond push-ups the correct way, you will notice some great benefits.
You are targeting your full chest so your pec muscles will grow. Your triceps will be strong and your front deltoids will be more stabilized.
Your nervous system will reset your body and mind to function better this way, make these muscles work together which makes you instantly stronger, no muscle growth even required.
The nervous system is very powerful and plays a huge role in strength training.
By doing Diamond push-ups regularly you will benefit from:
Increased Tricep Activation
Due to the narrower position of the hands, more of the load is placed on the tricep.
In fact, in a study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), they found that the diamond push-up is the most effective tricep exercise, followed by dips and tricep kickbacks.
This makes them the best exercise for people who want to strengthen their triceps or tone their arms.
Full Chest Workout
What the narrow position does is place more stress on the pec minor and the pec major, compared to the wide position, which is wrongly thought to activate the chest more.
Contrary to common sense, the only thing the wide version does is put your shoulders in an unnecessarily bad position, which can be a cause of injury.
Stabilize The Shoulders
The push-ups all work the shoulders, especially the anterior deltoid.
However, Diamond push-ups put more pressure on the shoulder joint, which is excellent for preparing you for further variations.
Strengthen The Core
Many people think that Diamond pushups help tone the arms alone.
However, the truth is that when you perform this bodyweight exercise variation, you tend to engage all the muscles.
This will maximize your strength and reap all the benefits that come with having a strong core.
Calorie Burning and Weight Loss
Diamond pushups greatly aid in burning large amounts of calories in the body, particularly in the mid-section.
The body’s fat-burning mechanisms are activated due to the repetitive motion that you build when doing pushups.
If you’re looking for a bodyweight exercise variation that’s difficult to perform but excellent for weight loss, then here comes your answer.
Do diamond push-ups work inner chest?
After we have discussed earlier what muscles do diamond push ups work, you may be wondering if they also target the inner chest.
If your goal is that inner chest line, the diamond pushup is your go-to workout.
If done properly, it will activate your inner chest and help you build some serious mass.
Another thing you can do is use different variations when doing your pushup workout routine.
This way you will maximize your gains and optimize your upper body strength.
What happens when you do diamond pushups every day?
Diamond pushups can be done virtually anywhere and don’t require any equipment.
They are beneficial for building upper body strength by working the triceps, pectoral muscles, and shoulders.
Doing diamond pushups every day can be effective if you’re looking for a consistent exercise routine to follow.
You will likely notice muscle tone and strength in the upper body.
However, practicing pushups every day does come with some risks including lower back pain, wrist pain, an elbow injury.
For the best results, it’s best to let a muscle group recover for at least 48 hours.
You can also follow a “Pushup Challenge” where you gradually increase the number of pushups each week.
This way you will maximize your gains while minimizing the risk of injury.
With consistent training, Diamond pushups become relatively easy, which is a telltale indicator of immense progression and a foundation for advanced push-up variations.
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