A Push-Up Trains More Than Your Chest

A push-up trains your chest — but not all of it.

Muscle by muscle, in 3D: the middle of the chest does most of the work, the upper chest does less, the front delt presses with it, the outer triceps head finishes through the lockout, the abs never switch off, and the serratus anterior pins your shoulder blade to your ribs the whole way — shown in X-ray, because most of it hides under the pec.

Exercises that train these: • Chest — push-up, bench press, dumbbell press, pec deck, cable fly • Front delts — overhead press, front raise • Triceps — dips, overhead extension, pushdown • Serratus anterior — push-up plus, overhead press, pullover