Archer Pushup: Target Your Chest, Triceps, and Core Effectively

Push-ups are arguably the most widely performed exercise on the planet, and everyone, from beginners to elite athletes, does them. The reason for this push-up popularity is simple – they are a very effective exercise.

In fact, research published on PubMed suggests that push-ups can be as effective as high-rep bench presses for building muscle and strength (1).

As a veteran personal trainer with over 30 years of experience, I often include push-ups in my client’s workouts. However, some people find regular push-ups too easy, so I sometimes need to provide more demanding alternatives.

Weighted and plyometric push-ups are useful progressions, but my favorite “hard” variation is archer push-ups.

In this guide, I explain how to do archer push-ups, discuss their benefits, and share a few variations to try.

How to Do Archer Push-Ups  

It’s easy to underestimate archer push-ups. After all, they’re just a calisthenic or bodyweight exercise, right? However, a lot can go wrong during archer push-ups, and poor form could cause elbow, shoulder, wrist, and lower back injuries.

So, with that in mind, make sure you do archer push-ups correctly by following these step-by-step instructions.

1. Adopt the push-up position with your hands about 1 ½ shoulder-widths apart.
2. Brace your core and turn your hands slightly outward.
3. Your legs and body should be perfectly straight.
4. Bend your right arm and lower your chest down toward your right hand.
5. Keep your left arm relatively straight and turn your head to look at your left hand.
6. Drive down through your right hand and return to the starting position.
7. Do your next rep to the left-hand side.
8. Continue alternating sides for the prescribed number of reps.

Muscles Worked

Archer push-ups are a compound upper-body exercise. This means they involve multiple muscles and joints. The primary muscles trained during archer push-ups are:

• Pectoralis major
• Anterior deltoids
• Triceps brachii
• Rotator cuff
• Core

Pro-Trainer Tips

Get more from archer push-ups with these tried-and-tested pro-trainer tips:

• Experiment with your hand width and angle to find what feels most comfortable.
• Keep your body perfectly straight – do not lift or lower your hips.
• Place 1-2 yoga blocks beneath your chest to reduce your range of motion and make this exercise a little easier.
• Descend slowly and then push up explosively to maximize muscle engagement.
• Keep a slight bend in your extended elbow to reduce joint stress.
• Bend your legs and rest on your knees to make this exercise more manageable.
• Strap on a weighted vest to make archer push-ups more challenging.

Archer Push-Ups Mistakes to Avoid

Make archer push-ups as safe as possible by avoiding these common mistakes:

Not Keeping Your Body Straight

Lack of body tension will make archer push-ups less effective and could cause injury. Consequently, you should ensure your body is perfectly straight during archer push-ups. Do this by bracing your quadriceps, glutes, and core during every rep.

Descending Too Quickly

A slow, controlled descent ensures that your muscles are under tension for longer. It also stops you from using elastic energy to bounce out of the bottom of each rep. Descending slower makes your workout harder, but in terms of results, harder is almost always better.

Holding Your Breath

Not breathing can lead to increases in blood pressure and could cause lightheadedness and faintness (2). Avoid these problems by inhaling as you lower your chest to the floor and exhaling as you push back up.

Ignoring Aches and Pains

While regular push-ups are a very joint-friendly exercise, archer push-ups are a little less so. For example, doing archer push-ups too often bothers my shoulders and elbows. Ignoring aches and pains can turn minor issues into major injuries, so don’t do it!

Avoid pain and injuries by gradually increasing training volume, frequency, and intensity. Finally, modify or skip this exercise altogether if it hurts your joints.  

Archer Push-Up Benefits

Not sure if archer push-ups deserve a place in your workouts? Consider these benefits and then decide.

Identify and Fix Left-To-Right Strength Imbalances

It’s very common to have one arm stronger than the other, and minor imbalances are nothing to worry about. However, significant left-to-right strength imbalances can cause athletic performance issues and affect your physique.

Archer push-ups emphasize one side of your upper body at a time, revealing any strength imbalances. You can then use archer push-ups to strengthen your weaker side and fix those discrepancies.

A Progression from Regular Push-Ups

Conventional push-ups are an excellent exercise. However, there aren’t many ways to make them more difficult. Consequently, experienced exercisers often find themselves doing very high-rep sets, e.g., 30-50, which is not very time-efficient.

Archer push-ups put more weight on your bent arm, making them a step up from regular push-ups. As such, archer push-ups are a great way for stronger exercisers to progress their workouts without resorting to high reps or a weighted vest.

A Stepping Stone To Single-Arm Push-Ups

Single-arm push-ups are considered by many as a gold-level calisthenics exercise. However, transitioning from regular to one-handed push-ups is a big step. A lot of exercisers find moving from two to single-arm push-ups very challenging.

Archer push-ups put more weight on one arm but allow you to use the other for assistance. As such, it’s an excellent way to progress to single-arm push-ups.

Variety

We have a saying in the fitness industry, “If you always do what you have always done, you’ll always get what you have always got.” In other words, if you want to change your body, you must also change your workouts. 

While there is no denying the power of conventional push-ups, if that’s all you ever do, your progress will eventually stall. Adding archer push-ups to your workouts will provide the variety you need to keep progressing.

Archer Push-Up Variations

While standard archer push-ups are awesome, there are a couple of additional ways to perform this classic calisthenic chest exercise. Use these variations to prevent training plateaus.

1. Ring Archer Push-Ups

Using gymnastic rings creates instability, so you’ll need to work much harder to control your movements. If archer push-ups on the floor are getting easy, this variation should be your next challenge.

Steps:

1. Set your rings to about knee height.
2. Grip the rings and walk your feet back so your legs and body are straight.
3. Bend one arm and push your other arm out to the side. Lower your chest down between your hands.
4. Extend your bent arm, pull your other arm in, and return to the starting position.
5. Alternate arms rep by rep.
6. The closer your rings are to the floor, the more demanding this exercise becomes.

2. Slider Archer Push-Ups

No gymnastic rings? No problem! You can achieve a similar effect with sliding pads or using towels on a smooth floor. In my experience, this variation is a little easier than ring archer push-ups but still more demanding than the conventional version.

Steps:

1. Adopt the push-up position with your hands on the sliders/towels. Brace your core and make sure your body is straight.
2. Shift your weight over onto your right hand and bend your arm. Simultaneously slide your left hand out to the side. Lower your chest to the floor and look at your right hand.
3. Return to the starting position and then switch sides.
4. Alternate arms for the required number of reps.

3. Staggered Hand Push-Ups

Archer push-ups aren’t the only way to overload one arm at a time without resorting to one-hand push-ups. This exercise puts more weight on one hand than the other but is arguably more joint-friendly than archer push-ups.

Steps:

1. Adopt the standard push-up position.
2. Move one hand backward toward your hip.
3. Keeping most of your weight in your front hand, bend your arms and lower your chest to the floor.
4. Push yourself back up and do the required number of reps.
5. Rest a moment, switch arms, and repeat.

Closing Thoughts

Push-ups are a fantastic exercise that deserves a place in almost everyone’s workout. In fact, I insist that my clients master conventional push-ups before I allow them anywhere near the bench press.

That said, I also recognize that push-ups have their limits, and you can’t expect to keep making progress if you always do the same old exercises. Archers are a significant step up from regular push-ups and will breathe new life into what would otherwise soon become a less effective exercise.

So, elevate your push-up game with archer push-ups. They’re the perfect option for intermediate and advanced exercisers.

References:

1. Kikuchi N, Nakazato K. Low-load bench press and push-up induce similar muscle hypertrophy and strength gain. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2017 Jun;15(1):37-42. doi: 10.1016/j.jesf.2017.06.003. Epub 2017 Jun 29. PMID: 29541130; PMCID: PMC5812864.
2. Linsenbardt ST, Thomas TR, Madsen RW. Effect of breathing techniques on blood pressure response to resistance exercise. Br J Sports Med. 1992 Jun;26(2):97-100. doi: 10.1136/bjsm.26.2.97. PMID: 1623367; PMCID: PMC1478931.

Featured image from @superhumanfitnessofficial on YouTube!

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