Incline Scapula Push-Up

Also known as: incline push up plus

Secondary muscles
Triceps, Delts
Body part
Chest
Position
Prone
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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On a 45-degree bench, the movement is nothing but your shoulder blades gliding together and apart with elbows locked, isolating the serratus anterior at reduced load. It is the entry point before the floor scapula push-up, and it pairs a narrow focus with a load light enough for near-daily practice.

How to do the Incline Scapula Push-Up

  1. Set up an incline bench at a 45-degree angle.
  2. Place your hands on the bench slightly wider than shoulder-width apart.
  3. Position your feet on the ground, hip-width apart.
  4. Lower your chest towards the bench, keeping your elbows tucked in.
  5. As you lower, retract your shoulder blades, squeezing your scapulae together.
  6. Push through your palms to extend your arms and return to the starting position.
  7. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Screw your hands into the floor as if turning the fingers outward to set the shoulders before each set.

Muscles worked

Primary

Serratus Anterior · Core

The serratus pushes the shoulder blades forward at the top of each rep; adding a small push-up plus at lockout targets it directly.

Secondary

  • Triceps — The triceps finish the rep by locking the elbows, and they do more work the narrower your hands are.
  • Delts — The front delts assist the chest, especially on decline variations where the feet are elevated.

Common mistakes

  • Hips sagging or piked — the body should stay a straight line from head to heels; squeeze the glutes and brace the abs before each rep.
  • Elbows flared to 90 degrees — flaring the arms out wide loads the shoulder joint; keep the elbows tucked to about 45 degrees from the torso.
  • Cutting the bottom short — chest should come to within a fist of the floor; if that means fewer reps, do fewer reps.
  • Head dropping first — the chin reaching for the floor makes it look like a rep when it is not; keep the head neutral and lead with the chest.

Where it fits in a workout

Push-ups work as a warm-up before bench press, as a finisher after chest work or as the main push exercise when training with no equipment. Superset them with inverted rows or a band pull-apart for balance.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Alternatives

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.