Kneeling Forearm Push-Up
Also known as: modified forearm push-up
- Primary muscleForearms
- EquipmentBodyweight
- DifficultyIntermediate
- TypeCompound · Push
Lowering from your palms down onto your forearms and pressing back up loads the forearm and wrist musculature through a range few exercises touch, with the kneeling base keeping the total load sensible. The transition itself is the exercise, so make each descent slow rather than letting your elbows drop.
How to do the Kneeling Forearm Push-Up
- Start in a push-up position with your hands directly under your shoulders and your body in a straight line.
- Lower your body down towards the ground by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides.
- Once your elbows are at a 90-degree angle, lower your forearms to the ground, keeping your elbows directly under your shoulders.
- Pause for a moment, then push through your palms to lift your forearms back up to the starting position.
- 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
Forearms · Arms
The forearms stabilize the wrists under bodyweight; if the wrists ache, try push-up handles or fists on a mat.
Secondary
- Triceps — The triceps finish the rep by locking the elbows, and they do more work the narrower your hands are.
- Pectorals — The chest drives the arms together as you push, and it is loaded most in the bottom half of the rep when the elbows are bent.
- 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
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
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- 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.