Body-Up
Trains the Triceps.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Mechanic
- Isolation
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Kneel on a mat with your forearms flat on the floor, elbows under your shoulders.
- Set your body in one line from knees to head and brace your stomach.
- Press your palms into the floor and straighten your elbows to push your torso up.
- Finish with the hands flat and the arms straight, body still in one line.
- Lower under control by bending the elbows back down to the forearms.
- Keep the hips still throughout — the movement is at the elbow.
Common mistakes
- Pushing the hips up to get the arms straight. The hips staying put is what keeps the load on the triceps; hips rising turns it into a kneeling plank-to-push-up.
- Letting the elbows slide forward or out. They stay under the shoulders; sliding them is how the range gets shorter without anyone deciding.
- Doing it from the feet before the knees are easy. From the toes this is a large amount of bodyweight through an elbow extension, and the kneeling version is the step.
- Expecting it to replace a loaded triceps exercise. The range is short and the load is fixed at whatever your bodyweight is, which makes it a good addition and a poor only option.