The archer push-up is a wide-hand bodyweight push-up in which one arm bends while the other stays straight, loading one side of the chest and triceps at a time as a one-arm push-up progression. Unlike a regular push-up, where both arms share the work, here the straight arm only steadies you, so the bending side carries most of your body weight through a deeper range than a two-arm rep allows. The straight arm also stretches that side of the chest at the bottom. Calisthenics athletes use it as the main pressing exercise once standard push-ups exceed twenty reps.
What Muscles Does the Archer Push-Up Work?
- Primary: Pectoralis major (chest), working side
- Secondary: Triceps brachii, anterior deltoid, serratus anterior
- Tertiary: Rectus abdominis, obliques, gluteus maximus
How Do You Set Up for the Archer Push-Up?
Take a high plank on a non-slip floor. Place your hands well wider than shoulder-width, roughly one and a half times your normal push-up spread, with the fingers turned slightly outward. Set your feet together or hip-width apart for more balance. Brace your abs, squeeze your glutes and line up your head, hips and heels. Shift your weight slightly over the arm that will bend before the first rep.
How Do You Perform the Archer Push-Up?
- Set the wide plank with both arms straight, weight centred and hips level.
- Bend your right elbow and lower your chest toward your right hand, letting your left arm stay straight and slide out to the side.
- Stop when your chest is a fist above your right hand and your left arm is fully extended with the fingers pointing away, which tells you the range is complete.
- Hold for one count, keeping your hips square to the floor and your straight arm locked.
- Press up through your right hand over two counts, dragging your body back toward the centre as the left hand rolls flat.
- Return to the wide plank with both arms straight, then lower toward the left hand for the next rep.
What Are the Key Form Cues?
- Push the floor away with the bending arm: the straight arm is a kickstand, so put your intention into the hand under your chest.
- Slide, do not lift, the straight hand: keep the palm or fingertips in contact with the floor as the arm extends, so it steadies rather than carries you.
- Keep your hips as square as a normal push-up; the shoulders travel sideways, the pelvis does not.
- Aim your chest at the working hand, not the floor between your hands.
- Turn the working elbow back at 45 degrees rather than straight out to the side.
What Are the Most Common Mistakes?
- Leaning on the straight arm: it takes half the load and the rep becomes a wide push-up; lift its fingers for a rep to feel how little it should carry.
- Twisting the hips toward the straight arm: the trunk rotates to shorten the lever and the chest works less; keep both hip bones the same distance from the floor.
- Placing the hands too close: the straight arm cannot extend and the rep turns into a shallow two-arm push-up; set the hands wide enough that the straight arm locks at the bottom.
- Flaring the working elbow to shoulder height: the shoulder loads at the front in deep horizontal abduction, which stresses the anterior capsule; keep the elbow angled back.
- Cutting the depth: the chest never reaches the working hand; lower until the chest is a fist from the floor.
What Are the Best Archer Push-Up Variations?
- Incline archer push-up: hands on a bench reduce the load, for lifters who cannot yet reach depth.
- Feet-elevated archer push-up: feet on a box shift more weight onto the working arm.
- Archer push-up with fingertip assist: only the fingertips of the straight hand touch, removing most of the assistance.
- Typewriter push-up: the chest travels from one hand to the other along the bottom, keeping the working side loaded longer.
- Push-Up: the two-arm version to return to when the archer is too heavy.
How Do You Progress the Archer Push-Up?
- Move the straight hand one hand-width further out, or raise the feet on a box, once every set reaches full depth on both sides.
- Build from 5 to 10 reps per side before making the leverage harder.
- Add a set at a time, from 3 to 5, as the reps hold.
- Slow the lowering to three counts, or pause two counts at the bottom, when a harder lever is not available.
How Should You Program the Archer Push-Up?
Program the archer push-up first in an upper body or push session, after warming up with regular push-ups and before dips or triceps work. Train it two to three times a week for 3 to 5 sets of 5 to 10 reps per side with 90 to 120 seconds of rest. Pair it with achestfly or a row so the shoulders are trained through pulling as well.