Push Your Limits: 9 Creative Ways to Make Pushups Harder

Pushups are a classic exercise that can be performed anywhere, anytime, without equipment. They are a fantastic way to build upper body strength. They also work your core muscles and improve your overall strength. They target multiple muscle groups, including the chest, shoulders, triceps, and core.
When you keep doing pushups for a while, a point will reach where you feel that they don’t challenge your muscles anymore. And you start to think that they have become too easy for you. That's the time to push your limits further and make your pushups harder and more challenging.  You can add weights and more physical variations to make traditional pushups harder. Whether at an advanced level of fitness or just a beginner, these variations will challenge your body in new ways and help you achieve the required muscle strength. In this article, we will study 10 creative ways to make pushups harder. These pushups enhance your strength, endurance, and overall fitness.

Decline Pushups

Decline pushups are effective in targeting your chest, shoulders, and triceps. This brings an increase in the overall difficulty of the exercise. Here’s how you can perform the exercise correctly:

• Find a stable platform like a bench to support your body weight.
• You can now position yourself in a standard pushup way with your hands slightly wider on the ground. 
• Extend your legs and place your feet on the elevated surface. You can create an inclined position.
• Keep your body in a straight line from your head to your heels. Engage your core muscles to stay stable throughout your exercise.
• Bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle to your body and lower your chest towards the ground. Make sure you maintain a steady movement.
• Once your chest is close to the ground, push through your palms and extend your arms to return to the starting position.
• You can repeat it for your desired number of repetitions.

One-Arm Pushups

Performing one-arm pushups is an advanced variation that engages your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. You can perform it efficiently by: 

• Start in a regular pushup position with your hands shoulder-width apart and your body in a straight line from head to toe.
• Extend one arm straight out to the side, or you can place it behind your back.
• Now lower your body slowly to the ground by bending your elbow of the working arm.
• Keep lowering the body until your chest is about to touch the ground.
• Pause there momentarily and then push your body back with your working arm.
• Repeat the exercise at your convenience. 

Clapping Pushups

Clapping pushups are an intense variation of pushups where you push yourself off the ground with force and clap your hands before landing back in the starting position. You perform the regular pushup, but instead of simply pushing back up, you push yourself off the ground, letting your hands go with your movement and clapping before landing. This exercise requires control, upper body strength, and coordination. 

Spiderman Pushups

This modification of the traditional pushup focuses on your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core while engaging your oblique muscles. Here’s how you can do the exercise:

• Begin with a standard pushup position with your hands apart at your shoulder width. Make sure your body is in a straight line from head to toe.
• As you lower your body toward the ground. Bring one knee closer to your elbow on the same side.
• Properly maintain the stability of your body by keeping your core engaged. 
• Push yourself back to the starting position while bringing your leg back to its initial pushup form.
• Repeat the exercises for as long as you easily can.

Spiderman pushups make traditional pushups extra challenging by adding a twisted movement and engaging your oblique muscles.

Weighted Pushups

Weighted pushups involve adding extra resistance to your pushup exercise to make it harder. You can perform regular pushups by putting weight plates on your back. You can also wear a weighted vest. The additional weight raises the stress on your chest, shoulders, and triceps, which helps to build strong muscles. However, you should not be adding more weight than your body can easily endure. This way, you can maintain proper form to avoid strain. 

Plyometric Pushups

Plyometric (plyo) pushups are an advanced exercise that works your chest, triceps, abs, and shoulders. A jumping element is added to the exercise to make it more explosive in these types of pushups.To perform a plyo pushup, you require no special equipment. Follow these steps:

• Begin with a regular pushup position. Your upper body should be in a straight line. Your core should be tightened, and your palms should be directly under your shoulders.
• Start lowering your body as if you almost touch the floor.
• Now you push your body back up. Once you do so, do it with enough force to leave your hands off the ground.
• Land slowly back on the ground and repeat the exercise for desired numbers.

Stability Ball Pushups

These pushups are performed by placing your hands on a stability ball instead of the floor. This creates difficulty by adding an element of instability. It assists in engaging your core muscles and ensures your upper body strength. It's a great way to improve your traditional pushup routine.

Archer Pushup

Archer pushups are an innovative variation of pushups that work on your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. Let’s see how to do archer pushups effectively:

• Start in a pushup position with your hands wider than shoulder width.
• Shift your weight to one side and slightly rotate your body in that direction.
• As you lower your body, bend the elbow of the working arm while keeping the other arm aside.
• You should lower your chest towards the hand of the active arm while maintaining control and balance.
• Push your body back up with the force of your active arm. Stay in starting position for a while 
• Repeat the movement.

Archer pushups target muscles in an asymmetric way. They engage the chest and shoulders differently than traditional pushups.

Hindu Pushups

Hindu pushups, also known as dive bomber pushups, are dynamic exercises that target your chest, shoulders, triceps, and core. Here’s how you can perform Hindu pushups:

• Start in a downward dog position with your hands slightly wider than shoulder width, and your hips should be higher than your back.
• Bend your elbows and lower your upper body towards the ground while shifting your weight forward simultaneously.
• As you lower yourself, let your chest move forward, which should be between your hands.
• Keep your head up and maintain a smooth, flowing motion.
• Once your chest is close to the ground, straighten your arms and push your chest up and through while curving your back and raising your head.
• Reverse the movement by bending your elbows and pushing your hips back up to return to starting position. 
• You can repeat the act at your desire.

By following the techniques mentioned above, you can challenge muscles by making your regular pushups harder. You can incorporate these variations into your daily workout routine for quick results.
But remember not to go too hard on yourself. Always start with easy and doable exercise, then gradually take it to different difficulty levels. This ensures the effectiveness of the training by avoiding any injury or muscle sprain.
Always make sure to maintain a proper form of the exercises. Body formation during the training should be apt; else, you will do more harm than good to your body. All these variations of regular pushups promise strength and flexibility for your muscles.
So are you ready to stretch your limits and make your pushups harder with these creative ways?