Training guide
A pike push-up starts in an upside-down V, hips high and hands shoulder-width apart, and lowers the top of your head towards the floor just ahead of your hands. It turns a push-up into an overhead press with part of your body weight, so it trains the front of your shoulders and your triceps, and it's the usual first step towards a handstand push-up.
No study has measured the pike push-up itself: the evidence comes from feet-raised push-ups, overhead pressing and coaching practice, and we say which is which. Your head ends up below your heart, which raises eye pressure while you're there.
This guide covers the technique step by step on the 3D figure, who should skip it or ask first, the ladder to the wall handstand push-up, easier versions, how many to do, and how it compares with the overhead press.
From a push-up position, walk your feet in and lift your hips into an upside-down V, hands shoulder-width apart. Bend your elbows, angled back rather than out, to lower the top of your head towards the floor just ahead of your hands, then press back up. That's our move page's set-up, and the National Academy of Sports Medicine's (NASM) and StrongFirst's.
It loads the front of your shoulders and your triceps, and the steeper your body, the more they do: that's our reading of a study of push-ups with the feet raised. No study has measured the pike push-up itself, or how much of your weight your hands carry in it.
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Coaches move from pike push-ups to pike push-ups with your feet on a step, a box and a bench, then to the wall. StrongFirst asks for 5 sets of 5 at each height, and a CrossFit coach for 10 reps at each step. No study has tested the ladder; our handstand push-up progression follows it.
In 30 male gymnasts, 6 weeks of heavy shoulder presses, dips and pull-ups added about 5 handstand push-ups in 40 seconds, against 0.4 in those who only did their usual training. Overhead presses help; pike push-ups weren't tested.
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Head-down yoga poses raised eye pressure within a minute in a small study, most in downward dog, the pose closest to the pike, and it settled within 2 minutes of coming up. With glaucoma, keep head-down time short or use a seated press; with severe diabetic eye disease or after recent eye surgery, leave it out until your eye team agrees; with high blood pressure that isn't controlled, skip long head-down holds.
3 sets of 5 to 10, or 3 sets of 6 to 8, stopping 2 or 3 reps short and resting about 90 seconds to 2 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week, as our upper body workout at home and handstand progression use. NASM suggests 3 sets of 5 to 12.
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Hands shoulder-width apart, hips high over your shoulders, legs as straight as your hamstrings allow, and your head between your arms. You bend your elbows to lower the top of your head towards a point on the floor just ahead of your hands, so your head and hands make a triangle, and press back up. NASM starts from a downward dog and lowers until the head nearly touches the floor; StrongFirst walks the feet in until the hips are mostly stacked over the shoulders and lowers the crown of the head to the floor.
The front of your shoulder (anterior deltoid) and your triceps carry it, with your upper back and trunk holding the shape. NASM names the front of the shoulder as the main mover. No study has measured the pike push-up. The nearest evidence: in 19 trained men doing push-ups with the feet raised, tilting from a flat body to 30 degrees head-down raised the front shoulder's activity by about 21%, the triceps' by 20%, the serratus anterior's by 61% and the upper trapezius's by about 150%, while the main chest worked a third less. A pike tilts further still, so these trends probably continue (our reading).
Your shoulders press overhead and your wrists take part of your weight, bent back. Nobody has measured how much of your weight is on your hands in a pike push-up; by our reading of the push-up force studies, it rises as your hips stack over your hands and as your feet go up, which is what the coaching ladder relies on.
At the bottom of each rep your head is below your heart. A glaucoma researcher quoted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology's EyeNet magazine says the vertical distance of your eyes below your heart seems to matter most for eye pressure, so the lower your head and the longer you stay there, the bigger the effect.
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Controlled push-ups and comfortable overhead shoulder range, as our move page says. NASM rates it advanced and advises building upper-body and shoulder strength with standard and incline push-ups first. The wall handstand push-up needs strong pike push-ups with your feet raised and a steady handstand at the wall, as its move page says.
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Tight hamstrings stop your hips stacking over your hands: bend your knees a little (StrongFirst notes the move needs fairly flexible hamstrings). If your arms don't reach fully overhead comfortably, your back arches instead, so start with a smaller range. Gymnasts start far ahead: the trial in college gymnasts measured how many handstand push-ups they could already do in 40 seconds. For most adults, the wall handstand push-up takes months of pike work (our estimate; no study has timed it).
From our pike push-up move page and NASM's: the upside-down V, the elbows angled back and the top of the head lowered just ahead of the hands. The 45-degree elbows and the yoga block under the head are StrongFirst's cues; coming up slowly is our suggestion, from the NHS advice on dizziness.
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The movement on the figure: Pike push-up
In 10 people with glaucoma and 10 without, eye pressure rose within a minute in four head-down yoga poses held for 2 minutes, most in downward dog, from about 17 to 28 or 29 mmHg (millimetres of mercury), and it fell back within 2 minutes of sitting up. A headstand doubled eye pressure in 75 yoga practitioners, and in tilt-table studies of healthy people, lying 12 or 18 degrees head-down raised it by 2.2 and 3.4 mmHg.
Across 34 studies in healthy adults, resistance exercise raised eye pressure, and in a bench press study, holding the breath on the last rep raised it by 4.3 mmHg against 2.2 breathing out. Breathe out on every press.
We found no study of eye pressure in any kind of push-up. An ophthalmologist told the American Academy of Ophthalmology's EyeNet that eye pressure can rise in push-ups and advised common sense. So the advice below applies the head-down cautions of our move page and condition guides to the pike push-up.
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Keep head-down positions brief or use a head-up version, such as a seated dumbbell press, and ask your eye team first if your glaucoma is advanced or you've had eye surgery, as our pike push-up move page says. Glaucoma UK advises avoiding moves with your head lower than your heart for a long time, naming headstands and downward dog, and EyeNet advises getting your doctor's OK before any pose that puts your head below your heart. For the wall steps, our handstand guide's rule applies: skip them unless your eye specialist agrees.
With proliferative or severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or after recent eye laser treatment or surgery, leave out head-down positions until your eye team says they're safe, as our move page says. The American Diabetes Association advises avoiding jumping, jarring, head-down activities and breath holding with severe non-proliferative and unstable proliferative retinopathy, and the American College of Sports Medicine gives similar advice.
While your blood pressure isn't under control, skip long head-down holds, as our high blood pressure guide advises: a precaution rather than a trial finding. Once it's controlled, the American Heart Association says low to moderate intensity strength training with proper breathing is safe, so breathe out on every press and keep sets short.
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Don't start learning pike or handstand push-ups: the NHS advises avoiding activities with a risk of falling, and our handstand guide says not to start learning inversions in pregnancy (our reading). If you already do them, ask your midwife.
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The British Heart Foundation advises avoiding exercises that use your whole body as a weight, such as press-ups and planks. Ask your heart team before pike push-ups.
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Dips and overhead pressing load the shoulder in positions the spinal cord injury guideline advises limiting, as our move page says: favour rows, pull-downs from shoulder height and rotator cuff work. Our wheelchair users guide has more.
Come out of it, as our move page says: kneel, and come up slowly, because the NHS advises not getting up suddenly. Kneel or stand between sets rather than staying head-down. The warning signs below cover headaches that need help.
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We found no study of muscle activity, forces or training in the pike push-up, and none measuring how much of your weight is on your hands in a pike or handstand push-up. The notes below are the nearest evidence.
In 19 trained men doing push-ups with their feet raised on steps, going from a flat body to 30 degrees head-down raised activity, as a share of each muscle's maximum, in the front shoulder from 49.1% to 59.5%, the triceps from 34.5% to 41.4%, the serratus anterior from 34.2% to 55.2% and the upper trapezius from 10.1% to 25.3%, while the main chest fell from 40.8% to 27.2%. A pike push-up is far steeper, so the shift probably goes further, but that's extrapolation.
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In 30 male college gymnasts, 6 weeks of pull-ups, dips and machine shoulder presses on top of their gymnastics, either heavy or light with blood-flow restriction, raised handstand push-ups in 40 seconds by 4.7 and 8.3 reps, against 0.4 in those who only did their usual training, and shoulder press strength by 9.8 and 7.1 kg. In the heavy group, the gain in pressing strength explained the gain in handstand push-ups. Nobody trained pike push-ups.
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In 308 German CrossFit members, shoulder injuries came mostly from handstands, overhead pressing and bar work, and handstand push-ups were named in 4 of 146 injury-causing movements. In 181 Dutch calisthenics athletes, 59% reported an injury in a year, most often the shoulders (32%), wrists (15%), elbows (10%) and back (10%). Build up slowly and keep reps strict.
Across 137 reviews, the choice of exercise and equipment didn't consistently change strength or muscle growth. Pike push-ups and dumbbell presses are both good ways to train overhead pressing; pick the one you can progress.
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In order: downward dog holds, 3 holds of 5 breaths (as in our wrist pain from push-ups guide), to learn the start position; pike push-ups with your feet on the floor, 3 sets of 6 to 8 (our handstand progression) or 3 sets of 5 to 10 with 90 seconds' rest and 2 or 3 reps in reserve (our upper body workout at home); then the same demo with your feet on a step, a low box, a bench and about desk height, 3 to 5 sets of 5, moving up a height after 5 sets of 5 with good form (StrongFirst); the wall walk, 3 to 5 walk-ups to the height you control (our handstand progression's editorial starting point); the handstand at the wall, 3 holds of 20 to 30 seconds (our handstand progression); and the wall handstand push-up, 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 3 slow reps to a cushion or folded mat (our editorial starting point, within StrongFirst's practice of singles). The feet-raised pike push-up has no demo of its own: it's the pike push-up with your feet on a step, as our move page's cue says.
Dolphin pose, the same shape on your forearms, which spares your wrists, 3 holds of 5 breaths (our handstand progression); the half handstand at the wall, an L with your feet on the wall, 3 holds of 20 to 30 seconds (our handstand progression); and the standard push-up, the step before, as our push-up guide teaches. A pike push-up with your hands on a bench or parallettes, or lowering only as far as a cushion, also makes the first step easier; neither has a demo (editorial).
StrongFirst's version keeps your hands about shoulder width, your head neutral and your elbows at about 45 degrees, like a kettlebell military press. It runs from the piked handstand push-up to feet-raised versions, asking for 5 sets of 5 with good technique before you move higher, from a step to a low box, a bench and eventually desk height, with a yoga block under your head if the full range is out of reach. Then come wall-supported singles, practised through the day and never rushed, because rushing arches the lower back.
Coach magazine reports a CrossFit coach's seven steps, from push-ups lowered to a shrinking stack of plates, then the floor, to elevated pike push-ups lowered to a plate, an ab mat and then the floor, with 10 reps at each step before moving on and 3 sets at least once a week.
Our handstand push-up progression uses StrongFirst's 5 sets of 5 before you raise your feet further: lower than the coach's 10 reps because the higher steps are heavier (our editorial choice). The coach's sets go to as many reps as possible; we stop 2 or 3 short, because failure adds little for muscle growth and slowed recovery by a day or two in a study of trained men.
Our move page teaches it facing the wall: walk up until your chest faces it, lower the top of your head slowly towards the floor as far as you can control, press back up and walk down. StrongFirst's version kicks up with your back to the wall. Either way, put a folded mat or cushion under your head until you can lower the full range with control, and never drop onto your head.
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In a small preprint study, not yet peer reviewed, 16 CrossFit volunteers did kipping (swinging) handstand push-ups on force plates: the force on the head during the kip was usually more than body weight, and those who reported pain moved their head back into extension. Kipping isn't a learning step; build strict, slow reps first.
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No study has timed how long it takes to reach a wall handstand push-up. For most adults it takes months of pike work (our estimate), and gymnasts start far ahead.
Our handstand push-up progression lays the ladder out as a 30-minute session. Our handstand guide covers the balance, coming down safely and who should skip going upside down, and our wall walk guide teaches the walk-up step by step.
3 sets of 5 to 10, resting 90 seconds with 2 or 3 reps in reserve (our upper body workout at home), or 3 sets of 6 to 8 (our handstand progression, gymnastics conditioning and planche progression). NASM suggests 3 sets of 5 to 12. In your first two weeks, stop 3 or 4 reps short, as our plans advise.
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With your feet raised: 3 to 5 sets of 5, moving up a height after 5 sets of 5 with good form (StrongFirst's gate). At the wall: 3 to 5 sets of 1 to 3 slow reps (our editorial starting point, within StrongFirst's singles).
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About 90 seconds to 2 minutes, as our workouts use for hard sets. Resting more than about a minute gave a small growth advantage across 9 studies. Kneel or stand while you rest rather than staying head-down.
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2 or 3 times a week, as our handstand guide suggests, counting your other pressing. If you also lift, overhead presses build the same strength: in the gymnast trial, gains in pressing strength explained the gains in handstand push-ups. You don't need both every session.
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A set of 5 to 10 slow reps takes about 20 to 60 seconds (our estimate). Come up between sets, and keep the wall steps to a few slow reps.
Add reps, then slow the lowering to 3 seconds, then raise your feet, then move to the wall, one change at a time, as our plans' progression note says.
StrongFirst warns against elbows that "chicken wing" out, and in push-ups, flared elbows put the shoulder blade in a position linked with impingement (our extrapolation to the pike). Angle them back about 45 degrees.
It turns the move into a forward-falling push-up and loses the overhead line. Aim the top of your head just ahead of your hands.
NASM warns that it shifts the work to the chest and turns the move into a push-up. Keep your hips high, and walk your feet closer.
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It takes the load off your arms. Shift your shoulders over your hands, as our move page cues.
It loads your neck, and a kip can put more than body weight through your head. Lower slowly, use a cushion or block, and never kip while you're learning.
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StrongFirst says fast reps make the lower back arch. Go slowly, ribs down, and use a block to shorten the range.
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Eye pressure stays up while your head is low. Kneel or stand between sets.
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Both train overhead pressing, and no study has compared them. Dumbbells are easier to load in small steps; pike push-ups need only a floor. In gymnasts, heavy shoulder presses and dips raised handstand push-up numbers. Our overhead press guide teaches the press.
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Harder for most people, because your arms press overhead, where the front of the shoulder works with less help from the chest (our reading of the body-angle study). If you can do 15 push-ups but only a few pikes, start with a smaller range.
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Pike push-ups mainly train the front of the shoulder. Width comes from the side of the shoulder, which lateral raises train more directly, as our wider shoulders guide explains.
Dips and diamond push-ups work your triceps and chest with your arms down by your sides; pike push-ups move the work up to your shoulders. Our dips and diamond push-up guides cover those.
As your body tilts head-down, the main chest works less and the shoulders more, and no study has measured the upper chest in a pike push-up.
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The seated dumbbell press, 3 sets of 8 to 12, stopping 2 or 3 reps short (our shoulder workout at home), the head-up swap with glaucoma; face pulls, 3 sets of 12 to 20 with 60 seconds' rest, and prone Y-T-W raises, 2 sets of 6 of each letter (our upper body workout at home); band external rotations, 2 sets of 12 to 15 each arm (our shoulder workout at home); scapular push-ups, 2 sets of 10 (our push-up progression); wall angels, 1 or 2 sets of 8 slow reps as a warm-up (our editorial starting point); and shoulder CARs (controlled articular rotations), 3 slow circles each way with each arm, 20 to 30 seconds a circle (the move page's dose).
3D demoSeated dumbbell shoulder pressIntermediate · A dumbbell + A bench or box
3D demoFace pullIntermediate · A band
3D demoProne Y-T-W raisesBeginner · No equipment
3D demoStanding band external rotationBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoScapular push-up (push-up plus)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWall angelBeginner · A wall
3D demoShoulder CARs (controlled articular rotations)Beginner · No equipmentBefore you start: the wrist and forearm flow, 60 seconds, and wrist rocks, 10 rocks (both from our handstand progression). For the straight body line the wall steps need: hollow body holds, 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds (our planche progression), and forearm planks, 2 holds of 30 seconds (our push-up progression).
Our handstand push-up progression is the full ladder, from pike push-ups to the wall. The upper body workout at home and the full-body bodyweight workout use pike push-ups as their overhead press; the handstand progression, gymnastics conditioning and planche progression use 3 sets of 6 to 8; and the shoulder workout at home offers them as the no-weights press.
A 30-minute ladder towards the wall handstand push-up: pike push-ups, then with your feet on a step, box or bench, then slow wall handstand push-ups.
30 minAdvanced12 movesA wall, A bandAn upper body workout at home with no gym: push-ups, band rows, pike push-ups, face pulls, close-grip push-ups and Y-T-W raises, with dumbbell options.
30 minIntermediate13 movesA band, An anchor pointAn intermediate no-equipment workout: push-ups, split squats, single-leg bridges, pike push-ups and core work.
30 minIntermediate11 movesNo equipmentBuild toward a handstand: wrist prep, dolphin pose, pike push-ups, crow, the wall handstand and freestanding holds.
25 minAdvanced9 movesA wallA gymnastics conditioning session: jumps from the youth vault trial, landings, wrist and shoulder strength, wall handstands, and hollow and arch holds.
45 minIntermediate22 movesOther / check instructions, A stepBuild towards a planche: wrist prep, planche leans and lean push-ups, frog stands and tuck planche holds, with pike push-ups.
30 minAdvanced8 movesNo equipmentA 30-minute home shoulder workout with dumbbells or a band: presses, lateral raises for the side of the shoulder, and rear-shoulder and rotator cuff work.
30 minBeginner8 movesA band, A dumbbellThese plans include the full-body bodyweight workout, with pike push-ups in its circuit.
A 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginner3 days a weekFor after about 8 weeks of a beginner plan: three full-body sessions a week, one heavy, one moderate and one light, in a gym or at home, for 12 weeks.
3 training days50 minIntermediateIf you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise. The American Heart Association says these need immediate medical evaluation.
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For chest pain that doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful; or signs of a stroke, such as a drooping face, a weak arm, slurred speech or sudden loss or blurring of vision, even if they pass. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
If you haven't exercised for some time or have a medical condition, speak to your GP first, as the NHS advises. Get advice before hard pressing or head-down work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled, or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists.
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A headache triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 (in the US, your doctor or urgent care). Stop head-down and heavy pressing work until it's been checked (our suggestion, as our breathing guide says).
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Call 999 or go to A&E if glaucoma symptoms come on suddenly, such as intense eye pain, a red eye, tenderness around the eyes, rainbow-coloured circles around bright lights, blurred vision, feeling or being sick, or a headache. With diabetes, ask for an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 if your eyesight suddenly gets worse or goes blurred.
Stop, kneel or lie down until it passes, then get up slowly. See a GP if dizziness won't go away or keeps coming back.
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If you come down onto your hands or shoulder and hear a crack, or your wrist or arm changes shape, goes numb or tingles, or changes colour, call 999 or go to A&E. If it's very painful, swollen or stiff, get help from NHS 111 or an urgent treatment centre. See a GP if wrist pain hasn't improved after 2 weeks.
Stop if you land heavily on your head, or get neck pain or pins and needles down an arm. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 for sudden or very bad shoulder pain, an arm you can't move, or pins and needles that don't go away; an arm that tingles or feels numb needs an urgent treatment centre or A&E. Our neck pain guide covers the rest.
They're an ordinary bodyweight shoulder press in our upper body workout at home and full-body bodyweight workout. NASM rates them advanced, but the strength it asks for first comes from standard and incline push-ups. The handstand push-up evidence happens to come from gymnasts, and the pike push-up scales down (a smaller range, hands on a bench) and up (feet raised) for anyone. The real reasons to skip it are head-down conditions, not a lack of gymnastics.
No study supports it: as your body tilts head-down, the main chest works less and the shoulders more, and nobody has measured the upper chest in a pike push-up.
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It presses part of your body weight; a handstand push-up presses all of it, upside down. Coaches bridge the gap by raising your feet in stages, asking for 5 sets of 5 or 10 reps at each step (our reading of their practice).
In a small preprint study, the kip put more than body weight through the head, and those who reported pain moved their head back. Learn strict, slow reps first.
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More hard sets build more muscle only up to a point, stopping 2 or 3 reps short works about as well as failure, and 3 or 6 sessions a week gave similar results in 27 trained men. A few hard sets, 2 or 3 times a week, beat hundreds of easy ones, and fewer head-down minutes are kinder to your eyes.
The front of your shoulders and your triceps, with your upper back and trunk holding the shape. No study has measured them directly, but in push-ups with the feet raised, the shoulders, triceps and serratus anterior worked harder the steeper the body, and the chest less.
Lower the top of your head to a point just ahead of your hands, so your head and hands make a triangle, with your elbows angled back about 45 degrees rather than flared out. Touch the floor lightly, or stop at a cushion or yoga block.
Both train overhead pressing, and no study has compared them. Dumbbells are easier to load in small steps, while pike push-ups need only a floor. In gymnasts, heavy shoulder presses and dips raised handstand push-up numbers.
3 sets of 5 to 10, or 6 to 8, stopping 2 or 3 reps short and resting about 90 seconds, 2 or 3 times a week, as our workouts use. NASM suggests 3 sets of 5 to 12. These are starting points, not tested doses.
Coaches use different gates: a CrossFit coach asks for 10 good reps at each step, and StrongFirst for 5 sets of 5 at each height with your feet raised, up to about desk height, before the wall. No study has tested either. Our handstand push-up progression follows them.
Your head goes below your heart, which raises the pressure in your head and eyes while you're there. Come out of it, kneel, come up slowly and keep sets short. A sudden, extremely painful headache is a 999 call (911 in the US), and one brought on by exercise needs an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111.
With glaucoma, keep head-down time short or do a seated press instead, and ask your eye team first if your glaucoma is advanced or you've had eye surgery. With high blood pressure that isn't controlled, skip long head-down holds. With severe diabetic eye disease, leave head-down moves out until your eye team agrees.
Shorten the range by lowering to a cushion or yoga block, put your hands on a bench, or go back to downward dog holds and push-ups. Bend your knees a little if tight hamstrings stop your hips stacking over your hands.
Pike push-ups with your feet on a step, box or bench, which puts more of your weight on your hands and takes you closer to a handstand push-up. StrongFirst raises the feet in stages, after 5 sets of 5 at each height. Your head goes further below your heart, so the head-down cautions matter even more.
They mainly train the front of the shoulder. Width comes from the side of the shoulder, which lateral raises train more directly, as our wider shoulders guide explains.
For most people, yes: your arms press overhead, where the shoulder works with less help from the chest. No study has measured the load, so judge by your reps, and start with a smaller range if you can only do a few.
Not while you're learning. In a small preprint study of 16 CrossFit volunteers, the kip put more than body weight through the head. Build strict, slow reps first.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
