Chest exercise
Shoulder Tap Push-UpHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Also works
- Triceps, Obliques
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
How do you do the Shoulder Tap Push-Up?
- Start in a high plank with your hands under your shoulders and feet hip-width apart.
- Do one push-up, lowering your chest to about a fist from the floor.
- At the top, tap your left shoulder with your right hand and put it back.
- Tap your right shoulder with your left hand and put it back; that is one rep.
Cues
- Hips level, like a glass of water on your back
- Brace before each tap
- Hands back to the same spot
Common mistakes
- Rocking the hips side to side: widen your feet and brace harder.
- Rushing the taps: lift and place each hand under control.
- Sagging through the middle: squeeze your glutes the whole time.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
Starting position
High plank. Hands flat under the shoulders (a little wider than shoulder width), fingers forward. Feet on the balls about 30 cm apart (a wider base than a plain push-up, so the hips stay level when one hand lifts). Head, hips and heels in one line; abdominals and glutes braced.
The movement
One push-up, then two taps. 1. Push-up: lower the chest to about a fist above the floor, elbows about 45° from the body seen from above, and press back up. 2. Tap right: at the top, the right hand lifts, passes under the chin by the chest and touches the top of the left shoulder, then goes back exactly where it was. 3. Tap left: the left hand touches the right shoulder and goes back. During the taps the hips stay level and square to the floor: no rocking side to side, no twisting towards the lifted hand. The support arm stays straight and the shoulder stays over its hand.
Tempo
Push-up about 1.1 s down and 0.8 s up; each tap about 0.6 s up, a touch, 0.6 s down.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
| Measure | Target | Good range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feet apart | 30 cm | 25–40 cm | |
| Elbows out from the body at bottom (from above) | 45° | 35–55° | |
| Chest above the floor at bottom | about a fist | 10–20 cm | |
| Support elbow during a tap (included) | 166° | 160–178° | |
| Tapping hand | palm on the front-top of the other shoulder (wrist about 6 cm towards the head and 6–7 cm above the joint), resting on the shirt | not sinking into it | |
| Hip rotation during a tap | 0° | under 10° |
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Shoulder Tap Push-Up is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- [ACE: Push-up](
- [NASM: Push-Up](
- ExRx.net, Push-up
- NSCA, Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning, 4th ed.
