The 15 Best Horizontal Push Exercises (Home Variations Included)

Horizontal push exercises are the key to developing the front half of your upper body.

In this post, you will learn:

• What muscles are worked in the horizontal push
• 15 variations you can do with weights or at home
• How to do these movements correctly

Let’s get started.

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Okay, let’s get started.

What is a horizontal exercise?

A horizontal exercise is one in which your arms move perpendicular to your body (i.e., directly in front of you).

Horizontal pushing exercises are where your hands move away from you, while horizontal pulling exercises are where you bring your hands closer to you.

What does the horizontal push work?

Horizontal pushes train the powerful muscle groups on the anterior side of your upper body. These include the chest, deltoids, serratus anterior, and even the triceps.

What’s great about these specific exercises is that you can change your hand placement to target different prime movers or emphasize one muscle group over the other.

I’ll show you how below.

How do you do a horizontal push?

The horizontal push is any exercise where you flex and extend your elbows directly in front of your body.

These elbow extension exercises can be done while seated, standing, laying on your back, or from a push-up position.

When doing a horizontal push, you must pay attention to what your scapulae are doing. Your scapula (shoulder blades) must retract when you are at the bottom of the movement (when your elbows are completely flexed).

What are examples of push exercises?

The most common examples of horizontal push exercises are:

• The bench press
• The incline press
• The dumbbell bench press
• The machine chest press
• The cable press
• The floor press
• Push-ups, and
• Dips

Let’s go over these basic movements one by one, including several variations you can do with each exercise.

The exercises are stratified by the equipment you need to do them.

Horizontal Push Exercises With Weights

The two main types of horizontal push exercises with weights include:

• Bench press variations and
• Incline press variations

Here’s how to do the best ones.

Barbell Bench Press

• Lie on your back on a bench press that is loaded with a barbell with your desired weight
• Ensure that the barbell is at a height where your elbows are slightly bent when you reach up to grab it
• Grab the barbell with your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width
• Retract your shoulder blades and maintain this position the entire time
• Position your feet flat on the ground with your butt engaged and in contact with the bench
• Unrack the bar with straight elbows and bring the bar above your nipple line
• Inhale and start lowering the bar slowly by TUCKING your elbows in towards your body. DO NOT FLARE THEM OUT.
• Let the bar make contact with your chest slightly below the nipple line and pause briefly
• Reverse the movement by contracting your buttocks, driving your feet into the ground without letting them move, and pressing the weight up and slightly back towards your head
• Exhale as you are pressing
• Do not let your butt come off the bench, and do not let your shoulder blades protract

Close Grip Bench Press

• One of the best variations to the traditional bench press is the close grip variation
• The exercise is the same, except you will grab the bar just shoulder-width apart
• In this variation, your elbows will naturally tuck much closer into your body than the regular bench press
• The remainder of the technique is the same

Low Incline Bench Press

• The incline bench press targets your horizontal pressing muscles from a different angle, emphasizing the upper chest and shoulders more
• Lie on your back on an incline bench press that has a barbell set with your desired weight
• Ensure that the barbell is at a height where your elbows are slightly bent when you reach up to grab it
• The Incline should be ~30-45 degrees
• Retract your shoulder blades and maintain this position the entire time
• Position your feet flat on the ground with your butt engaged and in contact with the bench
• Un-rack the bar with straight elbows and bring the bar directly over your clavicle (collar bones)
• Inhale and start lowering the bar slowly by TUCKING your elbows in towards your body. DO NOT FLARE THEM OUT.
• Let the bar make contact with your upper chest slightly below your clavicles and pause briefly
• Reverse the movement by contracting your buttocks, driving your feet into the ground without letting them move, and pressing the weight up and slightly back towards your head
• Exhale as you are pressing
• Do not let your butt come off the bench, and do not let your shoulder blades protract

Machine Chest Press