Sphinx push-ups: the underrated bodyweight exercise to sculpt bigger arms

Growing bigger arms from home when you don’t even have access to a pair of dumbbells can feel pretty non-achievable – but, it isn’t. Enter the sphinx push-up: the bodyweight exercise that can not only add serious bulk and strength to your triceps, but also gives your core, pecs, and delts a run for their money.

Unlike a regular push-up – where your hands are placed underneath your shoulders and you lower your chest to the ground – the sphinx push-up requires your hands to be placed slightly out in front of your shoulders and to lower your forearms to the floor, rather than your chest.

In a recent YouTube video, Exercise Scientist Dr. Milo Wolf says the move is “super underrated” and added that “it may even be the best non-equipment tricep exercise out there”. It mainly hits the medial head of triceps – which helps aid elbow extension and stability – and the lateral head – which helps add bulk to the outer portion of the muscle.

The fact they require no equipment either is a bonus, as you can literally perform them just about anywhere – from the park to your kitchen. Plus, once you nail them, there are plenty of ways to make them progressively harder to ensure your muscles continue to grow, from slowing down the movement to adding a weight on your back.

That being said, any push-up variation is challenging and, we’ll be honest, these are deceptively hard. However, you can make them easier by starting from your knees instead of your feet, or even just performing the eccentric part of the exercise, then pushing yourself back up as you would for a regular push-up.

Fancy giving them a go on your next push day? Here’s how you do them…

How to do the sphinx push-up

A little bit of space is all you’re going to need for these! If you’re a beginner or haven’t quite mastered a regular push-up, drop to your knees. Remember, you’ll get more out of performing an exercise well than struggling with a more difficult variation (put your ego aside, especially for these).

Here's how you do it from your feet, and adjust as needed:

• Start on all fours with your hands position slightly in front of your shoulders; from here, assemble into a high plank position by stepping each foot back to straighten your legs behind you
• Bending at the elbow, lower your body down to the ground, until your forearms touch the floor (your elbows should be directly underneath your shoulders)
• From here, push through your hands to return to your starting position, aiming to keep your elbows tucked in close to your body