Hi, welcome to a tutorial on How To Do Diamond Pushups in Perfect Form!
The pushups are probably the most popular basic form of exercise that people do. The traditional pushups are simple to perform and can be done virtually anywhere, without the need for equipment. Pushups has countless benefits for building upper body strength, as well as your physique.
There are different forms of pushups exercises that vary with difficulty and strength requirements. The difference lies within the execution and positioning of your hands, but nevertheless, all of them mainly work your pectoral muscles, triceps, shoulders, and even reinforces your back and abdominals for added stability.
In this article, we are going to focus on Diamond Pushups, a progression of pushups that most people find more challenging to do and execute with perfect form. If you find this variety hard to do, this article will be very helpful for you.
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Why Is It Hard to Do Diamond Pushups in Perfect Form?
Traditional pushups alone can be hard for an average person. This is because pushups are a compound exercise that requires sets of muscles to work together. So, in general, if you have weakness in one of the muscles that are reinforced during the exercise, then you most probably will not be able to execute diamond pushups in perfect form.
Diamond pushups require more triceps engagement because when you narrow the distance between your hands, the load, which is your body weight, is placed more on your arms instead of the chest and shoulders. The triceps are one of the weaker and smaller muscles of the body particularly for an average person who has no weightlifting or calisthenics experience.
If you are regularly doing exercises, but still have a hard time performing diamond pushups in perfect form, the most common reason for it is that you are not training your triceps enough. Pushups are again a compound movement. To make your triceps stronger, you must isolate it and have enough volume and effort just for it.
Normally, there are designated triceps exercises machines in the gym. But if you don’t have access to one, and no dumbbells available, then the simplest bodyweight exercise to do to improve your triceps strength is the bench dips.
Progressions and How to Do Them Correctly
You have to keep in mind that in order to maximize every part of the muscles reinforced in doing pushups, you have to do it in correct form. There are a lot of people misconceptions and mistakes that people usual do. Examples of these are flaring of elbows, hands to forward, hips too low, and not enough range of motion.
To make your diamond pushups in perfect form, follow these steps below!
- Start off the ground and assume the same starting plank-like position you would do for a traditional pushup but bring your hands much closer together and make a triangle shape with your opposite thumbs and index fingers
- Keep your hands (the triangle) in-lined under your shoulders. Make sure your elbows are on a 45-degree angle with your body. Straighten your back and retract your shoulder blades.
- Engage your core and glutes to supply maximum stability for the movement, and then push yourself up, feeling the triceps as the main mover for the exercise.
- Aim to have full range of motion up to the point where your elbows are almost locked, and then slowly control your body downwards again back to the original starting position.
- Repeat until mastered. It all depends on you how many reps and sets you do. Follow your own goal.
If you still cannot execute diamond pushups in proper form, here are the easier progressions to master to build up strength.
1.) Traditional pushups in proper form and range of motion
2.) Bench Dips
3.) Kneeling Diamond Pushups
4.) Declined Diamond Pushups
Final Thoughts
There you have it. I hope you learned a thing or two about diamond pushups in perfect form, why they are more challenging to do, and how to do them correctly. Always remember that building up strength and making your physique better isn’t easily done in a short amount of time.
You must be committed and practice them regularly. If you think you are not improving, do not easily give up because it is normal that it would really take time to see the results of your hard work.
Also, remember to really take time to digest and learn the proper execution and form of exercises. This is important in preventing injuries from happening and maximizing gains you get from exercising. Eating and sleeping well will also help you a lot so keep an eye on your lifestyle.
That’s all! Thank you for reading this article. Since you already learned a lot, you can now start practicing diamond pushups in perfect form!