Depth Drop Push-Up
This is the upper-body answer to a depth jump, using the drop to pre-load a fast stretch-shortening cycle through the chest and triceps. It teaches the pressing muscles to absorb force and reverse it instantly, which is why it sits above a standard plyo push-up in demand. Reserve it for well-conditioned athletes and keep reps low and sharp.
- Type
- Plyometric
- Browse by muscle
- Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
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- Horizontal Press
- Target
- Pectoralis Major Sternocostal
- Secondary
- Pectoralis Major Clavicular, Deltoid Anterior, Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Triceps Brachii Medial Head
- Tertiary
- Abdominal External Oblique
How to do it
- 1
Set two low, stable boxes or plates slightly wider than shoulder width with a gap between them.
- 2
Start in a push-up position with a hand on each box and body rigid.
- 3
Lift the hands and let your body drop into the gap between the boxes.
- 4
Catch the floor with elbows bending to absorb the load, then reverse immediately.
- 5
Push off explosively so the hands land back up on the boxes.
- 6
Reset your plank rigidity and repeat for low, crisp reps.
Tips
- Keep a hard plank from head to heels so the drop loads the chest, not a sagging spine.
- Meet the floor with soft, quick elbows and rebound on contact; do not pause at the bottom.
- Master the standard plyo push-up before adding the drop height.
Variations
Common mistakes
- Drop height gets chosen by what is lying around, and a pair of 18-inch boxes is a different exercise from a pair of plates. Start with two to four inches and add height over months.
- Boxes slide on a polished floor the moment your hands load them unevenly, so shove each one hard before the first rep and stack them against a wall or on rubber if they move.
- Hands leave the boxes a fraction apart, so the body drops crooked and one shoulder catches more than its share of the fall.
- The gap gets set too narrow and the elbows or chest clip the box edges at the bottom; set the boxes slightly wider than your shoulders and check the bottom slowly before dropping into it.
- The catch lands on the heels of the hands with the fingers pointing outward, which is where wrist pain from this drill comes from. Spread the fingers forward and let the whole palm load.
- Knees touch down to rescue the rep once the chest is tired, which changes the drop height and the body angle mid-set; end the set instead, usually at three to five reps.
Frequently asked
- How many depth drop push-ups should I do, and what should I own first?
- Three or four sets of 3 to 5 reps with two to three minutes of rest, once or twice a week, early in a session. You should already own 20-plus clean push-ups, plyo push-ups that clear the floor with room to spare, and pain-free wrists under a loaded push-up before adding a drop. Progress by adding an inch of height or a rep, never both, and the set ends the moment a catch feels soft or slow rather than springy.
- What can I use instead of boxes for the depth drop push-up?
- Two stacked bumper plates, two low steps, a pair of thick books taped together, or two sturdy yoga blocks all work, as long as they neither slide nor tip when a hand lands near the edge. Parallettes are too narrow to catch a hand reliably, so leave those out. With nothing at all, a plyo push-up where the hands leave the floor trains the same fast reversal without the drop, and a push-up lowered for three seconds and reversed hard builds the eccentric side of it.
- What is the depth drop push-up good for, and who should skip it?
- It trains the chest, triceps and shoulders to absorb force and reverse it immediately, which is the fastest pressing quality there is and why throwing and contact athletes use it. It is a specialist drill and a poor general chest exercise, since the total work is tiny. Skip it with any current wrist, elbow or shoulder complaint, because the catch loads all three at once, and skip it if your plyo push-up does not yet leave the ground with clear air.
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