What's a sensible starting dose for the fingertip push-up?

You should already own a strict, full-range regular push-up before putting that same load onto your fingertips. Start with 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps from an incline or your knees, keeping the fingers spread and slightly arched. Move to the floor only once the incline version feels pain-free, and add reps before ever chasing more range.

How do you make the fingertip push-up easier or harder?

To make it easier, do it from an incline like a bench or a low box, or from your knees on the floor, which both cut the load your fingers support. To make it harder once the floor version feels solid, slow the lowering phase down, add a brief pause near the bottom, or elevate your feet slightly to shift more weight onto the hands.

What is the fingertip push-up good for, and when should you avoid it?

It builds finger and forearm strength that climbers and grapplers rely on, alongside the usual chest and triceps work of a push-up, and conditions the hand for impact and gripping sports. Avoid it with any current finger, hand, or wrist joint pain, or arthritis in those joints, since it loads them in a way a flat-palm push-up never does.

Advanced

Finger-Tip Push-Up

Balancing a push-up on spread fingertips forces the hand and forearm muscles to support your body weight isometrically while the chest and triceps do the pressing. It builds finger and forearm strength climbers and martial artists rely on, and it demands healthy, conditioned hands. Ease in from the knees or an incline before attempting full reps on the floor.

Equipment: Body Weight
Body part: Chest, Forearms
Type: Strength
Browse by muscle: Extensors, Brachioradialis
Browse by movement: Horizontal Press

How to do it

1
Set the hands under the shoulders and plant the fingertips wide with the palms lifted off the floor.
2
Spread the fingers to build a stable base and brace the trunk in a straight line.
3
Lower the chest toward the floor by bending the elbows, keeping the fingers firm.
4
Stop just short of the floor, then press back up to the start.
5
Keep the hips level and the fingers actively pushing throughout.
6
Exhale as you press up and inhale as you lower.

Tips

Start on an incline or from the knees to build finger strength gradually.
Keep the fingers spread and slightly arched, not fully straight, to protect the joints.
Stop immediately if you feel joint pain; condition the hands over weeks, not days.

Variations

Common mistakes

The fingers flatten out straight against the floor under load, which is the exact joint position the setup is built to avoid.
Rushing back to full push-ups on the floor the same week fingertip work starts skips the weeks of joint conditioning this variation needs.
The hips sag toward the floor as the fingertips fatigue, turning the plank line into a loaded curve through the low back.
Palms drop back down onto the floor mid-set once the fingers tire, quietly turning fingertip reps into regular push-up reps.
Doing the full volume of a normal push-up workout on fingertips right away overloads joints that have never taken load this way before.

Frequently asked

What's a sensible starting dose for the fingertip push-up?: You should already own a strict, full-range regular push-up before putting that same load onto your fingertips. Start with 2 to 3 sets of 3 to 5 reps from an incline or your knees, keeping the fingers spread and slightly arched. Move to the floor only once the incline version feels pain-free, and add reps before ever chasing more range.
How do you make the fingertip push-up easier or harder?: To make it easier, do it from an incline like a bench or a low box, or from your knees on the floor, which both cut the load your fingers support. To make it harder once the floor version feels solid, slow the lowering phase down, add a brief pause near the bottom, or elevate your feet slightly to shift more weight onto the hands.
What is the fingertip push-up good for, and when should you avoid it?: It builds finger and forearm strength that climbers and grapplers rely on, alongside the usual chest and triceps work of a push-up, and conditions the hand for impact and gripping sports. Avoid it with any current finger, hand, or wrist joint pain, or arthritis in those joints, since it loads them in a way a flat-palm push-up never does.

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