Knuckle Push-Ups Vs. Regular Push-Ups: which is Better?

But when you get into higher rep ranges like that, standard push-ups can start to cause pain and eventually overuse injury in your wrists. One solution: Do push-ups on closed fists, propping up your body on your knuckles.

Knuckle Push-Ups Benefits

We've already covered the main benefit of knuckle push-ups it's easier on your wrists. But the variation has other advantages.

1. Larger Range of Motion

Performing push-ups on your knuckles means you have to do more pushing because you push farther.

"You're actually getting probably two or three more inches of range of motion as you come down," says Martin Rooney, founder of Training for Warriors. "I consider it a much more complete push-up."

It makes sense: When you perform a classic push-up, you can only bring your chest as far down as your wrist. But with the knuckle variety, you go past your wrists and your whole hand before hitting the deck. And more range of motion means more challenge and work for the chest.

2. Increased Work for Your Forearms

One of the forearm muscles, the extensor digitorum, averaged more than double the activation during knuckle push-ups when compared to classic.

3. More Natural Rotation of Your Shoulder

"[The knuckle push-up] helps you to really externally rotate a lot better at the shoulder, which is more natural for the movements of the elbows," Rooney says.

"When you see people in the traditional push-up with the palms on the floor, a lot of times what happens is people's elbows flare out," he says. "Now you're putting increased pressure or stress across the AC joint [where your collarbone and shoulder meet]."

4. Doubles Activation of the Biceps

In the Journal of Electromyography and Kinesiology study, scientists found that the peak biceps contraction during a knuckle push-up was twice as hard as with a classic push-up. So while you're working your chest, forearms, abs and more with a push-up, you're also pumping up your upper arms.

5. Harden Your Knuckles for Punching

Knuckle push-ups have their origin in the martial arts world, and they're popular for strengthening the hands. Clarke and Rooney are both martial artists, and both say the variation has helped them develop stronger, more callused knuckles for striking.

If you're not a fighter but you've used a punching bag at your gym, you may have found that your knuckles gave out sooner than your arms or lungs. If you're not a budding fighter or boxing fitness enthusiast, though, this benefit may not mean much to you.

Cons of Knuckle Push-Ups

1. Might Hurt Your Hands

They're easier on your wrists, but propping your body up on your knuckles can wear on your hands and knuckles.

To ease your way into them, do your first knuckle push-ups on a soft yoga mat or other forgiving surface, says Luis Vargas, a 54-year old oil and gas consultant who's broken 12 Guinness World Records for push-ups, including the most knuckle push-ups in three minutes (192).

His other tip: Focus on keeping your body weight on the knuckles of your ring and pinky fingers rather than your index and middle fingers. This can take some stress off the knuckles.

If your hands still hurt, you can get a similar, wrist-saving benefit from performing push-ups on handles, Clarke says. Your wrists will still be in a punching-style position, but you won't be pressing your fists into the ground.

2. May Do Fewer Reps

The strain on your hands and the increased stabilizing by your forearms means you'll probably be able to do fewer knuckle push-ups than you could regular push-ups. For example, compare the Guinness records for knuckle push-ups in an hour (2,175) to more than 3,000 for classic push-ups.

So even though you'll get more forearm and biceps activation, you'll get less work overall if you're doing fewer push-ups. To combat this, Clarke suggests starting with shorter sets of knuckle push-ups so you can perform more overall sets (and the same number of overall push-ups).

3. Might Compromise Proper Form

Because you're so focused on the stress on your hands, Vargas says, your form can slip while doing knuckle push-ups. For example, your hips can sag, or your shoulders may hike up into a shrugging position.

To make sure this doesn't happen, combine Vargas's and Clarke's tips: Perform shorter sets, concentrating on your form, and do the knuckle push-ups on a softer surface, like a springy yoga mat.

4. Potential for Wrist Injury

So before you crank out a bunch of reps, make sure your wrists are strong enough to handle the load. And gradually build up the number of reps you do at once.

The Takeaway: Which Should You Do?

You don't have to do knuckle push-ups. If you want to take some pressure off your wrists but worried about injury risk or don't want to have painful knuckles, you can perform push-ups in a similar position by using push-up handles or a pair of hexagonal dumbbells. Even Clarke uses this method.