CalisthenicsIn review

Elevated Pike Push-Up

A pike push-up with the feet raised on a bench or box, which moves more body weight onto the shoulders.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Vertical push
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Place the feet on a stable bench or box.
Walk the hands back toward the support and lift the hips until the trunk is close to vertical.
Place the hands a little wider than the shoulders.

Do the rep

Bend the elbows and lower the head toward the floor in front of the hands.
Press back up to straight arms.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the head comes close to the floor in front of the hands and the arms return to straight, with the hips high.

One rep starts at straight arms with the hips high and the feet raised, lowers the head close to the floor in front of the hands, and ends at straight arms.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower; exhale as you press up.

Cues

Keep the hips over the shoulders.
Lower the head in front of the hands, not between them.
Use a higher support when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Hips drift back
What you seeThe hips move back from over the shoulders.
FixWalk the hands closer to the support.
Hips over the shoulders keep the press vertical.
Flared elbows
What you seeThe elbows point straight out to the sides.
FixPoint the elbows partly forward.
This position puts less stress on the shoulders.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the feet slip on the support or you feel dizzy.
End the set when you cannot lower the head under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Front deltoids · moderate confidence
Triceps · moderate confidence

Assisting

Chest · moderate confidence
Serratus anterior · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight + Bench or Box step

Optional: Floor mat

Use a stable bench or box that will not slide. Start with a low support. A mat under the head is optional.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 2, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
The CSV lists horizontal-push. The press is overhead with the hips high, so the record uses the vertical push roles (primary_vertical_push, secondary_push) and the vertical-push pattern. Rule 2 maps by the CSV pattern; the switch-on PR must confirm this exception.
Anatomy puts the front deltoids and triceps first and moves the chest to secondary, because the press is overhead. The CSV hint lists the chest first. The assigned review tier must confirm it.
Skill tier intermediate: rule 3 makes the pike push-up intermediate. The raised feet make it harder, and coach review must decide if it is advanced (rule 3). The CSV says beginner.
Failure cost moderate: the head is close to the floor with the feet raised, so the user must control a failed rep (rule 3).
Exception to rule 1: the CSV lists a bench as optional. The feet must be raised, so the record requires a bench or a box-step. Home stays yes, because a bench is a home item.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_push_up, a bodyweight press. ex_dumbbell_shoulder_press disallows timed use; the switch-on PR must choose.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

Train it in Allena

Allena plans your week around the days you can train, logs every set, and coaches your form from the camera.

Get the app