CalisthenicsIn review

Scapular Push-Up

A small straight-arm movement in a plank that moves only the shoulder blades.

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

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

How to do it

Set up

Start in a push-up position with straight arms and the body in one line.
Place the hands under the shoulders.

Do the rep

Keep the arms straight and let the chest sink a little, so the shoulder blades move together.
Push the floor away so the shoulder blades move apart and the upper back rounds a little.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the shoulder blades move together and then fully apart, with straight arms and the body in one line.

One rep keeps the arms straight, lets the shoulder blades move together, and ends when they push fully apart.

Breathing

Inhale as the chest sinks; exhale as you push the floor away.

Cues

Keep the elbows straight.
Push the floor away at the top.
Add a pause at the top when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Bending the elbows
What you seeThe elbows bend and the movement becomes a small push-up.
FixKeep the elbows straight and make the movement smaller.
The rep trains the shoulder blades, not the arms.
Sagging hips
What you seeThe hips drop below the line of the body.
FixSqueeze the glutes and brace the trunk.
A straight body keeps the load on the chest and arms.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if a shoulder clicks with pain.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Serratus anterior · moderate confidence

Assisting

Chest · moderate confidence
Front deltoids · moderate confidence
Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight

Optional: Floor mat, Bench

A mat is optional. Hands on a stable bench make the plank easier.

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.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_push_up, the closest Wave 1 record.
Exception to rule 2: the CSV lists horizontal-push. The arms stay straight and only the shoulder blades move, so the record uses secondary_push and isolation_target, as batch 1 does for the scapular pull-up. A scapular drill is not a main horizontal press.
Anatomy puts the serratus anterior first, because the elbows do not bend. The CSV hint lists the chest, triceps and front deltoids. The assigned review tier must confirm it.

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.

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