Diamond Push Ups

What do push ups do!? Nothing gets you in shape quicker than Diamond Push Ups. Push ups get you ripped. Fact. I’ve proven it too.

Over on Muscle Forever I talk more about the power of push ups. They are incredibly powerful at building muscle mass all over your body and help in your body fat loss goals.

If you’re looking to do a ‘body recomp’ (simultaneously lose fat and build muscle) which is possible for the newbies, then what are you waiting for! You should already have The Diamond Push Up Program downloaded on your phone and ready to go!

The shorts don’t change, only the muscles! (and hair)

The power of the push up allows you to target every muscle in your body, whether actively or passively (stabiliser muscles). Not to mention, with the push up you can change the feel and emphasis of the exercise by modifying your hand positioning. By changing your hand positing things start to get very interesting! Where’s my Diamond crew at!? Ready to take your push up game to the next level!? 

DIAMOND PUSH UPS are the bomb! Can we all just take a moment to respect these powerful result inducing devils!? I used just Diamond Push Ups for chest, shoulders, triceps, backevery muscle. Through doing daily reps I got in awesome shape. We’re talking way better than any other bodybuilding routineI’d tried in the past, and oh man, did I need to lose that belly! Push ups, or more specifically Diamond Push Ups are your strongest ally when it comes to building thick slabs of muscle in the fastest way possible. If you’re fed up of not being in shape, done with ‘spinning your wheels’ and long to rock a lean, muscular physique then I get you. Getting ripped is really not that hard when you utilise the right push up workout routine.

Diamond Push Ups for Beginners

Diamond Push Ups are hard! For good reason too. Pulling your hands in close brings a whole new level to the idea of ab engagement! With the added demand on balancing your core to hold a stable plank as you pull down to the floor you’ll be well on your way to brad pitt abs. If you’re a beginner then make sure you can safely (and relatively easily) do 200 push ups a day before moving on to Diamond Push Ups. Once you’re doing push ups everyday it’s unlikely you’ll have to do Diamond Push Ups on your knees. Always be progressing! If you’re just getting started, check out these tips: 

  1. Push ups against a wall or raised bench, moving on to push ups on your knees and then when you can do at least 1 full regular push up rep you’re on your journey to sculpting a great athletic physique.
  2. From here start progressively bringing your hands in closer and closer until the diamond or triangle shape is formed. 
  3. If you can do regular push ups, but not a full on diamond push up yet then during your workout slowly start bringing your hands in closer from workout to workout until the Diamond Push Up hand positioning in on point.

DIAMOND PUSH UP VS REGULAR 

Elbow flare really shouldn’t be the distinction! I cant stand it when I see the elbow’s stick out! What ever your flavour of push up, keep them tucked in AND you’ll have to if you go for the Diamond Push Up! For The Diamond Push Up, as you descend, keep your elbows as close to your sides as possible and PULL DOWN pausing and SQUEEZING at the bottom of the rep. Follow my technique to the tee and enjoy the gains! Wide push ups can potentially place more stress on the shoulders leading to injuries over time, another reason to do Diamond Push Ups over regular push ups.

THE DIAMOND PUSH UP PROGRAM

WHAT MUSCLES ARE WORKED WITH DIAMOND PUSH UPS?

The Diamond Push Up works the triceps muscles, the chest muscles including pec major, and the anterior deltoids. The core and abs get blasted too, rectus abdominus, obliques, glutes and quadriceps all maintain the ‘plank position’ keeping your body in perfect alignment. Not to mention your back via your lats as you pull towards the floor during the lowering phase

DIAMOND PUSH UP GAINS

How long before Diamond Push Ups work!? Well, personally I transformed in just 8 weeks. The muscle activation is CRAZY > “to induce greater muscle activation, push-ups should be performed with hands in a narrow base position compared with a wide base position” (pubmed). If your Diamond Push Up form is correct (this is essential!) you’ll carve out an overall lean muscular body obtaining that ‘classic V shape’ along with:

  • Iron Pecs
  • Crazy Triceps Strength
  • Solid Overall Chest Development
  • Build Upper Chest Mass
  • Sculpt *THAT* Chest Line (Deep Centre Line)
  • Solid Deltoid Size and Strength
  • Rock Hard Core Activation
  • Strong Lats
  • Thick Abdominals (Six Pack)

Want to join me? Want to feel muscular and lean with a six pack? Want it FAST and HASTLE FREE!? It IS possible with just Diamond Push Ups. My program is the ultimate bodyweight workout plan. It’s a home workout routine that doesn’t require any equipment, not even a pull up bar or dip bar or push up bars. Chocolate bars TOTALLY cool though (if it fits your macros!)

Seriously, you just need a FLOOR and my program (duh!) and then of course an Instagram account to show off said results. (LIKE!)

BACKGROUND

I had a 37 inch waist (yeah, you read that right), things weren’t looking good but within 8 weeks I’d got ripped up real fast with just a simple and quick daily workout AND I still ate filling and satisfying foods. Check out my bodyweight workout before and after comparison picture below. My program could quite easily be classed as a belly fat loss diet because, as you can see – belly was indeed lost and burnt away. Lots of it! My workout routine is based on a foundation of high volume push ups, get those reps in along with a solid nutrition plan and you’ll be well on your way to feeling awesome on the beach. If it’s been a while, get the factor 50 ready!

Push Ups Workout – Before and After

Holiday was booked (vacation time, vitamin d was needed!) and despite looking forward to it, I was very much out of shape. My waisthad crept up to the aforementioned 37 inches which was so damn frustrating because I was training hard everyday (had been for many years) and was ‘eating for mass’ (clearly!) As you can see I looked like I hated the gym. I was no way near ‘beach ready’ to say the least. Looking back I clearly had a problem with golden syrup oat sachets. I used to get up in the middle of the night and eat them, sometimes dry, up to 10 sachets a night! Intermittent Fasting saved me for sure.

BEFORE discovering the power of push ups!

We have such unrealistic and high expectations of what is actually attainable (thanks Instagram!) that we end up overeating and over working out until we finally run out of will power. The result? At best you become a slightly stronger, chubbier version of yourself. I know I did. Most realistically – tired, fat, injured and ready to quit and jack it all in. Pass me the donut(s). It wasn’t until I stripped my training right back to the basics, the foundations and went minimalist by focusing on just push ups with my perfect form technique (through much trial and error) that I finally got the results I’d been trying to achieve for years.

As my fitness obsession grew I decided to write The Diamond Push Up Program. The workout routine is simple and effective and the diet enjoyable, bottom line – it just WORKS. I needed something that confirmed I wasn’t wasting my time and that it was possible to rock that hollywood physique without a personal trainer, chef, nutritionist and all round team to save me! So, I put it all together in a PDF, oh so kind, right!?

DIAMOND PUSH UPS

Getting ripped doesn’t have to be difficult or feel like a never ending mission. When you break it down, it’s simple and trust me on this – you will feel so good when you’re lean and muscular rocking a six pack on the beach and feeling free. The Diamond Push Up or ‘close grip push up’ is a killer exercise to forge IRON PECS. Don’t get me wrong, the ‘Classic Push Up’ is still an incredible exercise (it’s in the program too) but when you bring your hands in closer…MAGICAL THINGS HAPPEN!

Diamond Push Up Program Results

100 PUSH UPS A DAY / 200 PUSH UPS A DAY

Why daily Diamond Push Ups you say!? What’s the benefits of Diamond Push Ups? Oh, just about everything! Diamond Push Ups hit the chest hard. Actually, not just the pecs, they hit the whole body working all your muscles. Chestshoulderstriceps along with stabilisers such as the core and legs and the back! Push ups for the back!? Yes, pulling muscles too! Push ups, the way I do them (perfect form push ups) work the lats nicely, trust me – start ‘pulling to the ground’ and you’ll feel it the next day.

The push up is a full body workout, every muscle is activated, this massive advantage means all you have to do is master ONE MOVEMENT and progress with it. It’s a push pull exercise in one. I freakin’ love my push ups! Knowing that it’s an ‘all in one move’ makes it simple, straightforward and time efficient, not to mention they’re free, can be done anywhere at anytime and most importantly if done correctly – work like crazy! 100 Diamond Push Ups a day – great. 200 Diamond Push Ups a day? Fantastic. 8 sets of 25 reps with perfect form and ‘THAT CHEST LINE’ will appear.

The Diamond Push Up Program will help build *that* chest line!

This should be the real push up challenge. Hit these targets and you’ll have fast results, think Zac Efron and Ryan Gosling physiques. Which brings me to my next question. Do you have a deep V-Neck T-Shirt ready to go bro!? V-Necks are exclusively limited to a) boyband members and b) those who do Diamond Push Ups only.

HOW TO DO DIAMOND PUSH UPS CORRECTLY

Perfect push ups are the only way to go. If your form isn’t correct then your push up workout won’t be as effective as it could be and you’ll be leaving gains on the table. In my program I go into more detail about nailing the perfect form push up and milking the move for all it’s gains but for now – let me save you from the time AND dangers of crappy form! (too kind!) Get it right and get them gains!

How To Do Diamond Push Ups Correctly

Take at least 2 seconds on the eccentric and concentricsqueezing and feeling the muscles work, don’t just drop and bounce. The mind muscle connection is actually a thing and in this rare instance not just mumbo jumbo fitness talk. Try a standard rep, then try a slower, controlled rep feeling the muscle work. MAJOR DIFFERENCE. The better the form the better the gains. As you progress on the program your form will get better and better and THIS IN ITSELF is even a form of progressive resistance. WIN WIN.

  1. Assume the ‘flat position’ as you lie down on the floor.
  2. Position your hands so the index fingers and thumbs make a ‘diamond shape’ but ONLY if it doesn’t cause your elbows to overly flare out.
  3. Tuck your elbows in close to your side and lock them in position. AT ALL TIMES.
  4. Lift your core up into a standard push up position.
  5. Keep the ‘flat position’ locked in.
  6. Push Up > Protract Shoulders > Pull Down (to the floor) > Retract Shoulders > Pause. REPEAT.
  7. Reach ‘The Goal’ and share results on Instagram, see all over this post!

Master the form when it comes to your shoulder blade positioning (this is critical!) and what the hell they should be doing! Check out the excerpt from The Diamond Push Up Program:

SHOULDER BLADES. You’re almost ready to Push Up, but DO NOT forget to protract your shoulders at the top of the Push Up. So, as you lower yourself your shoulders should retract as your chest moves to the floor, but as you Push Up and away from the floor (when you reach full extension) you’ll want to protract the shoulder blades. This will enhance the range of motion (ROM) and increase scapular strength. It’s key to help keep your shoulders healthy over time and is one of the reasons Push Ups are so powerful over traditional bench pressing where your shoulder blades are ‘stuck’ in constant retraction.

Diamond Push Up Form

DIAMOND PUSH UPS ELBOW PAIN

There’s good reason The Diamond Push Up Program has you complete ‘The Classic 200’ (wider moving to close grip push up) before attempting Diamond Push Ups. That’s because the narrow hand position to form the ‘triangle’ or diamond places more load on your elbows. If you experience pain then take a rest day or two and reduce your push up volume on your next workout. Follow the program, start slowly and gradually build your workload (increase sets, reps (volume) and decrease rest) over time, consistently and in a way that suits your body and training history. You’ll then be able to come back fresher and ready to build more muscle and lose more fat.

DIAMOND PUSH UP BENEFITS

  • Full Body Workout (Hits every muscle from the chest to the lats)
  • Utilises up to 75% of your Bodyweight (plenty of ‘weight’ stimulus)
  • Builds Mass and Burns Body Fat
  • Endless Progression (Wide > Close > Diamond > Feet elevated > Weighted)
  • The Diamond Push Up is Free!
  • Time Efficient (One Movement and the freedom to do it around your schedule)
  • Portable (Travelling? Work long hours? No time for the Gym? No problem!)
  • *May Save Your Life* Those that could do 40 or more push-ups had a 96 percent less risk of heart problems in the next 10 years than those who quit at 10 or fewer (Jama Network)

PUSH UPS

The inspiration for The Diamond Push Up Program came from a bunch of sources I explore in the program including many celebs who have used just the push up to get in killer shape, not to mention the forces (Army, Navy Seals) and of course multiple prisoners. Here’s some of those who all have embraced the minimalist approach too.

  • Bill Starr (For his work on Progressive Resistance (PR))
  • Charles Bronson (Prison Workout)
  • Charles Atlas (Original Push Up Pioneer)
  • John E. Peterson (Author of ‘Pushing Yourself To Power’)
  • Jamie Dornan (100 daily)
  • Jamie Foxx (100 daily)
  • Matthew Mcconaughey (200 daily)
  • Chris Pratt (500 daily for Zero Dark Thirty)
  • Jake Gyllenhaal (500 – 2,000 daily for Southpaw)
  • Herschel Walker (1,000 daily)
  • Charlie Hunnam (1,000 daily for King Arthur)
  • Tom Hardy (2,000 daily for Bronson)

Work up to doing 20 sets of 10 reps (with perfect form) for overall body development (I call it ‘The Classic 200’) and then move on up to ‘The Goal’ of 25 reps for 8 sets for the look I’m currently rocking. I devised a simple, easy workout and combined it with a straight forward diet. I didn’t even calorie count (although I have some calorie formulas in the Program to get you going). Sure, I’m no Arnold Schwarzenegger or instagram fitness model but I feel the best I’ve ever felt and it’s pretty much effortless. No stress. I did give up cheesy grins though…

The Diamond Push Up Program – Before and After

DIET TO GET RIPPED

When it comes to losing weight it really is just an issue of calories in vs calories out, you can’t escape the maths damn it!. We don’t need to get too technical because mathematically it’s easy. In practice, however – it’s a different story because the human body always wants to maintain it’s current weight. Today an overwhelming amount of food is packaged with ‘added tasty stuff’ (JUNK EVERYWHERE!) we end up overeating, gaining weight and then maintaining that weight. This chubby vicious circle continues until we make our debut on My 600lbs Life.

I still eat my favourite foods and continue to drop body fat.

I typically eat twice a day, this allows me to eat big satisfying meals, even on an aggressive fat loss program (such as the one in The Diamond Push Up Program). By aggressive, I typically won’t go below bodyweight in lbs x 10-12. For example, if you wanted the Brad Pitt Tyler Duran lean ripped physique (which looks awesome). In Fight Club he’s 5,11 and around 150lbs. So if you’re goal lean weight is 150lbs like Brad Pitt – you’d be shooting for around 1,500 – 1,800 calories per day. Start at the higher multiplier (12) and adjust accordingly.

From here I would recommend you set your protein at no lower than 1 gram of protein per pound of goal bodyweight and increase it accordingly (in line with how satisfied you feel). You therefore have flexibility to play around with carbs and fat as you feel necessary depending on what works best for you. Remember if cutting fat, retention of lean body mass is vital when in a calorie deficit. Increased protein intake along with your training can help preserve lean mass when losing weight (examine.com). If you want get your maths on try this TDEE Calorie Calculator > https://tdeecalculator.net.

The Diamond Push Up Program

So my incredably awesome program – did I mention this!? Has everything you need to know to get in shape, build muscle and lose fat. Get it now before it’s a New York Times best seller and very, very expensive.

In The Diamond Push Up Program you’ll get:

Everything in the program is what first transformed me and is still my ‘go to’program.

*FREE UPDATES*

As an owner of The Diamond Push Up Program, when new content is added you’ll get a notification email with a fresh new download. I’ll also include information as to what has been added below:

PUSH UP Q&A’S

If you’ve got any questions and/or comments post below!

24 Replies to “Diamond Push Ups”

  1. Hi Bro,
    Love your site.Can you tell your workout routine?I want to get in shape again and i need some inspiration?
    Pierre Farine

  2. I love dips and pull-ups and I’m tempted to follow a minimalist routine outdoors.
    But I’ve never done these exercises exclusively and I wonder whether this would result in some imbalance.
    Specifically, do traps and shoulders get enough work from them?

    1. Hey Luis!

      Minimalist routines are always awesome! Traditional ‘gym bro’ routines just mentally wear you out! In regards to imbalances – if you’re hitting what are considered ‘the kings’ – pull ups/chin ups and of course PUSH UPS, then what else can you do? These are functional, simple, easy to do (in practice) exercises that build a strong, great looking body – all over! It’s pretty damn balanced! But sure, direct work like dumbbell shrugs will hit the traps more. I want to look and feel great on the beach/by the pool – but it has to be simple, easy and fun to do. What are your goals? I’ve got more posts over on my other site too – muscleforever.com.

  3. Ok, so what’s the way to go? Diamond push ups or dips? On each of your sites, you make it look that it’s one way or another 🙂

    Let’s rephrase the question…
    For someone looking for the ultimate-minimalist-most-bung-for-your-buck exercise selection, what’s better? Diamond push-ups or dips? (The other exercise would be pull-ups of course).

    1. I would say regular push-ups! Although the way I do them (with elbows tucked in) they’re probably more ‘diamond-like’ that standard push ups. Plus, as I’m all about minimalism you simply cannot beat the push up, literally no equipment needed, unlike dips! Hope that helps 🙂

  4. Hey man, great blog. I just wanted to ask, when you say clean eating, can you give an idea of what sort of foods you eat and how often? Cheers 👍🏼👍🏼

    1. Hi Adam, yes I’ll expand this post with more diet/nutrition info soon! Are you currently looking to lose or gain weight?

  5. Ideally I want lose some fat while maintaining my weight. I’ve been doing calisthenics for a while now and have gained a decent amount of muscle, mainly doing pull ups, dips and push ups Similar to yourself, that’s what brought me to your site. I weight 79kg, have an active job and eat around 3,500 calories day. My weakest point is eating in the evening

    1. Hey! Wow, that’s a lot of calories! For me I like that lean ‘brad pitt fight club’ look, rocking that physique feels and looks great. Diet. The lowest I ever go when leaning down for holiday or a trip would be 10 x bodyweight in LBS. So for you that would be 79KG = 174lbs, 175lbs x 10 = 1,750 calories per day. That’s half what you’re on now! Macros will be key here. Protein no lower than 175 grams, followed by Fats and finally Carbs. The less Carbs I eat the less hungry I feel (after initial withdrawals! ha!) Play around with your macro split to see what makes you feel the fullest. Also use Intermittent Fasting to burn fat and preserve muscle. That way when you do eat, the meals will be big and filling and keep you satisfied, you shouldn’t feel too restricted this way. I have lots of great diet tips I must write a post! It’s really easy when you apply them and the results will keep you on track. Assess yourself at the end of each week, if you’re dropping weight too fast or feel too weak then bump up your calories. Does any of that help?

  6. Amazing transformation! It’s incredible to see the power of the pushup and the results you can get from focusing on that alone, very inspiring!

    I definitely want to give the 20 sets of 10 reps a go, how much rest time in between each set would you recommend?

    1. Hi Jonathan, thanks for checking out the post! How’s the 20 sets of 10 reps going? Rest time – the goal is to get to just 1 min rest between all sets. Whats your current rest time? Cheers, Will

  7. Hey, just read over the majority of your findings and they are something else. Really interesting to see what seems like basic bodyweight exercises can do for the body in terms of building muscle and burning fat. What brought me here was I have been going to the gym now for about 6 months. I am 5’8” and used to weigh about 63kg. I have dropped to about 59kg as I had a lot of fat on my body but at the same time building a lot more muscle and seen more definition. I typically went 5 times a week and focused on an area of the body every session. For the past month I have adopted a new style, I do my general workouts but before every session I do 3 sets of dips and pullups and I have noticed a crazy change, in a good way. I have been looking into it and I’ve heard of it plateauing when doing these exercises essentially every day (dips/pullups and eventually diamond pushups when I get the form and strength good enough). Just wondering on whether you think this is going to be a good in the long run or if this is a workout myth?

    1. Hi Kyle

      If you’re getting gains and enjoying it then keep it up!

      How many reps are you doing for the 3 sets of pull ups and dips?

  8. Hi,
    Its good to find another person who believes in a minimalist workout regimen.

    I try to do 20 sets of this everyday:
    10 pullups
    10 dips
    20 situps

    My body-fat unfortunately isn’t as low as yours. I think i should try intermittent fasting which seems to be working for you.

    Do you think diamonds are better than dips?
    I see in some of your Instagram pics that you play around with weights. I assume thats just on the side and not your main workout now?

    Ian

    1. Hi Ian, great work! Yes, intermittent fasting is a great tool. 12 – 16 hours works for me. I think dips are great too. If I ever use weights it’s only light dumbbells. Check out http://www.muscleforever.com for lots more info on workouts and nutrition!

    1. I aim to walk around 10,000 steps a day. For my first transformation I went lower carb, more of a ‘modified keto’ – higher protein and fats with carbs from vegetables and fruit only. All three macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat) are important so I recommend a balanced approach. As long as you’re in a calorie deficit you’ll lose weight. What’s your goals?

      More on my balanced diet approach – http://muscleforever.com/mens-diet-plan/

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