The pike push-up targets several muscle groups in the upper body, including your triceps and upper chest muscles, but it is particularly effective at sculpting impressive shoulders for two reasons. It engages the front and middle deltoid heads and, depending on your position, it can also target them individually.
“The pike push-up is generally more focused towards the front side of the delts, but it depends on how high your hips are,” says Mitch Raynsford, a certified strength and conditioning coach at digital fitness coaching platform P3RFORM. “If you have greater mobility and longer hamstrings, you’re going to be able to lift your hips higher. This way you can focus more on your middle delts.”
In addition, the pike push-up will engage a number of stabilizing muscles, including your biceps, lats and the serratus anterior, a small muscle that sits on top of the rib cage and below the armpits. You can also expect considerable core engagement, particularly from your obliques and deep core muscles, such as the transverse abdominis.