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The push-up is an age-old exercise that has been around for thousands of years. It’s extremely effective at growing and toning your upper body, including your chest, shoulders, upper back, and arms. But even bodyweight exercises can sometimes be painful for your joints due to improper form and health conditions like carpal tunnel. Thankfully, that’s exactly what push-up boards are made for.
These boards have very grippy, padded, and comfortable handles that keep your hands and joints in a comfortable position throughout the range of motion. They also help with your form and posture. Of course, with your fitness and health at stake, finding a high-quality push-up board is important — but it isn’t always easy to find one in today’s over-saturated market. Don’t worry though; we did some extensive research to help you out. Here are some of the finest push-up boards of 2022.
Top Picks
Best overall: Power Press Push Up Board
First up is the Power Press Push Up Board. It has slots for many push-up angles that target different muscle groups, all of which are color-coded for ease of use. This rectangular board can be one of the most valuable additions to your workouts as it can reduce form errors, correct your technique and help you maximize your upper body gains. If you experience wrist pain while doing push-ups, the non-slip hand grips minimize wrist bend, eliminating the stress on your joints. This push-up board ships as two interlocking pieces which can be assembled in the blink of an eye. It also comes with a free HIIT workout program, so you’ll have plenty of ideas on how to use it effectively. Since it’s the biggest and widest push-up board on this list, it’s the best option available overall.
Key Features:
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Made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
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Weighs 9 pounds
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Weight capacity of 300 pounds
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Suitable for 30+ combo positions
Most versatile: Lalahigh Push Up Board
If you’re looking for a versatile push-up board that can be used for a range of exercises, the Lalahigh Push Up Board is a perfect choice. It’s a one-stop shop for targeting all of your upper body muscle groups. The blue areas target your pectoral muscles, the green works your triceps and biceps, the yellow develop your back and the red combos target your shoulder muscles. The brand claims that the exercises on this board can activate more muscles than competitors — that’s not hard to believe based on all its features. You get a whole package deal with this board, including a drawstring bag, two dynamic and two static handles, four tension elastics, ankle straps, non-slip pads, one door anchor, and a training guide. The resistance bands offer 20-100 pound intensity levels for banded exercises.
Key Features:
Highest-rated: Aerlang Push Up Board
Next up is the Aerlang Push Up Board, which is one of the highest-rated models available, earning it a well-deserved spot on this list. It’s also one of the lightest-weight push-up boards you can find! The best part? There are little to no compromises on its functionality. Like most other high-quality push-up boards, it’s made from a material that’s sturdy and thick. This push-up board also features color-coded combinations for pectoral, arm, abdominal, and back muscles. The two non-slip, high load-bearing handles are ergonomically designed and can be customized across these holes which vary in difficulty, so you can start from easy push-ups and work your way up to the professional athlete status!
Key Features:
Most equipment: Hotwave Push Up Board
For an all-inclusive product that comes with enough accessories to jumpstart your home gym setup, consider the Hotwave Push Up Board. It includes two tension elastics that each offer resistance up to 50 pounds, which lock onto the board and are tough enough to challenge your shoulder muscles, biceps, lats, and much more. Besides the elastics, you also get a bunch of other essentials in the packing box like carabiners, non-slip pads, dynamic handles, ankle straps, and a sturdy bag to carry it all in. There’s also a training guide with lots of ideas to exercise all your different muscles using the equipment included in the package. This option helps you get the most amount of training versatility out of your investment — all while staying within the comfort of your home!
Key Features:
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Made of ABS plastic
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Board and accessories weigh 4 pounds
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Weight capacity of 300 pounds
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Offers countless exercise combos
Best portable: Xinrui Press Push Up Board
Lastly, we have the Xinrui Push Up Board which steals the show with its compact and portable design. It’s the ideal home workout equipment for everyone — especially if you prefer doing casual physical activity throughout the day to keep yourself active. It’s super compact and designed to be easy to assemble, use and store. The foldable design adds to the portability, while the included drawstring bag is big enough to store everything in one place. It comes with four tension strings, dynamic handles, and ankle straps that can help you train your arms, upper body, quads, and calf muscles. The color-coded indicators show which handle placements activates which muscle groups for optimized training.
Key Features:
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Made of ABS plastic
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Total weight of 3.7 pounds
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Weight capacity of 250 pounds
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Comes with an in-depth training guide
Buying guide: Push-up boards
While you can’t go wrong with any of the options listed above, they’re all unique in some way which means there might still be some uncertainty left about which to choose. This comprehensive buying guide will help you weigh the key factors you should consider to find the perfect push-up board for your fitness level and goals.
Handle cushioning
If you think about it, you never really come into direct contact with a push-up board — just the handles that come with it! That means the quality and comfort level of their cushioning should be one of your top concerns when you’re in the market for a push-up board.
While doing push-ups conventionally, you might be limited by the pain you feel in your wrists, which forces you to cut the set short. But that wouldn’t be the case with comfortable, well-designed grip handles.
There’s a wide range of variability in that area. Many metal, steel, and plastic handles don’t have any cushioning at all — so you should steer clear of those options. Some have thin rubber grips that prevent slippages but aren’t comfortable enough. The best choice would be a board that comes with well-padded handles for added stability and enhanced comfort, as well as a design that provides an ergonomic angle for your wrists throughout the range of motion.
Height
The height of your push-up board also plays a key role in its overall effectiveness. Well-designed ones put a reasonable distance between the ground and your chest to achieve an angle that’s optimal for muscle growth.
Some level of elevation from the ground allows your muscles to expand and contract quickly between reps, but if it’s too high, the push-up won’t be as challenging as a regular freehand one. Ideally, the push up board height should be within the 3-4 inch range.
Stability
A wobbly board has no place in your home! They can cause wrist injuries, muscle tears, and frustration.
The push-up board you choose should be able to remain completely still throughout the push-up without the slightest bit of vibration as it can disrupt your momentum and mess with your body alignment. It should also be completely locked in place with high-quality anti-slip pads underneath; otherwise, it’d be slipping all over the place with the slightest bit of sideways force. Plus, the slots should be accurately cut to perfectly fit the hand grips to make sure that the handles remain completely stable during use.
Number of exercise combinations
Unless you only want to train your arms and chest with a push-up board, you want to have holes positioned in multiple spots to give you many different exercises to work your entire upper body. These are supposed to target your shoulders, traps, back, triceps and of course — pectoral muscles — through unique positioning. You can find boards with 10, 20, and even 30+ color-coded exercise combinations, so feel free to choose based on how versatile you want your push-up board to be.
Accessories
The push-up board market has something for everyone. You can find simple boards that only come with grip handles that allow you to perform many different types of push-ups to train your upper torso. But, some also come as a complete package deal with several resistance bands, tension elastics, carabiners, static and dynamic handles, and ankle straps to give you tons of exercises to work with. It all depends on how much versatility you want to get out of your push-up board.
People also asked
Q: How can I increase resistance on my push-up board?
A: Over time, you can introduce progressive overload to grow your musculature and strength using a push-up board. Some options are increasing reps, slower movement, or a declined angle. You can also add weight on your back as long as you stay within the maximum recommended weight for the board.
Q: Are push-up boards safe?
A: Yes, push-up boards are safe to use. They can even be safer than performing the exercise traditionally as they offer better body and joint alignment which prevents injuries and unnecessary pain.
Q: Can a push-up board help with my wrist pain?
A: Yes, that’s what they are designed for. A push-up board can make sure that your wrists are more aligned with your arms and hands with minimal bends, which dramatically reduces the stress on the joint. They also enhance the range of motion which is better for growing your muscles.
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