Body-Up
The body-up starts in a forearm plank and has you press up onto your hands, one arm at a time, then reverse the movement back down. It's a bodyweight exercise that trains your triceps hard while your abs and forearms work to keep your hips from rocking as your base of support keeps changing. It suits anyone who's comfortable holding a plank and wants to add real triceps work to that same rigid position.
Why it works
Pressing from your forearms up onto your hands is an elbow-extension task at its core, which is the triceps' main job, and repeating that transition over and over trains the muscle through a pattern a static plank never asks for. Because your shoulder position barely changes while your elbow does most of the moving, the demand stays concentrated on your triceps rather than spreading across your chest and shoulders the way a full push-up would. Your abs and forearms come along as stabilizers: your abs resist the hips twisting or rocking as your base shifts from two forearms to two hands, and your forearms handle the changing wrist angle each time you plant a hand.
Set up
- Start in a forearm plank, elbows stacked under your shoulders.
- Set your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.
- Set your feet hip-width apart for a stable base.
How to do it
- Press up onto one hand, straightening that arm.
- Press up onto the other hand until both arms are fully extended.
- Reverse the movement, lowering one arm back to your forearm.
- Lower the second arm to return to the forearm plank.
- Keep your hips square and level throughout the whole transition.
- Alternate which arm leads each rep.
Form cues
- Keep your hips square; don't let them rock side to side.
- Move one arm at a time, not both together.
- Squeeze your glutes and abs to stop your hips from sagging.
Breathing: Exhale as you press up to your hands, inhale as you lower back to your forearms.
Common mistakes
Letting the hips rock side to side with each arm press.
Fix: Brace your core hard and keep your hips square to the floor throughout, moving only your arms.
Letting the hips sag or pike during the transition.
Fix: Hold a straight line from head to heels the entire time, tightening your glutes and abs to maintain it.
How to program it
- Pair this with core work or an upper-body pressing day rather than programming it alone.
- Two or three sets of 6 to 10 reps per side is a solid starting range.
- Two or three days a week works well, since this is a bodyweight movement rather than a heavy loaded lift.
Safety notes
- Stop if you feel sharp wrist pain; keep your palms flat and your weight centered rather than shifted onto your fingers.
- Slow down if your shoulders pinch during the transition; a controlled pace reduces that risk more than speed does.
Exercise profile
- Force
- Push
- Mechanics
- Isolation
- Category
- Strength
Frequently asked questions
What muscles does the body-up work?
It's mainly a triceps exercise, with your abs and forearms working hard to keep your hips from rocking as you move between your forearms and your hands.
Do I need to alternate which arm goes first?
It helps even out any side-to-side imbalance, so alternating the leading arm each rep, or each set, is a good habit.
Why do my hips rock during this exercise?
That usually means your core isn't bracing hard enough to resist the shift in weight as one arm presses up. Slow down and focus on keeping your hips square.
Is this the same as a plank?
It builds on the same rigid-body position as a plank, but adds constant arm movement between forearms and hands, which makes it more of a dynamic triceps exercise than a static hold.