Chest · Bodyweight
Chest Pressdown
How to do the chest pressdown, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- HorizontalPush
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Stand or kneel tall and bring your palms together in front of your chest in a prayer position. Press your hands hard into each other and push them down toward your waist while keeping the pressure on, then return to chest height. The resistance comes from pressing your hands together throughout.
- 1Inner chest squeezing as your palms press together
- 2Constant tension as the hands travel down and back up
- 3The contraction staying in the chest, not the wrists
Common mistakes
- Letting the palms separate and lose pressure
- Shrugging your shoulders up toward your ears
- Moving fast instead of keeping steady tension
Muscles worked
The chest pressdown mainly works the mid chest, with the lower chest, forearms, and internal rotators assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- Lower ChestSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Internal RotatorsSupport
- TricepsMinor
- Upper ChestMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the chest pressdown for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.