Chest · Medicine Ball
Medicine Ball Close Grip Push-up
How to do the medicine ball close grip push-up, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Medicine Ball
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Horizontal Press
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Place both hands close together on top of a medicine ball and set your body in a straight plank from head to heels. Lower your chest toward the ball, keeping your elbows tucked, then press back up to full extension while balancing on the ball.
- 1Feel your triceps and inner chest working through the close hand position
- 2Keep your core tight and hips level to stay balanced on the ball
- 3Press evenly through both hands to control the wobble
Common mistakes
- Avoid letting your hips sag or your head crane forward
- Do not flare your elbows wide; keep them tucked toward your body
- Do not let the ball shift under your hands; press straight down
Muscles worked
The medicine ball close grip push-up mainly works the mid chest and triceps, with the upper chest, lower chest, forearms, upper abs, lower abs, and front delts assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- TricepsPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- Lower ChestSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- ObliquesMinor
- GlutesMinor
Kovo programs the medicine ball close grip push-up 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.