Legs · Bodyweight
Plate Push
How to do the plate push, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Carry
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Set a weight plate flat on the floor and get into a low athletic stance behind it with arms straight. Drive through your legs to push the plate forward across the floor, taking powerful strides while keeping your hips low and core tight.
- 1Push the plate with your legs while holding a slight forward lean
- 2The glutes, quads, and calves driving together stride to stride
- 3A tight core and straight arms transmitting force into the plate
Common mistakes
- Collapsing the chest or rounding the back
- Taking tiny choppy steps instead of powerful strides
- Trying to push with your arms instead of your legs
Muscles worked
The plate push mainly works the quads and glutes, with the hamstrings, calves, and upper abs assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- ForearmsMinor
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper TrapsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
Kovo programs the plate push 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 quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.