Exercise guide · Beginner · Compound

Body-Up: How to Do It & Muscles Worked

The body-up is a bodyweight exercise targeting the triceps, with secondary emphasis on the chest and shoulders. It involves lowering and raising your body using your arms while keeping your body straight, similar to a triceps dip but with feet on the ground.

Primary muscles
Triceps
Secondary muscles
Shoulders , Chest
Equipment
Body Weight
Level · type
Beginner · Compound
Demonstration of the body-up
Front view: muscles worked by the body-up. Primary: triceps. Secondary: shoulders and chest.
Back view: muscles worked by the body-up. Primary: triceps. Secondary: shoulders and chest.
Primary Secondary

How to do the body-up

  1. Step 1: Start by placing your hands on a raised surface, such as a bench or parallel bars, with your palms facing down and fingers pointing forward.
  2. Step 2: Extend your legs out in front of you, keeping your heels on the ground and your body straight.
  3. Step 3: Lower your body by bending your elbows, keeping them close to your sides, until your upper arms are parallel to the ground.
  4. Step 4: Pause for a moment, then push through your palms to straighten your arms and lift your body back up to the starting position.
  5. Step 5: Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Sets, reps and programming

Suggested sets, reps and rest for the body-up by training goal
Goal Sets Reps Rest Effort
Strength 3–5 3–6 3–5 min 1–3 reps in reserve
Muscle growth 3–4 6–12 2–3 min 1–2 reps in reserve
Muscular endurance 2–3 12–20 1–2 min 1–3 reps in reserve

Ranges follow the ACSM position stand on progression in resistance training. Muscle grows across a wide range of loads when sets end close to failure (Schoenfeld et al., 2017), longer rests between heavy sets support strength and size (Schoenfeld et al., 2016), and stopping a rep or two short of failure works about as well as training to failure (Grgic et al., 2022). Estimate your working weights with the strength calculators.

Body-Up alternatives

More exercises that train the triceps as their main target:

More triceps exercises

See the best tricep exercises, ranked →

Sources

  1. American College of Sports Medicine. Progression models in resistance training for healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009;41(3):687-708.
  2. Schoenfeld BJ, Grgic J, Ogborn D, Krieger JW. Strength and hypertrophy adaptations between low- vs. high-load resistance training. J Strength Cond Res. 2017;31(12):3508-3523.
  3. Schoenfeld BJ, Pope ZK, Benik FM, et al. Longer interset rest periods enhance muscle strength and hypertrophy in resistance-trained men. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(7):1805-1812.
  4. Grgic J, Schoenfeld BJ, Orazem J, Sabol F. Effects of resistance training performed to repetition failure or non-failure on muscular strength and hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Sport Health Sci. 2022;11(2):202-211.

Step-by-step instructions and demonstration media are from the ExerciseDB exercise dataset.

This guide is general fitness information, not medical advice. Stop if an exercise causes pain and speak to a doctor or physiotherapist about injuries or health conditions before starting a new programme.