Kneeling Pike Push Up

The pike push up is the most accessible vertical pressing movement you can do with bodyweight, and the necessary step before attempting a handstand push up. Placing the knees on a bench and the hands on the floor raises the hips and brings the torso close to vertical, so the deltoids and triceps carry a far larger share of your weight than in a standard push up. Elevating the support is precisely the variable that controls difficulty: the higher the knees, the more vertical the body becomes and the closer the exercise gets to an overhead press. The natural progression is to keep raising the support until you reach the wall, where the body is fully inverted. Lower the crown of your head toward the floor between your hands, never forward, and keep the core braced.