Which comes first, the push-up or the pike?

The push-up. You start in a plank with the tops of your feet on the ball, complete a full push-up there, and only then fold your hips and roll the ball in toward your hands. Pressing from the piked position instead is a different, shoulder-dominant exercise.

How is this different from an exercise ball jack knife or pull-in?

Those are the roll-in on its own, with the arms locked out the whole time. This version adds a full decline push-up before every roll-in, so one repetition costs you a press and a pike. If you only want the core half, use Exercise Ball Jack Knife or Exercise Ball Pull-In.

Does the ball make this a better chest exercise?

Not especially. A study in trained men that compared push-ups on the floor, with the hands on a Swiss ball and with the feet on a Swiss ball found pectoralis major activity was similar across all three, while the feet-on-ball version raised rectus abdominis and triceps activity above the floor push-up. The chest still does the pressing, but the ball is adding trunk and triceps demand rather than chest demand.

How many repetitions should I do?

Three sets of 6 to 10 controlled repetitions suit most people. This is a skill that degrades quickly under fatigue, so end the set when the shape breaks rather than counting to a target.

What size ball should I use?

A 55 cm ball suits most people under about 5 ft 4 in and a 65 cm ball most people above that, inflated firm rather than soft. A bigger or softer ball sits higher and rolls more, which raises the pike but makes the plank harder to hold still.

Can I put my shins on the ball instead of my feet?

Yes, and it is easier. Rolling the ball back under your shins shortens the lever, takes weight off your hands and gives a longer contact area that wanders less, so it is the sensible way in. Work out to the tops of your feet, as shown here, once the shin version is smooth.

Exercise Ball Pike Push-Up

What Is the Exercise Ball Pike Push-Up?

Exercise Ball Pike Push-Up is a compound exercise that primarily targets the chest and core, and also engages the shoulders, triceps and serratus anterior. It is an advanced-level movement that chains two skills into a single repetition: a decline push-up performed with the tops of the feet resting on an exercise ball, followed by a pike in which the ball rolls in toward the hands and the hips travel straight up. The hands never leave their spot on the floor, so the body has to stay rigid through a press and then fold cleanly at the hips without losing the ball.

The order is fixed and it matters. The push-up comes first, from a straight plank with the ball under the tops of the feet. Because the feet sit above the hands, this is a decline press: the hands carry more of the body weight than in a floor push-up, and the work leans toward the upper chest and the front of the shoulders. Only once the elbows are locked out does the second half begin. The hips fold and the ball rolls up the legs until the body forms an inverted V with the arms vertical. The arms stay straight through the pike, so nothing is pressed overhead here; the abdominals and hip flexors drive the fold while the shoulders and serratus anterior hold the support position.

Both halves are trunk work as much as anything else. A laboratory comparison of ten abdominal exercises found the Swiss ball pike, performed on its own, to be one of the two most effective at activating the upper and lower rectus abdominis and the obliques, and to do so with little lumbar paraspinal or rectus femoris activity. Putting a press in front of that roll-in is what makes this version a chest and core exercise rather than a pure core exercise.

It fits at the end of an upper-body or core session as a low-volume quality exercise, not as a finisher chased to failure. Three sets of 6 to 10 controlled repetitions are enough for almost everyone, because the ball punishes fatigue immediately: the moment the trunk tires, the hips sag under the press or the pike drifts sideways. It has no competition or fitness-test role, and it is not a route to a handstand push-up, since the arms never press in the piked position.

It suits trainees who already own both halves separately. Build up with Exercise Ball Decline Push-Up for the pressing half and Exercise Ball Jack Knife or Exercise Ball Pull-In for the roll-in, and if the ball itself is the problem, spend time in Exercise Ball Plank until it stops wandering. Anyone who cannot hold a still plank with the feet on the ball should stay there before stacking two moving parts on top of it.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Pectoralis Major: Primary
Rectus Abdominis: Primary
Deltoid: High
External Oblique: High
Rectus Abdominis (Lower): High
Serratus Anterior: High
Triceps Brachii (Long Head): High
Latissimus Dorsi: Medium
Triceps Brachii (Medial Head): Medium
Rectus Femoris: Low

Instructions

Set a firmly inflated exercise ball on a non-slip floor and kneel with your back to it.
Place your hands on the floor and walk them forward until the tops of your feet rest on the ball and your arms are straight.
Set your hands under your shoulders, spread your fingers, and brace your abs and glutes so your body is a straight line from head to heels.
Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor, keeping your elbows at roughly 45 degrees to your torso and your hips level with your shoulders.
Press back up to straight arms without letting your hips drop or your feet roll off the ball.
From that straight-arm plank, drive your hips straight up toward the ceiling and let the ball roll in toward your hands.
Keep your arms and legs straight throughout the pike and stop when your body forms an inverted V with your shoulders stacked over your hands.
Pause briefly at the top without rounding your upper back to gain extra height.
Roll the ball back out under control until your body is straight again and the tops of your feet are back on it.
Reset the plank, then begin the next repetition with the push-up.

Common Mistakes

Hips sagging during the press
Letting the lower back drop as the elbows bend turns a rigid decline push-up into a spinal extension and shifts load from the chest to the lumbar spine.
Piking before the push-up finishes
Starting the hip fold while the elbows are still bent blends the two halves into one vague motion and skips most of the pressing work.
Folding the hips forward of the hands
Sending the hips forward instead of straight up leaves the shoulders behind the load, which strains the front of the shoulder and makes the ball harder to control.
Bending the knees to reach the top
Tucking the knees turns the pike into a knee tuck, shortens the lever and takes most of the work off the abdominals.
Dropping out of the pike
Letting the ball roll back on its own instead of lowering under control wastes the eccentric half of the repetition and usually lands the hips in a sag.
Flaring the elbows wide
Letting the elbows travel out to 90 degrees from the torso concentrates stress at the front of the shoulder, which the elevated feet only make worse.

Injuries

Exercise Ball Pike Push-Up is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. Your hands support a large share of your body weight for the whole set, and that share grows as the hips rise, so the wrists sit in loaded extension and the shoulders work near the top of their flexion range in the piked position. The push-up half adds the usual elbow and front-of-shoulder demand of a decline press, with your head close to the floor at the bottom. The ball is the other hazard: it can roll sideways or slide out from under your feet, and there is no comfortable way to step out of a failed repetition.

Use a burst-resistant ball rated above your body weight, inflate it firm rather than soft, and work on a non-slip floor with clear space in front of your hands. If the ball wanders, roll it back under your shins until the movement is reliable, since the shorter lever and longer contact area roll less. Set your hands under your shoulders, spread your fingers and press the floor away so your shoulder blades stay wide instead of pinching together. Stack the pike over your hands rather than in front of them so the load stays vertical, and lower out of it under control instead of letting the ball throw you back into the plank. If loaded wrist extension is uncomfortable, cut the repetitions per set and build wrist tolerance in a straight-arm plank before adding the pike back in.

Regress by splitting the exercise in two: run sets of Exercise Ball Decline Push-Up and sets of Exercise Ball Pull-In separately until both are clean, or hold Exercise Ball Plank for time until the ball stops wandering. Folding only part of the way up is a legitimate half step, as is starting with the ball under the shins or thighs, where the shorter lever puts less weight on your hands. Progress by slowing the roll-in or extending the pause at the top of the pike to 2 or 3 seconds.

Stop the set as soon as the hips sag during the press or the pike stops reaching a clean inverted V, because both mean the trunk has already given out and the remaining repetitions land on the lower back. Stop the exercise entirely for sharp wrist, elbow or front-of-shoulder pain, and leave it out of the program while you are managing shoulder instability or a wrist injury.

Overview

Primary Focus: Chest and core
Equipment: Exercise ball and body weight
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Advanced

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Which comes first, the push-up or the pike?: The push-up. You start in a plank with the tops of your feet on the ball, complete a full push-up there, and only then fold your hips and roll the ball in toward your hands. Pressing from the piked position instead is a different, shoulder-dominant exercise.
Q: How is this different from an exercise ball jack knife or pull-in?: Those are the roll-in on its own, with the arms locked out the whole time. This version adds a full decline push-up before every roll-in, so one repetition costs you a press and a pike. If you only want the core half, use Exercise Ball Jack Knife or Exercise Ball Pull-In.
Q: Does the ball make this a better chest exercise?: Not especially. A study in trained men that compared push-ups on the floor, with the hands on a Swiss ball and with the feet on a Swiss ball found pectoralis major activity was similar across all three, while the feet-on-ball version raised rectus abdominis and triceps activity above the floor push-up. The chest still does the pressing, but the ball is adding trunk and triceps demand rather than chest demand.
Q: How many repetitions should I do?: Three sets of 6 to 10 controlled repetitions suit most people. This is a skill that degrades quickly under fatigue, so end the set when the shape breaks rather than counting to a target.
Q: What size ball should I use?: A 55 cm ball suits most people under about 5 ft 4 in and a 65 cm ball most people above that, inflated firm rather than soft. A bigger or softer ball sits higher and rolls more, which raises the pike but makes the plank harder to hold still.
Q: Can I put my shins on the ball instead of my feet?: Yes, and it is easier. Rolling the ball back under your shins shortens the lever, takes weight off your hands and gives a longer contact area that wanders less, so it is the sensible way in. Work out to the tops of your feet, as shown here, once the shin version is smooth.