Push-Up
Horizontal push, bodyweight, chest
The push-up lowers your body to the floor and presses it back up, with the body held straight like a moving plank. It trains the chest, with the triceps, the front of the shoulders and the belly working too. It suits nearly everyone, since it needs no equipment and is easy to make easier or harder.
Setting up
- Place the hands on the floor a little wider than the shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
- Step the feet back until the body is in a straight line from the head to the heels.
- Squeeze the glutes and brace the belly to hold that line.
- If clean reps on the floor are too hard, start with the hands on a bench or a wall.
How to do a push-up
- Keep the hands planted and the fingers spread so the weight stays across the whole palm.
- Bend the elbows and lower the whole body together, elbows about 45 degrees from the sides.
- Keep the head in line with the body, eyes on the floor just ahead of the hands.
- Lower until the chest nearly touches the floor.
- Press the floor away to straighten the arms, keeping the body in one line.
- Finish with straight arms before the next rep.
Breathing. Breathe in on the way down and breathe out as you press up.
Muscles worked
- Mainly
- Chest
- Also
- Triceps, front delts and abdominals
Common mistakes
- Hips sagging toward the floor. It loads the lower back, so squeeze the glutes and belly as if holding a plank and keep the body in one line.
- Hips piked up high. Then the chest barely works and the shoulders take more of the load, so lower the hips until the body is straight.
- Elbows flared straight out. That puts the strain on the shoulders, so turn the elbows in to about 45 degrees from the body, like an arrow rather than a T.
- Going only halfway down. Half reps leave strength on the table, so lower until the chest is a hand's width from the floor, with an easier version if needed.
Easier and harder
- Easier
- Incline Push-Up, Knee Push-Up
- Harder
- Decline Push-Up, Diamond Push-Up
Guide
