Exactly How To Do A Push Up Correctly
The push-up is an amazing exercise—it’s convenient, works a ton of important muscles, and makes you feel pretty darn accomplished. That’s why learning how to do push-ups is among the top goals many exercisers have on their lists.
But let’s be honest: The push-up can be an intimidating exercise, especially if your upper-body strength is not as developed as your lower-body strength. Plus, lots of people might have unwelcome flashbacks to gym class in school, where push-ups played a top role in the physical fitness tests many students had to perform. If you tended to have difficulty with the push-up as a kid, you may continue to perceive the exercise as something daunting even as your fitness has progressed.
And if you feel like you’re “bad” at push-ups, you may tend to shy away from doing them, which, of course, makes getting stronger in them more difficult.
Mastering the push-up, though, can be a game-changer for your fitness routine, both because of the confidence it imparts and the solid strength foundation it gives you. Here’s what you need to know about how to do push-ups so you can get started.
What is a push-up?
The push-up is a staple upper-body exercise that you can do anywhere—you just need your bodyweight. It’s considered a compound movement, meaning it involves multiple joints and stimulates large muscle groups.
Consider the push-up a dynamic version of a high plank: Starting in a high-plank position, you’ll place your hands shoulder-width apart, or a little bit wider. As you bend your elbows and lower toward the floor, your elbows should be at about a 45-degree angle to your body. Your fingers should be splayed, with your middle fingers pointing toward 12 o’clock.
While a 45-degree angle for your arms is considered a standard push-up form, the angle that's most comfortable for you may be slightly different, so it's fine to adjust—keeping your arms in a tad closer to your body or bringing them out a little wider—based on how your shoulders and arms feel. It all depends on different factors like shoulder mobility and where you're strongest.
When your chest or chin hit the floor, that’s the bottom portion of your rep. Then, you’ll press your body upward—think about pushing away the floor—and keep your core tight. When your elbows are fully extended, and your body is back in a high plank position, you’ve completed your rep.
What are the benefits of push-ups?
Push-ups are one of the best exercises to work your pec muscles—both your pectoralis major (the larger, fan-shaped chest muscle) and your pectoralis minor (the smaller, triangular-shaped chest muscle).
Building strength in your chest muscles is important for many different reasons. For one, it will help you get stronger in chest-specific exercises, like the bench press. It also makes everyday functions, like pushing open a heavy door or pushing something back on a high shelf, easier to do.
Plus, when you work on your “pushing” muscles, like you do with a push-up, you are working other muscles besides those in your chest. Accessory muscles like your triceps (the backs of your upper arms) and your shoulders come in to help your pecs complete the moves, which means you’re challenging those muscles, too. And when you hold the top part of the push-up, you also improve your shoulder stability.
What are the types of push-ups?
One of the great things about push-ups is that there are a lot of different varieties you can try—meaning, whatever fitness level you’re at, chances are pretty good that you’ll find a push-up variation that works for you.
Elevating your hands or feet can make the push-up feel easier or harder, respectively, than a traditional push-up. Stopping at the bottom of a push-up—which breaks the momentum of the move—can also crank up the difficulty, too. Here’s how to do some of those variations.
1. Hands-Elevated Push-Up
Place your hands shoulder-width apart on a low box, a chair, or a table and assume a high plank position with your feet, knees, hips, and shoulders in a straight line. Brace your core and keep your elbows tucked in close to the sides of your torso. This is the starting position.
Bend your elbows and pull shoulder blades together to lower your chest to the box.
Press through your palms to straighten your arms back to starting position. This is 1 rep.
2. Push-Up
Start in a high plank with your palms flat, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, legs extended behind you, and your core and glutes engaged.
Bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor.
Push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms. This is 1 rep.
3. Dead-Stop Push-Up
Start in a high plank with your palms flat, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, legs extended behind you, and your core and glutes engaged.
Bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor.
When your chest hits the floor, raise your hands up so your chest is resting on the floor. Place your hands back down, and push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms. This is 1 rep.
4. Decline Push-Up
Place your toes on a box, bench, or step, then get into a high plank with your palms flat, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, core and glutes engaged.
Bend your elbows and lower your chest to the floor.
Push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms. That’s 1 rep.
Here are some common push-up mistakes to try to avoid
While the push-up is a great upper-body exercise, doing them incorrectly can make them less effective—and may even lead to injury.
The form problem I notice most is that people have a hard time keeping their lower backs flat (i.e. not letting their hips sag or their back arch). This happens when your core isn't properly engaged and it ends up making push-ups feel even harder. Plus, you won’t be getting all the core-strengthening benefits of the move if you’re not keeping your muscles engaged throughout.
If this is something you notice happening in your push-ups, practicing engaging your core and tucking your pelvis will help. I have people stand up and place their hands on their hips and stick their butt out and arch their back. Then, I tell them to do the opposite—tilt their hips under and flatten their back. That’s the position you want to stay in for push-ups. Over time, you’ll learn to get your body into the right position and start to get used to what proper form feels like.
As for modifying your push-up, how you make it easier is important. Modifying your push-up by elevating your hands rather than dropping to your knees can be more effective, since push-ups on your knees don’t allow the full range of motion. When you’re on your knees, you don’t need to worry about the waist down. When you’re in the full position, you’re holding a plank, so there’s a lot more demand on your core—it just really isn’t the same position.
So if a traditional push-up is too challenging for you right now, try starting with your hands elevated—how high depends on your strength and what feels comfortable for you. Then simply lower your incline a bit every few weeks to keep increasing your strength. Soon, that full push-up will be yours.
Put these tips to good use in this upper body circuit workout:
