Push-ups. Image credit: Spirited_Away
Push-ups are one of those exercises everyone should do. They build muscle in your upper-body, don’t require any equipment and improve shoulder health. Push-ups are also easy to do. Or at least that’s what people believe.
Push-ups look easy but like any other exercise they have their technique. Bad Push-up technique is common, and unfortunately it can cause shoulders and/or lower back injuries. Here’s how to perform Push-ups correctly.
Benefits of Push-ups. Push-ups are a closed kinetic chain exercise. Unlike the Bench Press, your hands are fixed while your body moves through space.
- Build Muscle. Just like Pull-ups & Dips, Push-ups force you to lift your own body-weight. Push-ups work your chest, shoulders, triceps & core.
- Shoulder Health. Push-ups improve shoulder health by strengthening your serratus anterior. They also teach you to Bench Press correctly.
- Versatile. You can do Push-ups anywhere, anytime. Harder Push-up variations keep things challenging for constant progress (more below).
Push-up Technique. Assume the Push-up starting position with your elbows locked. Lower yourself by bending your elbows until your chest almost touches the floor. Come back up by pushing through the floor.
- Hand Position. Don’t take your hands out to wide. Put your hands slightly wider than shoulder-width. Hands turned out 45°.
- Tuck Your Elbows. Easier on your shoulders. Keep your elbows at a 45° angle to your body during Push-ups.
- Push Your Abs Out. Straight line from shoulders to ankles. Push your abs out as if someone was going to punch you in the stomach.
- Squeeze Your Glutes. Push your abs out while squeezing your glutes hard. Both will avoid any hyper-extension of your lower back.
- Tuck Your Chin. Lead with your chest, not with your head. Your neck must stay inline with the rest of your spine. Don’t look forward.
Push-up Video. Here’s a video of Push-ups using a light resistance band. Pay attention to the technique: straight line from ankles to shoulders, chest goes to the floor, elbows tucked. Video by Tony Gentilcore.
How to Increase Your Push-up Strength. If you lack the strength to do 1 Push-up or if you struggle to do Push-ups with correct technique, start this way.
- Push-ups Holds. Hold the Push-up starting position for time. Straight line from shoulders to ankles. These strengthen your core. Aim for at least 1mins. Switch to Prone Bridges for a bigger challenge.
- Kneeling Push-ups. Perform Push-ups with both knees on the floor. Push yourself up using your chest, shoulders & triceps muscles. Do not push yourself up using hip or back extension.
Push-up Variations. Unless you’re looking for strength-endurance, you’ll need to add some kind of resistance to keep Push-ups challenging. Some ideas:
- Close Grip Push-ups. Shift the emphasis to your triceps. Perform Push-up with your hands slight narrower than shoulder-width.
- Iso Push-ups. Improve shoulder health & posture. Hold the bottom position for time. Hands elevated for a greater stretch. Example.
- Blast Straps/Ring Push-ups. Harder to stabilize, improve core strength and improve bottom Push-up (and Bench Press) strength by increasing the stretch. Use Blast Straps or Rings.
- Resistance Bands. Add a mini or light resistance band like in the video above. I have Jump Stretch flexbands. Iron Woody works too.
- Chain Push-ups. Another way to add external resistance. Perform Push-ups with chains wrapped around your body. Example.
- Rucksack. Wear a rucksack filled with plates high on your back (not on your neck!). Add weight as you get stronger.
- Xvest Push-ups. Much more expensive than a rucksack or chains, but also more convenient. Perform Push-ups wearing an Xvest.
- Incline Push-ups. Shifts the emphasis to your shoulders. Do Push-ups with your feet elevated. Check the picture at the top.
- 1 Hand and/or 1 Feet Push-ups. Pavel Tsatsouline wrote a whole book about these Push-up variations in the Naked Warrior.
- Explosive Push-ups. Build power. Lower yourself in a controlled way. Hold at the bottom for a split second. Push yourself up as hard as you can, trying to elevate yourself from the floor.
- Depth Push-ups. Plyometric exercise. Hands on 4″ blocks. Let yourself fall between the blocks. Push yourself back up on the blocks. The floor is “red hot”: think of bouncing back on the blocks before you hit the floor.
- Handclap Push-ups. Also build explosive strength. Clap your hands on the way up. Check Ross Enamait video of triple handclaps push-ups.
Common Push-up Errors. Here are some of the most common Push-up errors you’ll see. Avoid them at all costs.
- Looking Forward. Hyper-extending your neck can cause neck injuries. Keep your neck inline with the rest of your spine from start to finish.
- Leading with Your Head. Forward head position from computer work is common. Leading with your head during Push-ups aggravates the problems. Both increase risks of neck injuries. Tuck your chin and lead with your chest.
- Letting Your Torso Sack. Often caused by a weak core. Your body must be in a straight line from ankles to shoulders. Push your abs out and squeeze your glutes. Strengthen your core with Prone Bridges.
- Elbows Out. Increases the torque on your shoulder joint. Avoid on Push-ups & Bench Press. Tuck your elbows: 45° angle to your body.
If you’re doing StrongLifts 5×5 and lack the equipment to do Dips or if Dips hurt your shoulders, replace them by Push-ups for 3xF. Add a mini resistance band once you can do 15 Push-ups with good technique on your 1st set.
Nice article Mehdi
Reminds me of when I was 14yo, I used to do them everyday.
One thing I would add is to push up as much on your knuckles as possible. You will strenghten your wrists that way (comes in handy when bench- or overheadpressing), and hyperextending them for too long is bad.
Nice list of push up ideas. I recently started doing them with a 45lb plate on my back so I’ll give some of these other ones a try. Didn’t know about the 45 degree thing either - thanks!
Oh this article is such a wakeup call. I used to do pushups religiously and I’ve gotten lazy. No more! I’m going to start doing them again. Once again, thanks Mehdi!
great post mehdi- I think pushups are an excellent addition to any program and include them on my days I dont go to the gym. I am curious how you feel about the perfect pushup http://www.perfectpushup.com/
or if anyone else has had success with this. I am always weary of informecial-esque products but a friend of mine has these and I tried them the other day and they seemed to give me a better workout than standard pushups. Your thoughts…..
I actually just took push ups out of my chest workout. I’m working on strength this month, which means six reps, not the 20 or so push ups I can do.
After reading this article I think I’ll try the back pack push ups to bring my failure point down to about 6 reps
@Jorick
I used to do daily Push-ups my knuckles too before I got into weight lifting, great idea.
@Brian
Never tried those. But from what I see they would let you use a hammer grip, which is a great way to teach you to tuck your elbows. And you have a greater ROM (bigger stretch). Would be a good Push-up variation, but rings/blast straps are still better (also bigger stretch and similar grip, but force you to stabilize too).
When do you suggest we do these incorperation with the 5×5?
I dont bench, i ohp 3x a week so it would be nice to get some pec work in, apart from doing dips.
I was going to ask about the 5×5 as well. I am currently following the 3x/week schedule and could do more at home on the off days but I have been refraining so far.
@Ro/Mauxe
You can do Push-ups instead of Dips. Or if you want to keep the Dips, alternate between Dips and Push-ups every workout, just like you do with Pull-ups/Chin-ups.
What do you think about handstand pushups? That’s how I usually do them at home, with a couple of children’s chairs so I get the full ROM. I tend to alternate between straight backed and arched (chest facing the floor) depending on whether I want to work on my shoulders or my chest.
Great article! I need to get push-ups back into my daily routine or get them in on days off from the gym. I would love to get an x-vest too! It’s just they are so darn expensive.
Anyways, thanks for the writeup, Mehdi!
I’m twittering this, as well as adding to Delicious, Google Bookmarks and Mahalo.
you can make your pushups as hard as you want btw :). what do you think of planche pushup! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyuJ3T0sQ88
gymnasts often train them
Go Zanta! The man pictured above is Zanta, a local celebrity in Toronto, Canada, who used to go out year-round and do pushups and other feats of strength with no shirt on and his santa hat. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanta
The dude could do some serious push-ups.
500 Diamond push ups a day and you’ll be a beast!!!!
Great post! I think push-ups are an underutilized exercise in most people’s workout regimens. They are great mass builders and a substitute for the bench press, especially if we take your advice above because there are so many variations. I need to incorporate some more into my own routine.
I love push ups and none of my clients can “graduate” until they have done 10 regular push ups!
That picture is bizarre.
For a while when I was younger, I did push-ups and sit-ups every day. I started with 10, and would try to add one rep every day. I got up to about 80 push-ups, and well over 100 sit-ups.
I didn’t think about it until just now, but that kind of employed the same training style that stronglifts is based on: progressing gradually in small increments.
I’m seriously considering starting to train push-ups again, just to see how many I get to doing at once. I’m sure it wouldn’t have any detrimental affect on my regular weight training, and may actually be beneficial.
@Mike/Jorick
Handstand push-ups, planche push-ups, … all good to me. There are plenty of variations.
@iSlappy
Thanks a lot!
Great post Mehdi. Reminds me of he good old days in PE class! If I’m ever in prison this will prove invaluable
I’ve always favored push ups as a bang-for-buck strength exercise. Done correctly they hit your triceps, chest, abs… and you’d be surprised how few people can do them!
man i couldnt have said it better myself. in my opinion everyone should do pushups before the do any form of weights
Great tips, I do pushups all the time, but now I feel like a true pushup expert haha.