Why you should be doing push-ups, and how to master them

With proper technique, you can get the most out of this simple, yet powerful exercise

The push-up is a great exercise for the chest, shoulder and arm muscles but it also works your core and legs. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times
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Simple, strenuous and possible to do almost anywhere, push-ups are an almost universally known exercise and a mainstay of military, sport and fitness training regimens. Push-ups are a “basic, foundational movement”, said James Whitener, a strength and conditioning coach.

Because it requires a cognisance of the body’s position from head to toe, the exercise helps to develop something called kinesthetic awareness – an understanding of how one’s body moves through space. This awareness can help exercisers develop a sense of their body’s ability and prepare them for “bigger, more complex movements”, such as deadlifts or squats, he said.

But getting the most out of push-ups requires good technique. Here’s what you need to know.

1) What makes push-ups great

Push-ups hone your chest, shoulders and arms – particularly the deltoid, triceps and pectoral muscles – but they’re really a full body movement. “We think of it as an upper body exercise, but it’s also working the core muscles and building co-ordination as well,” Whitener said. Holding your body in a rigid plank position while executing a push-up activates your core muscles and can even require some work from your legs too.

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The push-up requires keeping the body rigid in a straight line, with face forward, then lowering the body until just before the nose touches the floor. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

“They’re very versatile, because they just target so many things at once,” said Tessia De Mattos, a physical therapist and strength, conditioning and performance rehabilitation coach.

2) How to do one

To start, get into a classic plank position with your palms on the ground, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your palms about even with your shoulders. Mastering regular planks is important, De Mattos said, because “if you can’t do a full plank with proper form, you’re going to have difficulty performing a full push-up”.

To ensure that you’re using good form, try filming yourself with a smartphone, advised Hampton Liu, a personal trainer and fitness influencer.

Two common mistakes, De Mattos said, are letting your belly sag or arching your lower back rather than keeping it aligned with the rest of your body.

3) How many?

How many repetitions you should do depends on your current ability and your objectives. For the average person who is trying to get healthier, fitter and stronger, the best approach is to aim for momentary failure – the point of fatigue where you can’t complete another rep with good form – rather than a specific number of repetitions, said Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis, a researcher at Solent University in England and strength coach.

“By reaching momentary failure, or at least getting very close to it, people can ensure that they’re getting a sufficient enough stimulus for strength and hypertrophy adaptations,” he said.

If you can’t do more than a handful of repetitions before reaching this point, you can try some of the easier variations below.

4) To make them easier. . .

“There’s no reason to be ashamed if you can’t do a push-up. Fitness is a journey and we all start somewhere,” Liu said in a video about push-ups. If you can’t yet do a push-up, “you can build up”, he said.

- Wall push-up: If you’re just starting out, Liu suggested trying wall push-ups. Stand facing a wall at arm’s length, and place your hands about shoulder-width apart against it. Lean in until your face almost touches the wall, then push back to your starting position. Do as many reps as you can, and when this gets easy, you can progress to a kneeling push-up.

Try doing a wall push-up if you can't do a regular one. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

- Kneeling push-up: If you can’t quite do a standard push-up yet, you can give yourself a bit of a boost by initiating the movement from a kneeling position, which reduces the amount of load you’re putting on your arms, shoulders and chest, De Mattos said.

The kneeling push-up. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

5) To make them harder. . .

As you become more proficient at doing push-ups, you’ll need to do more of them to reach the point of momentary failure. Performing exercises to this point can maximise motor unit and muscle fibre recruitment, Androulakis-Korakakis said, which in turn will stimulate adaptations and make you stronger. Here are some ways to get you there.

Raised-leg push-up. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

- Raised leg push-up: Once you become adept at standard push-ups, you can increase the difficulty by starting the push-up movement with your feet elevated above you, Liu said.

Starting with a few books on the ground underneath your feet should provide some noticeable difference, he said. From there, you can try a short stool (maybe a foot off the ground) and then work up to a chair or even a railing.

Challenging: the diamond push-up. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

- Narrow (or diamond) pushup: These are a more difficult push-up variation that you do by holding your hands together with your thumbs and forefingers touching in a way that creates a diamond-shaped hole where your hands come together. You can work your way up to these by simply moving your hands a little closer together until that becomes easy, then moving them closer and closer until eventually they finally touch, Liu said.

- Weighted push-up: When you can do sets of 10 push-ups easily, you can turn up the difficulty by placing a small weight plate on your back to increase the weight you’re pushing. If you’re doing these at home and don’t have weights, you can throw a few heavy books in a backpack and use that as a weight, De Mattos said. The extra weight shouldn’t be so much that you can’t do more than a couple, but should be enough to get you to the point of momentary failure in about 10 reps or fewer.

Try weighted push-ups if standard ones are too easy. Photograph: Zack DeZon/The New York Times

- One armed push-up: These require excellent core strength to keep your body in position as you push up with a single arm, Liu said. The trick is to use your legs and core to keep your body stable as you push up with a single arm. Spreading your feet farther apart can help you stabilise yourself as you go.

There are lots of ways to do push-ups, Liu said. “Find one you can do, and work it.” As you get stronger you can progress to a harder version.

This article originally appeared in the New York Times