Push-ups may be one in every of the few exercises that the majority people on the planet have performed (or attempted to perform). Whether it’s as a part of physical education in class, in a fitness test, or as a fast and straightforward solution to get into higher shape, many individuals are acquainted with hitting the deck and pressing away.
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The push-up is one of the crucial fundamental body weight exercises, accessible to anyone, anywhere. Its usefulness as a test of upper body strength and core stability make it a mainstay for physical fitness assessments. Unfortunately, lifters sometimes regard the exercise as being “too basic” and never difficult enough.
Here’s a refresher on why the classic push-up ought to be a part of your training plan, whether you’re latest to fitness or a lifelong lifter.
The way to Do the Push-Up
The goal of a push-up is to lower yourself down towards the ground, graze the bottom, after which thrust back up. Take note the phrase “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” from the levitating game from classic kids’ sleepovers or classic ’90s teenage witch movies.
For an efficient push-up, your whole body has to work together. It’s not only “a chest exercise.” All the muscles — out of your head to your toes — are going to work to maintain your body in a robust and stable position. When all your muscles are working together, you’ll be at your strongest and the movement will likely be at its most effective.
Step 1 — Begin in a Tall Plank Position
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Get on the bottom and support your body along with your hands and the balls of your feet. Keep your legs and arms straight. Set your hands directly under your shoulders, nearly shoulder-width apart. You might have to be a little bit wider depending in your frame and arm length.
Squeeze your glutes and tuck your hips toward your belly button. This can help keep your core from sagging. Keep your ribs and hips in alignment. It’s okay in case your back finally ends up barely rounded, because that’s more stable than having a sagging core.
Form Tip: For increased upper back stability and a stronger shoulder position, pull your shoulders toward your feet, away out of your ears. For thus many exercises, it’s essential to lock your shoulders into place. Drilling this habit with the push-up is one effective solution to learn a powerful pressing posture.
Step 2 — Pull Yourself to the Ground
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Don’t just drop into the underside position. Take into consideration pulling yourself down toward the bottom. You would like to be in total control of your movement. Squeeze your shoulder blades together as you lower yourself toward the ground. Maintain a “stiff as a board” plank position out of your torso through your legs.
As your body descends, aim your elbows at roughly 45-degrees between your feet and shoulders. Feel muscular tension increasing in your chest, shoulders, and triceps as you approach the underside position. Lower yourself so far as your mobility allows, with the goal of touching the ground.
Form Tip: Don’t allow your elbows to flare out as you lower yourself because it may increase stress in your shoulder joints. You might must adjust your hand position to permit proper elbow tracking. In case your fingers are pointed towards one another, your elbows will likely be more more likely to flair. Position your hands along with your fingers pointed straight ahead or barely outward.
Step 3 — Press to Return to the Top Position
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When you graze the bottom along with your chest, or reach your lowest possible depth, push through your hands and feet to bring your body away from the bottom. Keep your legs straight, but use the muscular tension stored head-to-toe to make your body “light as a feather.”
Apply regular force until your arms are fully locked and also you’ve returned to the starting position. Pause briefly within the tall plank position and re-engage your core before starting the following repetition.
Form Tip: You’ll be able to change the tempo (rep speed) to regulate the problem of the exercise. Moving at a slower pace will increase the entire time under tension and increase muscle recruitment, which may increase the muscle-building stimulus. (1)(2)
Push-Up Mistakes to Avoid
There are lots of different mistakes that may occur in a push-up since the movement involves coordinating your entire body from head to toe. Nonetheless, probably the most common mistakes often occur at your arms and in your core. Here’s what to observe out for.
Elbows Flaring Out
One frequent mistake is allowing your elbows to flare out in the course of the exercise. For higher results with less joint stress, make sure you keep your elbows at about 45-degrees. Don’t allow them to point sideways toward the partitions.
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Your elbow position can vary barely depending in your individual arm length and leverages, but letting your elbows unfolded toward your shoulders shifts more strain to your shoulder and elbow joints.
Avoid It: While you arrange to start the exercise, lock your shoulders into place by “un-shrugging” and pulling them away out of your ears. When your elbows flare, it may drive your shoulders up toward your ears. By securing strong shoulders, your shoulders help to maintain your elbows in position. Also concentrate on maintaining this strong shoulder position as you start pushing from the underside of the movement.
Sagging Core
One other major mistake is your core sagging down toward the ground. As an alternative of falling out of core alignment, keep your rib cage and hips stacked evenly. This is similar fully engaged position you would like during many standing exercises, just like the overhead press.
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When your core sags down and breaks the stable plank position, it’s an indicator that you’re not holding tension in your core. With this unstable position, the remaining of the movement will likely be out of alignment. It also puts unwanted pressure in your spine, which may potentially result in injury.
Avoid it: Many individuals have been told too over and over that their butts are “too high within the air” while doing planks, so that they attempt to compensate and the other occurs — they find yourself sagging to the bottom.
It might be simpler to have your butt “too high” while you’re gaining strength with the movement, moderately than have your core sag down and compromise spinal stability. Tuck your pelvis and rib cage toward your belly button, as if doing a basic crunch. Hold this strong core position as you deal with lowering your body as one unit.
Advantages of the Push-Up
Push-ups have several advantages including general muscular strength, muscular endurance, core stability, and longevity. Here’s a more in-depth have a look at why it is best to work on this easy and effective body weight movement.
Upper Body Strength
Push-ups are one of the crucial complete upper body, body weight exercises you’ll be able to do. While not having any training equipment in any respect, you’ll be able to challenge your chest, shoulder, and triceps muscles, in addition to your core and hips.
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Your legs, and even your back muscles, are also recruited as stabilizers to manage your body’s movement in the course of the exercise.
Versatility
Push-ups can construct muscular size, endurance, or general strength. Each goal may involve different volumes (sets and reps) or intensity techniques, however the push-up is a fast and effective choice to train for nearly any goal with none training equipment.
Relative Strength
The push-up is an efficient solution to construct, maintain, or monitor relative strength — being “strong on your size” or having a high degree of functional strength. Since it requires you to lift your body weight, the push-up may help to make sure or monitor relative strength gains as you construct muscle. This will likely even be one reason why push-up capability has been related to general cardiovascular health. (3)
Muscles Worked by the Push-Up
Push-ups are mostly known for working the pectoralis muscles (your chest), but push-ups work several other muscles throughout the body.
Pectoralis Major and Pec Minor
The pec major is the first “chest muscle” and it’s accountable for pulling the arms toward the body’s centerline. The consists of two separate heads — the sternocostal and the clavicular — which work together during most movements.
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The pectoralis minor is a supportive, stabilizing muscle positioned beneath the pec major. It plays a job in joint stability and is heavily recruited because the shoulder blades move in the course of the exercise. The pec muscles are stretched as you descend toward the bottom they usually strongly contract as you push up from the ground.
Serratus
The serratus are found alongside your ribs, sometimes considered “armpit muscles” because they run near your underarm. This stabilizer muscle aids in keeping your shoulders and scapula in a powerful, locked-in position as your arms press and extend during push-ups. They’re significantly recruited as your approach lockout at the highest of every repetition.
Triceps Brachii
Your triceps are manufactured from three separate heads — the lateral, the long, and the medial. Since the triceps are accountable for straightening your arms on the elbow joint, they’re recruited during all pressing exercises, including the push-up.
The triceps are more significantly activated if you happen to perform a comparatively close-grip push-up, versus using a shoulder-width or greater hand position, which recruits more pec muscle. (4)
Anterior Deltoid
These muscles are found on the front of your shoulders. The anterior deltoids help to manage arm movement in front of your body. During push-ups, the muscles lengthen as they aid in controlling your descent. They contract if you apply force to the highest of the movement.
Abdominals
Your abdominals, running along the front of your torso, act as a brace and supply upper body strength and support along with your hips and lower back. The abs are recruited to take care of a stable and efficient total-body pressing position. They aren’t put through any significant range of motion during push-ups. They work statically, holding one position from start to complete.
Who Should Do the Push-Up
Push-ups are for everybody — from bodybuilders and strength athletes to the overall population who just need to find a way to lift their kids. The simplicity and flexibility of the push-up make it an useful exercise for nearly all of people within the gym.
Bodybuilders and Physique-Focused Lifters
While the push-up may not offer relatively heavy loads, unless you add a weighted vest or other external resistance, its convenience and practicality make it an efficient selection for supersets during a chest workout — immediately performing a set of push-ups after a set of dumbbell flyes, for instance.
This is a straightforward solution to increase total training volume and intensity during a workout, which may result in improved muscle growth.
Strength Athletes
Lifters who constantly move heavy loads with barbell or dumbbell exercises can achieve comparable strength-building advantages from push-ups performed with added resistance. (5)(6) This permits load-focused lifters to extend their strength while reducing wear and tear on their shoulders and elbows from repetitive exercises.
General Trainees
Because push-ups are a fundamental body weight exercise, they’re a superb solution to construct functional, real-world strength with quick, efficient training. (7) The flexibility to perform push-ups anywhere there’s room on the bottom (any room of the home, for instance) makes it a super exercise for individuals who find it difficult to schedule consistent gym time.
The way to Program the Push-Up
The great thing about body weight movements is that the range of volume (sets and reps) and intensity could be very broad. The quantity and intensity depends upon your goals and skill. When you are more advanced, you’ll be able to either do more volume or you’ll be able to make the push-up more difficult. When you’re still learning the movement, deal with racking up quality repetitions as a substitute of pushing your limits.
Unweighted, Low Repetition
While you’re first learning the push-up and establishing basic strength within the movement, you don’t must do a ton of repetitions because your form will start to interrupt down from fatigue. Three to 4 sets of 4 to 6 reps is an excellent place to start out.
You’ll profit from performing just a few solid repetitions with perfect technique to create good movement patterns, and slowly increasing the amount.
Unweighted, High Repetition
High-repetition training could be an efficient solution to construct muscle without putting your joints under any significant load. (8) When you’ve mastered push-up technique, aiming to achieve muscular fatigue for two to a few sets of 25 or more repetitions generally is a unique muscle-building stimulus for the chest, shoulders, and triceps.
On this high-rep range, your abdominals are also significantly challenged from holding the static support position all through each set.
Weighted, Moderate Repetition
Advanced lifters, specifically, can profit from adding resistance with a weighted vest, loaded backpack, or other alternative, and performing three to 4 sets of 10 to fifteen repetitions. It is a time-tested approach, just like traditional weight training, which challenges the muscles with significant time under tension to advertise muscle growth.
Push-Up Variations
The great thing about push-ups is the incredibly long list of variations, which make push-ups suitable for nearly everyone. Understanding the flexibility to regress, progress, or simply produce other options available will assist you to find a way to learn push-ups or incorporate them into your existing program.
Incline Push-Up
Incline push-ups help you do a full range of motion push-up using a “decreased” body weight since you shift the leverage.
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While incline push-ups are a regression (easier version) of the usual push-up, it may still be progressed by progressively lowering the peak you utilize. You’ll be able to start by leaning on a wall at a really high, nearly upright, angle and slowly progress your solution to the ground.
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At home, you need to use sturdy countertops, couches, or stairs to regulate your incline over time. On the gym, using a flat bench is a straightforward solution. A Smith machine can be a superb solution to make the exercise incrementally more difficult as you slowly move the bar down the rack toward the ground.
Negative Push-Up
Negative push-ups are one other effective favorite because, not only are they great for beginners, but they may also provide a implausible challenge for more advanced lifters.
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A “negative push-up,” simply means that you just only deal with performing a slow, controlled descent (eccentric, or negative, phase) without attempting to press yourself as much as the starting position. You’ll be able to “cheat” yourself back to the highest by kneeling and resetting between each rep.
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Advanced lifters, nonetheless, can add a regular-speed press to the highest position or perform a press using the identical slow tempo for an increased challenge.
Negative push-ups help to learn control of the movement, they assist to work on core stability and strength. Take no less than five seconds to finish the negative phase of the repetition. The longer it takes, the harder it is going to be, which in turn helps to construct upper body strength. When using a slower slow speed, simply deal with using proper form with full core engagement and stability.
Single-Leg Push-Up
If you must make push-ups more difficult without throwing weights in your back, just remove a limb out of your base of support. By keeping one leg raised within the air throughout the exercise, you’re focusing your core to have interaction much more drastically to stabilize your entire body through your hips and dealing leg. Alternate the raised leg with each set to make sure balanced strength development.
When you’ve mastered single-leg push-ups, keep each legs on the bottom and work on single-arm push-ups — arguably one of the crucial advanced body weight exercises. If/when the time comes that single-arm push-ups aren’t tough, it’s time for single-arm/single-leg push-ups. Really. Lift your right arm and left foot off the bottom, perform reps, then switch sides.
Push-Up Alternatives
Some lifters still may not be ready for push-ups. Perhaps they live where there’s no ground to press from. Who knows? Let’s discuss alternative exercises that work muscles similarly to a push-up.
Dips
Dips are right at the highest of the list with push-ups, so far as body weight chest exercises go. Compared to push-ups, dips are typically harder because you’ll be able to’t push through the ground along with your legs. It’s also a rather more “vertical” body position, making you lift a better percentage of your body weight. To make dips more accessible to a broader range of the population, the exercise often must be modified.
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Bench dips, using a flat bench or sturdy chair, allow you to brace your legs just like performing incline push-ups. It is going to help to diminish the quantity of your body weight getting used, however the altered body angle will emphasize your triceps greater than your chest.
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Performing dips with resistance bands is a really effective solution to reduce the share of body weight you lift in the course of the movement, allowing you to progress progressively. Dips do require a better degree of upper back mobility and shoulder joint stability, so take your time progressing the movement and at all times work inside a controlled range of motion.
Dumbbell Chest Press
The dumbbell chest press is a free weight alternative to the push-up. This basic exercise challenges all the same muscles — chest, shoulders, and triceps — with the simple progression of added weight.
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The exercise is adaptable and could be performed on a flat, incline, or decline bench. Dumbbells also allow the wrists to rotate freely, which may adjust hand position for altered muscle recruitment or increased comfort on the wrists and elbows.
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You’ll be able to even do dumbbell presses while lying on the ground to limit the range of motion, reduce shoulder strain, and increase triceps recruitment.
Bench Press
The large, basic, barbell bench press may be the most well-liked upper body exercise around. It’s a really effective alternative to the push-up and allows the use of doubtless heavy weights.
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This staple exercise could be adapted, just like the dumbbell variation, with multiple angles and adjusted ranges of motion (like lying on the ground as a substitute of a bench).
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Many individuals jump to the barbell bench press as one in every of the primary exercises they perform within the gym. But in the event that they’ve ever practices push-ups at home, they’ve prepared themselves for the bench press without even realizing it.
FAQs
Why are push-ups so hard?
Push-ups challenge the entire body and require coordination and strength from head to toe — out of your upper back and neck across your torso through your legs and into the bottom.
Push-ups are hard for many individuals since it requires lifting your body weight off of the ground using the direct strength of your chest and arms, which are sometimes undertrained, especially in beginners. With time, practice, and inevitable strength gains, the exercise can begin to feel easier, more controlled, and rather more natural.
Can I do push-ups daily?
The straightforward answer is: Yes. The more complicated answer is: Yes, but… don’t forget to take heed to your body and rest your muscles as needed. While you’re just beginning to learn how one can do push-ups, performing five to 10 reps a day may help to construct good patterns.
You’ll be able to even do very low-rep sets multiple times throughout the day to profit from “greasing the groove,” or constructing strength and technique with high frequency training.
Nonetheless it’s worthwhile to be sure that you just don’t train daily with high intensity and also you don’t train to muscular failure. You must rest the muscles and permit them to get well so that you just don’t overtrain.
Get Pushin’ with the Push-Up
Everyone can do push-ups, anywhere, anytime. From young lifters to competitive athletes to elderly adults, push-ups may help to maintain your training plan convenient and accessible so your body stays strong. You’re never too strong, too experienced, or too latest to hit the deck and gimme 20. Or 10. And even five perfect reps.
References
- Burd, N. A., Andrews, R. J., West, D. W., Little, J. P., Cochran, A. J., Hector, A. J., Cashaback, J. G., Gibala, M. J., Potvin, J. R., Baker, S. K., & Phillips, S. M. (2012). Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. The Journal of physiology, 590(2), 351–362. https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200
- Hsu, Hsiu-Hao & Chou, You-Li & Huang, Yen-Po & Huang, Ming-Jer & Lou, Shu-Zon & Pei, Paul & Chou, Hsi. (2011). Effect of Push-up Speed on Upper Extremity Training until Fatigue. Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering. 31. 10.5405/jmbe.844.
- Yang J, Christophi CA, Farioli A, et al. Association Between Push-up Exercise Capability and Future Cardiovascular Events Amongst Energetic Adult Men. JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(2):e188341. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.8341
- Kim, Y. S., Kim, D. Y., & Ha, M. S. (2016). Effect of the push-up exercise at different palmar width on muscle activities. Journal of physical therapy science, 28(2), 446–449. https://doi.org/10.1589/jpts.28.446
- Calatayud, J., Borreani, S., Colado, J. C., Martin, F., Tella, V., & Andersen, L. L. (2015). Bench press and push-up at comparable levels of muscle activity ends in similar strength gains. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(1), 246–253. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000589
- Kotarsky, C. J., Christensen, B. K., Miller, J. S., & Hackney, K. J. (2018). Effect of Progressive Calisthenic Push-up Training on Muscle Strength and Thickness. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 32(3), 651–659. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000002345
- Harrison, Jeffrey. (2010). Body weight Training: A Return To Basics. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 32. 52-55. 10.1519/SSC.0b013e3181d5575c.
- Schoenfeld, B. J., Peterson, M. D., Ogborn, D., Contreras, B., & Sonmez, G. T. (2015). Effects of Low- vs. High-Load Resistance Training on Muscle Strength and Hypertrophy in Well-Trained Men. Journal of strength and conditioning research, 29(10), 2954–2963. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0000000000000958
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