Push-up

How to perform it

1. 1Preparation and positioning. Actively press the palms into the floor, fingers spread. Legs extended, heels back, crown of the head forward. Brace the abs and glutes so ribs and pelvis stay stacked.
2. 2Starting position. Elbows extended, without passively locking out. Shoulder blades actively protracted at the top; don't let the sternum sag between the shoulders. The body forms an ear–shoulder–hip–knee–ankle line.
3. 3Concentric phase. Push the floor away evenly after the descent. Extend elbows and shoulders together, without the hips/chest moving out of sync. At the top, actively get "long" out of the shoulder blades.
4. 4End position / lockout. Full elbow extension and controlled scapular protraction; the torso line stays unchanged.
5. 5Eccentric phase. Lower the body as one unit over 2–3 seconds. Elbows typically sit around 30–60° from the torso; forearms close to vertical. The bottom is reached once the chest is just above the floor with shoulder control maintained.
6. 6Breathing and bracing. Inhale on the way down and hold tension; exhale on the way up. No breathing pattern should override torso control or medical clearance.
7. 7Valid rep. Same body line, a controlled defined depth standard, and a full lockout — no resting on the floor to unload.

Common mistakes

• Hips sagging

  Fix: Ribs to pelvis; glutes tight.

• Elbows flared way out

  Fix: Turn the hands in actively toward a 30–60° corridor.

• Head-first descent

  Fix: Lead with the sternum toward your hands, not the chin toward the floor.

• Shoulder blades pinned rigidly back

  Fix: Actively push the floor away instead of holding the blades static.

Safety

• Shoulder: range/hand position vary — only use a pain-free corridor; get a manual review if symptomatic.
• Elbow/wrist: wrist extension/compression — use push-up handles or an incline, and stop at pain.
• Cardiovascular concerns: high rep counts and breath-holding — use a cleared intensity and rest.
• Reduced bone density: wrist/shoulder load and fall consequences — use an individually cleared incline variant.

Progressions & alternatives

• regressionPec Deck Fly— A guided chest load — not a direct skill regression, but useful if the hand/torso position isn't tolerable yet.
• progressionParallel-bar Dip— A higher relative pressing demand, once dip goals and shoulder prerequisites are met.
• alternativeBarbell Bench Press— Finer standardized load if push-ups are too light for hypertrophy or max strength.
• prerequisiteWall-assisted Handstand Push-up— Builds the torso/scapula base — overhead and inversion prerequisites are trained separately.