How to master the push-up

How to master the push-up

Simple, strenuous and possible almost anywhere, pushups are an almost universally known exercise and a mainstay of military, sports and fitness training regimens. Pushups are a “basic, fundamental move,” says James Whitener III, a strength and conditioning coach at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida.

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

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

Pushups tone your chest, shoulders, and arms — especially the deltoid, triceps and pecs — but they’re really a full-body exercise. “We think of it as an upper body exercise, but it also trains the core muscles and also builds coordination,” said Mr. whitener. Keep your body in a rigid plank position while performing a push-up activates your core muscles and may even take some work off your legs.

“They are very versatile because they target so many things at once,” says Tessia De Mattos, physiotherapist and strength, conditioning and performance rehabilitation coach at The power athlete.

To get started, go in a classic plank position with your palms on the floor, arms slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your palms roughly flush with your shoulders. Mastering regular planks is important, said Dr. The Mattos, because “if you can’t do a full plank with proper form, you’ll struggle to do a full push-up.”

To make sure you’re using good form, try filming yourself with a smartphone, advised Hampton Liu, a personal trainer, fitness influencer and founder of Hybrid Calisthenics. “You don’t have to show your video to anyone! You can even delete it right after. It’s just for you.”

Two common mistakes, said Dr. The Mattos, are that you lower your stomach or arch your lower back instead of keeping it in line with the rest of your body.

How many reps you should do will depend on your current ability and your goals. For the average person trying to get healthier, fitter, and stronger, the best approach is to aim for a short-lived failure — the point of fatigue where you can’t complete another rep with good form — rather than a specific number of reps. , said Patroklos Androulakis-Korakakis, a researcher at Solent University in England and strength coach at StrongerByScience.com.

“By achieving a short-term failure, or at least getting very close to it, people can make sure they’re getting enough stimulus for strength and hypertrophy adaptations,” he said.

If you can’t do more than a handful of reps before you get to this point, try some of the easier variations below. As you progress, you can switch back to standard pushups and then move on to more difficult variations to increase the difficulty as you get stronger, said Dr. Androulakis-Korakakis.

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

If you’re just starting out, Mr. Liu suggested trying wall pushups. Stand in front of a wall at arm’s length and place your hands against it about shoulder-width apart. Lean forward until your face almost touches the wall, then push back to your starting position. Do as many reps as you can, and when this becomes easy, you can move on to a kneeling pushup.

If you can’t quite do a standard pushup yet, you can give yourself a little boost by starting the move from a kneeling position, which will reduce the amount of strain you put on your arms, shoulders, and chest. dr. De Mattos said.

As you become more adept at doing pushups, you will have to do more of them to reach the point of temporary failure. Performing exercises to this point can maximize the recruitment of motor units and muscle fibers, said Dr. Androulakis-Korakakis, which in turn will encourage adaptations and make you stronger. “Achieving temporary failure is a great way to make sure people get the most out of each set.” Here are some ways to get there.

Once you’re adept at basic pushups, you can increase the difficulty by starting the pushup movement with your feet above you, said Mr. Liu. Starting with a few books on the floor beneath your feet should make a noticeable difference, he said. From there, you can try a short stool (perhaps a foot off the ground) and then work your way up to a chair or even a railing.

This is a more difficult push-up variation that you do by holding your hands together while your thumbs and index fingers touch in a way that creates a diamond-shaped hole where your hands meet. You can work your way into these orbits by simply moving your hands a little closer together until that becomes easy, and then moving them closer and closer together until they finally touch, Mr. Liu said.

If you can easily do sets of 10 pushups, you can increase the difficulty by placing a small weight plate on your back to increase the weight you are pushing. If you’re doing this at home and don’t have weights, you can throw some heavy books in a backpack and use that as weight, said Dr. The Mattos. The extra weight shouldn’t be so much that you can’t do more than a few, but should be enough to get you to the point of temporary failure in about ten reps or less.

These require excellent core strength to keep your body in position as you push up with a single arm, said Mr. Liu. “It’s a great core exercise.” The trick here is to use your legs and core to keep your body stable as you push up with a single arm. Spreading your feet further apart can help stabilize yourself as you walk.

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

Christie Aschwanden is a writer based in western Colorado and the author of “Good to Go: What the Athlete in All of Us Can Learn from the Strange Science of Recovery.”