Reading #2: How to do Push-ups (At any strength level).
The following is a guide I've made on how to do push-ups, which will be the very first
exercise you learn in this program.
It's bit long, but if you set aside about (15-20 minutes?) you should be able to read
through the whole thing, try it out a couple times, and feel relatively confident about
how they work. The exercise in the section 'How to Build Up To a Push-up if You Can't
Yet Do One' will be the focal point of the guide for the purposes of this workout, but it
is worth reading and trying to comprehend the whole thing.
Nick-E's Push-up Guide
Many if not all of the exercises in this routine (and in general) will appear simple to do,
but will be deceptively complex to do well, so if you don't grasp 100% of the nuance in
the guide in the first go-around, don't worry. You're not really expected to, we just
want you to have access to it to check back and learn more over time.
Once you've finished that, head on down to the next section!
How to do Push-ups
The push-up is one of the most fundamental upper body strength training movements
in bodyweight training (along with the pull-up, row, and pike pushup or dip). That’s
why it is the very first exercise you learn in my BWF Primer routine (A free routine for
total beginners to exercise that’s meant to give you a slow introduction to fitness, that
starts with just one exercise on day one and builds up to the full routine over 14 days).
Many people falsely conflate the fact that the push-up is a ‘basic’ exercise with the
idea that they are very easy. As a result most people do not pay close attention to their
form, and consequently do push-ups in a flawed way that both increases joint strain
and also makes them much less effective at loading the chest, triceps and shoulders.
This guide is an attempt to:
1. Comprehensively lay-out the proper form for push-ups
2. Explain what to do if you cannot do a push-up yet
3. Outline some of the most common form errors in the push-up that you may
come across
Important Note:
From the perspective of getting the most out of this guide, it would be in your best
interest to film yourself from the side doing a few reps, and watch them back as you
read this guide in order to get a frame of reference, and see which parts of the guide
are most helpful for you. (Don’t worry if you don’t have a tripod to frame yourself up,
you can just prop your phone against something and use the front facing camera to
frame where you will be standing.)
Also the following summary of this exercise is described in about AS MUCH DETAIL AS
POSSIBLE. If this is your first time learning about this exercise, this may feel like an
overwhelming amount of information to you to begin with. Do not worry, this guide is
so detailed simply because it is a reference guide, and not everything needs to be
absorbed and perfectly replicated on your very first read through. You will most likely
come back to read this guide many many times as you learn.
Similarly, if this is your first time learning about this exercise, you may not be able to
perform a full push-up on the floor yet. Do not worry, later in the guide there is detail
on how to modify the push-up to make it easier (titled: ‘How to Build Up To a Push-up
if You Can’t Yet Do One), and the principles of form outlined below are applicable to
any variation of push-up nonetheless.
Start Position:
1. Chin Tucked so neck is aligned with rest of spine
2. Upper back extended (think about pushing your sternum forward)
and ribs down
3. Shoulders pushed away from the ears (depressed) and slightly into the ground
(protracted)
4. Hands slightly wider than shoulder width, fingers spread, middle fingers parallel
to eachother, elbows straight
5. Lower back flat (slight posterior pelvic tilt) and legs in line with torso (hip
extension)
Movement:
(1) Radial Shoulder Movement: As you can see, if you stuck a marker on the shoulder,
it would draw a trace like a quarter of a circle, because the upper arm is rotating
around the elbow, which is fixed.
(2) Vertical Forearm: This will come with point 1. If you are leading the movement with
the shoulder, your forearm will not drift back. If it does, it puts more force on the
elbow (which your elbow will not like once you start loading weight onto it). This,
along with point 1, will make sure your thumbs are in line with the bottom of your
chest at the bottom.
(3) Ankle Rock: This is what allows you to lead the movement with your shoulder
without breaking bodyline. As you come down, point your toes a bit, it will send your
body forward.
End Position:
1. Bodyline: Butt should not be sticking up. Nice straight line from head to heel.
2. Shoulder Position: Shoulders pushed down and pinched together like you’re
trying to hold a penny between your shoulder blades. Down AND pinched is the
key. Don’t let your shoulders shrug up in order to pinch them. (If they do,
reference the ‘Shoulder caving’ compensation mentioned below)
3. Depth: Chest to ground.
How to Build Up to a Full Push-Up if You Can’t Yet Do One:
So now that we’ve outlined the ideal push-up on the floor, that’s great for those who
have the strength to do it. But what if you can’t do it? Maybe you thought you could
do them, but now that you’re trying with proper form they’re too hard! Or maybe you
came to this guide knowing for certain you can’t do one. The solution is Incline Push-
ups.
The Incline Push-up works by putting your hands on a surface that is higher than your
feet. Usually a countertop, table, sturdy chair, bench, bar, etc.
By doing so, more of your weight is shifted on your feet than your hands, so the
amount of weight you are pushing is much less the higher your hands are.
This means all you have to do is find a surface that is high enough that you can manage
to do a few reps of push-ups on with good form, and then as you get stronger you
move on to lower and lower surfaces until you are on the floor!
The highest surface you can try is about chest/rib height. For most people starting
from a low level of strength, something like a kitchen counter is a good starting point.
Incline Push-up Set up:
You should be able to follow the form tips for the standard push-up on the floor for the
incline pushup, with one slight modification. Instead of forearms vertical, your
forearms will simply be perpendicular to your body. Sound confusing? Sound like it’d
be hard to check visually? Don’t worry! There’s an easy trick to make sure you are
always doing this right.
Place your hands on the inclined surface so that the heel/bottom half of your palm is in
contact with the corner of the surface (not placing your palms flat on the surface). You
are going to set yourself up at the bottom of the rep, so that your body is straight from
head to heel and the surface of the corner you are grabbing is contacting your body
just below your pecs. For people with breasts, this will be more or less around the
bottom band of a sports bra. You can fully rest your chest on the surface here as you
are setting up.
If you set up at the bottom like this, and return to this position every rep, you will
naturally be assuming the equivalent of the forearms vertical position.
(Note: with regards to hand placement, the heel of your hand should be in contact
with the corner of the surface, and your thumbs should be on the flat top of the
surface; do not tuck your thumb around the edge. Shown below:)
Common Compensations:
Here are some very common ways that people lose position in the push-up, due to lack
of technique, or due to weakness and trying to do a progression that is too hard for
them.
Hip Sag in the Push-up:
Incorrect:
Correct:
Why does this happen?
You may not be engaging your abs sufficiently, so the movement is coming from the
‘path of least resistance’, which is extending at the spine to reduce the leverage on
your arms.
Drills to help fix:
More practice
Work on bracing strength with dead bugs
Apply the brace to the plank
Work on an easier progression until you can keep the brace all the way through
the movement
Chicken Necking in the Push-up
Incorrect:
Correct:
Looking at the above videos, notice how far my body is off the ground on the left, even
though my nose is on the ground because my neck is jutted so far forwards.
Conversely, on the right my nose and chest approach the ground at roughly the same
time.
Why does this happen?
You are subconsciously trying to limit the ROM because you are using the cue ‘nose to
ground’ so if you extend your neck, your nose touches the ground sooner in the
movement.
Drills to help fix:
Stop using ‘nose to ground’, use ‘chest to ground’
Do an easier progression that you can complete the full ROM of without
chicken necking
Over-exaggerate a tucked ‘double chin’ position for a while until you get used
to the movement, then move to a neutral neck
High Hips in the Push-up
Incorrect:
Correct:
Why does this happen?
You haven’t learned how to extend at the hip in the pushup, or the bottom of the
pushup is too hard for you, so you lift your hips to limit the range of motion
subconsciously.
You may also be over-compensating to prevent hip-sagging.
Drills to help fix:
Bottom push-up holds
Film yourself doing pushups and figure out what it feels like to be in the right
position vs wrong position
Shoulder ‘Rolling’ in the Push-up
Incorrect:
Correct:
If you imagine the upper arm like an arrow, you will see the difference between these
two easily. If your shoulders roll forward, your upper arms will point towards the
ground, whereas they should be pointing up to your head.
Why does this happen?
There are two main reasons in my experience.
1. You can’t set your shoulder properly
2. You are over ‘tucking’ your elbows because you used to do the T-pushup and
are over-exaggerating in the other direction
How do I fix it?
Improve your lower trap strength
Exaggerate the shoulder setting process (roll the shoulders back and then
down) and squeeze hard
Stop over-tucking your elbows to your sides
Pick an easier progression that you can do without shoulder caving
Frequently asked questions:
I read that I should do wall push-ups if I can’t do incline pushups, right?
Wall push-ups aren’t great because the wall gets in the way of your face, which limits
ROM. Better to get the same effect is to do an incline pushup on the corner of a
surface that is just a few inches below chest height, so you can do full ROM
Can I do knee push-ups instead of incline pushups?
You can, but they won’t be as effective as incline pushups due to the sensitive
scalability of the incline pushup, as well as the specificity to the bodyline of the
standard pushup. The knee push-up may get you the strength you need to get a
pushup but due to the positioning, it is likely to cause you to exhibit the booty push-
up fault mentioned earlier in the article.
I don’t feel push-ups in my chest/triceps/shoulders. Am I doing them wrong?
Maybe. But if you aren’t, it is not a problem if you don’t feel them in the area you
want. The weak link in the chain is always what you will feel first, and what will limit
your performance. Here’s an example.
Perhaps you want to get a big chest, so you do push-ups. Your chest is pretty strong,
and your anterior deltoid is very weak. You do push-ups, and you can do 10 reps, but
the thing that really burns and stops you from doing 11, 12 or more reps, is your delts
get too weak to push you up. You feel a huge pump in your deltoids, but nothing in
your chest. That’s not because you aren’t doing them in a way that your chest is being
worked, but rather because your delts are proportionally weaker, so need to catch up
before the push-up will stress your chest to any meaningful degree. Don’t skip out on
strengthening your body proportionally because you are obsessed with [insert muscle]
development. Your delts will catch up, and then your chest will grow. Be patient.
All of this detail seems stupid, can’t I just do push-ups the way I want?
Sure. I’m not the push-up police. Do whatever you want!
My wrists hurt when I do push-ups. How can I fix this?
You may have weak wrists and would benefit from a thorough wrist warm-up before
doing any wrist loading activities like push-ups.
If you want to keep doing push-ups with hurt wrists, you can always get low paralettes
or ‘push-up bars’. You can also change your hand position or do them on your fists.
Whatever doesn’t aggravate the injury.
Are wide push-ups better for chest development?
No. They are good for very little. If you set your shoulder properly and don’t ‘T’ your
pushup, you can do them safely, but why would you? A harder pushup progression, or
a weighted push-up will get you where you want better.
What push-up is the best for chest development?
The hardest one you can do with good form. Also, weighted ring push-ups.
Is 100/200/300/etc. Push-ups a day a good workout?
No. If that is all you are doing, you will develop imbalances that puts your shoulder in a
fragile and injury prone state. You need to balance push and pull exercises. Also, doing
that many push-ups will only make you good at doing push-ups. It won’t really help
muscle size, strength, etc.
Can I do push-ups with my hands sideways/backwards?
Yes.
Can I do push-ups on my fists?
Also yes.
Why do I need to go all the way down?
Full Range of motion = Better strength and muscle gains. Partial reps have their place
but shouldn’t be the standard.
Are push-ups or dips better?
Apples and Oranges. Ideally, do both.
Are push-ups or bench press better?
Depends on your goal. If you want to be good at bench, do bench. If you want to be
good at push-ups, do push-ups. On the other hand, If you want to push heavy weight
and don’t have anyway to micro-load your push-up, do bench. But, If you do have a
way to micro-load your pushup, do whichever one you prefer. Simple stuff.
Workout #1:
This workout is actually very quick and straightforward. It will likely not feel like a
'workout' in the sense that it tires you or makes you feel especially sore. Consider it
more as a self-directed learning exercise. The workouts will become harder throughout
the days, do not worry!
For today: You will simply perform 5 sets of 5 reps of push-ups at whatever incline is
appropriate for you, with 60 seconds of rest between sets (or however long it takes
you to review your footage). This would be written as:
5x5 (Incline) Push-ups, 60s rest.
For reference, the 'appropriate intensity' of these push-ups should be very moderate*.
The focus of this 14 day build-up to the full primer routine is technical competence,
rather than pushing yourself. You should start by picking an intensity that you could
easily do several more reps of if you wanted to.* It should not feel trivially easy, but if
you are struggling to manage 5 reps, or struggling to finish all sets, you've started
out way too hard*. You will be exercising 6x per week in this period, and you don't
want to be maiming yourself with intensity. Leave that for the full primer after the 2
weeks!*
It is highly recommended that you film yourself from the side and front in your sets, so
you can watch this footage back in your rests to evaluate your form and compare them
to the videos in the above guide, so you can learn how to identify errors in your own
form and improve independently!
