How do push ups

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Tips and Warnings. Related Articles. Article Summary. Method 1. Assume a face-down prone position on the floor. Keep your feet together. Your weight should be on your chest.

Position hands palms-down on the floor, approximately shoulder width apart. They should be about next to your shoulders, with your elbows pointed towards your toes. If you are on a relatively cushioned surface, such as a carpeted floor, you may also support yourself on your fists between the first and second knuckles for a greater challenge.

If you are on a less forgiving surface, consider investing in some push-up grips, they look like handles you put on the floor. Curl your toes upward towards your head. The balls of your feet should touch the ground. Raise yourself using your arms. At this point, your weight should be supported by your hands and the balls of your feet. Make a straight line from your head to your heels, and contract your abdominals to keep your hips from sagging. This position is called a "plank," which is used for other various exercises.

Pick the type of push up that works best for you. There are actually three types of basic push up variations that use different muscles. The difference is where you place your hands while in the plank position. The closer your hands are together, the more you will engage your triceps. The wider apart they are, the more you will engage your chest.

Regular: your hands should be slightly wider than your shoulders. This works both your arms and your chest. Diamond: put your hands close together in a diamond shape, keep them directly under your chest. This will require you to engage your arms much more than a standard push up. This version mostly works the chest and requires less strength in the arms. Method 2. Get down on the ground. Lay with your toes on the ground holding yourself up with your hands.

Lower your torso to the ground until your elbows reach a degree angle. Keep your elbows close to your body for more resistance. Keep your head facing forward. Try to have the tip of your nose pointed directly ahead. Keep your body in a flat plank—do not drop your hips, and do not have your butt hanging in the air.

It is important to keep your body as straight as possible. Remember to breathe as you lower yourself. Remember to keep your body at a flat level. Raise yourself by pushing the ground away from you. Breathe out as you push. The power for that push will come from your shoulders and chest working in unison. The triceps the muscle on the back side of your upper arm are also contracted but they aren't the primary muscle group being used. Don't be tempted to use your rear end or your stomach.

At the top of the movement, pull the weight up to the chest before lowering it back to the floor. Perform a standard push-up with one hand on top of a medicine ball. This works the shoulder in a slightly different range of motion, which increases shoulder stability.

You can also do an alternating medicine-ball push-up by rolling the medicine ball between each hand after a rep, which can help improve your balance. It is easy to start making errors with push-ups if you are fatiguing or if you haven't built enough core strength.

Look for these issues and switch to an easier variation if you can't maintain the best form. One of the most common mistakes is sagging in the middle, caused by not properly bracing the core or keeping the torso stiff throughout the movement. You can practice with a modified plank exercise to build your core strength. Once you master that, try doing a push-up on your knees, practicing keeping your torso stable.

Your neck should be in neutral alignment , the head in a straight line with the spine, eyes to the floor, and the top of your head pointed away from your feet. If you point your chin up or drop your head so much that you can see your toes, you are out of alignment.

Locking your elbows at the top of the movement is a mistake you might make as you fatigue and want a little rest. But this places too much stress on the joints and can lead to strain or injury. Always keep a slight bend in the elbows. If you are fatigued, it's time to take a rest before doing another set. If your hands are farther out from your body than your shoulders you are placing more strain on your shoulders.

While you can vary how close your hands are together to get different effects, they should still be under your shoulders. If you are only going down partially with most of your push-ups, you aren't getting the full benefit. It is better to switch to an easier modification such as knee or incline push-ups that you can do with the full range of motion. You should not do push-ups if you have a shoulder, wrist, or elbow injury. Talk to your doctor or physical therapist to see if this is an appropriate exercise for your specific condition.

If you want to protect your wrists, you can place your hands on dumbbells or push-up bars to keep them in a neutral position. If you feel shoulder pain during the push-up or hear a clicking noise in your shoulder, end the exercise. Repeat for as many repetitions as your workout routine requires. If you have to pass a fitness test such as the Army Physical Fitness Test , you can use a few simple strategies to build your strength and endurance in order to do more push-ups.

A popular push-up strategy is the "one more push-up a day" approach. This is when on day one you do one push-up, then on day two you do two push-ups, and so on. Done properly, the push-up is a compound exercise that uses muscles in the chest, shoulders, triceps, back, abs, and even the legs. The number of push-ups you should do each day will vary based on your current level of fitness and other factors such as age, sex, and weight. Place your hands back down, and push through the palms of your hands to straighten your arms.

This is 1 rep. Place your toes on a box, bench, or step, then get into a high plank with your palms flat, hands shoulder-width apart, shoulders stacked directly above your wrists, core and glutes engaged.

While the push-up is a great upper-body exercise, doing them incorrectly can make them less effective—and may even lead to injury. Pak says that the form problem she notices most is that people have a hard time keeping their lower backs flat i. This happens when your core isn't properly engaged and it ends up making push-ups feel even harder. If this is something you notice happening in your push-ups, Pak says that practicing engaging your core and tucking your pelvis will help.

Then, we tell them to do the opposite—tilt their hips under and flatten their back. As for modifying your push-up, how you make it easier is important.

So if a traditional push-up is too challenging for you right now, try starting with your hands elevated—how high depends on your strength and what feels comfortable for you. Find a sturdy box, chair or another elevated surface to perform this modification — the taller it is, the easier the movement will be and vice versa.

How to: Start by placing your hands roughly shoulder-width apart on the box or elevated surface. Engage your core so your body forms a straight line from head to toe, and keep your legs together. Your arms should be straight but not locked a. Slowly bend your elbows and lower your chest to the box b. Next, press upwards and engage your chest and core c. Coach says: Not feeling the burn midway through the second set?

How to: Begin in a plank position with your arms straight. Your shoulders should be over your wrists and your body should form a straight line from head to toe.