Push-Up

A bodyweight horizontal press targeting the chest, triceps, and front delts. Builds pressing strength and trunk stiffness without equipment.

Also known as: pushup, push ups, push-ups, press ups, floor press

Beginner Compound

How to do the Push-Up

  1. Set up in a high plank with hands slightly wider than shoulder width and feet together or apart.
  2. Stack shoulders over hands, straighten your legs, and form a straight line from head to heels.
  3. Brace your abs, squeeze your glutes, and keep your neck neutral with eyes slightly ahead.
  4. Bend your elbows and lower your body as one unit until your chest nears the floor.
  5. Keep elbows angled back rather than flared straight out as you reach the bottom position.
  6. Press through your palms and drive the floor away until your elbows are fully extended.
  7. Finish in a solid plank without letting your hips sag or your upper back collapse.

Common mistakes

  • Hips sagging below the shoulders
  • Piking hips on the way up
  • Elbows flaring straight out
  • Stopping short of full depth
  • Head dropping between the arms

Form cues

  • Body moves as one
  • Push the floor away
  • Keep elbows angled back
  • Brace before every rep
  • Reach full arm extension

Substitutes & similar