CalisthenicsIn review

Decline Push-Up

A push-up with the feet raised on a bench or box, which moves more load to the upper chest and shoulders.

This page is a working draft. A coach has not reviewed it, so read it as a starting point, not as checked instruction.

Pattern: Horizontal push
Modality: Calisthenics
Difficulty: Intermediate
Mechanic: Unknown
Force: Unknown
Laterality: Bilateral
Impact: Low
Trains where: Gym, Home
At home: Yes

How to do it

Set up

Place the feet on a stable bench or box behind you.
Place the hands on the floor under the shoulders, with the body in one line from head to heels.

Do the rep

Lower until the chest is a fist's height above the floor, with the elbows about 45 degrees from the body.
Press back up to straight arms.

What counts as a rep

A rep counts when the chest reaches a fist's height above the floor and the arms return to straight, with the body in one line.

One rep starts at straight arms with the feet raised, lowers the chest to a fist's height above the floor, and ends at straight arms with the body in one line.

Breathing

Inhale as you lower; exhale as you press up.

Cues

Keep the hips in line with the shoulders and feet.
Look at the floor a little in front of the hands.
Use a higher support when the reps get easy.

Common mistakes

Piking the hips
What you seeThe hips rise above the line of the body.
FixLower the hips until the body is straight.
A straight body keeps the load on the chest and arms.
Half-depth reps
What you seeThe chest stops well above the floor.
FixLower until the chest is a fist's height above the floor on every rep.
Full depth makes the rep count.

Stop the set if

Stop if you feel sharp pain.
Stop if the feet slip on the support.
End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.

General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.

Muscles worked

Prime movers

Chest · moderate confidence
Triceps · moderate confidence
Front deltoids · moderate confidence

Assisting

Deep core / trunk stabilizers · moderate confidence
Serratus anterior · moderate confidence

Equipment

Bodyweight + Bench or Box step

Optional: Floor mat

Use a stable bench or box that will not slide. Start with a low support. A mat is optional.

In the app

You log this by hand. The camera coach does not watch this movement yet.

Tracking: Camera candidate

How this page was checked

Draft. A editorial reviewer has not signed this off yet.

Draft text is original copy for Wave 2 batch 2, written from the blueprint CSV row and the Wave 2 rules page of 2026-10-12. No human review is complete.
Technique, cues, rep standard, breathing, stop cues, and error corrections need independent sources and the assigned review tier (blueprint two-source rule).
Programming roles, skill tier, failure cost, timed use, goal fit, and equipment follow the rules page; the switch-on PR must confirm them.
Anatomy uses the CSV planning hints; the assigned review tier must confirm it.
Legacy relations and engine edges stay empty until the progression ladder lane and S2-CAT-005.
Timed use and goal fit copy ex_push_up, the closest Wave 1 record.
Skill tier intermediate: the raised feet put more body weight on the arms than a push-up, which takes months of training (rule 3). The CSV says beginner.
Exception to rule 1: the CSV lists a bench as optional. A decline push-up needs a raised support for the feet, so the record requires a bench or a box-step. Home stays yes, because a bench is a home item.

All instruction and editorial text in this record is original draft copy written for Allena. Planning metadata comes from the internal Wave-2 blueprint CSV.

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