Push-Up
The foundational bodyweight press for the chest, triceps and shoulders.
Also called Press-Up, Pushup.
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
- Beginner
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Laterality
- Bilateral
- Impact
- Low
- Trains where
- Gym, Home, Outdoors
- At home
- Yes
How to do it
Set up
- Hands under your shoulders, legs straight back, body in one line from head to heels.
Do the rep
- Lower until your chest is a fist's height off the floor. Elbows about 45 degrees from your body.
- Press back up to locked arms. That's one.
- Keep your hips in line the whole way — no sagging, no tenting.
What counts as a rep
A rep ends at locked arms with the body still in one straight line.
One rep starts in a straight-arm plank, lowers until the chest is a fist's height off the floor, and ends pressed back to locked arms with the body in one line.
Breathing
Breathe in on the way down; exhale as you press up.
Common mistakes
Half-depth reps
What you seeThe chest stops well above the floor.
FixLower until the chest is a fist's height off the floor on every rep.
Depth is what makes the rep count.
Stop the set if
- Sharp pain
- The hips sag and you cannot hold the line
General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.
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