Typewriter Push-Up
A wide push-up that moves the chest from one hand to the other at the bottom before pressing up.
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
- Advanced
- Mechanic
- Unknown
- Force
- Unknown
- Laterality
- Alternating
- Impact
- Low
- Trains where
- Gym, Home
- At home
- Yes
How to do it
Set up
- Place the hands on the floor about twice shoulder width.
- Step the feet back until the body is in one line from head to heels.
Do the rep
- Lower toward one hand until the chest is a fist's height above the floor.
- Stay low and move the chest across to the other hand.
- Press back up to straight arms, then start the next rep from the other side.
What counts as a rep
A rep counts when the chest moves from one hand to the other at the bottom without rising, and the arms return to straight.
One rep lowers toward one hand, moves the chest across to the other hand at the bottom, and ends at straight arms; count each side.
Breathing
Inhale as you lower; breathe normally as you move across; exhale as you press up.
Cues
- Stay low while you move across.
- Keep the hips level.
- Move across more slowly when the reps get easy.
Common mistakes
Rising during the shift
What you seeThe chest moves up as it crosses.
FixPlace the hands closer together until you can stay low.
The low shift is what makes this variant hard.
Rotating the hips
What you seeOne hip drops or turns toward the floor during the shift.
FixBrace the trunk and slow the shift.
A level body keeps the press in the chest and arms.
Stop the set if
- Stop if you feel sharp pain.
- Stop if a shoulder feels pinched in the wide position.
- End the set when you cannot meet the stated range under control.
General educational content, not individual coaching or medical advice.
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