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Push-ups
The exercise everyone thinks they know how to do and hardly anyone does all the way. You need nothing but the floor, but a good push-up is a plank that goes up and down: if your hips sag or your elbows flare out to the sides, it's something else.
Push-ups with Nora. Nora and Hugo are our models, created with artificial intelligence, against the backdrop of our gym.
What it works
- Chest, which pushes the floor away
- Triceps, which straighten the elbow on the way up
- Front delts, the front of the shoulder
- Abs and glutes, which work without moving so your body doesn't bend
How to do it
- 1Place your hands
A little wider than your shoulders, level with your chest, not your face. Fingers forward and the whole hand flat, pushing into the floor.
- 2Get into a plank
Legs straight, feet together or slightly apart. One straight line from head to heels: squeeze your glutes and abs as if someone were about to punch you in the stomach.
- 3Lower with your elbows back
Your elbows go back, diagonally, at about forty-five degrees from your body, not flared out in a cross. Lower your whole body at once, without your hips arriving early or late.
- 4Reach the bottom
Until your chest is a fist's width from the floor. Your head stays in line with your body: look at the floor a little in front of your hands, without sticking your neck forward.
- 5Push the floor away
Come up by pushing the floor away from you, your body moving as one block. At the top, straighten your arms and spread your shoulder blades slightly, without sinking between your shoulders.
The mistakes you see most
- Hips sagging. The most common one. If your belly drops before your chest, your lower back is doing the work. Squeeze your glutes and abs, and if you can't hold it, do fewer or move to an easier variation.
- Elbows flared out. With your elbows at ninety degrees from your body, your shoulder takes load it shouldn't. Bring them back, diagonally: your body and arms make an arrow, not a T.
- Half reps. Dropping a few inches and coming back up isn't a full push-up. Better five all the way down than twenty halfway: the full ones are the ones that count.
- Head leading. Dropping your chin to the floor before your chest feels like going lower, but it isn't. Your head moves with your body.
Variations
- Against a wall or a bench. Hands higher than your feet takes weight off. The higher the support, the easier it is. It's the progression for getting your first ones.
- On your knees. Resting on your knees, with the same straight line from knees to head. It works, as long as your hips don't bend.
- Negatives. Lower as slowly as you can, three or four seconds, and come up however you can, even on your knees.
- Diamond. Hands together under your chest. It loads the triceps more and is quite a bit harder.
- Feet elevated. Feet on a bench: more weight on your hands and more work for the upper chest and shoulders.
Frequently asked questions
How many should I do?
It depends on what you train for, but a simple benchmark: three or four sets, leaving one or two in the tank. Once you can do more than twenty clean ones, a harder variation is a better idea than doing more.
I can't do a single one
Start against a wall or a high bench and lower the support week by week. Add negatives too. It's one of the exercises where you see progress soonest.
Push-ups or bench press?
They're very similar. The bench press lets you use whatever weight you want; the push-up adds holding your body in a plank and needs no equipment. They go well together.
My wrists hurt
Press your whole palm into the floor and spread the weight, without loading the heel of your hand. If it still bothers you, try closed fists or push-up handles, and if it keeps hurting, get it checked.
And to keep track of what you lift
In the Reverfit Workout app every exercise comes with its animation, and you log the weight and reps set by set, with what you did last time right in front of you. Free and with no ads.
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