Learn how to do pushups, and do pushups well, with these exercises and tips.
Pushups are one of the toughest exercises to do. The good news is that they are very trainable and if you work at them, you’ll improve and be able to do them. And, once you can do one string pushups, the others come fast!
Often, people practice pushups without paying attention to the nuances. This leads to a less than ideal setup, which actually makes them harder.
What is the Ideal Form for Pushups?
A pushup is a horizontal press. Think about if you were to try to push against a wall with the goal to move it. You’d want to exert as much force as you could straight into the wall. You wouldn’t push up toward the ceiling or press downward. You’d push straight forward.
Apply this to pushups. You want your hands right under your chest (pushing away from you), not under your face, which would be like pushing up. Not pushing down, because then you’d fall on your face.
How to do a Pushup
Start with your hands a little wider than shoulder width, and spread your fingers out. Get a good grip on the ground.
In this position, your elbows will be slightly tucked; not right by your side, and not out wide at shoulder width.
From the start position at the top, whether you are pushing from knees or feet, think about squeezing your shoulders down away from your ears. Keep this lats-tight position the whole time.
Extend your head straight so your neck is a natural extension of your spine. You’ll be looking at the floor from this position.
Now with all that positioning clamped on, squeeze your abs, legs and glutes so you maintain this straight line all the way from head to knees, or feet.
From here, bend the elbows and control the descent. Reach with your chest, not your chin! Don’t stick your face close to the floor!
Keeping this straight line, push back to your start position.
Whew! That’s a lot! A brief recap:
- hands under your chest and slightly wider than your shoulders
- elbows should be slightly tucked
- squeeze your whole body tight
- head is an extension of your spine
- bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor and then push the floor away from you
- reach with your chest
Modifications for an Easier Pushup
If a push-up is not doable for you right now, add in a modified push-up from a bar or countertop. Keep all the same points in mind: hands chest level, not face level. Body stays in a straight line with your position clamped on. And do not reach with your face. Neck stays in line and reach with your chest!
Next, add in some push-up negatives.
How to do Pushup Negatives
- position your hands under your chest and slightly wider than your shoulders
- elbows should be slightly tucked, not directly out from your shoulders
- squeeze your armpits (lats) so your shoulders stay out of your ears and your back doesn’t sag
- squeeze your glutes and legs
- bend your elbows to bring your chest to the floor and then push the floor away from you
- keep your head a natural extension of your spine and don’t reach your nose toward the floor
- control your descent, going as slow as you’d like
- try to touch the ground in a straight line, not like a worm
- you can push up from your knees
These will be HARD! That’s ok! Remember that is where the progress is made! Fight fight fight to hit the ground in a straight line instead of your hips falling to the floor.
Building up your triceps strength will help too. Try skull crushers, triceps pressdowns, overhead triceps extensions, and triceps kickbacks. Videos below.
How to Incorporate These Exercises
Add these in to your chest day or upper body pressing day. If you do full body sessions, which are great if you are training 3 days a week or fewer, then you’ll add the push-up work near the beginning of your session, and add triceps work in as assistance work (after your big lifts).
If you are doing a push pull squat style training plan, you can incorporate pushups as the push. Read about how to plan that kind of training program here: push pull squat training.
Advice For Women Learning Pushups
Practice at pushups with the belief that you can do it! You can! I often hear women say that their upper body is weaker, and pushups are hard. They are hard! But you can develop the strength and ability to do them.
Practice these different pushup styles in this article, and also work on your triceps, which help tremendously with upper body pressing. Here’s a great article on tricep exercises for women. Practice these exercises and you’ll see your strength increase.
You can also make progress on your pushups by practicing other horizontal pressing exercises. Machine presses, barbell and dumbbell presses will increase your pushup strength.
What Rep Ranges Should I Use?
Consider the push-up and push-up negatives work as heavy strength work. This means you’ll get warmed up, and then work in sets of around 5 reps, where 5 reps are challenging.
For your triceps work, do progressively heavier sets of 8-12 reps. Challenge yourself to increase your weight, which will usually mean decreasing reps.
This will look like:
Chest exercises:
- Pushups from a bar or countertop: 4×5-8
- Push-up negatives: 4×5
Triceps exercises (pick at least 2):
- Overhead triceps extensions: 4×8-12
- Skullcrushers: 4×8-12
- Triceps pressdowns: 4×8-12
- Triceps kickbacks: 4×8-12; here is an in-depth how-to on the triceps kickbacks
Strengthening your whole core will help with your pushups. Here are some of my favorite exercises to help strengthen your core.
You’ll be adding these in to your additional chest work, so remember to make time for it. It’ll be worth it! Need some inspiration for leg work? Try these quad exercises from home.
Let me know how your pushups practice goes! Work work work at it and keep going! If you get stumped and need more help, please reach out to me! kathryn@kathrynalexander.com.
About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
