How to Do Push-Ups

Methods, Variations and Mistakes to Avoid

How to Perform a Push-Up

Getting on all fours and spreading your hands somewhat wider than your shoulders is the first step in performing a push-up. 
Keep your elbows slightly bent rather than locking them out. 
Stretch your legs back until your feet are hip-width apart and you are balanced on your hands and toes.
 This is how you perform a push-up once you’re in this position.
 Pull your belly button in the direction of your spine to tighten your core and contract your abs. 
Breathe in while lowering yourself to the ground and bending your elbows gradually until your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. 
Exhale, tightening your chest muscles and raising yourself back up using your hands to take the starting position.
Keep a tight core throughout the entire push-up. Also, keep your body in a straight line from head to toe without sagging in the middle or arching your back. 

Advantages of Push-Ups 

The rectus abdominis and the internal and external obliques are the abdominal muscles that are needed to keep the body stiff during a push-up.
The push-up is a complex exercise since it uses many joints. The deltoids of the shoulders, the pectoral muscles of the chest, the triceps and biceps of the upper arm, the gluteal or hip muscles, and the erector spinae of the back are the upper body muscles used in the push-up. 
You frequently have to push against things in daily life, such as doors and shopping carts.
 The strength required to complete these activities comes from the functional fitness that push-ups help you achieve. By strengthening the muscles that surround the shoulders, you can lessen your risk of rotator cuff injury.
Variations of a Push-Up

Whether you are a beginner and need to make this exercise easier, or you’re advanced and want more of a challenge—or want to better target a specific muscle—there is a push-up variation for you.

Push-Up with Ball Stability

How to Do Push-Ups



 For added challenge and efficacy, use core stability exercises. Before attempting stability ball push-ups, make sure you can perform around 20 standard push-ups. 

Decline push-ups

How to Do Push-Ups



Refuse Push-Up Push-ups that are harder to complete are decline push-ups, which are executed with the feet elevated on a box or bench. With just your body weight, you may change the resistance by raising or lowering the box height. 

Clapping Push-Up

How to Do Push-Ups



 In this plyometric workout, you elevate yourself to a point where your hands lift off the ground and you clap in midair. This is not an exercise for the inexperienced. If you haven’t built up to these, you may easily get hurt.

Diamond Push-Up 

How to Do Push-Ups


The triceps brachii are the focus of the diamond push-up version.Six Your hands should be close together, with the thumbs and index fingers of one hand touching the other’s to form a diamond shape on the ground. Next, perform push-ups, keeping your elbows close to your sides and your hands in the middle of your chest for each rep.

 Push-Ups and Lat Pulls

How to Do Push-Ups



 In this variation, each rep is completed with alternating dumbbell lat rows. This adjustment intensifies the workout, works the latissimus dorsi (back) muscles, and activates the core stabilizers. Instead of pressing against the floor, execute the push-up with your hands gripping dumbbells. Pull the weight to your chest at the peak of the exercise before. Pull the weight to your chest at the peak of the exercise and then return it to the floor.

Push-Ups with a Medicine Ball 

Place one hand on top of a medicine ball and perform a normal push-up. This improves shoulder stability by using the shoulder in a slightly different range of motion. In order to strengthen your balance, you can also perform an alternate medicine-ball push-up by alternating the medicine ball between your hands after each repetition.

Typical Errors

 If your core strength is lacking or you are fatigued, it is easy to start making mistakes when performing push-ups. Look for these problems, and if you find it difficult to maintain the optimum form, try a simpler alternative. 

Middle Sagging 

One of the most frequent errors is midsection drooping, which is brought on by improper core bracing or maintaining a rigid torso during the exercise. To strengthen your core, try practicing a modified plank exercise.7. After you get the hang of it, do a push-up on your knees, working on maintaining your body’s stability.

Incorrect Neck Positioning 

With your eyes directed towards the floor, your neck in neutral alignment, and your head in a straight line with your spine, the top of your head should be pointing away from your feet. You are out of alignment if your chin is pointing up or if your head is lowered to the point where your toes are visible.

Locked elbows 

When you get tired and want to take a brief break, you may make the error of locking your elbows at the top of the exercise. However, this overstresses the joints, which increases the risk of injury or strain. Always maintain a small bend in your elbows. It’s best to take a break before performing another performance if you are exhausted. 

Hands Moved Too Far Forward 

Your shoulders will be under more stress if your hands are farther away from your body than your shoulders. They should still be beneath your shoulders, but you can adjust the amount of pressure you apply to them to achieve varied results.

Restricted range of motion.

You aren’t reaping the complete benefits of push-ups if you are just reaching a partial contraction on most of them. It is preferable to go to a simpler modification that requires full range of motion, like knee or incline push-ups.

Safety and Precautions

 If you have an injury to your elbow, wrist, or shoulder, you shouldn’t perform push-ups. Find out from your physician or physical therapist whether this is a suitable workout for your particular problem. You can keep your hands in a neutral posture by resting them on dumbbells or push-up bars to preserve your wrists. Stop the activity if you experience shoulder pain while performing the push-up or hear a clicking sound in your shoulder. Repeat as many times as necessary to complete your fitness regimen. You can utilize a few easy ways to increase your strength and endurance so you can perform more push-ups if you need to pass a fitness test.

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