If you are not fully going up during the push-up, you are not doing it right. Push up is a staple of strength training, but are you sure you’re even exercising correctly?
For this basic gym workout, you shouldn’t settle for anything other than the perfect shape, especially since it’s such a simple and essential move. Men’s Health Director of Fitness Ebenezer Samuel, Certified Physical Trainer and Associate Fitness Editor Brett Williams guide you through the subtleties of exercise, avoiding bad habits that keep you from unlocking your physical potential.
Before you hit the ground for a push-up, keep in mind that paying attention to the subtleties of movement is extremely important. Not only are you throwing yourself to the ground and pumping your arms up and down until it hurts, there are important aspects of the fundamental position of the plank that you should keep in mind at all times.
DO THE PLANK WELL
Samuel says: A pushup is not just a chest exercise. It is a position of total body tension (or should be). So start with a good plank, your shoulders tight, your glutes tight, your abs tight. Check the position below so that you have a visual guide of how the start of a push up should be.
TIGHTEN THE SHOULDERS
Eb says: One of the most common flexion mistakes is trying to cup your back. You don’t want to do that. Doing so limits your ability to move your shoulders freely, and will make flexing more difficult. You can also cause problems with the front shoulder, because each time you push up, you are creating limited space for the rotator cuff tendons to move between the humerus and clavicle.
Think you’re squeezing a walnut between your shoulder blades as you go down on the push-up. Pull your torso to the ground, tensing your back muscles, then push up.
USE A BANK
Eb says: The best regression for push-ups is not the knees on the floor. We see it a lot, and then we see the people who have a hard time fighting to evolve to the maximum. That’s because you are not training your glutes and core to stabilize yourself properly.
Instead of starting to do knee push-ups, place your hands on a bench and gradually move forward to use the lower benches or platform on hand (a box or step) for your hands. This will allow you to work with less load but still train core tension.