Push Up
The push-up is a bodyweight pressing exercise in which you hold a straight plank on your hands and toes, bring your chest down to the floor and press back up. It works the chest, the front of the shoulders and the triceps, with the stomach muscles holding the body straight, and it scales from easier hands-raised versions to harder feet-raised or weighted ones.
Also called: Pushup, Press Up, weighted Push-up, Full Pushups · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: push
Step by step
- Place your hands on the floor directly under or just outside your shoulders, fingers pointing forward.
- Step your feet back so your body forms a straight line from head to heels, with your weight on your hands and toes.
- Brace your stomach, squeeze your glutes and keep your ribs down so your hips stay in line.
- Bend your elbows to bring your chest towards the floor under control, keeping your elbows angled about 45° from your sides.
- Go down until your chest is just above or lightly touching the floor, with your body still in one straight line.
- Press the floor away to straighten your arms, moving your whole body as one piece.
- At the top, push a little further so your shoulder blades spread around your ribs, then start the next rep.
- After the last rep, bring your knees to the floor to finish the set.
- One straight line, head to heels
- Elbows about 45° from your sides
- Push the floor away
- Chest to the floor, arms straight at the top
- Stomach and glutes tight
- Neck long, eyes just ahead of your hands
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Pectoralis major: sternocostal (mid) | Prime mover | B |
| Triceps brachii: lateral head | Prime mover | A |
| Serratus anterior | Prime mover | B |
| Triceps brachii: medial head | Secondary | B |
| Anterior deltoid: anterior | Secondary | B |
| Pectoralis major: clavicular (upper) | Secondary | C |
| Triceps brachii: long head | Secondary | C |
| Pectoralis minor | Secondary | C |
| Rectus abdominis | Stabiliser | B |
| Obliques (internal/external) | Stabiliser | C |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Hips sagging
Fix: Brace your stomach and squeeze your glutes to keep one straight line.
Hips piking up
Fix: Bring your hips down level with your shoulders and heels.
Elbows flaring out towards 90°
Fix: Angle your elbows about 45° from your sides as you go down.
Half reps
Fix: Bring your chest to just above the floor every rep, or raise your hands on a bench.
Shoulder blades winging at the top
Fix: Push the floor away at the top so your upper back rounds slightly.
Head dropping
Fix: Keep your neck long and look at the floor just ahead of your hands.
What the research says
Rehab & prehab · first choiceGeneral fitness · first choiceEndurance · first choiceStrengthMuscle growthSport performanceFat loss & conditioning
- Push-ups and bench press — An 8-week trial found push-ups and bench pressing at a matched load of about 40% of bench-press max built similar chest and triceps size and similar bench-press strength.
- Adding resistance — When band-resisted push-ups were made as hard as a 6-rep-max bench press, they produced strength gains similar to bench pressing.
- Body weight lifted — A standard push-up lifts about 60% of body weight at its peak. Raising the hands or dropping to the knees makes it lighter, and raising the feet makes it heavier.
- Hand width — EMG studies found a narrower hand position produced more chest and triceps activity than a wide one. Muscle activity is not the same as growth.
- Effort — Studies show sets that finish a few reps short of failure capture most of the growth benefit. Many lifters move to a harder version, such as feet raised or added load, once sets get long.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
Log the push up in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
General information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.