How to perform the Perfect Push Up

The push-up may be the most underrated exercise for putting on lean muscle mass and improving strength. It’s an exercise a majority of us can do when we’re children but we get away from it as we age because we find that it becomes too basic.

Ironiclly enough it is the most common exercise that new clients of mine are either unable to perform or unknowingly are performing it incorrectly.

The Starting Position

Total Body Emphasis

The first mistake that is made when performing a push-up begins with the starting position.

Most imagine the push-up to be an upper body or chest building exercise only. This is incorrect as the push-up is a total body exercise.

When performing the movement it is important to start braced and keep the muscles of the torso and glutes squeezed tight. This will prevent your hips from sagging down towards the ground or having them hiked up in the air.

Neutral Body Position

I will cue my clients to maintain a straight or neutral body position throughout the entirety of the exercise. It’s important that this begins from the starting position.

Having a strong, neutral body position will fix issues of unwanted head movement, a collapsed upper back, and aide with the previously mentioned total body engagement.

Hand Position

Going down the line another common mistake I see are individuals performing push-ups with their hands to wide outside of their shoulders.

Yes, while a wider hand position does limit the range of motion for the repetition this puts an undesired amount of pressure on the front of the shoulder and pecs. Both areas in which are known for many to have extreme tightness and discomfort in from general lifestyle habits.

Typically when the hands go wider the elbows tend to flare out as well, putting the elbows in a disadvantageous position to perform a pressing movement.

Bringing the hands directly or slightly outside of shoulder-length will create a more optimal position to perform the exercise and spare your body.

The Descent

Torque

Torque is a powerful tool that the body utilizes when performing explosive and dynamic movements. The push-up is no different and you want to create torque through the upper body by screwing your hands into the ground, figuratively speaking the hands shouldn't actually move or go into the ground.

Doing this will create an almost loaded spring like energy which will be used to help you explode out of the bottom position.

Pulling Yourself Down

You want to demenostarte control through all portions of the exercise, dropping to the ground with all abondement isn’t going to cut it.

Imagine as if you were going to pinch a piece of loose leaf paper between your armpits. To do this you have to set the lats firmly and squeeze your armpits down.

Once set focus on pulling yourself towards the ground, tucking your elbows while maintaining all of the previous mentioned cues.

*This is a cue that even if you’re good at push-ups your’e probably not doing and can take your push-up game to the next level!

The Bottom

Maintain Position

There isn't too much going on in the bottom position you should be focused on reaching an appropriate depth while not losing any of the previous steps that you’ve put into place.

The Ascend

Push Away

Coming out of the bottom position you will forcefully explode, utilizing all of the preset muscular tension and torque. Focus on pushing yourself away from the ground opposed to pushing yourself up.

Pushing yourself away from the ground will help you maintain that strong body position and have you utilize your entire body for the repetition.

Conclusion

Reading this can be a lot to take in for just a simple push-up, but that is the point. Push-ups are more then just a “simple” exercise and should be performed with proper intent and execution to receive the muscle building and strength benefits of the exercise.

If you made it this far thank you and I hope you found benefit in this to improve your push-up quality.

The next article will go into detail on how to increase your push-up capacity, even if your current count is at zero!

And you can find out how push-ups can save your life from a previous article below.

https://brandonholder.medium.com/pushups-may-just-save-your-life-fcf8a1a50eb1