Push-Up
Bodyweight chest training, no equipment required — and a better strength benchmark than most people give it credit for.
Set your hand position. Hands slightly wider than shoulder width, directly under or just outside your shoulders.
Form a straight line from head to heels. Engage your core and glutes so your hips don't sag or pike up — your body should move as one rigid unit. Lower with control. Bend your elbows to bring your chest toward the floor, elbows at roughly a 45° angle from your torso.
Press back up. Push through your palms until your arms are fully extended, maintaining that same straight body line throughout.
Letting the hips sag. A sagging midsection means your core isn't doing its job of stabilizing the rest of the movement.
Why it matters
The push-up trains the same pressing pattern as the bench press, using your own bodyweight as resistance instead of a barbell. Because there's no equipment barrier, it's one of the most accessible ways to build real pressing strength, and the core engagement required to keep your body in a straight line adds a stability demand the bench press, performed lying down, doesn't have.
It also scales naturally — easier variations (knees down, hands elevated) and harder variations (weighted, feet elevated) make it useful at nearly every strength level.
How to do it
- Set your hand position. Hands slightly wider than shoulder width, directly under or just outside your shoulders.
- Form a straight line from head to heels. Engage your core and glutes so your hips don't sag or pike up — your body should move as one rigid unit.
- Lower with control. Bend your elbows to bring your chest toward the floor, elbows at roughly a 45° angle from your torso.
- Press back up. Push through your palms until your arms are fully extended, maintaining that same straight body line throughout.
Common mistakes
- Letting the hips sag. A sagging midsection means your core isn't doing its job of stabilizing the rest of the movement.
- Flaring the elbows to 90°. Same issue as the bench press — full flare increases shoulder strain and isn't necessary for the movement.
- Only doing a partial range of motion. A push-up that doesn't bring your chest close to the floor is building partial strength, just like a partial bench press.
- Looking up instead of keeping a neutral neck. Craning your neck up disrupts the straight head-to-heels line — keep your gaze roughly toward the floor a few feet ahead.
Sets & reps by level
3 sets of as many reps as possible with good form — knee push-ups or incline push-ups (hands on a bench) are a legitimate starting point if a full push-up isn't achievable yet.
3–4 sets of 12–20 reps with strict form.
4–5 sets of 15–25+ reps, or add difficulty with feet elevated, a weighted vest, or a slower tempo once standard reps stop being challenging.
Log your next push-up session in seconds.
Track sets, reps, and weight without breaking your rest.