Major Muscles Worked:

Chest

Set Up:

  1. Start in a plank position.
  2. Hands are directly underneath your shoulders, elbows are rotated towards your hips, middle fingers are pointing straight ahead, at 12 :00, and your fingers are spread wide.

The Movement:

  1. Engage your core, legs and glutes.
  2. Tuck your hips.
  3. Bend your elbows, lowering your body with control, until your chest is just a few inches (like 3 inches) off the floor.
    Your elbows should be bent at a minimum of 90 degrees.
  4. In one solid motion, press back up to the top of the movement.

Specific Cues:

  • Make sure that your upper arms are not perpendicular to your body. They should be either at a 45 degree angle, or skimming the sides of your body.
  • There should be a straight line between your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles.
  • Do not let your butt rise in the air like a tepee.

Modifications:

  • If you have wrist issues, you can use dumbbells to keep your wrists straight as you perform the exercise
  • Negatives: If you can’t get your chest within an inch of the ground, perform the negative (lowering) movement until you build strength to push back up.
    • To perform negatives, lower your body as you would with a normal push up. You want your chest, hips, and thighs to touch the ground at the same time.
    • Push your self up to your knees, and then lift your knees off the ground to the starting position
  • I don’t like modified push-ups on the knees. You just don’t get stronger by doing them.