Push-Up

The horizontal push without equipment, par excellence. Almost limitlessly progressable: elevate your feet, add weight on your back or push closer to failure — it stimulates the chest comparably to the bench press when effort is matched.

• Compound
• Bodyweight
• Beginner

How to do it

• Hands slightly wider than your shoulders
• Body in a plank: glutes and abs braced
• Lower until your chest almost touches the floor
• Elbows at about 45° from your torso, neither tucked nor flared

Sets, reps and tempo

Ranges: 10–20 reps · 0–2 RIR (progress to decline/weighted)

Tempo: Lower for 2 s, graze your chest, press without letting your hips sag

Common mistakes

• Letting your hips sag (you lose the line)
• A short range without reaching the floor
• Elbows fully flared out to the sides

Muscles worked

Primary

• Chest

Secondary

• Triceps
• Shoulders
• Core / abs

Alternatives

• Bench press
• Dumbbell Bench Press