But there is more to this classic bodyweight exercise than high repetitions and bragging rights. As a matter of fact, some people get so caught up in high repetitions that they forgo proper form, reducing the strength and endurance gains, and increasing the risk of injury. In this article I'll reveal an alternative to high repetition push ups.
But first, what is a proper push up?
A proper push up is an incredibly demanding full body exercise, requiring both upper body strength and a strong, stable core for proper completion. This is important. It is not just an upper body exercise. It is a full body exercise.
Start by lying on the ground with you feet together and your hands on the ground by your shoulders. Your elbows are flexed and should remain close to your body throughout the entire movement. Don't flair your elbows!
Perform a push up by pressing with your arms until your entire body leaves the ground. In the up position, only your hands and toes remain on the ground. The body has to remain stiff and straight throughout the entire lowering and raising. The only thing that should move during the movement is the arms.
This is very important. The body should be straight at the top, during and at the bottom of the movement. This is accomplished by using your core stabilizer muscles, butt and legs to make your body as ridged as possible.
As you can see, your whole body is involved in completing a proper push up, not just your upper body. Upper body strength and core strength must be coordinated to do a proper push up. If either your upper body or core is weaker than the other, errors will occur and performance will be lowered.
Ok, once you know how to perform push ups, most people try to go for high numbers. Yes, being able to do 100 push ups is a sign of great strength and endurance. But striving for high numbers is not the only way you improve!
You can also improve push ups by going from easy to difficult. Increasing the difficulty of the push up variation is an excellent way to build incredible strength. This method allows you to keep the repetition number relatively low, reducing the risk of overuse injuries. Plus, it reduces the possibility you will sacrifice quality for quantity, furthering your chance of injury!
Here is an example:
-Start with incline push ups -The increase difficulty by doing the classic push up -Increase the difficulty again by doing decline push ups -And finally make it harder by doing handstand push ups
You could also throw in one armed push ups to increase difficulty. But the point is this, there are more ways to improve your strength and endurance with push ups than just increasing the number or repetitions you can do in one set.
Let this push up progression example serve as an example of other bodyweight exercise progressions. A lot of people say they get bored with bodyweight exercise because they only try to improve by doing more and more reps. Now you know, increasing repetition is not the only progression method in town. And in many cases, more strength and endurance improvements can be made by going from easy versions of an exercise to more difficult versions.
Bodyweight exercises begin with your basic push-up and squats, and then move on to a higher and more intense and effective levels. They are the ideal complement to any fitness regime and are suitable for all from the most out of shape beginner, to your Gold Medal Winning Olympic athlete. Think Olympic rings, or hanging rings for pull-ups, the horse etc
In a break from the norm, bodyweight exercises combine both the ability to develop phenomenal strength and endurance simultaneously by challenging you with workouts that hit every part of your body, thereby boosting your heartrate so that you are working both your lungs and your muscles.
Consistent practise of bodyweight exercises will shred the fat from your body, and make you lean and muscular, especially around the torso.
You will recognise some of these exercises, but I suspect were never shown any particularly useful routines or programs that are necessary to give you a total body workout.
Why not test the following routine, and see what it does for you. It could be the beginning of a new you.
Begin with a few deep breaths -
1) Squats - stand with your feet shoulder width apart, and squat down as though sitting on a chair, pause at the bottom, and rise powerfully. Remember to look up and forwards during the motion to ensure proper alignment. Aim to perform 20-30 repetitions,
2) Push-ups/ press-ups - assume the standard push-up position and go for 20-30 repetitions. If you feel that this is difficult, bring your knees to the floor and do the assisted press-up.
If you feel that this is too easy, do your press-ups super slow ie count 4 going down, and 4 going up, and go to exhaustion. This is guaranteed to shake up your normal push-up routine.
3) crunches - lie on your back on the floor, and curl your upper body from the floor using abdominal strength only. As you curl down, gently lower your back shoulders and then head to the floor, and then curl back up again, incorporating a neck workout into the routine too. Again aim to do 20 repetitions.
Do this set of exercises 3 times, and remember to enjoy - the harder you work the more you'll enjoy it!
Finish with a couple of minutes of light stretching.
Both Eddie Lomax & Stevey Mcgeown are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Eddie Lomax has sinced written about articles on various topics from Body Building, Aerobics and Fitness. Coach Eddie Lomax, author of uses 6 different progression strategies to get the most out of bodyweight training for combined fitness,. Eddie Lomax's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Stevey Mcgeown has sinced written about articles on various topics from Body Building, Build Muscle and Body Building. If you're interested in becoming stronger, leaner and fitter than ever before, then go to and sign up for Stevey's FREE Tips on Bodyw. Stevey Mcgeown's top article generates over 4400 views. to your Favourites.