The push-up movement is one of the most well-known bodyweight exercises. Whether you’re a beginner or advanced athlete, you’ve likely used it at some point in your training. However, if you’ve never done a push-up before, this article is for you.
While it uses a simple movement pattern, it requires muscular strength, coordination, and core stability. Performing your first push-up isn’t quite as simple as getting on the floor and pushing. Our push-up progression plan offers a science-based way to get your first repetition.
If you’re looking to achieve the many well-documented push-up benefits, follow our plan detailed below. We give you a step-by-step guide that starts right at the bottom and works up to the push-up. We also discuss common mistakes and additional tips to aid your progression.
4 Steps To Do Your First Push-Up
Performing your first push-up can be done using our four-step push-up progression plan. Follow these steps:
- Step One: Assess Your Fitness Level — Identify your baseline fitness level based on your current strength. Start by testing out level one, aiming to perform three sets of ten.
- Step Two: Use Push-Up Variations — Each push-up level is progressively harder, working up to a full push-up. Perform the push-up variation based on your current fitness level from step one.
- Step Three: Perform Supplementary Exercises — Perform the supplementary exercises following the push-up variations. These are designed to isolate some of the primary movers used in the push-up.
- Step Four: Implement A Weekly Training Plan — Program the variations and supplementary exercises into the weekly training plan.
4 Simple Steps Push-Up Progression For Beginners
Follow these four simple steps to progress from any starting fitness level to a full push-up. Each step is designed to build on the previous one using the fundamental scientific training principles. Here’s how to build up to a push-up.
Assess Your Fitness Level
Step one should be to assess your current fitness level. The idea is to identify your starting point based on your current strength level.
Start with a suitable warm-up. This should consist of aerobic exercise followed by some dynamic stretches.
Begin by testing level one. Perform three sets of ten using the proper form detailed below. If you can perform each repetition without form deviations, you can move on to the next level.
If you start to lose form in any of the repetitions, your starting level will be the level below. Note this level down, as this will be used during your weekly training plan.
When performing each level, it’s important to note the common mistakes detailed below. Again, if you notice any of these happening, drop down a level and reassess your form.
Push-Up Variations To Progress To A Full Push-Up
Now that you have your current fitness level, it’s time to move on to the suitable push-up progression. We’ve designed each level to progressively build on the previous one until you reach the final level. At this level, you should be able to perform regular push-ups using the stated sets and repetitions with no form deviations or common mistakes.
Level 1: Wall Push-Up
Wall push-ups provide a great starting point for beginners. Pushing against the wall decreases the difficulty by reducing the load caused by gravity. This gives you a great foundation to work from.
The wall push-up uses the same movement pattern as the normal push-up in a vertical position. Your elbows flex (bend) and extend (straighten) while you maintain a straight line from your heels to your head. This means you work the same primary muscle groups at a lower exercise difficulty.
How To Do
- Find a suitable wall in an open space. Ensure that the wall is stable.
- Stand facing the wall with your feet together. You should be far enough away so that your arms can fully extend.
- Place your hands on the wall with your arms shoulder-width apart. Your hands should be slightly pointing out.
- Keep your feet on the ground with a straight line from your head to your feet.
- Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to come towards the wall.
- Pause briefly before your head touches the wall.
- Inhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position.
Level 2: Incline Push-Up
Once you’ve mastered the wall push-up, the next level is the incline push-up. Instead of a wall, you push against a raised surface at a lower height.
This means you perform the same push-up movement at a 45-degree angle rather than fully vertical. This gives you a hybrid exercise between the wall push-up and normal push-up, which is why we’ve included it at level two.
The higher you set the incline, the less weight you need to push. This leads to lower muscle activation and exercise difficulty. Because of this, you can make slight alterations to the incline angle depending on your progression.
Setting the raised surface to a higher incline makes the incline push-up slightly easier. As you become more comfortable, you can progressively move the incline level down until you reach the 45-degree angle.
How To Do
- Stand in front of a suitable raised surface. This can be a set of chairs, a bench, or anything that won’t move.
- Place your hands on the raised surface with your arms shoulder-width apart. Bring your legs back to assume a diagonal plank position. The angle of this will depend on the height of your surface.
- Keep your chest up with your head looking forward. There should be a straight line from your head to your heels.
- Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to bring your chest down to the raised surface.
- Pause briefly before your chest touches the surface.
- Inhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position.
Level 3: Knee Push-Up
Knee push-ups, also known as modified push-ups, perform the regular push-up in a kneeling position. While you’re in the same horizontal position, bringing your knees up reduces the amount of weight you need to push. This offers a higher exercise difficulty than the first two levels but still less than the regular push-up.
During the knee push-up, your knees contact the ground while your feet move up and down. Your upper body uses the same movement patterns as the regular push-up. However, you keep a straight line from your knees to your head.
How To Do
- Find a suitable mat or padded area. Assume a tabletop position with your hands and knees on the floor.
- Bring your knees back until your torso and upper body are in a straight line. Your knees should be together on the floor. Your shoulders should be stacked over your elbows.
- Inhale and engage your core. While keeping your legs on the ground, flex your elbows to bring your upper body down to the floor.
- Pause briefly before your chest touches the ground.
- Inhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position.
Level 4: Negative Push-Up
Negative push-ups perform half of the normal push-up movement before dropping back into the kneeling position. This provides a hybrid exercise between the knee push-up and the regular push-up.
During this, you perform the normal push-up movement from the high plank position. Once your body comes close to the floor, drop to your knees and push up again.
Performing negative push-ups gives you a great introduction to the regular push-up movement without making too much of a jump. Performing this allows you to perfect half of the regular push-up movement before progressing to the last level.
How To Do
- Assume a tabletop position on the ground. Your hands and knees should be in contact with the floor.
- Bring your legs back to come into a high plank position. Your shoulders should be stacked over your hands. Keep your chest up and maintain a straight line from your heels to your head.
- Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to come down to the bottom position.
- As you reach the bottom position, drop onto your knees and extend your elbows to push back up.
Final Level: Regular Push-Up
The final level involves performing the regular push-up. This should be done only when each of the other levels has been perfected.
Start by performing the same movement used in the negative push-up. Come down from the high plank position until your chest comes close to the floor. Instead of dropping to your knees, maintain the same straight line from your heels to your head.
This gives you a functional bodyweight exercise that can be programmed into your training. The next step will be to try some of the many amazing push-up variations.
How To Do
- Assume a tabletop position on the floor. Your hands and knees should be in contact with the floor. Your arms should be shoulder-width apart.
- Bring your legs back to adopt a high plank position. There should be a straight line from your head to your heels. Come onto the balls of your feet, making sure your shoulders are stacked over your hands.
- Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to lower your body down to the ground.
- Pause briefly before your chest touches the ground.
- Inhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position.
Supplementary Exercises
These supplementary exercises are designed to improve strength in the secondary push-up muscles. These work alongside the pectoralis major muscle heads as secondary movers. Different push-up variations will change the target focus.
Plank Hold & High Plank Hold
The plank hold is performed by holding your body off the floor in a straight line. This resembles a plank-like shape, which is where it gets its name. It’s performed on your forearms with bent elbows.
The high plank hold uses the same body position but requires you to perform it with straight elbows. When doing this, your hands and feet will be the only contact points.
Maintaining a straight line in both exercises requires core stability and strength. Alongside improving core strength, recent research suggests that it may offer several additional health benefits.
Improving your core stability and strength allows you to maintain the straight body position required in the push-up.
Alternate between each variation depending on the weekly training plan below. These can be changed between sessions as needed.
Use the how-to guide below to perform both plank variations. Step three should be changed based on the variation you’re performing.
How To Do
- Locate a suitable mat or padded area in the gym or at home.
- Assume a tabletop position with your hands and knees on the ground.
- Bring your legs back to come into a high plank position. Drop down onto your elbows to assume the normal plank position. For the high plank position, remain on your hands with straight elbows.
- Ensure there is a straight line from your head to your heels. You should be on the balls of your feet with your shoulders stacked over your elbows or your hands.
- Inhale and engage your core. Hold the plank position for the stated time while maintaining a normal breathing pattern.
Tricep Dips On Chair
The chair tricep dip performs the foundational elbow extension movement using a chair as the main pivot point. This isolates the three heads of your triceps brachii muscles. It can be done anywhere using a chair or a suitable raised surface.
Increasing tricep strength and function helps to improve your elbow lockout in the second phase of the push-up movement. This is because the primary role of the triceps brachii is to extend your elbows.
How To Do
- Place a chair or suitable raised surface in an open space. Make sure there is enough space in front of the chair to stretch your legs out.
- Turn around so your back is facing the chair. Bring your arms down to the side of the chair and place them in a neutral position (palms facing in).
- Extend your elbows and walk your feet forward so your legs are at 90-degree angles. Your feet should be contacting the floor. Keep your chest up and head facing forward.
- Inhale and engage your core. Exhale and flex your elbows to lower your body down past the chair.
- Pause briefly at the bottom position as your upper arms come parallel to the ground.
- Inhale and extend your elbows to come back to the starting position.
Weekly Training Plan
The final step combines each of the previous steps, programming them into a weekly training plan. We’ve designed this using the main focus of progressing to a regular push-up.
This is an example of how your weekly training schedule could look using the two routines below:
- Monday — Routine 1.
- Tuesday — Rest Day.
- Wednesday — Routine 2.
- Thursday — Rest Day.
- Friday — Routine 1 or 2.
- Saturday — Rest Day.
- Sunday — Rest Day.
In this example, you perform three weekly sessions with four rest days. One of the days should alternate between routine one and routine two each week. This means that you’ll be performing each routine three times over two weeks.
Changes can be made as needed based on your free time and work schedule. Aim to train at least one to two times a week if possible, performing both routines.
Start by performing a two-stage warm-up. This should consist of aerobic exercise and a set of suitable dynamic stretches.
Your push-up variation will be based on the test performed in step one of the progression plan. For routine one, you’ll be performing a progression in which you can do three sets of ten repetitions. In routine two, you’ll use a variation that you can perform three sets of eight repetitions.
This means you’ll perform the same push-up variation for both routines or use a harder variation for routine two.
The supplementary exercises can be performed after the push-up variations. Alternate the plank hold and high plank. Following this, perform the chair tricep dips.
Exercise | Sets x Reps | Duration | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerobic Warm-Up (Treadmill, Elliptical, Static Bike, Stairmaster) | 4 x 6-10 | 5–10 minutes | |
| Dynamic Stretches (5 Exercises) | 4 x 6-10 | 1 minute each exercise | |
| Push-Up Variations (According To Step One) | 3 sets x 10 reps | 60 seconds | |
| Plank Hold/High Plank Hold | 3 sets x 30 seconds | 60 seconds | |
| Triceps Dips On Chair | 3 sets x 8–10 reps | 60 seconds | |
| Cool Down (Aerobic Exercise + Static Stretches) | 1 minute for each exercise |
Exercise | Sets x Reps | Duration | Rest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerobic Warm-Up (Treadmill, Elliptical, Static Bike, Stairmaster) | 5–10 minutes | ||
| Dynamic Stretches (5 Exercises) | 1 minute each exercise | ||
| Push-Up Variations (According To Step One) | 3 sets x 8 reps | 60 seconds | |
| Triceps Dips On Chair | 3 sets x 8–10 reps | 60 seconds | |
| Plank Hold/High Plank Hold | 3 sets x 30 seconds | 60 seconds | |
| Cool Down (Aerobic Exercise + Static Stretches) | 1 minute for each exercise |
How To Know That You Can Do A Full Push-Up
Our push-up progression plan uses the progressive overload principle between each step. This means that each push-up variation increases in difficulty as the level goes up.
In step two, you need to complete four push-up levels before progressing to the regular push-up. The negative push-up is the last progression stage to complete.
Performing the negative push-up with the correct form for three sets of ten repetitions would suggest it’s time for you to move on to the regular push-up. You’ve shown that you can complete each stage, and you’re now ready to perfect the regular version.
Common Mistakes When Doing Push-Ups
- Using The Wrong Hand Position — Your arms should be shoulder-width apart with your hand slightly pointing outwards. Avoid moving your hands around or using a different position for the regular push-up.
- Failing To Keep Your Core Engaged — Failing to maintain a core brace during each repetition can lead to poor form. This may cause your hips to dip or your back to hunch over. Both of these can reduce exercise focus and increase injury risk.
- Flaring Your Elbows Out — Allow your arms to come behind your body as you bend your elbows. Avoid flaring them out to the sides to minimize possible elbow joint stress.
- Not Using The Full Range Of Motion — Using a full range of motion helps to keep focus on the primary muscle groups. Avoid performing partial reps as you learn the beginner technique.
Additional Tips To Aid Your Progression
The tips below can be used to aid your push-up progression. Ensure you implement them into your training routine to master the push-up movement in no time at all.
Progressively Overload Your Training
Progressive overload refers to the planned manipulation of the main training variables to increase muscular strength and muscle growth (hypertrophy). This may include increasing training volume (number of reps or sets) or increasing intensity (exercise difficulty).
The aim of doing this is to facilitate the body’s adaptive body responses. In our push-up progression plan, this means increasing muscle size and strength.
Step two of the push-up plan requires you to perform progressively harder push-up variations. In the weekly training plan, we’ve increased the exercise difficulty by lowering the number of repetitions. In both these cases, we’ve used the progressive overload principle.
Rest & Recovery
Getting enough rest and recovery is vital to reduce the chances of overtraining and overreaching. Both occur when you exceed your body’s ability to recover from the previous exercise session.
Overreaching is estimated to occur in athletes at a rate of 5%–60%. During this, you may experience reductions in performance and possible injury.
Ensure you follow the suggested rest periods. Aim to leave at least 48 hours between resistance sessions that use the same muscle groups.
Focus On Form Over Quantity
Remember that form should always be prioritized before weight or amount of repetitions when resistance training. The correct exercise technique cues are designed to keep the target focus on the primary movers. They also help to reduce possible injury risk by maintaining the correct body position.
Regularly checking your form helps to reduce the chance of upper-body injuries and wrist pain during push-ups. Part of this also involves using a warm-up and focusing on gradual progression.
Set A Realistic Goal
Setting goals gives you something to work towards and keeps you motivated to stay on track. When setting your push-up goals, ensure you consider your starting ability level. Progress can often take longer than you think, even when following our progression plan above.
Start by setting a realistic push-up goal. Choose something manageable for your starting ability level. In the case of performing a push-up, base the timeframe on your starting ability level.
Conclusion
While it looks simple enough, performing a push-up isn’t easy for a beginner. Our push-up progression plan gives you a step-by-step guide on how to get from a basic level to a regular push-up. It progressively increases difficulty while using the supplementary exercises to work on the important secondary movers.
Use the common mistakes and additional tips to help you perform a perfect push-up. Follow our guide, and you’ll be there in no time at all!
Frequently Asked Questions
Start by assessing your current fitness level by testing the push-up variations. Progress through the push-up variations according to your level. Add the appropriate variation and supplementary exercises to a weekly training plan.
After week one, you should start to find the movements easier to perform. Expect to see noticeable differences after two to three weeks. This will also depend on your starting fitness level, programming schedule, and dietary intake.
Common push-up mistakes include using the wrong hand position, failing to keep your core engaged, flaring your elbows out, and not using the correct range of motion. These can reduce focus on the primary movers and increase injury risk.
Push-ups can be performed daily if training volume and rest periods are suitably managed. However, daily push-ups are not needed to see progression. Add them to your training schedule, aiming to perform them at least 2–3 times per week.
Resources
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About the Author
Chris Marshall, MSc, PT Personal Trainer
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