Pushups may seem like a basic exercise that works only your upper arms and chest, but when you do them the right way, they use muscles all over your body. You can do them just about anywhere, they can be adjusted to fit any ability level — and they’re free!
About Pushups
Pushups work many muscles in your body, including your:
- Chest
- Arms
- Stomach muscles (abdominals)
- Hips
- Legs
Pushups are a convenient exercise that you can do anywhere. They don’t need equipment or a gym membership. You can also adjust them to meet your own physical ability or to target specific muscles.
Pushups offer many health benefits, including:
- Burning calories
- Protecting your shoulders and lower back from injuries
- Improving your balance and posture
- Improving your flexibility
- Improving your performance in sports and athletic activities
How to Do a Pushup
If you don’t know how to do a pushup, it may feel a little awkward at first, but it will get easier. As with any exercise, form is the key to getting the most benefits:
- Start in a plank position, face-down with your body straight. Put your palms flat on the ground with your arms straight, in line with your shoulders.
- Keep your feet together or about 12 inches apart, with your weight on the balls of your feet.
- Make sure your back is straight and your weight is evenly spread out.
- Look down as you do your pushups to make sure your spine is in line from your neck all the way down.
- Lower your body toward the ground, using controlled movement, until your elbows are at 90-degree angles. Then push back up to a plank position.
- For best results, lower slowly and push up quickly. When you begin, try taking 2 seconds to lower and then 1 second to push up.
Remember that form is more important than speed or the number of pushups you do. If it helps, take a video of yourself to see how you can improve your form.
Pushup Variations
Pushups for beginners. If a regular pushup is too difficult, you can make changes so you can build up your strength. Try leaning against a wall to do pushups. Place your hands on the wall with your feet on the floor a little bit away from it. This uses less of your body weight.
If wall pushups are too easy, try leaning at a 45-degree angle by putting your hands on a couch or a chair. These pushups use around 36% to 45% of your body weight, instead of the 50% to 75% of standard pushups.
More challenging pushups. Once you build up the strength, you can move to the floor. Start by doing pushups with your knees on the ground, instead of your feet.
The final step is to do pushups in the standard plank form. At first, your elbows may not reach a 90-degree angle, but you can try to go a little lower each time.
Once you’re able to do a plank pushup, challenge yourself to do more of them at a time. Add intensity by slowing down as you lower yourself to the ground and raise up. To burn more calories, you can speed up your pushups.
Pushups to target different muscles. By changing your position, you can focus on different muscles. For example, if you put your hands closer together, you’ll work your chest muscles. If your hands are farther apart, you’ll work your triceps more. Switching between the two gives a full-body workout.
No matter how you do pushups, always tighten your core muscles and pay attention to your form.
Safety Considerations for Pushups
Remember that all exercises come with some risk of injury. If you’re injured and pushups hurt, limit your range of motion, reduce intensity, or take a break until you feel better. If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor before adding pushups to your exercise regimen.
