Proper Way to Do Push-ups (Step-by-Step Guide)

Today, meohay.vn will guide you on how to do push-ups correctly for beginners, so that after reading this article you can perform push-ups accurately and achieve the highest efficiency in your workouts.

Push-ups are one of the top exercises that you can do anywhere, anytime, and only need 3-5 minutes per day. However, to make your workout more effective, you should keep in mind these 5 techniques for doing push-ups correctly:

• Body posture: From shoulders to heels, keep your body straight, not too high or too low. Always remember to keep your body straight during push-ups, not bending up or down as it will affect your lower back.
• Position: Keep your head straight, fixed shoulders facing backwards, tighten your stomach.
• Hand placement: Place both hands just below the shoulders, with the width of your arms slightly wider than your shoulders, so that when you lower your body, your forearms are perpendicular to the ground. This position helps evenly distribute force to the chest, triceps, and shoulders.
• Speed: When lowering your body, do it slowly to feel the muscles working, and when raising up, do it faster. Control your exercise rhythm, 1 second up, 2 seconds down.
• Breathing: Take deep breaths to provide enough oxygen to the muscles. The principle throughout the push-up exercise is: Inhale when lowering, exhale when raising.

Step-by-step guide to push-ups

Create a push-up position

If you have ever heard of a exercise called Plank, the push-up position is exactly the same.

• First, place both hands on the floor, hands directly below the shoulders.
• Extend both legs straight (or you can use your knees if you can’t fully extend your legs), raise your hips so that your body forms a straight line from your heels to your head, with your hips not too high or too low.
• Tighten your glutes and abs, look straight ahead.
• Start lowering your body
• Slightly open your elbows, and your body will gradually lower, continue until your chest is close to the floor (about 1-2cm away). At this point, your arms should not be too far out and they should be close to your body. When reaching the lowest position, bring your shoulder blades together and remember to inhale.
• According to the general principle, you will stop when your forearms and upper arms form a 90-degree angle.

Raise back to the starting position

At this point, keep your abs tight, exhale, and press your arms down to push your body back to the starting position.

Considerations when doing push-ups

Avoid having your hips too high or too low

This is the most common mistake, especially for women. Many people tend to raise their hips too high or too low, which makes the exercise easier, but also reduces its effectiveness.

Avoid having your hips too high or too low

Therefore, always keep your hips parallel to your legs and back by tightening your glutes and abs, and try to maintain that straight posture when doing push-ups.

Breathing incorrectly or holding your breath

This is also a common mistake when people start doing push-ups. Many people hold their breath while doing push-ups, and after a while their face turns red. Holding your breath during exercise will prevent you from performing well. Similarly, breathing incorrectly is also a common mistake. Most of us tend to inhale the opposite of the exercise principle, so remember: Inhale when lowering and exhale when raising.

Spread your fingers too wide

Many people believe that spreading their fingers while exercising will help them maintain better balance, but in reality, it doesn’t. Spreading your fingers makes it difficult for you to maintain balance and tires your hands faster. Therefore, keep your fingers slightly closer together.

Avoid extending your fingers too wide, as it will put strain on your shoulders

Spreading your fingers too wide puts strain on your shoulder muscles, just like in the Bench Press exercise. The optimal angle for push-ups is 70-75 degrees compared to the body, and you should adhere to it.

Cheating

Completing full repetitions will give you the best results, so make sure to do the full range of motion during the exercise. Don’t only go halfway and then push back up, as it won’t yield good results.

Incorrect neck position

Many people have the habit of looking down when they perform push-ups, which leads to a sore neck after the workout.

Avoid straining your neck during the exercise

The correct way to do it is to look down at the floor, focus on a spot on the floor, and also keep your neck centered without tilting it to either side.

Exercises to develop muscles

Wall Push-Ups

One reason why you may find it difficult to do push-ups is because you are not used to using upper body strength. This exercise helps you learn to use your chest and tricep muscles to push up, while also stimulating the posterior deltoids.

Here’s how to do it:

• Stand straight, with both feet close together, about 40-70cm away from the wall
• Place both hands against the wall, hands shoulder-width apart
• Lower your body slowly towards the wall until your head touches the wall
• Push your body up with your arms extended
• Repeat 10 times

Incline Push-Ups

Incline push-ups involve performing push-ups on a surface higher than the ground, such as a step or a long bench. This exercise helps gradually build upper body strength to be able to perform regular push-ups. When doing incline push-ups, you are only lifting about 36-45% of your body weight. The difficulty depends on the height of the surface, the lower the surface, the more difficult it is.

Here’s how to do it:

• Stand facing a steady or inclined surface
• Place your hands straight on the sides of the surface, hands wider than shoulder width
• Lower your body slowly, keeping your legs and body straight, with your arms perpendicular to your body
• Then push your body up, extending your arms straight, and repeat

Knee Push-Ups

Compared to regular push-ups, knee push-ups are easier because you only need to push the upper body. Using knee support helps you get used to concentrating your strength in your chest and abs, which will enable you to do full push-ups. The exercise is simple:

• Place your knees on the floor, hands straight on the floor, fingers pointing forward
• Keep your body straight, with your abs tightened
• Slowly lower your body until your chest is about 2-5cm above the floor, with your forearms at about a 45-degree angle
• Push your body up until your arms are fully extended, return to the starting position, and repeat

If you can do knee push-ups more than 10 times, congratulations, you’re ready to try the “real” push-up. Otherwise, if you find these introductory exercises difficult, continue practicing until you feel ready with the following suggestions:

• Wall Push-Ups: 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps per set
• Incline Push-Ups: 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps per set
• Knee Push-Ups: 2-3 sets of 6-8 reps per set

Basic Push-Ups

Here’s how to do it:

• Just like knee push-ups, but instead of resting on your knees, rest on your toes
• Extend both arms straight, slightly wider than shoulder width, tighten your abs, keep your body straight
• Lower your body until your chest is about 2-5cm above the floor, with your forearms at about a 45-degree angle
• Push your body up until your arms are fully extended, return to the starting position, and repeat

• Light: 1-2 sets, 15 reps per set
• Moderate: 2-3 sets, 10 reps per set
• Heavy: 3-4 sets, 10 reps per set

Advanced Push-Ups

After conquering the basic push-ups at different difficulty levels, you can challenge yourself with advanced push-up variations, such as push-ups on a balance ball. Similar to basic push-ups, when doing push-ups on a ball, place both hands on the ball. This exercise helps improve balance. Or you can try push-ups with one leg on the ball: place one leg on top of the other foot and perform push-ups as usual. It’s quite challenging, if you can do this exercise, you are an expert in push-ups. Congratulations.

In conclusion, the guide to push-ups for beginners includes:

• Keep your head straight
• Keep your shoulders facing back and fixed
• Place both hands just below the shoulders (perpendicular to the body)
• Apply pressure to the tricep muscles
• Keep your body straight from shoulders to heels (not too high or too low)
• Control your movements when raising and lowering
• Maintain a steady exercise rhythm (1 second up, 2 seconds down)