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Fundamentals

Push-Up

Hold one straight line from head to heels, lower your chest towards the floor and press back up. The push-up is the base of the pushing skills, from the dip to the planche.

Three positions of a push-up: straight arms, halfway down, and the chest close to the floor. The body stays one straight line and turns about the toes. The dashed line follows the head; the faint outlines are the positions it has passed.
Difficulty
Beginner
editorial estimate
Steps to it
3 steps
Beginner → Beginner
Usually done on
Floor
Start with the first stepHow it is done

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach. 5 sources

The road at a glance

A short overview with links. Every step is explained in full under Progressions.

Helps to have first

A starting point: no other movement in the Atlas is needed first.

This skill

Push-Up

Leads towards

01

What it is

In a push-up you support yourself on your hands and toes, with the body in one straight line from the head to the heels. You lower yourself by bending the elbows until your chest is close to the floor, then press back up to straight arms. The hands are about shoulder width apart, under the shoulders or a little wider, with the fingers pointing forward.

The main work is done by the triceps, the chest (pectoralis major) and the front of the shoulders. The muscles around the shoulder blades, the trunk, the glutes and the legs do not move much, but they work: they keep the body from sagging or folding. That is why the push-up is often described as a moving plank.

You lift only a part of your body weight, and which part depends on the angle of your body. The more upright it is, the less you lift. That is why hands on a wall, a table or a bench make a push-up easier, and feet on a bench make it harder.

The push-up is a moving plank. If the line from head to heels breaks, the repetition is something else. Make it easier by changing the angle of the body (a raised surface or the knees), not by letting the middle sag.

History and origin

The origin of the push-up is not documented in the sources we read, so we do not name a first person or a year. What is documented is how it is used: it needs no equipment, and timed push-up tests appear in military fitness assessment. In calisthenics it is the base of the pushing skills: the dip, the planche, the handstand push-up and the one-arm push-up all build on it.

02

How it is done

  1. Set the hands

    Put your palms flat on the floor under your shoulders, about shoulder width apart, fingers pointing forward. Lift into a straight-arm plank on your hands and toes, with the feet close together.

  2. Make one line

    Tighten the glutes and the abdominals so that the head, back and heels form one line. Do not clench the thighs hard instead: sources say that can let the middle sag. Look at the floor a little ahead of your hands to keep the neck in line.

  3. Lower

    Bend the elbows and lower the chest towards the floor in a controlled way, keeping the elbows closer to your sides than to the sides of the room. Go down until the chest is near the floor; some sources use elbows at about 90 degrees as the depth.

  4. Press up

    Push the floor away until the arms are straight again. The shoulders and the hips rise together and the line stays one line.

  5. Reset and repeat

    Start every repetition from a straight-arm plank. Stop the set when the line breaks: a few good repetitions are worth more than many bad ones.

03

Progressions

These are common steps, not the only road. Coaches use different orders, and what suits you depends on your starting strength and your body. Move on when a step feels controlled, not when you hit a number.

What to have first

  • A straight line under load

    There is no number to reach before you start, because the first step is on a raised surface. If you can hold a straight-arm plank on your hands, or on a raised surface, for a short time without sagging, an incline push-up is a reasonable first step.

  • Wrists that tolerate weight

    Pressing on the hands loads the wrists. In one small lab study a neutral wrist (the hand in line with the forearm) spread the force more evenly than a bent-back wrist, and the incline versions put less load on the wrists and shoulders. If your wrists hurt in the plank, ask a qualified person.

  • Shoulders without pain

    Pressing loads the shoulders. Sharp pain, numbness or a pinching feeling in a shoulder mean stop, and ask a qualified person.

  1. Step 1Beginner

    Incline push-up

    Put your hands on a raised surface (a wall, a countertop, a table or a bench) and do the push-up with the body in one straight line. The higher the surface, the less of your body weight you lift, and the lighter it is on the wrists and shoulders. Lower the surface step by step until you are on the floor.

    Technical note: The line from head to heels does not break at the hips. When a whole set stays clean, try a lower surface.

  2. Step 2Beginner

    Knee push-up

    Hands on the floor, knees on the floor (a mat helps), body in one line from the head to the knees. You carry less of your body weight than in a full push-up. Sources list the incline and the knee version as two ways to make the push-up lighter; you do not have to do both.

    Technical note: The line runs from the head to the knees: the hips do not sit back towards the heels and do not sag.

  3. Step 3BeginnerGoal

    Full push-up

    Hands and toes on the floor, a straight-arm plank, lower until the chest is near the floor, press back up to straight arms. The elbows stay close to the sides and the body stays one line the whole time.

    Technical note: Count only repetitions where the line holds and you reach the same depth.

04

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05

Common mistakes

  • Sagging hips

    When the hips drop, the lower back takes the load and the plank is gone. Tighten the glutes and the abdominals before you lower.

  • Hips too high

    Hips raised above the line take load off the chest and make the movement something else. Check the line from the side, in a mirror or on video.

  • Elbows flared out

    Elbows pointing straight out to the sides put extra stress on the shoulders. Keep them closer to your body as you lower and press.

  • Clenching the thighs

    Squeezing the quadriceps instead of the glutes and the abdominals is described as one reason the middle sags.

  • Head forward or dropped

    Pushing the head forward or letting it hang breaks the line of the neck. Look at the floor a little ahead of your hands.

  • Half repetitions

    A short range hides weakness. If a full range will not go, go back to a step where you can control all of it.

    NoStops halfway down
    YesGoes down to the lowest point
    Both pictures are positions of the movement drawn on this page: where a repetition that stops short ends, and the full range. No wrong technique is drawn.

06

Variations and related skills

  • Hand width

    Grip

    Hands closer together or wider apart change how the work is shared. Sources disagree on the details, and one notes that very wide hands can stress the shoulders.

  • Slow lowering

    The same push-up with a slow descent (about four seconds in one source) is harder.

  • Feet raised

    Stance

    Feet on a bench or a step make the push-up harder.

  • Pike push-up

    Hips raised so the body forms an inverted V, with the head moving towards the floor between the hands. A step towards the handstand push-up.

  • A different pressing movement on parallel bars, supported on straight arms.

  • Pressing upside down from a handstand.

  • A push-up on a single arm. One of the sources we read notes a higher risk of injury.

On Calisthenics Balkan

07

Sources

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below.

  1. Here's How To Do a Good, Basic Push-upCleveland Clinic Health Essentials, with exercise physiologist Katie Lawton, MEd (2024)
  2. Proper Push-Up Form and Technique: A Complete GuideNASM (National Academy of Sports Medicine), Heather Cherry, CPT
  3. Modify your push-ups to meet your fitness levelHarvard Health Publishing, Matthew Solan, medically reviewed (2026)
  4. Should You Start Doing Push-Ups Every Day? And How to Get the Proper FormHospital for Special Surgery (HSS), exercise physiologist Max Castrogaleas (2020)
  5. Force transmission through the wrist during performance of push-ups on a hyperextended and a neutral wristPolovinets, Wolf, Wollstein, Journal of Hand Therapy 2018; only the abstract page was read, 14 participants

A note on safety. This page describes the movement in general. It is not a training plan and not medical advice. Stop if you feel sharp pain, numbness or tingling in a wrist, elbow or shoulder, and ask a qualified coach or doctor. Do not train until your form breaks down, and give your arms and shoulders rest.

Prepared by Calisthenics Balkan. Not yet reviewed by a qualified coach.

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