Push-Ups: A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching and Mastering the Exercise

How do you teach push ups?

Teaching the push-up effectively involves a systematic, progressive approach that builds foundational strength, addresses common biomechanical compensations, and reinforces proper body alignment from the ground up, ensuring proficiency and injury prevention.

Understanding the Push-Up: Anatomy and Biomechanics

The push-up is a fundamental compound exercise that engages multiple joints and muscle groups, making it a powerful indicator of upper body and core strength.

• Primary Movers:
  • Pectoralis Major: The large chest muscle responsible for horizontal adduction (bringing the arm across the body) and shoulder flexion. Both sternal and clavicular heads are active.
  • Anterior Deltoid: The front part of the shoulder muscle, assisting in shoulder flexion and horizontal adduction.
  • Triceps Brachii: The muscle on the back of the upper arm, responsible for elbow extension.
• Key Stabilizers:
  • Serratus Anterior: Crucial for scapular protraction (pushing the shoulder blade away from the spine) and upward rotation, preventing "winging" of the scapula.
  • Rhomboids & Trapezius: Stabilize the scapulae.
  • Rotator Cuff: Provides dynamic stability to the shoulder joint.
  • Core Musculature (Rectus Abdominis, Obliques, Transverse Abdominis): Essential for maintaining a rigid, neutral spine and preventing hip sagging or piking.
  • Gluteus Maximus & Hamstrings: Contribute to maintaining a straight body line by extending the hips.

Biomechanical efficiency in the push-up demands a coordinated effort to move the body as a single, rigid unit through a full range of motion, involving controlled shoulder horizontal adduction, elbow extension, and scapular protraction.

The Foundational Principles of Teaching Any Exercise

Effective coaching prioritizes safety, understanding, and progressive overload. When teaching the push-up, adhere to these principles:

• Assess Current Capability: Before beginning, evaluate the individual's baseline strength, stability, and movement patterns. Can they hold a solid plank? Do they exhibit scapular control?
• Start with the Easiest Progression: Begin at a level where the individual can successfully execute the movement with proper form. This builds confidence and reinforces correct motor patterns.
• Focus on Quality Over Quantity: Emphasize perfect form for every repetition. It's better to perform fewer, perfect repetitions than many compromised ones.
• Provide Clear, Concise Cues: Use external cues (e.g., "Push the floor away," "Imagine a straight line from your head to your heels") rather than internal cues (e.g., "Contract your triceps") to facilitate better movement patterns.
• Address Common Compensations Early: Identify and correct common errors (e.g., sagging hips, flaring elbows) immediately to prevent the development of poor habits or injury.
• Regress When Necessary, Progress When Ready: Be adaptable. If form breaks down, regress to an easier variation. Once mastery is achieved, progress to a more challenging one.

The Progressive Teaching Model for Push-Ups

A systematic progression ensures that individuals build the requisite strength and motor control step-by-step.

Phase 1: Core and Scapular Stability (The Plank Foundation)

Before any elbow flexion, establish a strong, stable core and control over the shoulder blades.

• High Plank:
  • Execution: Hands directly under shoulders, body in a straight line from head to heels. Gaze slightly forward.
  • Focus: Bracing the core, squeezing the glutes, maintaining a neutral spine, and actively pushing the floor away to achieve scapular protraction.
  • Coaching Cue: "Imagine a board on your back – keep it flat."
• Low Plank (Forearm Plank):
  • Execution: Similar to high plank, but on forearms.
  • Focus: Reinforces core bracing and full-body tension.
• Scapular Push-Ups (Plank Protraction/Retraction):
  • Execution: Start in a high plank. Without bending the elbows, allow the chest to drop slightly between the shoulders (scapular retraction), then push the floor away, rounding the upper back slightly (scapular protraction).
  • Focus: Isolating and strengthening the serratus anterior, crucial for shoulder health and stability during the push-up.
  • Coaching Cue: "Push the floor away with your shoulder blades."

Phase 2: Elevated Push-Ups (Incline Progression)

Gradually reduce the angle of the body relative to gravity, increasing the load.

• Wall Push-Ups:
  • Execution: Stand facing a wall, hands shoulder-width apart on the wall. Lean in, bending elbows, then push back.
  • Focus: Introduces the pushing movement pattern with minimal resistance. Emphasize full-body tension from head to heels, even against the wall.
• Incline Push-Ups (on Bench/Box/Smith Machine Bar):
  • Execution: Hands on an elevated surface (bench, box, sturdy chair). The higher the surface, the easier the exercise. Gradually decrease the incline.
  • Focus: Maintaining a rigid plank from head to heels. Control the descent and ascent. Ensure elbows tuck slightly towards the body, not flaring wide.
  • Coaching Cue: "Keep your body like a rigid plank, moving as one piece." "Lower your chest to the surface."

Phase 3: Kneeling Push-Ups (Modified Base of Support)

This variation reduces the lever arm and thus the load on the upper body and core, making it a useful bridge or regression.

• Execution: Start on hands and knees. Walk hands forward until a straight line can be maintained from the knees to the head. Perform the push-up, lowering the chest to the floor.
• Focus: Allows for full range of motion in the upper body while reducing the core and lower body stability demands. Ensure hips don't sag or pike.
• Coaching Cue: "Keep a straight line from your knees to your head. No sagging in the middle!"

Phase 4: Full Floor Push-Ups

The standard benchmark for push-up strength.

• Starting Position:
  • Hand Placement: Hands slightly wider than shoulder-width, fingers pointing forward or slightly angled out. Ensure wrists are stacked under elbows in the bottom position.
  • Body Alignment: Head neutral, eyes looking slightly forward and down. Shoulders protracted. Core braced, glutes squeezed, legs straight, feet together or shoulder-width apart.
• Descent (Eccentric Phase):
  • Movement: Control the lowering phase. Elbows should tuck towards the body, typically at a 45-degree angle to the torso, not flaring straight out to the sides.
  • Depth: Lower until the chest is about an inch from the floor, or touches lightly. Maintain a neutral spine throughout.
  • Coaching Cue: "Control the descent," "Imagine pulling yourself to the floor," "Elbows back and slightly in."
• Ascent (Concentric Phase):
  • Movement: Press through the hands, extending the elbows and protracting the scapulae at the top. Push the floor away.
  • Completion: Finish with fully extended elbows and protracted shoulders, maintaining the straight body line.
  • Coaching Cue: "Push the floor away from you," "Explode up," "Finish strong with a slight round in your upper back."

Advanced Push-Up Progressions

Once the standard push-up is mastered, introduce variations to increase intensity:

• Decline Push-Ups: Elevate the feet on a box or bench to increase the load on the upper chest and shoulders.
• Weighted Push-Ups: Add external resistance using a weight plate on the back or a weighted vest.
• Plyometric Push-Ups: Push explosively off the floor, allowing the hands to leave the ground.
• Single-Arm Push-Ups: A highly challenging variation requiring significant unilateral strength and core stability.

Common Errors and Coaching Cues

Identifying and correcting common mistakes is paramount for effective teaching.

• Sagging Hips/Lower Back Arching:
  • Cause: Weak core and/or glutes, lack of full-body tension.
  • Cue: "Squeeze your glutes," "Brace your core as if preparing for a punch," "Pull your belly button to your spine."
• Piking Hips (Butt in the Air):
  • Cause: Lack of upper body strength, compensation to reduce load, or poor core engagement.
  • Cue: "Straighten your body like a plank," "Reach your heels back," "Engage your glutes and quads."
• Elbows Flaring Out (90-degree angle to torso):
  • Cause: Improper joint alignment, placing excessive stress on shoulder joints.
  • Cue: "Tuck your elbows to your sides," "Imagine you're screwing your hands into the floor," "Keep your elbows at a 45-degree angle."
• Incomplete Range of Motion:
  • Cause: Lack of strength, poor mobility, or rushing.
  • Cue: "Lower your chest to the floor," "Touch your nose to the ground," "Control the descent fully."
• Neck Hyperextension/Flexion:
  • Cause: Poor head alignment, often looking too far up or down.
  • Cue: "Keep your head neutral, in line with your spine," "Look slightly forward and down."
• Shoulder Shrugging/Lack of Scapular Control:
  • Cause: Over-reliance on upper traps, weak serratus anterior.
  • Cue: "Keep your shoulders away from your ears," "Push the floor away at the top," "Finish with strong shoulder blades."

Integrating Push-Up Training into a Program

For optimal results and recovery, integrate push-up training thoughtfully:

• Frequency: 2-3 times per week, allowing at least 48 hours of rest for recovery of the primary movers.
• Sets and Reps:
  • Strength: 3-5 sets of 5-8 repetitions.
  • Hypertrophy: 3-4 sets of 8-12 repetitions.
  • Endurance: 2-3 sets of 12-20+ repetitions.
• Warm-up: Begin with light cardio, dynamic stretches targeting the shoulders, chest, and core (e.g., arm circles, cat-cow, thoracic rotations, wrist circles).
• Cool-down: Static stretches for the pectorals, deltoids, and triceps (e.g., doorway chest stretch, triceps stretch).

Conclusion: Mastery Through Methodical Progression

Teaching the push-up is less about simply demonstrating the movement and more about guiding an individual through a meticulously planned progression. By understanding the underlying anatomy and biomechanics, adhering to foundational coaching principles, and systematically introducing variations from foundational stability to advanced strength, you empower individuals to achieve true mastery of this essential exercise. Patience, precise cueing, and a keen eye for form are the hallmarks of an effective fitness educator in this journey.