MovementsGymnastics
Push-up
Also known as: Press-up · Hand-Release Push-up · Archer Push-up
The foundational horizontal press: lowering a rigid body to the floor and pressing back to a locked-out plank. It underpins every burpee, dip and handstand push-up, and it is the workhorse of travel and bodyweight training.
Push-upGymnastics
The standard
A valid rep starts in a locked-out plank, lowers as one piece until the chest touches the floor, and presses back to full elbow extension without the hips sagging or snaking.
How to do it
- 01Set your hands just outside shoulder width, fingers spread, and lock your body into one rigid line from heels to head.
- 02Squeeze your glutes and quads and pull your ribs down so the trunk cannot sag.
- 03Lower under control, elbows tracking back at roughly 45 degrees, until your chest touches the floor.
- 04Keep the elbows over the wrists rather than letting them flare wide.
- 05Press the floor away as one piece, chest and hips rising together, to a full lockout.
Common faults
- · Hips sagging or snaking up ahead of the chest instead of moving as one piece.
- · Elbows flaring straight out to the sides and loading the shoulders.
- · Cutting the range short: no chest contact at the bottom, soft elbows at the top.
- · Craning the neck forward instead of keeping the head neutral.
Scaling & progressions
- · Elevate the hands on a bench or box to reduce the load while keeping the full-body line.
- · Lower slowly to the floor, reset, and press from the knees while building strength.
- · Cap the set well short of failure and add sets to reach the volume.
- · Progress the other way with a tempo descent, hand-release reps or archer push-ups.
Coaching tips
- · Think of the push-up as a moving plank: the midline never changes shape.
- · Screw the hands into the floor to create tension through the shoulders.
- · Break big sets early: push-ups vanish fast once the triceps go.
Related movements