Perform The Perfect Push-Up

You may not be in the military, and you are probably not entering a push-up contest. But the push-up is a great body weight resistance exercise to practice and perfect; in this post, we will discuss the keys to performing a mechanically proper push-up, and include a link to a video explanation below from a Master Fitness Trainer with the United States Army.

The Perfect Push-Up

1. Lie chest-down with your hands at shoulder level, palms flat on the floor and slightly more than shoulder-width apart, your feet together and parallel to each other.

2. Look forward, rather than down at the floor. The first contact you make with the floor with any part of the face should be your chin, not your nose.

3. Keep your legs straight and your toes tucked under your feet.

4. Straighten your arms as you use them to push your body up off the floor. Keep your palms fixed at the same position and keep your body straight. Do not bend or arch your upper or lower back as you push up.

5. Exhale as your arms straighten out.

6. Pause for a moment at the top of the exercise. Be wary of not locking out your elbows at the top of the exercise; your elbows should be nearly, but not fully, locked out.

7. Lower your body slowly towards the floor. Bend your arms and keep your palms in fixed position. Keep body straight and feet together.

8. Lower body until chest brushes against the floor; do not rest your body weight on the floor. Instead, think about your elbows breaking the plane of your rib cage, and your core finishing up below your elbows. Try not to bend your back. Keep your knees off the floor, and inhale as you bend your arms.

9. Pause for a moment. Begin straightening your arms for a second push-up. Exhale as you raise your body, completing the repetition and beginning the second push-up.

SSG Ken Weichert, Master Fitness Trainer with the United States Army, perfectly describes all the necessary keys to focus on when performing a proper push-up in this short clip.