Yes, you can (most likely!) do push-ups

Four smart variations — and why you should bother in the first place

Ask many people to drop and give you 20, and chances are they’ll say, “I can’t do push-ups.” And okay, push-ups are really hard! But the truth is, you probably can do them: You just haven’t tried the right version yet. (I reject the premise that any of the below aren’t “real” push-ups, thank you.)

Why bother doing push-ups? They’re an excellent way to strengthen your abdominals and upper body. They are a great way to incorporate resistance training in one of the foundational movement patterns (that would be horizontal pushing). They can support your posture and even improve your shoulder health.

You most likely think of push-ups as lowering your body, then pressing back up, in a high plank position, but there are so many other variations if those aren’t right for you. You’ve probably seen knee push-ups, which have another insulting and sexist name I refuse to use, and those are totally fine. (You’ll find a tip about those at the very end, if they’re your preferred version.) But I’d like to recommend that you consider incline push-ups as a great alternative. Placing your hands on an elevated surface allows you to practice maintaining a plank position as you lower your body and push it back up again, and if your goal is to work toward having both your hands and feet on the floor, it’s a better way to prepare for that movement and positioning. It’s also arguably a better challenge for your abdominals. Depending on the furniture and structures in your home or at your gym, you have a few options.

Wall Push-Ups

This version takes the most weight off your upper body but is still an excellent challenge for your pectoral muscles. It’s also great if you’re pregnant, because it doesn’t require as much effort from your rectus abdominis and therefore is less likely to place downward pressure on the pelvic floor or outward pressure on the linea alba.

• Stand facing a wall, about arm’s-length away from it. Stand on your tiptoes (feet can be together or wide — the closer together, the more challenging) and place your hands on the wall, directly across from your shoulders or just wider than shoulder-width.

• Draw your abdominals in, keep your shoulders down, and bend your elbows to lower your body in a straight plank line toward the wall. Keeping the abdominals engaged, push the wall away until you return to the starting position with arms extended.

• Perform as many reps as you can while maintaining good form, then rest. Perform another set or two when you’re ready.

Countertop (or, um, HVAC Compressor) Push-Ups

If the wall is just right for you, great! Stay there as long as you like. If you feel like it’s not challenging enough, or you’ve been doing wall push-ups for a few weeks and feel like working your way up, using a surface that’s closer to waist-height is a great next step.

• Stand facing a countertop or other very sturdy waist-height-ish surface. (HVAC experts, please forgive me for using my compressor this way. Admittedly not the best idea.) Place your hands on the edge, just below the shoulders or just wider than shoulder-width. Step your feet back, lift your heels and place your weight on the toes and balls of the feet.

• Draw your abdominals in, keep your shoulders down, and bend your elbows to lower your body in a straight plank line until your chest hits the edge of the surface you’re using. Keeping your abdominals engaged, push the surface away until you return to the starting position with arms extended.

• Perform as many reps as you can while maintaining good form, then rest. Perform another set or two when you’re ready.

Bench (or Coffee Table) Push-Ups

This small-incline push-up is a final step before you make your way all the way to the floor, if that’s the journey you’re on (if you have a small exercise step/platform, that’s another way to progress from here, but once you nail this one you’ll probably be ready for the floor). It’s just enough elevation to take some weight off the movement, but still requires significant strength in your abdominals and chest to do it right.

• Place your hands, shoulder-width apart or just wider, on the edge of a very sturdy bench, coffee table, or ledge — ideally something knee height or below. Walk your feet out into a plank position.

• Draw your abdominals in, keep your shoulders down, and bend your elbows to lower your body in a straight plank line until your torso hits the edge of the surface you’re using. Keeping your abdominals engaged, push the surface away until you return to the starting position with arms extended.

• Perform as many reps as you can while maintaining good form, then rest. Perform another set or two when you’re ready.

Classic versus Pilates

No matter the push-up you’re trying, you have a couple of options when it comes to the way your arms are working. A more classic push-up involves the hands at shoulder width or just wider, and the upper arms going to about a 45-degree angle from your torso when you’re at the bottom of the push-up: This is a great way to target the muscles of the chest. In Pilates, we place the hands just slightly closer together and keep the elbows tight to the sides of the torso, which adds some intense triceps and lat work to the movement. Some folks like a wide hand placement, with the triceps at more like 90 degrees from the torso at the bottom of the push-up, but this may lead to shoulder injuries and isn’t recommended if you’ve had shoulder issues in the past, so be careful and ask a trainer for help if you need it.

Other modifications

If want to strengthen your chest without standing or putting weight on your feet or knees, but lying down is okay, you can try chest presses or chest flys with dumbbells. If possible, hold your legs in tabletop position to challenge the abdominals while you perform the movement. If staying seated is a better option for you, hold a Pilates ring or a medium-sized ball in front of your chest, squeeze it hard, then repeat (you can try this with the ball close to your chest, or extend your arms and hold it farther away from you. It gets spicy fast!).

A final note: knee push-ups

Knee push-ups should be just as precise as any other push-up, but I’ve too often seen some sketchy form with these. So when you’re preparing for a knee push-up, please do me a favor: If you begin on all fours, walk your hands about a foot farther away from your knees, then roll the whole torso forward so the weight is on the fleshy part above your knees (not the kneecaps), and extend at the hips so your body is in a straight line from shoulder to knee (and hands directly under shoulders). Your abs should feel this. Bend the knees and bring the feet toward your glutes: Your hamstrings should feel this. Now do your push-up.

Walk those hands forward and roll onto the fleshy part just above the knees.

Worth noting: You can also perform push-ups on all fours, without walking your hands forward into a knee plank position! Sooo many options.

Thoughts? Questions? (Also, do you like these little gifs or are they distracting or annoying?) What other exercises might it be helpful to hear more about?

Let’s keep going.

xo
Anna

Note: A version of this post, and the accompanying gifs, originally appeared on Medium when I was writing on Better Humans. If you enjoyed it, I may pull in some more of my content from that publication in the future!