Monday is international chest day! What comes to your mind when you hear these words? Except for jacked up bodybuilders on legal and/or illegal “supplements”, it’ll probably be bench pressing and taking the 130s for a ride on the incline. But some of you might think of the good ol’ Push Up.
The bench press, chest press machine, chest flies, incline and decline bench press, etc. have become the norm when it come to training one’s pecs and tris. Standard push ups have been degraded to a finisher, an endurance or beginner’s exercise in the best case and only very few gym-goers or even trainers actually know how to build considerable strength and muscle mass using just one’s bodyweight and gravity.
Except for the obvious advantage of not having a heavy weight above you ready to fall down on your chest or neck at any point, you will engage more muscles compared to bench pressing. Quads, hip flexors and abdominal. Especially once you start working on unilateral push ups, like the one arm push up, your core will get a proper workout. And of course, you can do them everywhere, at any time. Here are all push up progressions from absolute beginner to badass MF, starting with…
Level 1: Wall push ups
Great way to start working on them pecs after an injury, if you are very out of shape or overweight.
Stand in front of a wall, your toes roughly 2-3 feet away from it. Rest your hands on the wall at chest height. Bend your arms until your face is nearly touching the wall, your elbows should preferably be close to your ribcage instead of flaring out, just as with the later progressions. Then push and extend your arms until you reach the starting position.
Level 2: Incline push ups
This is basically a regular push up we all know and love, but with your hands elevated. You can use a smith machine for this purpose, a table or a step. As long as your hands are lower than with wall push ups, but still above the ground. Lean against the bar with your hands around shoulder width apart, feet together and your ankles, hips and shoulders in one line. Bend your arms until your chest touches the bar and your elbows are close to your ribs. Then push back, extend your arms and push your shoulders forwards against the bar with arms locked out at the elbows. Repeat. Repeat again. And again. You get the point.
The good thing about this exercise is that you can adjust the resistance, depending how high/low your hands are. In fact, by progressively lowering yourself down as you get stronger you can train yourself to do full push ups on the floor
level 3: Knee push ups
A simplified version of the full push ups many of us start(ed) with. To perform it with correct form, place your hands on the ground shoulder width apart as well as your knees, which are touching each other. It is very important that your knees, hips and shoulders in one line and your hands directly underneath your chest, not your face. Look forwards as well.
From this position lower yourself down by bending your arms until your chest touches the floor. Your elbows should be close to your rib cage at this point. Then push up back to the starting position. At the beginning you can do this exercise with your elbow flaring out and your hands wider apart, though eventually you will have to train yourself to do it with the elbows in, which is required in the later progressions.
level 4: full push ups
Once you can do 25+ knee push ups with good form, it’s time to work on the most well known exercise form this progression series. It happens often that someone brags about being able to do 100 or more reps in a set, but turns out it’s due to poor form. Here’s how to do it correctly.
Start from a plank position – feet together, arms extended, hands shoulder width apart, ankles, knees, hips and shoulders are in one line. Look forwards. Now bend your arms and lower yourself down, slowly and controlled. Don’t just drop down. At the bottom of the movement your elbows should be next to your ribs, chest lightly touching the floor. Push up until your elbows are locked out (we are going for full range of motion here), then push your shoulders against the floor. There you have it.
If you’re not able to do the full range of motion yet, as always practice negative reps (slowly lowering yourself down without pushing up) and partial reps (doing only quarter or half of the movement).
level 5: Close/Diamond Push Ups
Have you ever noticed that at the bottom position of a regular push up your arms are not fully bent in the elbows? With diamond push ups are you will get exactly that, which will make your triceps work a lot harder. Placing your hands close to each other will also engage your pecs more. So. Begin with a your feet together, body in a straight line, arms extended and hands together, so that your thumbs and index fingers are touching. Lower yourself down in a controlled manner by bending your arms, until your chest is nearly touching your hands. Then push back, extend your arms fully and push your shoulders against the ground.
It is recommended to start working on wide and crucifix push ups at this stage as well.
Level 6: Archer push ups
First unilateral exercise in this progression series, which means one side is going to work harder than the other. It’s the first step towards the one arm push up and it’s much more than just a fancy move.
Place your hands nearly twice shoulder width apart to begin with, body is in a straight line as always. From there bend your left arm, lowering yourself down without dropping your hips or any twisting. The right arm remains locked out in the elbow and the hand twists so that at the bottom position the fingers are pointing to the side. Now push yourself up by doing exactly the same movement reversed. Then repeat on the other side.
Level 7: Supported one arm push ups
The main difference between this progression and previous Archer Push Ups is that you are trying to put as much weight as you can handle on one side and make the movement resemble a one arm push up.
Place your left hand on an object to your left side, so that your hand is a few inches off the floor. The other hand is underneath your chest, arm extended, feet roughly 60cm apart and body is in a straight line. Place most of your weight on the right arm. Lower your body down to the ground by bending your right arm, at the end of the movement your chest should be close to the floor and your right elbow close to your elbows. Your shoulders are parallel to the ground, do not twist your body. From there
push up back into the starting position, repeat as many times as you can (not more than 10), then do the same amount of reps on the other side. Remember that your entire body should move as a single unit. Good luck!
level 8: one arm push ups
Here it is. One of the best chest&triceps exercises ever. Some people might attempt and show off the mighty one arm push up, but most of them fail miserably as they perform it with very poor form. Not going low enough, twisting the torso and shoulders, flaring out the elbow, the body not moving as one single unit… are some of the most common mistakes.
What makes this progression so challenging is the fact, that one has lost one point of contact with the ground, which creates a lot of torque one has to compensate. That’s why many twist too much. You will notice that it’s also a great workout for your core and some extent even hip flexors and quads.
To perform this beast of an exercise with correct form, place your left hand on the floor directly underneath your chest, arm is extended. the other arm is behind your back, toes are roughly 2 feet apart. Your shoulders have to remain parallel to the floor and ankles, hips and shoulders in one line looking from the side. Do not make any of the mistakes mentioned above! From there bend your left arm in the elbow and shoulder, lower yourself down until your chest is near the ground and left elbow close to your ribs. Push yourself up the same way as you went down. Repeat a few times, then do the same amount of reps with the other arm.
In case you can do a one arm push up with full range of motion, make sure you can do around 10 reps of supported one arm push ups with very little support, then proceed with negative and partial one arm push ups. Build yourself up to do 5, 10 or more clean reps!
level 9: supported perfect one arm push ups
This exercise is similar to the supported one arm push (Level 7). The difference is that your feet are together and you are using the free arm for stabilisation, not for bearing much weight.
With your feet together, body in one line, place one hand on an object next to you, the arm that will do the job is extended, the hand underneath the sternum. From there bend you arm until your chest nearly touches the hand, your elbow should be close to your ribs. Use your supporting arm to stop you from twisting from the waist up. Then push up back to the starting position. Try to use the supporting arm as little as possible.
Level 10: Perfect one arm push ups
This exercise is similar to the supported one arm push (Level 7). The difference is that your feet are together and you are using the free arm for stabilisation, not for bearing much weight.
With your feet together, body in one line, place one hand on an object next to you, the arm that will do the job is extended, the hand underneath the sternum. From there bend you arm until your chest nearly touches the hand, your elbow should be close to your ribs. Use your supporting arm to stop you from twisting from the waist up. Then push up back to the starting position. Try to use the supporting arm as little as possible.