Open Exercise

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Catalogue

Push-Up

oec:push-up

A foundational bodyweight exercise that builds upper-body pressing strength and trunk stability.

Generated by gemini-3.8-flash from the sources below. No person has checked this record. Don't rely on it for safety.

Also called: pushup, press-up, press up

How to do it

Setup

  1. Place your hands flat on the floor slightly wider than shoulder-width apart, directly under your shoulders.
  2. Extend your legs behind you with feet together or hip-width apart, supporting your weight on your hands and toes.
  3. Brace your core, squeeze your glutes, and establish a rigid straight line from your head to your heels.

Movement

  1. Lower your chest toward the floor by bending your elbows, keeping them tracking at roughly a 45-degree angle to your torso.
  2. Descend until your chest is an inch off the floor or lightly touches it, maintaining full-body tension.
  3. Press through your palms to extend your arms, returning to the top plank position.
  4. Push fully through the floor at the top to complete scapular protraction without rounding the lower back.

Breathing

Inhale smoothly as you lower your body toward the floor; exhale forcefully as you press back up to lockout.

Cues

  • Body like a plank.
  • Arrow shape with your elbows, not a 'T'.
  • Push the floor away.

Common faults

Sagging hips and hyperextended lumbar spine.
Brace your abdominals and squeeze your glutes to maintain a neutral spine throughout the set.
Elbows flaring excessively out to ninety degrees from the torso.
Tuck your elbows to roughly 45 degrees, forming an arrow shape with your head and torso.
Cutting the range of motion short by nodding the head rather than lowering the chest.
Keep your neck packed in neutral alignment and lower until your chest nearly touches the floor.

Safety

  • If wrist discomfort occurs, perform the push-up with hands on parallettes, dumbbells, or closed fists to keep wrists neutral.

Muscles

  • Pectoralis major prime mover
  • Front deltoid synergist
  • Triceps brachii synergist
  • Serratus anterior synergist
  • Rectus abdominis stabilizer
  • Gluteus maximus stabilizer
  • Quadriceps stabilizer

Joints

  • Shoulder: Horizontal adduction, Flexion
  • Elbow: Extension
  • Shoulder blade: Protraction, Retraction
  • Lumbar spine: Isometric stabilization

Details

Movement
Horizontal push, Anti-extension
Modality
Calisthenics, Strength, Hypertrophy
Mechanics
compound
Force
push
Laterality
bilateral
Kinetic chain
closed
Level
beginner
Equipment
None
Record
Repetitions
Load
bodyweight

Related

Sources

This record: CC-BY-SA-4.0.

Data

push-up.json