Push-ups are one of the best body weight exercises you can do, strengthening your upper body, burning calories, and protecting your shoulders and lower back from injuries. They work your chest, shoulders, and tricep muscles, and will give you a good ab workout too. As a compound exercise (an exercise that uses several muscle groups to perform a movement), they prepare you for everyday tasks and activities, and are also amazing for your cardiovascular system. But they’re not exactly easy. Standard push-ups are quite challenging, but with the proper plan, exercise routine, and form, you’ll be able to conquer them. Take a look at our 30-day push-up progression plan for beginners.
30-Day Push-Up Progression Plan for Beginners
1. Set a Realistic Goal
Push-ups are challenging, so it’s important to set a realistic goal. They take consistency and time to complete with good form. Start off with a goal that seems manageable to you. If you’re not yet able to do one push-up, give yourself a goal to do 5 in a row. If you’re easily able to do push-ups from your knees and can do one or two full push-ups, 10 push-ups in a row in 30 days is a reasonable goal.
2. Practice Your High Plank
If you’re working toward a push-up, you’ll want to nail the high plank first. It’s a fundamental part of the exercise and will help you build your upper body and core strength. Start on all fours with your hands directly under your shoulders and knees underneath your hips. Extend your legs, lifting your knees off the floor, and keeping your upper body and lower body in a straight line. Slightly tuck your chin so your neck is in a neutral position and lightly engage your core and glutes. If being on your hands is too challenging, come down to your elbows, maintaining a straight line from head to toe.
3. Start with Wall Push-Ups to Build Strength
Wall push-ups are an easier variation of a standard push-up, but they target the same muscle groups. They’re a great place to start as using a wall removes some of the load so you can perfect your form and work toward full push-ups. Stand about arm’s length from the wall with your feet hip-width apart. Place both hands on the wall at shoulder level, shoulder-width apart. Slowly bend your elbows and begin to lean your body toward the wall until your nose almost touches it. Keep your back straight and bend your elbows at a 45-degree angle (instead of straight out to the sides). Slowly push yourself back to starting position and repeat.
4. Nail Proper Push-Up Form
Your form and alignment is really important when it comes to doing a proper push-up. This is true whether you’re doing a wall push-up, full push-up or modified version on your knees. Make sure to keep a neutral neck, flat back, and a straight line from head to toe. Engage your core so that your hips/belly doesn’t drop and your back doesn’t arch. Draw your shoulder blades back and down and keep your elbows tucked close to your body. Slowly lower your body until your chest almost reaches the ground, bending your elbows to 45 degrees. Hold then push yourself back up to a high plank, keeping your back straight and core engaged.
5. Add an Incline
Adding an incline makes push-ups easier to do and is a great place to move on to after wall push-ups. An incline allows you to practice the movement without too much stress on your upper body and core. Start with a high incline, such as your countertop, that allows you to perform multiple push-ups in a row. The higher the incline, the easier the push up should be. Place your hands on the countertop and step back to a high plank position with your shoulders over your wrists. Maintaining a straight line with your body, lower your chest toward the countertop, then exhale as you push back up into high plank position. As you get more comfortable, you can lower the incline by doing pushups on an exercise bench or an adjustable step platform.
6. Work on Your Chest Press
The chest press is another helpful exercise to do if you want to get better at push-ups. It increases your chest, arm, and shoulder strength, and you can adjust the intensity and resistance by lifting more weight as you get stronger. Lie on your back with your knees bent and a dumbbell in each hand. Position the dumbbells at the shoulders with your elbows bent at about 90 degrees. Your palms should face forward with your thumbs wrapped around each handle. Engage your core and tilt your chin slightly towards your chest. Slowly push the weights up with your hands directly over your shoulders without locking your elbows. Then bring them back down to starting position, and repeat. Squeeze your shoulder blades throughout the entire movement.
7. Knee Push-ups
Once you’ve mastered push-ups with a high incline, you can work on knee push-ups, or modified push-ups. During knee push-ups, your upper body does the same movement patterns as a regular push-up, however, you do them from your knees rather than your toes. Knee push-ups reduce the amount of weight you need to push, making it easier than a regular push-up. From a table top position, bring your knees back until your torso and upper body are in a straight line. Your shoulders should be stacked over your elbows and your lower body resting on your knees. Engage your glutes and core as you bend your elbows and lower your chest towards the floor. Extend your elbows to come back to the starting position and repeat.
8. Progress from Knee to Standard Push-ups
Since the muscle activation in knee and toe push-ups is the same, if you consistently perform push-ups on your knees, you’ll eventually be able to do them on your toes. Once you can do 10-15 knee push-ups with good form, you can try the half-half method. Lift your knees off the ground for the lowering part of the movement, and put them back down to push up to the top. Once you feel comfortable with this, you can finally do push-ups from your toes. From a high plank position, brace your core and glutes and steadily lower your chest to the ground until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle. Try to keep your elbows close to your body, not out to the side. Pause briefly then push your hands into the floor, extending your arms to come back to high plank position.
If you follow this plan, you should be able to do push-ups in the next 30 days. Remember, it takes time and commitment, but with a proper plan and practice, you can do it!
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