How to Do Push Ups the Right Way

 Whether you're a beginner or an advanced trainer, the push-up is a staple exercise in most strength training routines.

While it's easy to get injured and form bad habits doing push-ups, learning how to do them the right way can set you up for success. Follow these tips to perform perfect push-ups every time you do them.

Start with a Plank Position

The plank is a great exercise that's easy to master and works out almost every muscle in your body. It's also a great way to build core strength, so you can do push ups safely and effectively.

If you're a beginner, start with a plank position and work your way up to more challenging variations as your body and muscles improve. Here are a few options to help you get started:

1. The Straight-Arm Plank

Start in a basic plank position with your arms straight, palms up and shoulders over your wrists. Hold this position for a few seconds to stretch your chest, then lower yourself to the floor (see image below).

2. The Push-Up With a Glute Bridge

Another easy variation that targets your glutes, hips, and hamstrings is a basic push-up with a twist. Place a resistance band on an anchor and secure it in front of you with your hands. Keep your back and core tight, and pull the resistance band to your chest or fist to your ribs.

3. The Plank-to-Push Up

This is a modified version of the straight-arm plank that allows you to put your weight on your knees while lowering to the ground and pressing up to return to plank. This is a good exercise for beginners, because it's not as taxing on your legs as a full push-up.

4. The Plank-to-Shift Laterally

This move is a variation of the straight-arm plank that challenges your obliques, scapula, and abdominals. It's a little more challenging than a regular straight-arm plank, so try doing this move at least once or twice a week to see how it feels and improve your overall strength.

5. The Plank-to-Shift To the Side

This is another exercise that will challenge your obliques. You start in a straight-arm plank and shift your weight to your right arm and then the left, moving laterally until you reach a push-up position. Then, shift to the other side and repeat.

You can even add an extra challenge by using ankle weights. A few reps each side is a good starting point for this exercise, but you can increase your reps as you gain strength.

Bend Your Elbows

The push-up is one of the most common bodyweight exercises, but it's also one that can be difficult to perform the right way. It's especially challenging if you're new to calisthenics or haven't done them in a while, but with the right training, you can get better results from this exercise than you might think.

A common mistake beginners make is pointing their elbows directly out to the side of the room during their push-ups, which puts undue stress on the shoulders. Instead, bend your elbows slightly toward the side and back of the room to form a 45-degree angle with your trunk, Lauren Pak, NASM-certified personal trainer and cofounder of Achieve Fitness in Boston, told SELF previously.

Having your elbows angled outward puts the emphasis on your shoulder muscles and triceps, which can lead to injuries. For more effective push-ups, keep your elbows close to your rib cage, which will help you work out more of your chest muscles, says Athlean-X's Jey Gaither in his latest video on push-up form.

Another common mistake is slouching your hips downward during the push-up. This slouch places more strain on your back than it needs to and can put the entire exercise off balance, Taylor said.

If you're struggling with slouching your hips, try placing your hands on a chair or bench higher than the ground to increase your stability and help keep the entire exercise correct, Taylor suggests. It's also important to maintain a tight core throughout the entire movement, she says.

It's also helpful to perform a few repetitions of the push-up at different levels for variety and added challenge, Taylor recommends. For example, start with knee push-ups to ease the intensity on your upper body and build up to incline push-ups.

To do these variations, you'll need to perform the standard push-up position with your hands on a bench or table. Breathe in as you bend your elbows and lower your torso until it's slightly below the level of your bent elbow, and then breathe out as you push back up to the starting position for one repetition.

Keep Your Hips and Torso Straight

When you're trying to do push ups the right way, it's important to keep your hips and torso straight. This helps you maintain a neutral position for your low back, which reduces stress and injury to the spine and lower body.

One of the biggest mistakes beginners make when doing push ups is letting their hips sag into extension. This puts excessive stress on the low back and can cause disc herniations, bulges and other spinal problems down the road.

The best way to combat this is to practice keeping your torso and hips straight in your everyday activities. This can help you develop a strong and stable core and prevent you from falling into the most common push-up missteps.

Your core is a group of muscles that connect the bottom of your pelvis to your shoulders, chest and ribcage. It includes the abdominals, obliques and transverse abdominis, as well as the diaphragm.

There are many different ways to strengthen and stretch your core, but a few of the most effective include:

Start by laying on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor. Then cross the right ankle over your left thigh, just above the knee. Hold this position for 30 seconds or more and repeat on the other side.

This exercise is great for strengthening and stretching the hip flexors, glutes and quads. It also helps relieve tightness in the hips, buttocks and groin.

It's also helpful for releasing tension in the piriformis muscle, which runs from the front of your hip to the front of your thigh and helps your hips rotate.

Another effective exercise to strengthen and stretch your hips is the straight-leg hip twist. This is a stretch that trainers and physical therapists often use to assess hip mobility.

It can be difficult to find a position that allows your hips to be straight while doing a push-up, so you may have to experiment with a variety of positions until you're happy with the results. Then, incorporate regular hip-strengthening exercises such as squats, lunges and glute bridges into your routine.

Engage Your Core

Doing push ups is a great way to build strength, but the right way to do them can make all the difference. You can find push ups in a variety of workout routines, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT), CrossFit, and circuit training, but the key is to do them correctly so you're getting the most out of your exercise.

It's also important to keep your form and body alignment in check so you're not straining any muscles or putting yourself at risk for injury. Here are a few tips to help you keep your form and alignment on point when doing push ups:

1. Be sure to engage your core before starting the movement.

The core consists of the abdominal muscles and spinal stabilizing muscles. These are essential to your overall strength, stability, and coordination.

Keeping your core engaged can help reduce the stress on your lower back, suggests Erin Reynolds, certified personal trainer and owner of Fit4Life Fitness in New York City. She recommends keeping your elbows slightly angled from your body to maintain that neutral spine position.

2. Ensure your thumbs are in line with your armpits and your elbows are at a 45-degree angle from the sides when performing a standard push up, advises Capritto.

3. Place your head in line with your shoulders, without bending your neck or dropping your ears down toward the floor, suggests Williams.

4. Engage your abs during the movement by squeezing your abs and drawing your belly button in toward your spine.

5. Keep your hips flat and your torso straight, says Bullock.

6. Use your hands to support yourself while you do push ups.

7. If you can't do a full push up, consider doing the Incline Push Up instead.

It's a lot easier than trying to do a full push up from the ground, and it works your core and upper body in the same way you would with a full push up. It's also very easy to slowly progress with as you get stronger. Perform 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps and rest 1-2 minutes between each set.