How to do a proper push-up (and the easier versions that still count)

Ask a room of people to do ten push-ups and most will finish. Film them from the side and maybe a third of those reps would pass a strict count. The hips sag, the chest stops a few inches short, and the elbows flare out like wings. Nobody is cheating on purpose. You simply cannot see your own body from the side while you are working.

The five checkpoints of a clean rep

Run through these from the ground up before your first rep, then keep checking them as you tire.

1. Hands. Slightly wider than your shoulders, directly under or just outside them, fingers pointing forward. Too far forward and your shoulders take load they don't need.
2. The plank line. Ears, shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in one straight line. Squeeze your glutes and brace your stomach as if someone were about to poke it. That brace is what holds the line when you get tired.
3. Elbows. Aim them back at roughly 45 degrees from your body, so from above your arms and torso make an arrow, not a T.
4. Depth. Lower until your chest is a fist's height from the floor or lightly touches it. Your upper arms should reach at least parallel to the ground.
5. Lockout. Press all the way back up until your arms are straight, without letting your shoulders shrug toward your ears.

The three faults that eat your reps

Sagging hips. The body bends into a banana and the lower back takes the strain. It usually shows up around rep six, when the core gives out before the arms do.

Flared elbows. Elbows shoot straight out to the sides. It feels easier because it shortens the lever, but it loads the front of the shoulder and tends to feel cranky over time.

Half reps. The most common fault by far. The top half of a push-up is much easier than the bottom half, so tired people drift into doing only the top half and counting it.

A push-up you can do ten of with perfect depth builds more strength than twenty that stop halfway down.

The regression ladder, and when to climb it

If you can't do a clean rep from the floor, don't shorten the movement. Raise your hands instead. Each rung keeps the full range of motion and the plank line, just with less of your bodyweight.

• Wall push-ups. Hands on a wall at shoulder height, feet a step or two back. The gentlest starting point.
• Incline push-ups. Hands on a kitchen counter, then a sturdy table, then a low step. The lower the surface, the harder it gets, so this rung has many small steps.
• Knee push-ups. Knees on the floor, but keep the line straight from knees to head. No folding at the hips.
• Full push-ups. Once you can do three sets of about 12 clean reps on one rung, move down to the next.

Past the floor, progress by slowing the lowering phase to three seconds, pausing at the bottom, or putting your feet on a step. Those make the same movement harder without changing the shape.

If you have shoulder, wrist or back pain, check with a physical therapist or doctor before adding volume. This is general guidance, not medical advice.

Let a side view keep you honest

The side angle is where every one of these faults becomes obvious: the dipping hip line, the shallow bottom position, the arms that never quite straighten. Lean your phone against a wall a few steps to your side, low enough that your whole body stays in frame from head to heels.

Form Coach is built for this. It draws a live skeleton over your body, counts push-ups from the front, the side or behind, and gives every rep its own form score, with short spoken cues during the set. When you finish, raise both hands overhead for two seconds and the set ends without walking back to the phone. It runs on the device, with no account and no subscription. If squats are next on your list, we walked through that setup in checking your squat form with your phone.

Pick the rung you can do cleanly today. The floor will come closer faster than you expect.