How to do Your First Pushup for Beginners

The pushup is one of the most effective exercises you can do. No other bodyweight exercise can stimulate as much muscle growth and improve your cardiovascular health at the same time. It deserves a place in any workout routine, and beginners shouldn’t miss out on these benefits.

This push up training plan is designed for beginners. Follow the step by step guide for everything you need to do to be able to do your first pushup.

Why You Can’t do a Pushup?

I get it, pushups are hard. I can remember being forced to do 10 during P.E. class in school and not being able to do a single one. I still can’t forget the taste of the grass on that football field. Pushups are really hard.

That’s because they require you to lift around 65% of your bodyweight. Take a moment to do the math. That’s a lot of weight to lift.

It took me years to be able to do my first pushup. It took a lot of time to develop the strength and the skill to do so, but I didn’t have the guidance to do so. Lucky you.

But that’s the exact same reason you can’t do a pushup right now. You don’t have the strength or the skill to do so. Don’t worry, I’ll help you get both with this beginner push up training plan.

Developing the Strength to do your first Pushup

This all comes down to building strength in the muscles used in the pushup, and there’s quite a lot of them.

What Muscles do Pushups Work?

The pushup is a full body movement, working everything from the chest and arms to the abs, glutes and legs. Almost every muscle in the body plays a role, either directly by pushing or indirectly by keeping the joints and body stable. Don’t worry, your beginner pushup routine works all of them.

The major muscles involved are:

• Chest- Pectoralis Major and Minor function to bring the upper arm from the side to the front of the body (adduction).
• Triceps- Triceps brachii functions to extend the arm at the elbow.
• Shoulders- The deltoids function to move the arm at the shoulder joint.
• Back- the spinal erectors keep the body in a straight position.
• Abs- Rectus abdominis functions to keep the body in a straight, stable position.
• Glutes- the hip and gluteal muscles keep the hips elevated.
• Leg muscles- keep the legs in a straight position.

All of the other muscles in the body such as the biceps and latissimus dorsi function as antagonists to keep the joints in a stable position.

Therefore, in order to be able to do your first pushup you will need to strengthen these muscles. We will divide them into pushing muscles and core muscles for simplicity, because they share similar function and will be worked in the same exercises.

Developing your Core Strength

If you can’t get into and hold the pushup position then you won’t be able to do a pushup no matter how hard you can push. That’s why we’re starting our beginner push up training plan by developing the muscles responsible for keeping your body in a straight position.

These are the:

• Abdominal Muscles
• Lower Back Muscles
• Gluteal Muscles
• Leg Muscles

These muscles are always under an isometric contraction during a pushup. That means they are generating a force without changing their length, so that’s exactly how we’ll go about training them.

Core Exercise 1 – Planks

The plank position is as close as we can get to mimicking a pushup without doing a pushup in your beginner routine. It challenges your core muscles to keep your body stable, which will isometrically work your abs, lower back, glutes and leg muscles.

How to do Planks?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Keep your feet close together.
3. Get down on your forearms, ensuring your elbows are under the level of your shoulders.
4. Contract your ab and glute muscles in order to elevate your hips. Don’t allow them to drop.
5. Hold your body in this straight position for as long as possible.

Aim to be able to hold a plank for around 30 seconds in order to make sure your core is strong enough to do a pushup.

You can also try variations of the planks on your hands to get closer to pushup position.

2. Side Planks

This variation of the plank will target your abs and oblique muscles in order to ensure that your core is strong enough and your body doesn’t shift from side to side when you finally progress into doing a pushup.

How to do Side Planks:

1. Get down onto your forearm, with your hand pointing in front of you. Your elbow should be under the level of your shoulder.
2. Place one foot over the other to keep stable.
3. Straighten out your legs and keep them tight.
4. Squeeze your oblique and ab muscles to keep your body straight.
5. Hold this position for as long as possible. Repeat it on both sides.

You should aim to be able to hold this position for at least 30 seconds.

3. Situps

You can include situps in order to build up additional abdominal strength.

How to do Situps?

1. Lie down on your back.
2. Bend your knees to around 90⁰. Keep your feet secured firmly on the ground.
3. Place both hands on the side of your head.
4. Contract your ab muscles so that you lift your upper body off the floor.
5. Pause at the top.
6. Slowly lower your upper body back to the floor. This is 1 repetition.

Aim to do be able to do least 10 repetitions.

4. Glute Bridges

This exercise will help to strengthen your glute, hip and thigh muscles. It’s important to strengthen these muscles in your beginner push up training plan so that you can keep your hips elevated when holding a pushup position.

How to do Hip Bridges?

1. Lie down flat on the ground.
2. Place both arms out to your sides and press them firmly into the floor to maintain stability.
3. Bend your knees to around 90⁰.
4. Squeeze your glutes together to raise your hips off the floor until your legs and your upper body are straight.
5. Hold this position for a few seconds.
6. Gently lower your hips back down to the floor. This is 1 repetition.

Aim to be able to perform around 10 repetitions.

Developing your Push Up Strength

Now that your core is strong enough to hold a pushup position, you can begin strengthening the muscles responsible for pushing. So your beginner push up training plan will now focus on developing the chest, shoulder and triceps muscles.

1. Scapular Pushup

This exercise will help develop the serratus muscle which assists in pushing, as well as the shoulder muscles responsible for retracting the scapula. This is important because the scapula must be retracted to maintain proper pushup form.

How to do Scapular Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Keep your feet close together.
3. Place your hands shoulder width apart, under the level of the shoulders.
4. Push into the floor and allow your shoulders to roll forwards.
5. Hold this position for a few seconds.
6. Pull your shoulders back as if you were squeezing something between your scapulae.
7. Hold this position for a few seconds. This is 1 repetition.

Aim to perform around 10 repetitions.

2. Isometric Pushups

These are similar to how planks worked your core muscles without moving, except this time you’ll be holding a pushup position to build your pushing muscles during your beginner training plan.

How to do an Isometric Pushup

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart, underneath the level of your shoulders.
3. Hold the pushup position for as long as possible.

Bend your arms to lower your chest into various pushup positions and hold the position for as long as possible. That way you’ll build muscle in all areas of the pushup without actually doing one.

3. Eccentric Pushups

The eccentric phase of an exercise is the lowering phase where the muscle is lengthening. At this phase, the most muscle growth occurs. The muscle is also stronger during this phase so this will be easier to perform and gain strength from especially for those who can’t do a pushup.

How to do Eccentric Pushups?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart, under the level of your shoulders.
3. Slowly bend your elbows to lower your chest to the floor.
4. When you reach the bottom get up and reset your body to the start position.

You can also use eccentrics for the easier pushup variations we’ll cover next.

4. Knee Pushups

This is a much easier alternative to pushups which strengthens the exact same muscles involved. However, your core strength doesn’t need to be as strong and you won’t be forced to lift as heavy as a load. This one is around 50% of your bodyweight so you can use it to work on form if you can’t do a pushup.

How to do Knee Pushups?

1. Get down on your knees.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart.
3. Straighten your body at your hips.
4. Ensure your hands are under the level of your shoulders.
5. Bend your arms at the elbows so that you lower your chest to just above the floor.
6. Pause at the bottom.
7. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arms at your elbows so that you lift your chest back into the starting position. This is 1 repetition.

Aim to be able to perform at least 10 repetitions before attempting your first pushup.

5. Incline Pushups

This is another easier variation to help strengthen your pushing muscles. It places your hands at a higher position to reduce the amount of weight you have to lift. The higher you place your hands, the easier the exercise becomes, so it’s easy to progress on this one.

Note that a 60cm or 2 foot incline requires you to lift 40% of your bodyweight and a 30cm or 1 foot incline requires you to lift 55% of your bodyweight, so vary the level of the incline based on your level.

How to do Incline Pushups?

1. Place your hands on an elevated surface, shoulder width apart.
2. Move your legs backwards.
3. Tighten your abs and glutes to straighten your body.
4. Bend your arms at the elbows so that you lower your chest to just above the surface.
5. Pause at the bottom
6. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arms at the elbows so that you raise your chest back into the starting position. This is 1 repetition.

Start at a higher level of incline, and as you become stronger you can progress to lower and lower inclines and eventually remove the incline to do your first pushup. Learn more about incline pushups here.

6. Use Weights to build the Strength to do your First Pushup

If you have access to weights at home or in the gym, you can include certain exercises to strengthen your pushing muscles. These are by no means necessary to perform your first pushup, but will assist you to get there sooner.

Exercises I’ll include would be:

• Chest Exercises- Bench press, chest press, chest fly
• Shoulder Exercises- Overhead press, lateral raises, face-pulls
• Triceps Exercises- Triceps pushdowns, Skull-crushers

Your First Pushup – With Training Wheels

Before you attempt your first pushup you should perform the easier variations. Make no mistake, these aren’t different exercises, but just pushups with a bit of assistance. I’ve already outlined them for you.

• Knee Pushups
• Incline Pushups

Use these to build your upper body strength until you are comfortable enough to attempt the real deal. More importantly, use them to work on your form during your beginner push up training plan.

Developing the Skill to do your first Pushup

If you’ve followed all of the steps so far then, no doubt you’ll be strong enough to do your first pushup, and maybe even a few more after that. All that matters now is form and technique.

How to do a Pushup?

1. Get down on all fours.
2. Place your hands shoulder width apart, with your hands under the level of your shoulders.
3. Bend your arms at the elbows in order to lower your chest to just above the floor.
4. Pause at the bottom.
5. Squeeze your chest muscles and extend your arms at the elbows in order to raise your chest off the floor and back into the starting position.

Tips for Perfect Form on your first Pushup

Here are some important tips to make sure you do the exercise as safe, as efficient and as easy as possible:

Tip 1 – Hand Placement

You want your hands positioned in a way that:

1. Recruits the larger and stronger muscles in the movement.
2. Enables the safe movement of a force through the joints.

If your hands are too far forwards or downwards, you will recruit less of the larger pectoralis major and rely on weaker shoulder muscles. This also puts stress on the shoulder joint.

If your hands are too close together you will reduce pectoralis major involvement. However, if your hands are too far apart you will reduce the involvement of supporting muscles, making the exercise harder.

The sweet spot is to place your hands just shoulder width apart and to keep them under shoulder level so that the force is in line with your chest.

Tip 2 – Retract your Shoulders

If you allow your shoulders to roll forward you will be relying on weaker shoulder muscles to do the movement. This is also unsafe.

Remember those scapular pushups I had you doing? Pull back your shoulders and retract your scapulae and the exercise will be much easier.

Tip 3 – Adjust your Elbows

The safest place to have your elbows is to tuck your elbows near to your body. However, this is not the easiest or most efficient position.

Too close to or too far from your body leads to different levels of muscle recruitment, so the sweet spot is right in between. Try to form a 45⁰ between your upper arm and your body.

Tip 4 – Keep your Body Straight

This is where you use those core muscles that you were building.

If you allow your hips and stomach to sag, then it shifts your body’s center of gravity. At the same time, your floppy body makes it very inefficient to move. This makes the exercise much harder.

Therefore contract your abs and squeeze your glutes to elevate your hips and keep your body straight.

Putting it All Together

If you follow this guide in order, you’ll be able to perform a pushup in time. It won’t take years like it did for me, but you’ll need to be prepared to put in the work for some weeks or even some months.

Through the journey you’ll build your core strength and you’ll build your pushing strength until you’re able to do easier pushup variations. Here you will continue to build strength, but also begin perfecting your form, until one day you do the impossible and finally do your first pushup.

Put in the work! I’m rooting for you!

When you’re finished, be sure to check out this easy pushup workout that beginners can try.

References:

Cogley, Robert M ; Archambault, Teasha A ; Fibeger, Jon F ; Koverman, Mandy M ; et al . Comparison of Muscle Activation using Various Hand Positions during the Pushup Exercise. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research ; Champaign  Volume 19, No. 3,  (Aug 2005): 628-33. DOI: 10.1519 / 00124278-200508000-00024

Ebben, W., Wurm, B., VanderZanden, T., Spadavecchia, M., Durocher, J., Bickham, C. and Petushek, E., 2011. Kinetic Analysis of Several Variations of Push-Ups. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 25(10), pp.2891-2894.

Adams, G., Cheng, D., Haddad, F. and Baldwin, K., 2004. Skeletal muscle hypertrophy in response to isometric, lengthening, and shortening training bouts of equivalent duration. Journal of Applied Physiology, 96(5), pp.1613-1618.