Tip: A New Strategy for Push-Ups

Why Most People Can't Do It Right

Push-ups are commonplace. If you train regularly, chances are you can do multiple in a row. Problem is, most people aren't doing them correctly. And most people never get better even while progressing with other lifts.

Why? Because when you do it right, it feels harder, and you're forced to complete fewer of them. So instead of doing fewer reps with better technique, they rep out with the same flawed form.

There are a lot of biomechanical factors that you have to control when doing the push-up. You press up from a pivot point (your feet) which means your body is following a slight arc. That's important because it tells us where our weight gets shifted as we push up – towards our feet. So, the closer the resistance moves towards the pivot point, the EASIER the rep gets. With that in mind, there's something that'll help you get better.

A New Strategy

Make the resistance travel straight up and down by shifting your bodyweight.

1. Begin on your tip-toes, with your shoulders slightly in front of your wrists.
2. As you go down, shift your weight to the balls of your feet, then vice-versa as you press back up again.

Doing this will offset the arc of the weight, keeping the resistance much more vertical over the range of motion.