How to Get Your First Push-Up – Beginners Guide

One of the most common questions I hear from my clients is, “ How do I get my first push-up?”

My answer – practice and patience. 

At face value, a push-up looks easy right? Well….. let me tell you it’s not. 

If you’ve ever tried to do a push-up with good form, then you know exactly what I’m talking about.

It’s a lot more than lowering and pushing yourself away from the ground. 

Push-ups are hard. They take time to build the strength, muscle, and skill necessary to perform one with correct form.

That said…

You – yes you – can get your first push-up if you put in the work, stay patient, and follow the guidelines I give you in the article consistently over time. 

Are you going to be able to do one within the first few weeks?

Maybe. Maybe not.

However, the point is you CAN eventually do one.

And that’s my goal with writing this article. I’m going to show you how to get your first push-up. 

Enjoy 🙂

Importance of Getting Your First Push-Up

I think push-ups get a bad rep because most people can’t do one correctly. 

So, they blame the exercise instead of themselves. 

I’d go as far as to say that push-ups are underrated and should be done in most programs at some capacity.

The reason for this is simple: 

1. Push-ups are a functional human movement – meaning, that you use this movement in your day-to-day life. Think of laying on your stomach. How do you get up from the ground? By pushing yourself up of course. 
2. They build a shit ton of upper body and core strength and muscle.
3. Bragging rights. You can tell your friends and family how much of a bad ass you are since you can perform a push-up with good form. Who doesn’t want that?

So, I think everyone should eventually be able to do at least 1 push-up with good form.

I know… pretty ambitious but its the truth.

Hopefully I can show you in this article how to get your first push-up in the simplest way possible. 

The Muscles Involved In a Push-Up

Before we dive into exactly how to get your first push-up, let’s first go over the muscles used in the push-up. 

I know… boring anatomy. But, before you skip this section, I’d urge you to re-think that. 

This way, you can understand what muscles are being used so that you can maintain good form, prevent injury, improve your push-up performance, and make push-ups that much easier.

So, DO NOT skip this section. 

Ok, back to the push-up. 

1. The Core

I want you to think of a push-up as a moving plank. 

That’s because a push-up requires a lot of core strength to keep your body stable and your lower back protected. 

Your core (muscles that attach to your spine and pelvis) connects your upper and lower body together, both of which play a key part in performing a push-up with good form.

When you have a strong and stable core, you’ll also be able to transfer more force. That basically means you’ll be a lot stronger.

If you don’t have a strong and stable core, other muscles will then have to compensate for the lack of core strength. 

This is where muscle imbalances and joint pain can happen from performing a shitty push-up. 

So, it’s definitely something that you want to avoid.  

Get your core strength up because it’s a major contributor to learning how to get your first pushup.

2. Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps

These are the main muscles that you traditionally think of when performing a push-up. 

Your chest and shoulders are responsible for slowing down your body as it gets closer to the ground and also pushing yourself away from it. 

Furthermore, when you bend your elbows at the bottom of the push-up, your triceps become stretched (think of a rubber band). 

Once you begin to push yourself up, they take over to fully extend (straighten) your arms at the top.

You can emphasize more or less of your chest, shoulders, and triceps based on your elbow position which you’ll will see more of down below. 

3. Upper Back

Believe it or not, your upper back is also involved in a push-up by keeping your shoulder blades stable and in good position.  

This way, your shoulders don’t roll forward – a common postural issue that’s seen in a lot of people. 

A cue that I and many other coaches use is to think of “placing your shoulder blades into your back pocket.” 

By doing this, you’re retracting and depressing your shoulder blades which keeps your shoulders in a safe position and places most of the tension on your chest.

Plus, it promotes good posture which you can’t go wrong with. 

4. Quads

A lesser known muscle being used is your quads or the fronts of your legs. 

They help keep your legs straight during a push-up so that your hips don’t sag towards the ground. 

So, you want to think of squeezing them as hard as you can so you have a straight line from your head to your feet.

The Most Common Push-Up Mistakes

The problem with learning how to get your first push-up is that most push-ups and push-up tutorials are done with shitty form. 

Just walk into any gym or group class and you’ll see what I’m talking about. 

And let me tell you, most of it is not pretty. 

So, here’s 7 mistakes to watch out for before you learn how to get your first pushup. 

Mistake #1: Flaring Out Your Elbows

I use to think that flaring out your elbows at 90 degrees was the way to do pushups correctly. 

The thought was that with your elbows out wide, you’ll use more chest.

Well, I was wrong. 

Not only does that not work more chest, but it also places a shit ton of stress on your shoulder joint. 

This is because the shoulder joint becomes compressed, which causes things to rub together that aren’t suppose too. 

So, a lot of wear and tear gets placed on the cartilage, tendons, and ligaments – hence creating shoulder pain.

Let me tell you from personal experience… This is not fun. 

Instead, keep your arms at a 45 degree angle. Think of having your elbows facing backward instead of directly out.

And this will keep your shoulders safe and place more tension on your chest which is the point of the push-up.

Mistake #2: Elbows Tucked In Too Close To Your Body

While this isn’t necessarily wrong, this makes the push-up harder because you’re taking a lot of your chest out of the movement.

By pinning your elbows to your side you’re essentially doing a tricep and shoulder exercise.

Over time, this places more stress on your elbow which can lead to pain and discomfort. 

Again, it’s best to keep your elbows at 45 degrees to protect your joints, work more chest, and be able to improve your push-up performance.  

Mistake #3: Humping The Ground 

This is not the goal. There are other places than the gym to go and do this. 

That said, if you haven’t already guessed, this is where your hips sag to the ground. 

While you do have a natural curvature of your lumbar spine, excessively arching it can place a lot of stress on it. 

As you can imagine, that’s a recipe for lower back pain. 

An over arched lower back is usually a sign of a weak core. (Ha! Told you it was important)

So, if you want to get your first push-up, the goal is to have a straight line from your head all the way down to your feet.

To do this, you must create tension throughout your body by bracing your core and squeezing your butt and quads hard.

Mistake #4: Hips Too High

On the opposite side of things, if your hips are too high up, this completely takes away your core and becomes a shoulder exercise.

Remember – a push-up is a moving plank. A CORE exercise. So keep your body in a straight line.

Mistake #5: Short ROM

I’m sorry, but those quarter reps are doing jack shit for you. 

You want to make sure you’re working your muscles through a full range of motion for the best results. 

Your first thought should be “chest to floor”. 

Or, what I like to have my clients do when they perform a push-up is have their nose touch the ground. 

If you struggle to touch your nose or chest to the ground then start with elevated push-ups to make it easier.

This is something I will cover in more detail down below. 

Mistake #6: Shrugging Your Shoulders

When you shrug your shoulders – bringing them closer to your ears – your traps take over.

As a result, you’ll feel the movement more in your shoulders – something you don’t want. 

Instead, think of keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears.

This way, you can keep your upper back and shoulder muscles engaged throughout the movement and promote good posture. 

Mistake #7: Lowering Your Head 

Come on.

Don’t cheat. 

Keep your head up throughout the whole movement. 

Note: If you’re not feeling your chest, shoulders, triceps, and abs on fire, thannnn you’re probably doing something wrong.

In the case you are, take a video of yourself so that you can critique your form and make the necessary changes.  

How to Get Your First Push-up

Now that you’ve seen all of the ways NOT to do a pushup, it’s time to finally show you the right way to perform a pushup. 

Like I’ve mentioned before, shit form will lead to shit results, poor posture, and potential injury. 

So, it’s best to practice performing a push-up with good form now. 

Setting Up Your Pushup Stance

1. Stack your hands directly under your shoulders. You don’t want them out to wide or too close. There should be a straight line from your shoulder to your wrist.
2. Make sure you’re on your toes. 
3. Retract and depress your shoulder blades like you’re going to “place them into your back pocket”. 
4. Squeeze your butt and quads! Imagine having a penny in between your butt cheeks and you don’t want it to slip through.
5. Brace your core like someone is going to punch you in the stomach.

And BOOM! You’re not in a perfect starting position for a push-up. 

Performing the Push-Up

1. From the starting position, you’re going to unlock your elbows to lower yourself towards the ground or elevated surface. Make sure your elbows are bent at a 45 degree angle. NOT flared out close to your ears or tucked too close to your body.
2. Make sure you go ALL OF THE WAY DOWN. Think of bringing your chest and/or nose to the ground or surface while keeping your shoulders down and away from your ears. This will place a nice stretch on your chest and improve your range of motion in the push-up. 
3. At this moment, you’re in the bottom position. From here, I want you to think of pushing the floor away from you as hard as you can.
4. Repeat until your form breaks down. 

And that’s basically it. Remember, this is not a race. You should be able to do these with good form slow and controlled. 

A good tempo is 2-3 seconds on the way down and 1-2 seconds the way up.

If you can’t yet do a pushup from the ground (the point of this article), I’ve given you a few regressions in order to help you get started on how to get your first pushup from the ground. 

How to Build Up To Your First Push-Up

Here’s one important point I want you to remember when learning how to get your first pushup: The best way to improve your push-ups is to practice the push-up movement. 

Otherwise known as the law of specificity – the best way to get good at something is practice that thing. 

Practicing the push-up more frequently is a great way to teach your body the skill and correct muscles to use during a push-up more quickly. 

So, practice one of these regressions as often as you want. Just make sure to keep the volume and intensity low each day so you don’t burn yourself out.

1. Elevated Push-Ups 

This is the best starting point for beginners. I have my clients start with this version because it allows you to practice the push-up movement pattern while using your core.

(Side note: this is something knee push-ups don’t do. So, I don’t program knee push-ups because there is no core involvement)

An elevated push-up is exactly as it sounds – performing a push-up from an elevated surface. 

By elevating/raising your hands, you’re not opposing gravity as much, as a result you’re pushing up less body weight.

You can start from the wall,  a box, bench, barbell in a power rack, or a smith machine which is my favorite because you can change the height of elevation. 

Once you can do about 8-10 with good form, it’s time to move down a bit. 

For example, let’s say you start with a wall push-up. Once you’re able to push out 8-10 reps with good form, then move onto a lower elevated surface. 

Slowly progress yourself down until you hit a wall (no pun intended) and can’t perform push-ups with good form at that height. 

This would be a good time to incorporate eccentric focused push-ups. 

2.Eccentric Push-ups

One of the best ways to get stronger is to perform eccentric based push-ups. 

The eccentric portion is when your muscle lengthens. Think of stretching a rubber band. 

It’s also when your muscle is the strongest so you can lift more weight. 

During a push-up, the eccentric part is when you’re lowering yourself down. 

These can be done from either an elevated surfaces or from the ground when you’re strong enough to do so. 

Spend 5 seconds going down then get back up by using your knees, reset, and repeat. 

Do NOT try to push yourself back up. That defeats the whole purpose. 

Make sure you fight it all of the way to the end though. Don’t collapse on the ground at the last second.

Fight the whole way through until your chest touches the ground.

Once, you’re able to do 5-10 eccentric push-ups, it’s time to move onto a regular push-up. 

3. Push-Up!

Alright, now you should be able to do a regular push-up from the floor. Let’s go!

Start with 1, rest, then continue with increasing reps each week/workout.

Remember – push the floor away from you and get after it! Keep fighting until you push yourself all of the way up away from the floor.

Side Note: If you struggle with core strength, practicing planks can and will help strengthen your core and improve your pushup performance. 

Final Thoughts: 

With all of that said, if you can’t do a regular push-up with good form, you should not be doing a regular pushup.

Leave your ego at the door and regress the movement. You’re only shooting yourself in the foot by trying to force it. 

Keep in mind – just like any other skill you’re going to suck at first. But, you’ll l get better over time the more you practice. 

Have you ever seen a child start walking? Yeah, its not pretty. But, the more they practice, the better they get at it because their body learns how to properly use the correct muscle and move in space. 

I hope this article helped.

If and when you get your first push-up, send me a video! I’d love to see!

Other than that, thank you for reading.

-Bob 

Ps. If you want a free 30 workouts, you can grab that here. 

Pps. If you have any questions about your push-up form, you can email me here.

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