Essomio™

← All exercise guides

chest

Push Ups

Face down with your hands on the floor, you lower your chest to the ground and push back up. Works the chest, shoulders and arms with no equipment.

beginnermat

Push Ups, start position
START
Push Ups, end position
END
BEFORE YOU START1
  1. Find a flat spot with room to lie face down.
HOW TO DO IT

Get into position

  1. Kneel and put your hands on the floor a little wider than your shoulders.
  2. Step your feet back until your body is a straight line from head to heels.
  3. Tighten your stomach and squeeze your buttocks so your hips do not sag.
  4. Look at the floor just ahead of your hands.

Check: Your body is one straight line, your hands are under your shoulders or slightly wider, and your arms are straight.

Lower your chest

  1. Bend your elbows and lower your chest toward the floor. Keep your elbows at about 45 degrees from your sides, not flared out.
  2. Stop when your chest is an inch or two from the floor.

Check: Your chest is almost touching the floor and your body is still one straight line, hips neither sagging nor sticking up.

Push up

  1. Push the floor away until your arms are straight again.

Check: You are back in the straight-line start position.

That is one rep. Repeat for your set. If you cannot finish a rep with a straight body, drop to your knees for the rest of the set.

Breathe in as you lower for about 2 seconds; breathe out as you push up in about 1 second.

MUSCLES WORKED
Push Ups: muscles worked, front view
Push Ups: muscles worked, back view

chestdeltstricepsbiceps

Red marks the muscles doing the work; amber the assisting ones. Same body for every exercise, so guides compare at a glance.

COMMON MISTAKES4
  • Hips sagging toward the floor. Strains the lower back. Fix: Tighten your stomach and buttocks; think of a plank.
  • Hips sticking up in the air. Fix: Lower your hips until your body is a straight line.
  • Stopping halfway down. Fix: Lower until your chest is a couple of inches from the floor.
  • Elbows flared straight out. Fix: Tuck them to about 45 degrees from your sides.
SAFETY1
  • If your wrists hurt, make fists and push on your knuckles, or use push-up handles.
RELATED EXERCISES

harder: dumbbell bench press, parallel dip bar

variants: chest press machine, plank

© 2026 Essomio LLC. The illustrations, muscle charts and guide text on this page are works of Essomio LLC, all rights reserved. They are for your personal use and may not be copied, redistributed or used to train models without written permission — see Licensing.